We've got lots of projects on the go right now, all being worked on lovingly by your friendly committee members and fellow club members.
Chris Smith is planning the development of a purpose built Skills Area where people of all abilities can learn to ride a multitude of features. Chris has secured the input of some very experienced track builders, and is finalising the layout of the first two lines. Expect to see these very soon.
Neil Cousins is leading development of 'Punch and Judy' (collectively called Puppets), a short but technical DH trail. Thanks to a bumper turnout at the last DH Dig Day we've already seen great progress, and can look forward to even more in the weeks to come.
Alastair Mackinlay is working to improve our website, forum and all round e-communication. He launched the new website only last week and it's looking very pretty! Expect to see some new content and a regular news letter before too long.
Ian Crook has been working hard to generate a linking XC section across the waist of the Allotment, so that the existing trails can be linked in with the new Skills Area, and existing Fire Road. Expect to see this winding single track mature nicely and become one of the most used as the Allotment is developed. Check out the forum for details of the next XC Dig Day.
Chris Sheppard has canvassed our many XC enthusiasts and produced a trail specification from which we will build our new all weather XC trail, project name 'Groovy Blue'. Excitingly we're thrilled to have secured the input of one of the best trail designers there is, so will be making the first detailed plans early in the new year. This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for the club, and one that we will make the most of! This has taken time, but will be well worth the wait so expect to see a purpose built, all weather XC descent running down the west side of the Allotment in the next membership year.
Simon Truelove is finishing off a beautiful club calender ready for 2010, which along with some club T-shirts will be sold to raise money for the XC and Skills Area trail building projects. Fund raising will be one of the main focuses for 2010 so all ideas are very welcome.
Having raised over £1200 specifically for XC activities over the past 18 months we are keen to put that money to good use; recently purchasing two sets premium lights (worth just under £500) for our regular night rides, and committing to a total spend of over £2000 towards MTB Trail Leader training so that we can lead high quality, fun and safe XC rides for all our members.
In addition to these projects we've plenty of other things on the boil; such as a special triple crown TickerTape event on Jan 2nd, Club Social on Dec 15th, planning a club trip to the Megavalache next July, sourcing 100's of tonnes of local materials to build the trails, building a shelter at the allotment and opening an online club shop. Not to mention all the other stuff that goes on such as night rides, dig days, TickerTapes and rides away.
Best of all: this is all being done for riders by riders, for free during evenings and weekends. We're about more than just the ride; we're working together (all 98 of us) to make our local riding community and trail facilities better. That's pretty special.
If you've got any comments, suggestions, questions or want to know how to get involved in any of the projects above please drop us a line.
info@blackcanoncollective.co.uk
07870 60 98 71
