Tonight was a really exciting night for me. Community Futures is managing a project to develop mountain biking in Crowsnest Pass. Tonight was the first of 5 classes a number of us are receiving related to sustainable trail design and building. Our instructor is Daniel Scott from IMBA (Internation Mountain Bike Association) - he is respected internationally for designing trails that are extremely fun AND environmentally sustainable.
This is a great example of how a dream and an idea can become a reality if you put yourself and your dream "out there". 5 years ago, Stone's Throw's Steve Atkinson and I were chatting about the mountain bike scene in Crowsnest Pass. He was a little frustrated because he had become the unofficial mountain bike information booth to visitors. The frustration: officially there really weren't any mountain bike trails in Crowsnest and the ones we would ride together were very difficult to explain how to find.
When we spoke, we dreamed of having an IMBA trail system. After visiting some of North America's best mountain bike spots, I had learned that the sustainable trails were also the funnest to ride - a type of trail that was pretty rare in Canada at the time.
To make a long story short - or less boring. Here we are. IMBA is training about 15 of us in the art and science of sustainable trail design - we will have the knowledge at the end of this to help teach volunteers the same. We have one of the world's most respected trail specialists from IMBA putting together a master plan that will help put Crowsnest Pass on the mountain biking map.
What is the point of this: Have positive thoughts. Act on positive thoughts. Focus on the goal - not the distractions. Continuous small steps in the right direction can add up and become a bigger distance than the sum of those steps.
Some Links:
http://www.imba.com/canada/index.html
http://www.uroc.ca
http://www.travelalberta.com/blog/archive/2010/05/21/crowsnest-pass-mountain-biking.aspx
And my business plug:
http://www.bikebros.ca
If you need a new bike, I have been known to deliver to Crowsnest Pass.
Monday, June 14, 2010
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