Ride 亚洲天堂 President, Patti Dube, was present at Feb. 18 council meeting. She presented the newly rebranded Ride 亚洲天堂鈥攆ormerly known as 亚洲天堂 Lake Mountain Biking Association (BLMBA)鈥攐ne year and three years plans.
Dube shared that as part of this year鈥檚 agenda, the group hoped to roll out a few new projects, as long as they can access funding.
鈥淪o our new plan鈥� if we ever get funding鈥� is an uptrack,鈥� said Dube. 鈥淲e applied to the BC Rural Dividend last year, but it got sidelined. An uptrack is a way for people to get off the road鈥� bike up the road鈥� so they can actually bike up a nice easy trail to get to the downhill trails,鈥� she said.
The plan for the group is to build the uptrack, really, for safety purposes, she said. Every year, the hundreds of people visiting the mountain biking trails that Ride 亚洲天堂 maintains, put themselves in jeopardy, riding up the main road to the top of the mountain to get to the biking trails. People in vehicles are often driving up and down that road, too, and that鈥檚 where the danger lies.
Not only that, but biking on the main road is just plain hard, she said. It can be extremely hot with so little tree cover along the road, and the condition of the road itself can be gruelling.
The idea is to have an easier path altogether, and one that siphons off into other bike trails at various spots along the way. It could branch off before reaching the top trail, so less keen bicyclists can take a shorter trail.
The BC Rural Dividend fund was the main source of funding Ride 亚洲天堂 previously accessed, but in more recent years it was put on hold by the province, said Dube, because it was allocated to needy families and communities where lumber mills were being shut down. She doesn鈥檛 dispute that need鈥攕he just hopes for another source to help Ride 亚洲天堂 continue with the work they do.
Another item on the list from Tuesday was the revamping of the When Pigs Fly trail. The name comes from the sarcasm shared at the time the group named it. Ride 亚洲天堂 members didn鈥檛 think it would become the world-class destination it has. But the high traffic it鈥檚 seen now means it needs an overhaul.
Two other items mentioned in Dube鈥檚 operating plan, presented Tuesday, are that Ride 亚洲天堂 wants to build a trail going from town to some of the other trails; And they want to bring in better wheelchair accessibility around Kager Lake, as well.
Now that the plan is presented, Dube said she will spend the weekend looking for funding sources.
Trail season opens in April, but this is, of course, dependant on snow cover, and the damage the pine beetle has done this year, she added.
The full Ride 亚洲天堂 three year plan is available on the town council meeting agenda website.
