Happy New Year!
We welcome our new Vice President, Scott Klarenbach to ERTC! Behind the scenes he is already contributing a lot to our upcoming year!
I’ll keep this one short and sweet and dial up the hype factor at a later time for what hopefully should be a return to a normal year. This is your notification that sign-ups are now available for 2022. Check out the link here: https://zone4.ca/reg.asp?id=28052
You are getting this e-mail as you were a member in 2021. We will send another email in February or March reminding you to sign-up and that will be it for communications to the 2021 membership list. If you do not wish to continue getting emails from us, let me know now and I will remove you from the list that the next e-mail goes to.
In other news (and equally important), the City of Edmonton is currently considering making large parts of the naturalized River Valley “preservation areas” which would allow only foot traffic, which would mean that mountain bike trails would not be allowed. Our friends over at Hardcore have put together a fairly comprehensive overview of the issue, with links to relevant information and how to make your voice heard, attached to the bottom of this email. We have a reciprocal agreement with Hardcore where our members may participate on their rides, and theirs on ours and this is one way we can help support our relationship, even if you do not ride mountain bikes yourself.
A copy of this email is saved on our blog for posterity, however we usually do updates directly to the blog and link via email. Our blog is over at www.ertc.org - just scroll down after the splash page.
HardCopy
News, views and shameless promotion.
Edmonton's Singletrack Trails are at Risk
Hi everyone, this newsletter is long but really important! Please take the time to read it through!
TL/DR: The City is threatening to make singletrack trails in Edmonton illegal (again...). They are holding consultation sessions next week about new river valley policies. Please consider going to one of these online sessions or doing their survey. Letters to the Mayor and Council wouldn’t hurt either.
Wait! What's Happening to the Trails?!
The City is updating policies related to the river valley and ravine system, which will impact our amazing network of singletrack. The new policies will determine what activities and amenities are allowed in different areas (called ‘river valley reaches’ in the City’s documentation) - including mountain biking and mountain bike trails. The proposed policies would make the vast majority of the river valley and ravines ‘preservation areas’. Only foot traffic would be allowed in these areas - not cyclists. It seems like new bike trails wouldn’t be allowed and that any existing trails could no longer be used for biking. This would mean that some of your favourite trails like Six Shooter, the Trap, Go Trail, Root Canal, West Coast Trail and many others would become illegal. It would also mean that local clubs and groups would no longer have the City’s permission to maintain trails in preservation areas. Those of you who have been around long enough will remember that singletrack was illegal in the late 90s. We thought we were past that, but evidently not. Ironically these new policies come at a time when access to trails close to home is more important than ever, and as interest in mountain biking just keeps growing.
See Proposed Preservation Areas
How You Can Help Save the Singletrack
Public consultation sessions
The City is hosting two public consultation events in the next two weeks. If you can, please sign up for one of the two online workshops. They are happening Feb 7 (afternoon) and Feb 8 (evening). There is already a waitlist for the Feb 8 session! (Maybe the City should add more sessions?)
City survey
You can fill out the City’s survey, but know it doesn’t give you an opportunity to review the details related to where singletrack trails will and will not be allowed in the future. You''ll still be able to share your thoughts though.
Write to your councillor
A letter or email to your local council member wouldn’t hurt either. Maybe tell them how important mountain biking and singletrack trails are to you, your family and your community, and that more consultation and more details are needed (now not later) about the future of Edmonton’s trail network. Find your councillor here.
Find Out More
City of Edmonton Information
You can find maps and information about the ‘Ribbon of Green’ on the City’s website. Their maps don’t show any singletrack trails though. (Be ready to compare with Trailforks and/or Strava). They mention bike trails very briefly in page 9 of their Project FAQs.
Edmonton Mountain Bike Alliance
EMBA has more information about what’s happening on its website.
Need Some Stress Relief After All That?
Our bike trainers are on sale! And it looks like there's another deep freeze coming so now's the perfect time to get set-up! We've got a bunch of different ones in stock, including Wahoo Kickr Core, Snap, and V5, Saris Mag+, and Tacx Flow Smart.
Shop Hours
Tuesday - Friday: 10 - 6
Saturday: 10 - 5
Sunday & Monday : Gone Riding
Since 1989, Hardcore Bikes has been the rider's choice for bikes, parts, clothing and advice. We Ride and Race what we Sell.
10008 - 82 Avenue NW, Edmonton, AB
www.hardcorebikes.ca | info@hardcorebikes.ca
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Questions?
780-439-4599
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