Having done a few sign-post installs with Aaron Brassard, Rod Brassard, Alex Catchpaugh, Brass, Ken, and other RMDRA members this summer, it was time to get some autumn work in. So it was off to the Ghost in late October to take part in one of two volunteer trail-clearing days organized by RMDRA charter member Dallas Wyman. You go into these things knowing you’re well prepared and up to the task. Then you face the hill you have to ride up just to get to the trail you’re going to help clear. After half a dozen tries, and after everyone else has long made it up, you realize your poor physical condition and low skills are catching up to you. Regardless, you get to the top to find the rest of the crew already cutting and chucking deadfall all along a five- kilometre section of ridge in the Ghost. With Brass, Axel, Aaron Bauer and Doug wielding the saws, and guys like Tim, Jared, and Ken chucking logs, you get busy with Aaron Brassard, Dallas and Anthony, helping move the 11 bikes and all the gear that came up the hill. Cut and move. Cut and move. The pace is surprisingly quick. Every time you think you’ve finished lugging the back packs, bikes and supplies to the next section, the cutters and chuckers have moved ahead, attacking the debris. At 5,000+ feet altitude, you catch yourself sucking air and stumbling to keep up. You dump Doug’s bike moving it up the trail. (Sorry, Doug.) You discover Ken’s Gas Gas 300 rides smooth as butter. And, despite the soreness and stiffness that will follow, you feel better than you’ve felt all month. It’s this kind of volunteer activity that defines your club and the dedication of its members. You can’t wait to do more. Thanks to everyone for your hard work in 2011. There will be more in 2012. NEWS www.rockymountaindirtriders.com Next meeting Our Annual Club Swap Meet, 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, Capitol Hill Community Association Hall, 1531 21 Ave. NW, Calgary. Winter 2011 Alex, Ken, Tim, Dallas, Jared, Aaron, Doug, Aaron, Anthony and Marcel relax after an exhausting day clearing trail Oct. 29 at Ghost/Waiparous Public Land Use Zone. IN THIS ISSUE: Trailwork update Land advocacy Rider Profile WE JUST KEEP ON WORKING RMDRA volunteers cut and chuck deadfall off Ghost/Waiparous trails through the month of October 2012 Bike Show The 2012 Calgary Motorcycle Show goes Jan. 6-8 Stampede Park’s BMO Centre. Come on down and check out our booth, renew your membership and bring a friend.
Transcript
Having done a few sign-post installs with Aaron Brassard, Rod Brassard, Alex Catchpaugh, Brass, Ken, and other RMDRA members this summer, it was time to get some autumn work in.
So it was off to the Ghost in late October to take part in one of two volunteer trail-clearing days organized by RMDRA charter member Dallas Wyman.
You go into these things knowing you’re well prepared and up to the task.
Then you face the hill you have to ride up just to get to the trail you’re going to help clear. After half a dozen tries, and after everyone else has long made it up, you realize your poor physical condition
and low skills are catching up to you. Regardless, you get to the top to find the rest of the crew already cutting and chucking deadfall all along a five-kilometre section of ridge in the Ghost.
With Brass, Axel, Aaron Bauer and Doug wielding the saws, and guys like Tim, Jared, and Ken chucking logs, you get busy with Aaron Brassard, Dallas and Anthony, helping move the 11 bikes and all the gear that came up the hill.
Cut and move. Cut and move.The pace is surprisingly quick. Every
time you think you’ve finished lugging the back packs, bikes and supplies to the
next section, the cutters and chuckers have moved ahead, attacking the debris.
At 5,000+ feet altitude, you catch yourself sucking air and stumbling to keep up. You dump Doug’s bike moving it up the trail. (Sorry, Doug.) You discover Ken’s Gas Gas 300 rides smooth as butter. And, despite the soreness and stiffness that will follow, you feel better than you’ve felt all month.
It’s this kind of volunteer activity that defines your club and the dedication of its members. You can’t wait to do more.
Thanks to everyone for your hard work in 2011.
There will be more in 2012.
NEWS www.rockymountaindirtriders.com
Next meetingOur Annual Club
Swap Meet, 6 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2,
Capitol Hill Community
Association Hall, 1531 21 Ave. NW,
Calgary.
Winter 2011
Alex, Ken, Tim, Dallas, Jared, Aaron, Doug, Aaron, Anthony and Marcel relax after an exhausting day clearing trail Oct. 29 at Ghost/Waiparous Public Land Use Zone.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Trailwork updateLand advocacyRider Profile
WE JUST KEEP ON WORKINGRMDRA volunteers cut and chuck deadfall off Ghost/Waiparous trails through the month of October
Many benefit from the work of a few, but it’s all in the name of ensuring our place in the woods
Everyone should be so lucky. But, in this case, it’s a sizable segment of Alberta’s outdoors enthusiasts who benefit.
I t ’s a l l in the name of ensur ing responsible offroad motorcycle (ORM) riders have good single track to ride on, while the places they ride are well prepared and looked after. Thousands of RMDRA volunteer hours aside, the fact that a substantial amount of material costs come from the pockets of the volunteers involved shows a selfless level of dedication to ORM stewardship in Alberta’s Public Land Use Zones.
Director, and ALBERTA OFF-HIGHWAY VEHICLE ASSOCIATION Vice President, Aaron Bauer spent all last winter doing a ground-up restoration of a donated PARKS ALBERTA TRAIL MACHINE. Thousands of dollars, raised by the club for the project, and over 1,000 hours went into the re-creation of this single-track, trail-maintaining beast. A huge asset.
McLEAN SIGNAGE INSTALLAaron “Bark” Brassard has WORKED
VERY HARD on this ALBERTA SUSTAINABLE RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT initiative
to better chart the trails at McLean Creek for the SRD map. We made GOOD PROGRESS. after more than 1,000 volunteer hours on this project alone. There’s still much to be done.
GHOST/WAIPAROUS TRAILWORKYou were spared few of the gory details
on the previous page. And that was just one day. The PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE does not lie. There were at least 12 more Ghost trail days in 2011. All involved gruelling work.
LAND ADVOCACYRMDRA Land Advocacy Director Jamie
Kromrey, past-president Mike Dobovich and Aaron Bauer have all been busy keeping up w i t h t h e g o i n g s o n a t t h e G H O S T WATERSHED ALLIANCE SOCIETY and OTHER GROUPS. They don’t get paid to do this.
EDUCATIONThrough the RMDRA GUIDED RIDES
PROGRAM, riders of all skill levels are learning how to ride responsibly. Riding technique, trail etiquette and proper machine preparation are all components of our comprehensive weekly ride program on Wednesday nights at McLean Creek during the summer. Since its inception in 2008, our G u i d e d R i d e s P r o g r a m h a s g r o w n exponentially and will continue to be a focal point of the club’s volunteer efforts. Turning out responsible, knowledgeable riders is what it’s all about. Don’t just ride. Ride right.
4,200 VOLUNTEER HOURS, AT LEAST
Four guys work saws down the trail as seven others follow up to chuck logs and hump gear.
Aaron (left) and Doug carve their way through a tangle of deadfall during volunteer trailwork day in the Ghost. Nice view.
Clearing a single-track path
Pumpkin patch. It was just a couple of days before Halloween in the Ghost.
Doug gets right in there with his saw, clearing a narrow single-track path for offroad motorcyclists in the Ghost/Waiparous Public Land Use Zone. Enough can’t be said about the volunteer efforts and selfless contribution of resources for this work.
exemplary service as RMDRA Trail Maintenance Director, Aaron Bauer is leaving his post to pursue other opportunities. The RMDRA Executive and Membership would like to thank Aaron for his selfless contributions and tireless dedication to our club and offroad motorcycling.
Thanks muchly, Aaron. See you on the trail.
2012 RMDRA EXECUTIVEPresident: Jacques Dupuis
V-P/Secretary: Brendan Nagle
Treasurer: Anthony Palaschuk
Promotions: Allison Parsons
Land Advocacy: Jamie Kromrey
Fundraising: Scott McLeod
Membership: Marcel Brassard
Guided Rides: Joe Franklin
Race Director: Sean Brenan
Exec Director: Dave Sheridan
At Large: Aaron Brassard
The Executive would like to welcome Tim Bruce aboard. Tim will join our Executive team as an At-Large Director to audit the various positions on the Executive he feels he’s best suited for in future.
As a first-year At-Large Director in 2011, Aaron Brassard co-ordinated sign install days at McLean Creek and educated other riders on how to do these installs. Given the substantial body of work organizing and participating in trailwork days during his at-large year, Brassard may just find himself going from an At Large Director to the Trail Maintenance portfolio.
RMDRA NEWS page 3
Lifetime Membership Award
Eek! It’s the zombie riders! Actually, no. Just a sketchy cel phone photo of our Guided Rides volunteers showing off the cool enduro jackets presented to them at the club AGM. (Back row from left) Brad, Aaron, Joe, Jacques, Deb and Mike. (Front from left) Dallas and Ken. Nice work, people. And nice jackets.
Membership Director Marcel Brassard presents Dylan Cartwright with the club’s Lifetime Membership Award. Cartwright, also known as Trailguy, has been instrumental in the construction, maintenance, inventorying and mapping of McLean Creek Public Land Use Zone trails. Congratulations, Dylan. And thanks for all your hard work.
SSRD PlanThe South Saskatchewan Regional District is continuing its public consultation process for its land-use framework. They have an ONLINE WORKBOOK that all RMDRA members are encouraged fill out. It’s this kind of public participation in the government’s planning process that will ensure our voice is heard. We need to send a clear message to government that we are paying attention to, and participating in, the process. DEADLINE IS DEC. 19, SO GET ON IT.
RMDRA NEWS conceived, designed, assembled, written and edited by club V-P Brendan Nagle. All material, except that credited to outside sources, is property of the RMDRA. Reproduction and redistribution of our stuff without our permission is a serious transgression and puts you at the top of our roost list.
2011 IN THE REARVIEWThe Executive rotation brought the
club three new, sharp and productive leaders into the fold in 2011.
Director-at-Large Aaron Brassard co-ordinated and worked on the sign intersection installs at McLean Creek Public Land Use Zone. It was a steep learning curve, but we now have a firm grasp on what it takes to get this SRD initiative in the ground and done. Huge.
New Membership Director Marcel Brassard worked tirelessly throughout the year in what is one of the more demanding portfolios on the Executive. His post is not seasonal. It’s 24/7. We had just over 250 memberships spread among more than 500 members in 2011. Our best numbers yet. Marcel also launched the club’s first-ever “High Steaks” Poker Run. Not bad, rookie. Not bad at all.
And first-year Guided Rides Director Joe Franklin took the high bar former GR
boss, and current President, Jacques Dupuis set and moved it up a notch or two. Our Guided Rides continue to be one of the main lures for catching new members. Awesome job, Joe.
It’s very reassuring to know there are knowledgable, productive rank-and-file RMDRA members ready to step up and replace outgoing/advancing execs. It allows former execs like Mike Dobovich and Aaron Bauer to focus on the provincial level and ensure our public officials understand we are organized, knowledgable and productive.
Increasingly, in the eyes of public land-use officials, we are becoming a valuable asset at the public land-use table. And it’s attributable to people like the above-mentioned newcomers and those who’ve been serving on the Executive for a few years now.
