Sometimes we get questions along the lines of “what have you done for me lately?” In fact we’ve even had people not renew their membership because they felt we were not really doing all that much. We try to keep everyone up to date throughout the year, but sometimes the big picture of all that we accomplish is missed when you only get it piecemeal. So with out further ado, here is the list of what the DMBA did in 2009.

Membership:

• Increased our membership from 100 to 150 regular members. The more members we have the more political clout we have, and the more influence we’ll have with land owners. Renew for 2010 and sign up your riding friends if they aren’t already members.
• All the local shops are corporate members. This includes shops in both the Durham and York Regions such as Northern Cycle, Impala Cycle, Cyclepath Markham, and Bicycles Plus.
• Working with the Durham Chapter of the (former) FlyGurlz club to merge the two clubs together.

Trail Work:

• Led the first ever trail build in Durham Forest. We put 500m of new trail in the ground restoring the fun factor to a trail that was damaged in past logging operations. Go out and enjoy “Logs Over Easy” next time you’re in Durham Forest.
• Led a Fall trail build in Durham Forest. We put another stretch of new trail in the ground connecting “The Pines” more directly with “The Maze.”
• Closures in “The Maze” to improve traffic flow so people won’t get turned around as much.
• Addition of “Single Track” signs on the main mountain bike trail in Glen Major (TJ’s Way, Lady Di’s Memorial, Snakes no Ladders, etc.) to indicate the trail is  a preferred route for mountain biking.
• Raised $2000 dollars to as part of the matching funds for a National Trail Coalition Federal Trail Grant. The total raised (including matching funds) was $25,000 that went toward the construction of new trails in the East Duffins Headwaters properties. This includes a new “Ridge Loop” in Glen Major and two other connectors to the trail system.
• Participated in a number of volunteer builds including those in Don Valley, Seaton Hiking Trail, the (new) Wilder Property, Sirs Sam’s Ski Hill (Haliburton area) and Joyride 150 Bike Park.

Advocacy:

• Continued with our commitments on the local stewardship committee for both the East Duffins Headwater properties (Glen Major/Walker Woods), Durham Forest, East Cross Forest, and (new for 2009) Seaton Hiking Trail.
• Led a major Earth Day garbage clean-up on the 7th Uxbridge Concession in Uxbridge. We had local land owners come out and participate and thank us for our work. We have plans to make this a regular event and “adopt the 7th.”
• Met with the land owners of the Seaton Hiking Trail (Ontario Realty Corp, City of Pickering, and TRCA) to move towards allowing mountain biking as a legitimate use on the Trail.
• Made initial contact with other land owners who have nearby land such as Central Lake Ontario CA and Ganaraska CA.
• Participated in two media profiles of trails and mountain biking. One for Rogers Local Access TV, another for Global TV’s “Cool Communities” feature.

Riding:

• Produced our second run of DMBA Jerseys. This year we had short sleeve and long sleeve versions. We sold out again and are taking orders for 2010. Perhaps we will do a women’s specific style this time.
• Regular Wednesday night and Saturday morning weekly group rides, we would have anywhere from 5-20 riders regularly.
• Regular Winter Saturday and Sunday morning snowshoeing in and around the Uxbridge wilderness. Regularly attended by 10-15 ’shoers.
• Second annual DMBA Summer Picnic at Kent’s house. He showed us his local trails in King City.
• Road trips to Buckwallow, 3 Stage, and Hardwood.
• Members participated in a number of team events including in the Summer and Fall Epic 8 hour events, Crank the Shield, and the ORTA Team Adventure Relay (which we won!).
• Assisted a number of event promoters with course set-up, tear down, and sweeping, including Substance Projects Marathon Series, Paul’s Dirty Enduro, and the UHA Bike & Beast Event.
• Hosted our third annual Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. The turn out this year was 99 kids.

What will we do in 2010. More of the same, but also some new things as well. We’ve got some interesting ideas, but we need members and the broader mountain biking community to get involved if they’re to come to fruition.