January 28, 2008 – There are two upcoming DMBA meetings. The first is on February 2 at the Community Room upstairs at the Uxbridge Zehrs from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. We are calling this the “what do we want” meeting. The DMBA has been around long enough, and has enough of a profile that it is time to go to the riders (whether a member or not) and ask: what do you want?

So think about the following:
– What do you want from the DMBA?
– What do you want for the DMBA?
– What do you want for Mountain Biking in the Durham Region?

Think about these three things in the time frame of next year, the next three years, and the next five years. From this the DMBA will draft a strategic plan. We are only interested in ideas right now, no matter how wacky or ill conceived they may seem. We’ll sort out what makes the strategic plan, and how to achieve objectives at a later date.

The second meeting is on March 1 at the Goodwood Community Center (Highway 47 and Regional Road 21) from 10:00 am to noon. We are calling this the “meet the other guy” meeting. Mike Bender, Supervisor, Conservation Land Planning at the TRCA, and Mike Tucker, Chair of the Glen Major/Walker Wood Stewardship Committee will be in attendance to answer your questions. This is your best chance to have your questions answered about what has been happening at Glen Major, Walker Woods, Brock Tract, and Dagmar. The format will be question and answer.

The DMBA is asking for all riders to submit some tough questions that you’d like answered. Some ideas: the night riding ban, why is riding only allowed on some TRCA properties, current trail building at 3 Rocks, lack of racing… Please submit your questions via PM to me. We’re closing submissions on Feb 18 to give Mike and Mike a chance to prepare good answers for you. We are not trying to catch people in a “gotcha” moment. We want a good dialog between the cycling community and the owners/managers/stewards of the land we ride on.

As usual all the details can be found on the DMBA website. www.durhammountainbiking.ca