November 12/97 23:34 pm - B.C. News, Nova Scotia News

Posted by Editor on 11/12/97
 

B.C. News  November 13th Burnaby City is finally getting around to talking about the future of Burnaby Mountain Park and what place, if any, mountain bikers will have there. They need a lot of education and mountain bikers need to let them know we are there for good. The first public meeting/open house will be from 5pm - 9pm at Cameron Rec Centre (off Bell Street south of the Lougheed Mall in Burnaby). It's important that we have another great turnout like we had for Delta Watershed. Letters or e-mails sent to EMP expressing mountain bikers opinions will also be presented to the Parks Board. Feel free to contribute but don't forget to attend!  Nov 30th Ft. Langley BC Cyclecross Champs High-Output 538-6415   1997 Bicycle Nova Scotia Mountain Bike Series - End of Season Wrap-Up (courtesy Randy Gray)  The 1997 BNS Mountain Bike Committee consisted of...Randy Gray, VP Mountain Bike Andrew Feenstra, Events Coordinator Tracy Gray, Media/Results Coordinator Duane Forth, Provincial Coach Kevin Eaton, Chief Official Sue Earle-Bishop, Female Athlete Rep. Terry Tomlin, Male Athlete Rep. Jim Huestis, Trails/Land Access Coordinator   Wow, another great season of Nova Scotia mountain biking is over. As the days get shorter and people start rigging up their off-road lighting systems on their "winter beaters" for those night rides (races) it's time to look back at the 97 season and put to paper how much fun we had. The 1997 calendar originally consisted of 16 races located throughout the province of Nova Scotia. Two were canceled due to weather (May 11, too much snow/August 3, too much sun) and one was rescheduled due to poor course conditions (May 4 Grey Mountain Challenge). The best seven of a competitors results counted towards the 1997 BNS Mountain Bike Points Series. Points were based on the competitor's time divided into the winner's time (UCI system). The series went from May 24 to October 11. The usual story in Nova Scotia goes like "Wow, it would have been a perfect course if it hadn't of rained for 3 days prior to the event". This year we saw a nearly month long ban on woods travel that cancelled one race and almost another. I think this is the first summer in many that my drivetrain has endured so well.   Lots of fiercely contested categories this year, with many people coming back race after race. The Senior Expert Men saw two or three people going strong for the overall lead and a group of 4-5 fighting over over the rest. Lisa McInnis pretty much dominated the Senior Expert Women field, winning 9 of the 12 events she entered. Arch-rival Sherry Huybers wasn't too far behind, though. The Senior Sport Women finally had some growth, probably thanks to the formation of the Singletrack MudPack. Many new faces and more than one made the jump to the Expert Women's field before the end of the season (Nancy Austin and Bonnie Sutherland).   Master Sport Men: Peter Campbell won all ten of the events that he entered. Enough Said. Veteran Sport Men, close battle between Shawn Skelhorn and Jim Bratrud for first place and even closer between Tom Kavanaugh and John O'Reilly for third place. Both the Veteran and Masters categories are seeing some growth, guess we're all getting older.   The Cadets were dominated by Kevin Hagell, who won all seven of the events he entered, enough to clench the overall title. But don't forget Mark Foster who won 5 of the 9 he entered (all events that Kevin Hagell didn't enter, coincidence?). Both Kevin and Mark can continue their rivalry next year, in the JUNIOR category please.   Ok, so now it's time to plug in those VistaLites and stud those tires. Between night rides be looking out for a tentative '98 schedule which looks like its going to be as busy as the '97 one. Some things to note:- Only members of BNS were counted in the points series. This excluded One-Event membership users and people from out of province who held CCA licenses. Much to the dismay of many out of province CCA License holders (hello Kaz). This policy will be reviewed for the 1998 season.  Andrew Feenstra and Randy Gray put together a new and improved Race Organizer's Guide. This one is based upon a guide put together by Ed Rushton. The format is essentially the same but more detail was put into it. Thanks to BC Cycling for providing their Organizer's Guide for our use. The '97 Guide would answer almost any question regarding holding an event in Nova Scotia.  Tracy Gray sold our BNS license plates at the first few races to ensure the correct plates were given out. This involved showing up VERY early at races. Plates were assigned to racers who finished in the top 10 of their category in 1996. This was initiated by Randy Gray and supervised/organized by Tracy Gray at the first few races.  The points series was a lot of work this year. As was mentioned above, with 14 races there were a lot of races to keep track of and a lot of points to tabulate. Thanks to Tracy Gray for putting it all together. Thanks to the organizer's for getting all the results to us in prompt fashion. There would have been nothing worse than to have an event coming up and not have received points from a race the previous weekend.  Also, the BNSMBC purchased a bulletin board to post race results and standings on. I've been bugging the committee about this for 2 years now. HA! Finally. I'll continue to take it to races as long as I can borrow a car big enough to fit it into.  On April 5th and 6th Andrew Feenstra and Randy Gray organized a Mountain Bike Commissaire's Course taught by Fred Seemann. Though well attended, it would be better if we could get non-racers to attend the Commissaire's course. Most people who took the course ended up wanting to race more than commissaire which made it increasingly hard for Kevin Eaton, our Chief Official, to assign commissaire's to events. Tracy Gray was asked to be chief commissaire for the Provincial Championships at the last minute and did an excellent job despite the short notice. Tracy Gray also found herself in the position of Chief Commissaire for the New Glasgow race, a race which she anticipated racing in until about 10pm the night before the event. Now that's a sacrifice.  Thanks for commissairing events also go to Kevin Eaton, Chris Steeves, Randy Gray, Jason Walker, Steve Dickinson, Lee Brown, Julie Dort, Deanna Schofield, Jim Bratrud,and Heather Collins. Without these people there would be no races at all. Or at least none part of a provincial race series. Perhaps next year when we have a course we will see more of you present. It would be better to get non-racers involved who have a knowledge of the sport, such as parents of younger racers etc.  An effort was made this year to qualify our higher level commissaires for the teaching of courses. Fred Seemann not only instructed commissaires but instructed Kevin Eaton, Jim Bratrud, and Chris Steeves in the process of course conducting. This will make holding commissaire's courses easier and cheaper for BNS in the future. Thanks to Fred Seamann for coming to Nova Scotia and getting us on course.  Provincial Team: For 1997 the BNSMBC further developed its Provincial Team Selection Criteria. Thanks to Duane Forth, Sue Earle-Bishop, and Ed Rushton for working out the details. Our Provincial Team (MTB) consisted of Terry Tomlin, Ed Rushton, Travis Field, Lisa McInnis, Sherry Huybers, Andrew Walker, and Craig Turner. Our committee must continue to refine the team and its selection as the face of BNS changes. We are still in need of Elite Athlete Grant requirements and definitions. These are issues which should be dealt with in the following year.  Canada Games Team: The BNS Mountain Bike sector provided financial and coaching support for the 1997 Canada Games team. Duane Forth worked as the mountain bike coach. Andrew Feenstra was the main driving force in getting things rolling for the Canada Games. Pat Collins finished 5th in the mountain bike event.  BNS saw the formation of an all-female mountain bike club this year, the SingleTrack MudPack. This club can also be proud to say that of all the clubs in Nova Scotia it has the largest number of BNS licensed riders. Contact club president Sue Earle-Bishop at (902)755-3518 for more information on club activities.  Bill Hurley, a BNS member, represented Canada on the National team at the World Mountain Bike Championships at Chateau - D'Oex, Switzerland.  Jerseys were purchased for commissaires at races. Three different sizes with "BNS Mountain Bike Commissaire" on the front.  Randy Gray has been busy on the phone attempting to put a 1998 Mountain Bike Schedule together prior to 1998, so stay tuned!