November 29/04 9:24 am - Burlington Dirt Jumps Update

Posted by Editoress on 11/29/04
 

Burlington Dirt Jumps Update
Courtesy Debbie Albrough

It has been a long time since I wrote a newsletter so I thought I would keep you updated on the latest and greatest from the executive of Burlington Dirtjumps.

Since August we have been struggling to find an insurance carrier who would write a policy for us with no luck. Just as a note of interest both Ed and myself are insurance brokers and even we couldn't find insurance for the track. We investigated joining the OCA as a sanctioned track, but your feedback told us you didn't want sanctioned racing.

We begged and pleaded with the City of Burlington to cover our insurance as in years previously to no avail. The only way we (BDJ) could be covered under a COB policy is if the COB (City of Burlington) would run and operate our track. As the COB is not generally interested in offering programming for an extreme sport and the costs involved this too was not an option.

So where does that leave us..................

We are joining the Ontario Cycling Association (OCA) www.ontariocycling.org as a non competitive club. Which means we will operate as normal with no points / mandatory racing.

We still have to go in front of COB city council in January where the ultimate future of Burlington Dirtjumps will be decided by the councillors of Burlington - so to put it bluntly - we are still up in the air until after council votes to keep us open in January.

Pending a positive outcome from that meeting you are probably asking yourself how does that affect you...........

Our track will still be run by the same people (myself included). We are looking for more people to be involved with the programming and operations of our track. If you are interested please contact me.

Our track will have some rule changes which is a result of becoming members of the OCA. The most important rule change will be no air. Yes that is what I said - NO AIR. The OCA insurance policy will not cover any claim which was the result of "air" - what does that mean - you can still catch air going around the track but there will no longer be any big air contests and free style on the last jump will no longer be permitted. We must create a contingency plan in order to stop riders from jumping freestyle. This rule is something that we as an executive MUST abide by - Ed and Jim (crash) included. I know it stinks but this is our only option keeping our track open. This was a hard decision the executive hashed over for three hours. We realize it is not the greatest option but sometimes you have to give up to gain - and this was a perfect example of that.

Another rule change will be mandatory full face helmets - that is an OCA rule that once again we MUST abide by. We are currently working on getting discounted helmets available - more details will follow.

The last major change will be a new fee to cover riders insurance - this fee is over and beyond the admittance fee. This fee will have to be paid annually per season. We are currently working on a user pay structure - more details will follow. This fee is not outrageous and is affordable by all.

A small change (which we are currently still negotiating) maybe a name change of BDJ - we want to keep our name but the OCA may ask us to change it to Burlington BMX - we will keep you posted on that one as well. We all love the BDJ name and would prefer to keep it.

A note of interest some of you maybe interested in -- The OCA is hiring BMX Growth and Development Officer for more details please visit their website - http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/news3/newslisting.php?id=49

I want to apologize for not keeping you updated in a more frequent basis but the time commitment fighting hard to keep our track open and running has taken a huge chunk of time from Ed and Myself and the rest of the committee. While you wonder what has been happening we have been working in the sidelines to fight to keep our track up and running with limited changes to the programs we offer to date.

The executive for the 2005 season is as follows:

Debbie (Me) - President
Ed - Vice President
Mark - Treasurer
Jim - safety and first aid
Jim and Dave - Maintenance
Aaron - Promotion and Graphics
Shaun - Executive at large
Phil - Executive at large
Hersh - Executive at large

Please be advised that the maintenance of our track is very laborious and requires many hands to keep it in great shape - we really could use all the help we can get - if you are interested in joining the maintenance crew please let me know - Maintenance usually takes place on a Saturday / Sunday or off night - your generous offer of helping us is greatly appreciated.

Without our parent volunteers we could not operate - for all of you who helped out during ride nights we truly truly appreciate you - we are always looking for more volunteers to help during ride nights and race events - please let me know if you are interested - Next year will be run a bit differently as in years past - Ed who will be responsible for volunteer scheduling will be assigning interested volunteers for a specific night - far too many ride nights we were just barely staffed adequately - please if you are interested drop me a line.

We must have two people at every ride night with a current first aid certificate - we will be offering a course in the end of January for those volunteers who would like to obtain their first aid certificate - if you are interested please email me.

Well I think that is enough rambling for now - I will keep you updated as changes happen - as always please feel free to drop me a line anytime. Please think good thoughts in January when we go in front of council - the future is now in the councillors hands.

Have a great Holiday and a safe winter.

Debbie
debbie@burlingtondirtjumps.com

www.burlingtondirtjumps.com