Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

WORCA board returns with no changes

New record for membership
64157_l

There are few organizations in town that demand as much from their volunteer board members as the Whistler Off Road Cycling Association, with a packed calendar of events from April to October. And yet it's generally pretty easy to find people willing to step into those positions when they open up every year at the AGM.

However, that wasn't even an issue this year, as every single member of the 2009-2010 board agreed to return for the 2010-2011 season under now second-term president John Blok.

It was a different story last year with six new people on the board.

"We have lots of jobs to complete, and with six new board members it probably took half a year for everyone to get up to speed with everything that was going on," said Blok. "Then everything started to snowball, and the good news is we've already got some of the things done for next year that need to be done."

The meeting started with reports from directors.

 

Money in the bank

WORCA will finish the season with a small surplus after raising more money than budgeted through memberships and the annual bike swap, then spending more than budgeted for online registration and credit card fees and for WORCA's youth dirt camps.

In total, WORCA spent over $19,000 on trail work this year, plus another $1,434 on trail supplies. That number could increase in the next few weeks as work continues on several projects.

WORCA's youth dirt camps raised $40,640 from registration, plus another $13,553 from the annual bike swap, which was almost equal to the $52,387.79 spent on the camps. However, WORCA contributed additional resources to programs like coaching for the high school team and four youth Toonie Ride nights.

Arguably the biggest bang for WORCA's buck were volunteer trail days. WORCA spent slightly less than $300 to host trail sweeps and maintenance days through the season, but were rewarded with an estimated 540 hours of volunteer work - the equivalent of 13 weeks for a paid trail contractor, and a value over $13,000.

James Brooks is returning to the board as treasurer for a seventh year.

 

New record for members

WORCA set a new record for membership with 1,515 - eight more than the previous record set last year. According to membership director Steve Boorne, that number includes 1,154 adults and 361 juniors. Of the adults, there were 796 males and 357 females. For juniors the breakdown was 246 boys and 115 girls.

For next year Boorne will be looking to tighten up WORCA's insurance policy to better reflect events like Phat Wednesday races and individual races held through the season. WORCA may also consider adjusting fees slightly, after keeping them frozen at $40 for an adult for the past six years.

 

Keeping trails open

It was a busy year for WORCA's planning director Dan Griffin, with issues like the Community Forest (WORCA now has a seat on the Forest and Wildlands Advisory Committee) and the province's work to create a trail standard and maintenance policy that would encompass all of the Squamish-Lillooet Regional District. As well, Griffin has been representing WORCA in the Official Community Plan update underway in Whistler.

The Community Forest has already given WORCA special status. If any trails are being affected, WORCA will be invited to walk the land before cuts or road building take place and will be given the resources to restore the trails.

Blok noted that, "There are very few places in the world where (mountain bike clubs) get that level of access."

 

More than races

In 2009-2010, WORCA hosted 20 Toonie Rides, a Halloween Toonie, and provided insurance to three events - The Four Queens, Richie's Rally and the West Side Wheel Up. As well, WORCA is partnered with Whistler Blackcomb in hosting the Phat Wednesday and PhaSt Wednesday series. And WORCA provided insurance to the Wild Willies Rides taking place every Monday through the season.

Overall the number of Toonie riders is down compared to last year with an average of 160 per race. Race director Tony Horn said that was actually a good thing.

"Ten years ago our goal was to show the community that we're about more than (Toonie Rides), that it's about supporting the trails," said Horn. "If our numbers are down and our membership is up, that's a sign we're going in the right direction."

For next year Horn is looking to put more emphasis on hosting a meeting to pick a date for Toonie Rides, something that got lost in the Olympics last February. He also wants to come up with ways to draw more attention to sponsors this season, as well as to encourage more sponsors to get involved.

Horn has also been working on ways to make races safer and will tighten up the new rules for Toonie Ride hosts that they used this season.

Horn's counterpart, Director of Freeride Benoit Renault, was in charge of organizing Youth Toonie rides, helping Whistler Blackcomb host their downhill series and organizing adult skills clinics. For next season Renault plans to stay the course and put more emphasis on adult clinics. He wants to add additional bike maintenance workshops and more clinic dates - potentially focusing more on specific skills rather than general riding.

The Phat/Phast Wednesday races were more popular than ever with 1,375 riders in eight events, and an average of 170 riders per night. Seb Fremont, the race director for Whistler Blackcomb, said both series will be back next year, possibly with some additional events. The goal, he says, was to make the park less intimidating to cross-country riders. "The bike park is not just what you see in the village with the big jumps," he said.

A lot of downhill-only riders are also coming out to cross-country events, he said, and it's fairly normal for visitors to the resort to bring two bikes.

 

Trails to everywhere

WORCA's trail budget was slightly smaller this year, by about $16,000, which had more to do with the late start to the season and the fact their trail contractor was out of town. Still, everything that needed to be done was completed and almost every trail received some work this year, ranging from brushing to the installation of new bridges and other improvements.

Under Trail Director Jerome David, some of the new trail sections completed include the Area 51 trail into the Cut Yer Bars area, with Myrtle Philip students assisting the effort to replace the trail that was lost to the new bus depot; improvements to the Yummy Numby access to Comfortably Numb; and a shortcut to bypass the middle section of Comfortably Numb which was installed for safety reasons. As well, work is now underway to reconnect Shit Happens after the trail was disrupted by work at Rainbow and Baxter Creek.

The bad news is that A River Runs Through It will require some major work after the river bridge was undermined by a signifcant rainstorm earlier in the week. In the long term the trail will likely need to be rerouted and another bridge crossing installed up river. The Resort Municipality of Whistler is taking the lead on the project.

 

All for the kids

WORCA's youth portfolio was huge this year, with WORCA providing assistance to Whistler Secondary in coaching the high school team as well as hosting a high school series race and the provincial championships.

The annual WORCA bike swap helps to support WORCA's youth programs, and last spring's swap broke all records with over 300 bikes sold and $120,000 in sales of bikes and gear over a six-hour period. That raised over $13,000 for the season.

The main focus were the WORCA youth dirt camps, which came close to selling out this year with 260 participants over the course of the summer.

WORCA youth director Craig Mackenzie also focused on the Whistler Secondary team, providing coaching and other assistance for athletes.

Next season, he wants to enhance the value of the bike swap for downhill bikes.

"There were 70 to 80 downhill bikes that weren't sold, so there's an opportunity there if we can work out how to sell more downhill bikes through the swap," he said.

The 2011 swap is already scheduled for April 23, although all of the other details are still being worked out. For the second year local bike shops and rental shops are invited to set up tents at the swap to sell bikes and other gear. They will be asked to donate a portion of their earnings to WORCA.

As well, Mackenzie is looking at how WORCA can support the youth in the community by assisting with after school programs run out of the elementary schools.

 

Other board positions include Vanessa Carrington (PR) and Member at Large Paul Rawlinson.

Blok also gave credit to the work of past boards and to its two paid employees - secretary Kim Myers and executive director Anne Price - for keeping things on track.

The first order of business for WORCA's board is the organization of the annual Halloween Toonie Ride, scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 28. More details in the coming weeks.