Bike Park Work Bee: Notice of Temporary Closures

Temporary Closures

The Hinton Bike Park will have some sections temporarily closed during our Fall Work Bee.  The two main areas will be the Dirt Jumps and Flow Master (circled red on map below).  Other areas may also be closed, depending on work being done elsewhere within the park.

Hinton Bike Park Work Bee

When: Sunday, September 25th from 10:00 am until 3:00 pm.

The time has come to repair our bike park back to its once loved state. All the help is needed. Rider or not, anyone is wanted. More people the better our amazing park will be. The clean up will be September 25th from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm. Hope to see some friendly faces there. Remember to bring gloves, a water bottle, light snacks, and an eagerness to do some dirty work.   Let us know if you are able to help out!  

Click here to let us know you will volunteer for the work bee!

Fall Work Bee - Volunteer Interest

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The Dirt Jumps and Flow Master (circled in red) will be the two main areas closed during the work bee on Sunday, September 25th.  Other areas may be temporarily closed as well.

Upcoming Events

Monday Ladies Rides

• When: Every Monday
• Time: Meet at 6:45pm and be ready to ride for 7:00pm  (Rides start earlier in September - check calendar!)
• Where: Hinton Bike Park, Parking Lot
• Who: Ladies of all skill levels welcome  (sorry NO Boys allowed)
• Why: This is just for the Ladies to go for a ride together and help each other become better riders with No Boys allowed, so go have some fun. (also feel free to also come to out on Wednesday Nights)

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Wednesday Group Rides

• When: Every Wednesday
• Time: Meet at 6:45pm and be ready to ride for 7:00pm  (Rides start earlier in September - check calendar!)
• Where: Hinton Bike Park, Parking Lot
• Who: Everyone of all skill levels welcome 
• Why: To have some FUN by getting out and riding with other people and riding new trails. Our goal for club rides is to get more people out on the trails enjoying mountain biking.

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Hinton Sprockids

• When:  Thursdays from 6:00pm until 7:15pm (until June 30th, then back 4 weeks in September)
• Where: Hinton Bike Park
• What:  2016 marks the fifth season for the Hinton Sprockids program.  We are stoked to continue this program in Hinton and look forward to seeing Hinton's bike culture grow with kids of all ages.
• Who: kids aged 2 to 13, all abilities (sorry, registration is closed!)

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Busy Hinton Bike Park Day

Devon's DBA Bears and Edmonton's Juventus Sprockids are going to be at the bike park all afternoon of Sunday, May 29th.  These two groups have been making the annual trip to Hinton as part part of their programming.

Expect a busy afternoon at the park!   Line-ups on Flow Master will be a given!

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Muscular Dystrophy Slope Wars Challenge

A group of local individuals is hosting an 'MD Slope Wars Challenge' at the Hinton Bike Park on June 4th.  This event is in conjunction with the annual MD Walk, BBQ, and Car Wash at the Hinton Fire Hall on Eaton Road. The MD Walk is Saturday, June 4th from 10am - 2pm.

• When:  Saturday, June 4th, 4:00pm.
• Where: Hinton Bike Park, Slope Wars
• Who: Two age categories: 11-15 and 16+. Men's and Women's divisions.
• How:  Registration is by donation with a suggested minimum donation of $5.  Donations of $20 or more will be eligible for a charitable tax reciept.

Registration can be done from 11:00am-1:00pm at the MD Walk (Hinton Fire Hall) on Saturday morning or at the bike park from 4:00-4:30pm.   Come out and take the challenge or just cheer on your favorite rider!

See you there!

If anyone has any questions, please contact Stacey Cherry.

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Check out our Events Calendar and Stay up to Date!

HMBA Recipient of Hinton Community Grant Program Funding

The Hinton Mountain Bike Association was one of the successful applicants for the Spring 2016 intake of the Hinton Community Grant Program.    The grant will be used for parking lot upgrades which includes the installation of a light standard at the Hinton Bike Park parking lot to provide a safer area for riders in twilight hours.   During the winter months, HMBA has expanded the use of its trails and purchased grooming equipment that will be stored in a second seacan, which is also part of the funding request. 

Three local Hinton businesses have committed in-kind labour and materials towards this project.  These include Caylor Contracting, Ascendant Renewable Energy and Ever Enterprises.

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Kevin Myles, HMBA's Trail Coordinator, is stoked about the grant and the work being done to make the Hinton Bike Park even more awesome!

Maureen Harper, HMBA's Director at Large, has been very busy preparing the parking lot and Skills Area in preparation of the light standard and the additional seacan.  Her focus is one of of beautification, making the Hinton Bike Park more welcoming and appealing to all visitors.

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Holly and Karyn were very busy painting all the bike racks.

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Gabby and Ellen made good work on clearing Stinger - make sure this relatively new trail is on your to-do list!

On Saturday, April 7th, about a dozen volunteers worked all morning by removing and piling brush, painting, clearing, stone removal and establishing a short foot path behind the parking lot.  Maureen thanks her volunteers' efforts and commented that "one volunteer is worth 3 employees - that is how hard these volunteers worked!"

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Rocks, rocks and more rocks.  Julie and Gabrielle rocked it!

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Workers from the Town of Hinton will be in and out of the park to remove many of the wood piles generated that sunny morning.    HMBA thanks all it`s bike park visitors for their patience as the work is being done.

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AGM April 21st

AGM Announcement

The Hinton Mountain Bike Association Annual General Meeting will be held Thursday, April 21st at Lakeview Inn & Suites.  Doors open at 6:30pm.  AGM will start at 7:15pm.

2016 HMBA Memberships will be available for purchase.

• Individual Memberships:  $25
• Family Memberships:  $75

Memberships can be purchased ahead of time from our online shop.  Pick up your 2016 membership cards and stickers at the AGM!  If you are unable to attend our AGM, the membership cards and stickers will be mailed out to you after April 21st.

HMBA Apparel will also be available for purchase at the AGM.

New this year: Smaller-sized 'member' stickers!!

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Great door prizes!!  Including a Trek run bike donated by Vicious for our youngest members.

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Thank you to our sponsors for the great AGM door prizes!

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Thank you to Lakeview Inn & Suites for donating the use of their meeting room for our AGM!

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Thank you to The Hinton Voice and Ouiprint for designing and printing our AGM posters!

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And saving the best for last, a great BIG thank you to all our membership card discount sponsors!!

Canadian Rockies Mountain Bike Fest wins 2nd in 2016 Entrepreneurship Challenge

Canmore, AB – The Canadian Rockies Mountain Bike Fest, a developing mega event that will bring Alberta’s booming mountain bike industry to Canmore won second place at last night’s Travel Alberta’s 2016 Growing Rural Tourism Conference’s Entrepreneurship Challenge in Camrose.

Owner/Operator Wanda Bogdane explained, “This is an important accomplishment for the Fest. We’ve had amazing support so far, but an event of this magnitude requires seed money to develop. Having mentorship will also be helpful to move the project into execution at the standard we want.”

Rancho Relaxo Resort of Rocky Mountain House took the first place win and Discovery Wildlife Park of Innisfail won third place. Ricardo Miranda, Minister of Culture and Tourism tweeted “Congrats to ‪@TaimiSoil‪@wandabogdane ‪@DiscoveryWild-winners of the 2016 Entrepreneurship Challenge, presented at GRT.‪#ABtourism”

 The Canadian Rockies Mountain Bike Fest

The Fest will be a buzz of activities over a multi-day period at the end of June (2017) and will include:

• Demo-licious Days: “This is where mountain bikers will come to sample the tastiest bikes of the season,” explained Bogdane.
• The Plaid Goat Jump Jam where jumpers of all ages and abilities will come to strut their stuff and put on a great show
• A craft beer tent and great coffee to quench attendees’ thirst 
• Coaching clinics with the best coaches from around the region
• Group rides to make sure festival takers get their “ride-on” and awesome activities hosted by local bike shops
• Partnerships with “for fun” existing mountain bike races
• Trail care days involving local and regional trail builders and designers, with support from the International Mountain Bike Association
• A kids activity area with a pump track and make your own park dirt pit
• Vendors galore showcasing the newest bike goods, food, jewellery, bike art and more

“The Fest will build on the Town of Canmore’s Bike Fest, held in previous years and will add in the regional piece to create an inclusive, for-fun celebration of mountain biking culture for the bike industry and its passion people from around the province,” said Bogdane. “Mountain bike tourists who love to travel to ride will be a big part of the mix too.”

A regional approach to mountain biking is new for Alberta, but common across North America and the world. “The Fest can help fill this gap and will create a new mechanism for our beautiful province to further diversify our tourism economy,” explained Bogdane. “The Canadian Rockies Mountain Bike Fest will bring together mountain bike alliances, destination marketing organizations, coaches, clubs and industry so all of the great mountain bike experiences in the region can be found in one mammoth package.”

The Canadian Rockies Mountain Bike Fest is seeking sponsors and partners for individual components and the festival as a whole. “There are a ton of different ways to be involved, and we’ve had interest from the bike industry and non-industry companies who want to reach the core demographic of a loyal affluent group mostly aged 35-55. However, with something of this scale, we’ll continue to build out our sponsorship program over the next year,” said Bogdane.

For more information contact:

Wanda Bogdane

403-609-7127

wanda@aspire2achieve.ca   

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Background on the Growing Rural Tourism Conference

 The 2016 conference featured the second installment of the Entrepreneurship Challenge, a competition to help operators develop new tourism experiences. Ten finalists presented their business plans to industry experts and received feedback during the conference on Feb 23.

The top three winners were announced and received cash prizes and one year of mentoring to assist in the development of their products. The winners included:

·       1st place: Rancho Relaxo Resort, Rocky Mountain House

·       2nd place: Canadian Rockies Mountain Bike Fest, Canmore

·       3rd place: Discovery Wildlife Park, Innisfail

“Tourism is an important industry in our province—and a key factor in diversifying Alberta’s economy. The Growing Rural Tourism Conference develops and supports tourism experiences that are off the beaten path, bringing economic benefits to rural communities. Innovation and the expansion of travel experiences in Alberta will facilitate the growth of our burgeoning tourism industry.”

Ricardo Miranda, Minister of Culture and Tourism

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism is committed to expanding the tourism industry and maximizing the opportunities tourism creates in every region of the province. Working with industry partners the goal is to grow tourism in Alberta to a $10.3 billion industry by 2020.

Links:

http://www.alberta.ca/release.cfm?xID=4025464652ABC-A253-BECE-AAD346EB3BA41FDB#.Vst9HEACA1A.twitter

Photos for the winners can be found at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/albertaculture/sets/72157664276965799

 Media inquiries:

·       Beryl Cullum 780-644-5588Communications Director, Culture and Tourism

·       Chuck Erman 780-672-3640General Manager, Camrose Regional Exhibition

Winter Fat Bike Demo & Skills Challenge

FAT BIKE DEMO & SKILLS CHALLENGE

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Wondering what all the fat bike excitement is about? Join HMBA at Maxwell and take one out for a spin. Try your skills at an obstacle course and earn fat biking bragging rights.

This event is part of the Hinton Winter Magic Festival.   There will be a fire pit & music also!

Event run by Hinton Mountain Bike Association
Where: Maxwell Lake
Time: Sunday, February 7th, 1-4pm

A post-demo ride is planned after the event (after 4pm) as well.

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Many participated in the fun teamed race in the 2015 winter event.

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Fat biking is definitely worth trying and so much fun!!

ALSO ON SAME DAY/PLACE:

LANTERN FESTIVAL 

Join us for an evening skate around Maxwell Lake where student decorated Lantern Bags will light your way.
Event run by YRAF & Maxwell Lake Skating Society
Where: Maxwell Lake
Time: 5-8pm

VIMFF - Best of Mountain Biking

The Hinton Mountain Bike Association is bringing back the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival (VIMFF) - Best of Mountain Biking.

We will be hosting the movies on the afternoon of Oct. 3rd at Boston Pizza in Hinton. This event will take place on the lounge side, so you must be 18 years old to attend.   Event begins at 1pm.

Tickets are $30 each and include entry to the movies, pizza buffet and one free bevvie.  Limited number of tickets available.

Tickets are available at Boston Pizza, Vicious Cycle Hinton or from one of the Executive Board members (Shawn, Julie, Marie-Soleil, Jenn, or Stacey).

Thank you to Boston Pizza (Hinton) for sponsoring this event!!  All event proceeds will go to HMBA.

2015 Beaver Bike Fest Recap

Oxburger Studios continues to create awesome recaps of the annual Beaver Bike Fest.  Check it out!

Past recaps:

2014 Beaver Bike Fest

2013 Beaver Bike Fest

2015 Beaver Bike Fest Results!

Results!

Here are the final results for the 6th Annual Beaver Bike Fest.  A funtastic weekend!!

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Everett and Kira won the Overall Beaver awards for male and female categories respectively.

Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers  and supporters!!!

New Re-route on Gulley Trail

On August 8, 2015, the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew (aka Justin Truelove) came out to teach us trail building techniques on how to build and maintain our trails.  The first day consisted of a 3-hour classroom session followed by an afternoon of putting our skills to work!  The builders-in-training tackled a trail re-route on Gully Trail where it joins with the North access to Stinger, within the Hinton Bike Park.  The re-route allows better flow and easier access to Stinger.

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Justin and Kevin selected a site for the re-route and flagged the new proposed trail.

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14 HMBA members attended the full day of training.

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New trail built and old trail section reclaimed!

6th Annual Beaver Bike Fest Around the Corner!

The 6th Annual Beaver Bike Fest is happening August 22nd and 23rd, 2015!  

For event details and schedule, visit the 2015 BBF page.

Online registration is open -  Please save time by registering before the big day!

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IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew Coming to Hinton August 8th

The IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew is coming to Hinton on August 8th and 9th!!   This is a great opportunity for ALL trail users to contribute to our awesome local trails. Learn about trail building and maintenance techniques to help sustain our trails for all to enjoy for years to come! 

Directed by the Canadian office of the international Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and sponsored by Parks Canada, the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew travels across the country in a Subaru Outback, giving workshops to IMBA-affiliate clubs, Parks Canada sites, and other land managers. The two-person team of professional trail builders educates Canadians on how to build and maintain sustainable trails, manage volunteers, and develop trails as community resources.

The IMBA Trail Building School is a half-day of classroom education followed by several hours of building new trail, rerouting and reclaiming old trail or adding new features to an existing trail. The goal of a TCC visit is education, not to build as much trail as possible. And remember: Sustainable trails don't mean sanitized trails!

Is the Trail Care Crew program only for mountain bikers and cycling clubs? No! The principals of sustainable trail design apply to all trails and all trail users, no matter if you are a hiker, a trail runner, or a mountain biker. We invite all members of the community to our events to learn something new, and meet fellow members of the trail
community!

Half-day classroom session on August 8th, 9:00 am to 12:00pm at the People's Center at the Dr. Duncan Murray Recreation Centre.

Other locations and times to be determined - stay tuned!!

You must pre-register for this training:

Summer Day Camp Will Visit the Bike Park

Each year, the Town of Hinton's Summer Day Camp visits the Hinton Bike Park. Each year, we ask any available members to come out and be a Bike God or Goddess for a day and share their passion for biking.

This year, its on Friday, July 24th. Discovery Camp will be there all day, so feel free to stop in at any time. The Camp will be on trails, jumps, skills area, and pump tracks. The Camp appreciates anyone who is willing to share their passion, knowledge, and skills. 

Our reward will be a $250 honorarium to HMBA, which will go towards something awesome, as always. 

It would be great to see some of our teen riders out, sharing their knowledge and passion for biking with the younger ones.

June Dirt Jam

This Friday, June 19th at 7:00pm,  there will be a Dirt Jam at the Hinton Mountain Bike Park. Music. Shaped jumps. And rad riding with awesome guys and gals. Hope to see all of you out there!   Jump shaping starts at 7:00 pm and the event and music with start right after.

Important note:  The two smallest sets of jumps will be closed. This event is geared towards the big jumpers, so they don't have to worry about running the little ones over.

Hinton Sprockids - Our Next Two-wheelin' Generation!

Highest Registration Numbers Yet!

The Hinton Sprockids program, run by the Hinton Mountain Bike Association and its member volunteers, is a BIG hit this season!  Now in it's fourth season, over 85 kids from ages 2 to 13 have signed up for the opportunity to develop and hone their mountain biking skills - doubling registration numbers from previous years.

“This year will soon be known as the Great Registration Avalanche of 2015 ”

— Tim Trahan - Hinton Sprockids Coordinator

HISTORY:

Sprockids was originally developed in 1990 as a Self Esteem/Anger Management Program to help students succeed in school. Since then, Sprockids has evolved into a multi-faceted program engaging thousands of young people in the life long activity of mountain biking while teaching them the skills, values, and strategies to succeed in life. The program is now used in over 19 countries by teachers, coaches, cycling clubs, youth organizations, law enforcement agencies, and parents. The Sprockids Program was designed with input from; educators, national level coaches, trail builders, professional athletes, and program implementation consultants.

The Hinton Sprockids program is a fun way to develop a taste for mountain biking through various games and activities at our local Hinton Bike Park facility.  The program teaches many skills on how to mountain bike, bike maintenance,  environmental stewardship, trail safety and trail building/maintenance.

Thank you to our local business sponsors for supporting this great program!!

The Hinton Sprockids program runs on Thursday evenings in May, June and September (10 sessions in total).

All About HMBA Group Rides

The Hinton Mountain Bike Association (HMBA) often gets asked about its group rides.  Every summer, from sometime in May to as late as October, HMBA has two orgranized rides: one on Monday evenings (just for ladies!) and one on Wednesday evenings (everyone!).

"Do I have to be a member?"

You don't have to be a member to try out one of our group rides.   Membership provides general liability insurance for our members and gives the HMBA better access to grants to build/maintain our bike park and trail systems.  As a member, you get voting privileges at our AGM, can become part of the board as an executive or coordinator, and finally - you have access to great regional business discounts.  See our Member page for more info!

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May 11, 2015 - First Ladies' Ride of the season!  Group 1 of 2.

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May 20, 2015 - Wednesday Group Ride

"I'm New to Mountain Biking..."

Fantastic!!!  Our group rides welcome all abilities.  However, the HMBA has a few tips for those new to mountain biking:

• You will get the most out of your experiences by making sure your bike fits you and is in good working condition.  There are several bike shops & bike mechanics in our region that can help you out.
• Know your bike: modulating brakes, changing gears, correct seat height - all these are important to be comfortable with before hitting the local trails!  
• By becoming a member, following our facebook group or page or checking the bikehinton.com website - you will be informed of any upcoming skills clinics.
• Practice, practice, practice!  Get out on your bike and often!  Even if it's just around the neighborhood or local town trails.  The more you ride, the more you get to improve!

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May 18, 2015 - Monday Ladies, Group of 1 of 2.

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May 20, 2015 - Wednesday Group Ride

"Can I Join A Group Ride Later in the Summer?"

Of course!  But it is always best to start in May, if possible.   If you haven't been riding on your own - you might find it a struggle to ride with those that have been riding since May.

"How Long do Rides last?"

Group ride times generally last 1.5 to 2 hours, with lots of breaks - depending on the group's abilities.  Hinton's trails include elevation gains, lots of singletrack, some technical sections such as roots and bridges - basically a little of everything!   Trail selections are usually determined at the beginning of the ride, but may change as the ride progresses.  Riding in a group is a great way to connect with others and get some good tips on how to tackle different challenges on our trails!

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May 25, 2015 - Monday Ladies Ride, group 1 of 3!

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May 25, 2015 - Monday Ladies, group 2 of 3.

"I Don't Know the Trails"

All the more reason to join a group ride!  To ensure everyone enjoys the groups rides, here a few general guidelines:

• Someone will "Lead" the group and set an appropriate pace and stop for breaks in order for the whole group to catch up.  A head count is usually done at the beginning.
• Someone will be the "Sweep" and ride behind everyone.  The sweep ensures no one gets left behind!
• All riders should make sure the rider behind them knows which direction to go at intersections.
• If you need to leave the group early - please let someone know!
• Although it's easy to follow others - it helps to ask questions about the trails you are on so that you can easily find your way when you are out on your own or with others!

Happy Trails!!

May 25, 2015 - Monday Ladies

Another Great AGM!

Our 2015 AGM was well attended with many new faces in the crowd!  It was great to meet everyone and gear up for another great season of riding and exciting events.

Unfortunately, HMBA's presidency is still left vacant and we encourage anyone interested in joining the board to please contact us!  We are also looking for extra help in organizing the Beaver Bike Fest happening in August - it's a lot of fun!

To help make all this happen, we would like to give our sincere thanks to Lakeview Inn & Suites for allowing us to hold our AGM in their conference room,  and to The Hinton Voice and Ouiprint for once again designing and printing awesome posters for us!!!

HMBA's 2015 Annual General Meeting

Where:

Lakeview Inn & Suites, 500 Smith St.

When:

Thursday April 16, 2015

Doors open at 630pm so you can come down and purchase your:
* 2015 Membership
* Jerseys 
* Socks
* Register for Sprockids

Presentation starts at 7ish. Find out our great plans for 2015:
* Happy Creek Bridge Build
* Youth Committee Plans (park & shuttle sessions, Dirt Jams, etc)
* Trail and Park Plans
* Awesome events, including the 6th Annual Beaver Bike Fest.

Can't make it? Memberships will be available online shortly.

New! Buy & Sell Board

Selling your bike or bike related gear? There will be a 'Sales' board at the AGM. Just bring in a flyer with a pic, description, and contact info to share with those in attendance.

See you there!