Mountain Biking $$

Post by **RRO** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:49 pm

I got an email back from Amanda and she suggested that we have a fund raiser at the show. Sounds great to me. I hope to speak with them today. She said one of them would give us a ring this afternoon.

Post by **Artsay** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 2:57 pm

You rule, Matt. 8)

Post by **RRO** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:40 pm

Got to talk with Denile finally. We are set-up for a booth on Friday the 31st 6-11pm. We can talk about climbing, mtn biking and the fund raiser. We have also been set-up with a booth on Saturday 10-6 and Sunday 11-5. I can do the Friday night gig. The people that are here on weekends know I cant break free so can someone else cover those days ?

We have been walking the property and have a decent idea of the trail for our first trail day in April. We really need the climbers support to make this work. There are a lot of ideas going around and awaiting approval, I will have more information soon. KYMBA has sent down a couple guys to walk the land and I am trying to get more groups like them involved. Its going to be a slow process but I think we are on our way.

Post by **charlie** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:54 pm

Yep, after yesterday's walk through the woods I think we have a ton of potential for trails. We bushwhacked maybe 2 miles and flagged maybe a mile or so which could be lengthened when we outline the final path. It is going to be a ton of work though so we need to start talking it up with the climbers.

Another question, how do you think people would feel about the RRGCC spending some money for matching funds in a mountain bike grant? I know it will still be money spent on the property but do you think climbers would feel bad about the fact that we spent some of their money on biking instead of climbing specific stuff? In the long run I would consider it an investment that will reap large returns when the bikers start donating, but I can also see how a climber donating money to the PMRP may get pissed when they hear we spent a couple grand on biking grants. You guys think that could cause some grief?

Post by **Artsay** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:09 pm

I think that would cause a LOT of upset.

I think the SEC has it set up well on their website how folks can choose where they donate their money to. I feel safe in saying that most of the donations the RRGCC has received these past few months have been for the PMRP. For now, I'd say all that money should go towards the PMRP. However, I would suggest having it setup so that folks can:
A. Donate to the climbing side of the PMRP
B. Donate to the biking side of the PMRP
C. Donate to the RRGCC and let the coalition decided where the money goes towards

That said, I'd be more than happy to set something up like that on this site, if you want.

Post by **RRO** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:45 pm

Reason being most of the grants are matching funds. If the RRGCC truly wants to develop mtn biking in the area and make it a destination of some extent money has to be brought in for equipment and trail building. Trails for mtn biking are way different than our climbing/hiking trails. To develop 2 miles of good trails it would take months of manual labor. 2 weekends with the right equipment would get it done, that’s a big cost of course. I need to see if the matching funds could be part of the land payment itself and other costs associated with the land.

I would probably be upset if I was not a mtn biker or it was not made known that some of my donated funds were going to another sport. It is going to the development of the area and without further development the area could be lost, we all know the spill. If the RRGCC wants to attract the bikers they have to show they are serious about the trail systems. This could be taken bad by some of the climbers since the RRGCC is stretched thin as it is. But on the other hand if the mtn bikers see they are really wanting trails they may get excited and take the burden of building and maintaining trails and partnerships as well as giving more voice and $ in the industry and donations. Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.I’m torn on what to do but open for discussion.

I see and agree with your point Artsay, just presenting small portions of what it would take to develop the area. I would rather be bolting routes or bushwacking to some choss trad

Post by **pigsteak** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:48 pm

i agree...climbers would not support that. it'd need to be a separate donation.

Post by **charlie** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:01 pm

That's sort of what I figured, but wanted a sanity check to make sure. Even if the BOD decides to provide the matching funds (and that's not decided yet) then the smart thing would be to get the money somewhere else and not take it out of the general kitty. In our defense, we have always outlined biking in the strategic initiatives (though admittedly no one really sees that stuff but us. That's another problem all together

).

Personally I'm as excited about the biking as I am about the climbing, I think it's going to be a future resource we can count on and I'm not confident we can continue to bleed the climbers this hard for the next 7 years. We're just trying to figure out the best way to get it rolling.

Post by **RRO** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:27 pm

Thats whats the fund raising table at the mtn bike event can help with. Not to beat a dead horse but can anyone man the booths over the weekend or are we just interesyed in Friday night ?

Post by **meetVA** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 12:40 am

RRO, my brother is coming into town that weekend and his flight doesn't leave until 4:45 on Sunday. I'm sorry. Let me know though of other events and I'll help out.