2010 Trail Care Crew Report

Trail Care Crew

2010

Trail Care Crew Report International Mountain Bicycling Association (Canada)

The IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew is a dynamic two-person team of professional trailbuilders, educators, and enablers.

Supported by Parks Canada and the Trans Canada Trail, the Crew travels across the country year-round, getting Canadians of all ages outdoors, and educating them about sustainable trails!

Cover photo : IMBA Canada’s 2010 Subaru Outback in Jasper National Park

Foreword

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4 Partners 5 Meet the Crew 6 2010 Map 7 2010 Schedule 8 – 9 Accomplishments 10 Web + Email Statistics 11 Communications 12 Take A Kid Mountain Biking 13 Sponsor Thank You 14 – 15 Working With Our Partners 16 Kudos

Foreword

December 20, 2010

I am excited to announce the conclusion of the 2010 inaugural season of the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew program. The past nine months have been incredibly exciting —if a little hectic at times —and I am thrilled to report the many successes of the program, and the great impact it has already had on the trails community in Canada.

Since kicking off the season in June 2010, Chad and Deanne Lazaruk have worked with over 100 groups, directly engaged more than 1,100 people, and trained an estimated 359 volunteers on sustainable trail design, construction, maintenance, and management. The program has been exposed to more than 108,000 people at events and trade shows, not to mention the countless branding impressions made by the Subaru Outback as it drives through communities coast to coast.

Looking ahead, the whole team at IMBA Canada is excited to develop and promote the program, and with an unprecedented 65 requests for visits in 2011, we are well along the way to our goal! With a longer season, and more visits and events on the 2011 Trail Care Crew calendar, we certainly have out work cut out for us. Increasing our social media footprint, and engaging more groups in the trails community remain high on our list of goals for the 2011 season.

A sincere and heart-felt thank you to our program partners, Parks Canada and the Trails Canada Trail, who helped us achieve our vision of a Canadian Trail Care Crew program with their generous financial support. And to sponsors Subaru, Trek, Thule, Camelbak, Kryptonite and Giro whose donations of a car, bikes, racks and other equipment has been essential to the daily work, and life, of the Crew.

Perhaps most important, I would like to thank and congratulate the clubs and groups who hosted, helped organize, and attended events this season. Without your hard work, commitment and enthusiasm for trails, none of this would have been possible.

Here’s to another great season!

Rachael Raven IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew Coordinator b PO Box 23034 Kitchener, ON, N2B 3V1

b 613-301-8098 b Rachael.raven@imba.com 3

Partners

Partners

IMBA Canada’s 2010 Subaru Outback

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The IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew program is a collaborative effort between IMBA Canada, Parks Canada, and the Trans Canada Trail. Additional support is provided by equipment sponsors Subaru, Trek, Thule, Giro, Camelback, and Kryptonite.

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Meet the Crew Accomplishments

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2010 - 2011 Crew Chad and Deanne Lazaruk, IMBA Canada’s first Trail Care Crew, hail from beautiful Victoria, BC. The couple has been involved in all aspects of the mountain bike community including race organization, officiating, coaching, and of course, trailbuilding. Before hitting the road, Chad worked as a medical imaging technologist, while Deanne was a crew leader and trailbuilder in British Columbia. When not traveling and exploring new trails, Chad immerses himself in wine making, while Deanne loves to prepare good food to accompany the wine.

REFLECTIONS “In Spring 2010 we were offered the unique opportunity to meet and work with trail communities across Canada. After a chaotic month of preparations and packing, we hit the road on June 1st in Ottawa. The first few months were a bit of an adjustment for us, but once we established a routine in the car, a system for presentations, and a rhythm to our travels, we were cruising.

We want to thank all of our hosts for providing us with a home during our visits so we could relax and recharge. We have been very fortunate to stay with amazing people across the country who all have the same passion and excitement about trails as we do. We have both learned and grown so much over the past six months, and are already looking forward to our tour in 2011.”

– Chad & Deanne

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The 2010 Map

The 2010 Map

IMBA club visits Parks Canada visits Trans Canada Trail visits

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Other events

For the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew program’s inaugural season, we solicited visits from IMBA-affiliated clubs, Trans Canada Trail local, provincial, and territorial groups, and Parks Canada sites.

Kicking-off the season in July, the Crew traveled from Ontario to southern Quebec, then on to Atlantic Canada. After spending the summer in the East, the Crew drove through Northern Ontario, and on to the prairies, ending in beautiful British Columbia.

In total, the Trail Care Crew participated in 31 events — including 17 IMBA Trailbuilding Schools, the IMBA World Summit in Augusta, Georgia, and the Bicycle Trade Association of Canada’s annual trade show, ExpoCycle.

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2010 Schedule

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2010 Schedule Date

City/Park

Pr. Event

Host

05/05-08

Augusta

GA

IMBA World Summit

IMBA

06/20

Ottawa

ON

MEC Ottawa Bikefest

Mountain Equipment Co-op

06/21-24

Toronto

ON

Trailhead Ontario

Ontario Trails Council

06/25-27

Bolton

ON

24H of Summer Solstice

Chico Racing

07/03

Toronto

ON

MEC Toronto Bikefest

Mountain Equipment Co-op

07/10

Bruce Peninsula NP

ON

Day visit

Parks Canada

07/14-17

St. Lawrence Islands NP ON

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Parks Canada

07/22-25

Sherbrooke

QC

IMBA Trailbuilding School

ADSVMQ

07/29-01

Murray River

PEI

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Cycling PEI

08/05-07

Annapolis Valley

NS

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Annapolis Valley Mountain Bike Ass.

08/07-08

Gore

NS

Gorefest

Annapolis Valley Mountain Bike Ass.

08/10-13

Fundy NP

NB

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Parks Canada

08/16-21

Terra Nova NP

NL

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Parks Canada

08/26-29

Antigonish

NS

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Positive Action for Keppoch

08/30

Kouchibouguac NP

NB

Day visit

Parks Canada

09/02-05

Beaupré

QC

2010 World UCI Championships Union Cycliste Internationale

09/11-14

Montreal

QC

BTAC ExpoCycle Trade Show

Bicycle Trade Association of Canada

09/16-19

Ottawa

ON

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Ottawa Mountain Bike Association

09/20

Bancroft

ON

Presentation

Endo Cycles

09/23

Thunder Bay

ON

Presentation

Trans Canada Trail

10/02

Forks Ntl. Historic Site

MB

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day IMBA, Parks Canada & TCT

10/04-08

Grasslands NP

SK

Staff training

Parks Canada

10/14-17

Esterhazy

SK

IMBA Trailbuilding School

East Qu’Appelle Cartel

10/21-24

Riding Mountain NP

MB

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Parks Canada

10/27-30

Jasper NP

AB

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Parks Canada

11/07

Calgary

AB

Field day

Moose Mountain Bike Trail Society

11/11-13

Revelstoke

BC

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Revelstoke Secondary Bike Club

11/14

New Denver

BC

Gear swap + movie night

North Slocan Trail Society

11/18-21

Pemberton

BC

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Squamish-Lillooet Regional Trails

11/23-26

Gulf Islands NP

BC

IMBA Trailbuilding School

Parks Canada

12/02-05

Sechelt

BC

Presentation + TBS

Capilano University

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Accomplishments

Esterhazy, SK

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IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew: 2010 by the Numbers Provinces visited Kilometers traveled Days on the road Groups engaged Trails visited / assessed IMBA Trailbuilding Schools Multimedia presentations Field days Number of volunteers trained Volunteer hours Total event participants / interactions Total brand impressions at events

10 31,000 267 108 138 17 21 56 359 2,234 1,108 108,010

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Accomplishments

Accomplishments by Province Province

Total People Engaged

British Columbia 119 Alberta 56 Saskatchewan 35 Manitoba 60 Ontario 374 Quebec 316 New Brunswick 32 Nova Scotia 83 PEI 5 Newfoundland 29 TOTAL 1,108

Volunteer Hours

Trails Visited

207 368 680 120 202 160 186 159 12 140 2,234

24 9 5 18 46 5 3 14 4 10 138

Revelstoke, BC

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Web + Email Statistics

IMBACanada.com IMBA Canada’s website is one of our most popular resources, and on August 1, 2010 it got a new look. Each month, IMBACanada.com receives over 5,000 visits and almost 20,000 page views. According to Google Analytics, the average user spends more than 10 minutes on the site, and views average of 7.5 pages per visit.

Not only does the Trail Care Crew get coverage on the IMBA Canada site, but Canadian Trailbuilding Schools and other events are frequently featured on the home page of the global organization: IMBA.com.

More Web Stats + + +

IMBA.com home page receives approximately 9.5 million hits per year IMBA Canada’s home page receives about 232,000 hits per year As of spring 2011, IMBACanada.com will be getting an overhaul, allowing for more opportunities to showcase the Trail Care Crew.

E-Mail Communications IMBA has an advanced email system that allows us to track our messages to see how many people read them, forward them to friends, or click links. Thanks to e-mail, we can notify members and contacts of upcoming events, register them online, and thank them for participating in events. Here are some statistics from 2010:

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Total e-mails sent: Average open rate: Click through rate:

Email Invite

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26,750 28% 16%

Esterhazy, SK

Communications

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Social Media Social media utilities — including facebook, wordpress and twitter — have served as a powerful marketing tool for the Trail Care Crew program in 2010. From the launch, to visit announcements and recaps, these tools have helped to disseminate information and generate a buzz.

quarters actively use the page every month.

The Wordpress blog is the primary way we get out information about Trail Care Crew visits, clubs we work with, and National Parks we work in. The Trail Care Crew posts a new entry each week, which is also picked up by the Networked Blogs application on facebook.

IMBA Canada’s facebook fan page, which has more than 400 fans, Our twitter feeds have a combined hosts daily messages and links from 174 followers — mostly industry staff. According to facebook’s insights tools — our posts get an average of and clubs— and have posted aprox. 150 1,100 views — a number that increases tweets. The Crew primarily uses twitter to promote their location, highlight every week. upcoming events, and shout out to Out of 400+ fans, just over half partners. view the page every week, while three-

In summer 2010, the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew was featured by Parks Canada’s Greatest Summer Job program. Aspiring filmmaker Neil White caught up with the Trail Care Crew at St. Lawrence Islands National Park and created a short documentary on the program. The two-and-a-half minute video was posted on YouTube, and has had over 500 views in the past three months.

CHECK IT OUT! www.facebook.com/imbacanada www.twitter.com/imbacanada www.twitter.com/imba_tcc_canada www.imbacanada.imbatools.com

Media Coverage We’ve worked hard to generate press for each IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew visit. Through our press kit and personal correspondence, we coach each visit host on how to write a press release and engage local and online media. To track media coverage, we monitor the internet and collect news clippings from hosts.

Press Highlights: “Crew will build and maintain trails across the country, says Parks Canada” Canadian Press, 06-28-10 “Parks Canada implements ‘trail care crew’ program” Telegraph Journal, 07-03-10 “IMBA Canada Launches Trail Care Crew” Canadian Cyclist, 07-08-10 “Des sentiers dans les règles de l’art” La Tribune, 07-22-10 “Trail Building workshop set for this weekend” South Mountain Press, 10-15-10 “Blazing trails in Jasper” The Fitzhugh, 11-04-10 “Connecting communities through trails” Journey ON Magazine, 12-13-10 11

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day This year we sent the Trail Care Crew to join in the festivities at the Forks National Historic Site in Winnipeg, MB. More than sixty participants came out to the first-time event, hosted by Gord’s Bike Club and Kids of Mud.

Canadian clubs host over 1,500 riders for seventh annual Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day More than 1,500 participants took part in IMBA’s Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day celebrations across Canada, according to estimates from event organizers.

Around the globe, over 21,000 kids and adults joined in the festivities, which took place on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010.

More than a dozen groups registered events in Canada— including the Durham Mountain Biking Association, the Squamish Off Road Cycling Association, and Ottawa group Mountain Biking Children and Teens. Many celebrations offered group rides, skills clinics, BBQs, and even loot bags for kids!

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Internationally, rides were held in Australia, Italy, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States.

This year was the seventh installment of the international event—which challenges adults and biking clubs to introduce kids to the sport of mountain biking. Since it’s inception in 2004, IMBA’s Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day has put more than an estimated 43,000 kids and adults on bikes.

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day celebrates the life of Jack Doub, an avid teenage mountain biker from North Carolina who had a true passion for the sport from an early age, but passed away in 2002.

Top left: Kids in Winnipeg took part in a group ride along the Trans Canada Trail, played bike skill building games, and had free hotdogs!

Middle left: Kudos to the Hillsborough Mountain Bike Association, NB, for holding their first event! Nine kids came out for a group ride and BBQ. Bottom left: The South Island Mountain Bike Society, held their third annual Victoria event this year, drawing about 45 kids.

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Sponsor Thank You

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Thank you to our sponsors!

Special thanks to our generous equipment sponsors Subaru, Trek, Thule, Camelbak, Giro, and Kryptonite who made the inaugural season of the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew a great success!

In the words of the Trail Care Crew…

Subaru “Whenever people ask us about the Subaru Outback we tell them, “If you must live in a car, this should be the one.” It has taken us from Kitchener to Cape Spear, and all the way back to our home in Victoria, BC. We have driven in every type of weather and on every kind of road and we have always felt safe and comfortable.

Whenever we’ve taken it in for regular maintenance and checkups the fantastic folks at Subaru have welcomed us with smiles and tended to our (and the car’s) needs. When we are rolling down the road we always get waves and smiles from other Subaru owners, many of whom are also sporting Thule boxes and bike racks. The Outback is more than a car for us— it’s a home on four wheels.”

Trek “At each visit we are sure about one thing; we will visit trails. While hiking allows us to do a thorough assessment of the trail, getting on a bike and riding it is how we test for flow. Without the generous support of Trek Bikes we wouldn’t get the chance to experience trails in the communities that we visit, and we wouldn’t be able to provide the opportunity for volunteer builders to try out the new trails that they build. The bikes are also great conversation starters as many people we run into on a daily basis are not aware of the new technologies that are being put into mountain bikes. We look forward to the adventures our Treks will bring us on in 2011.”

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Working with Partners

Trans Canada Trail

Pemberton, BC

The Trans Canada Trail is a non-profit charity with the goal of creating a trail network connecting more than 1000 Canadian communities from coast to coast to coast. The IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew is helping local and provincial Trans Canada Trail groups to achieve this mission by providing a hands-on learning experience — the IMBA Trailbuilding School.

Throughout the 2010 season, we worked with Trans Canada Trail affiliate-groups in Atlantic Canada, Ontario and British Columbia, plus dozens of other groups active in the trail community.

In year two of the program we look forward to engaging more Trans Canada Trail groups and helping to disseminate information specific to the design, construction, and linking of the world’s longest trail.

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Check out these success stories to find out what’s happening on the Trail: Squamish Lillooet Regional District Pemberton, BC

Trans Canada Trail Ontario Thunder Bay, ON

Positive Action for Keppoch Antigonish, NS

“I was amazed by Deanne and Chad’s quick and accurate analysis of where our biggest challenges and opportunities lay with regard to our trail system.

“We made a stop in Thunder Bay last September to give a presentation at for Trans Canada Trail Ontario at Lakehead University.

“The workshop and Trailbuilding School marked the high point in our summer, and the goodwill that resulted led to [three] more successful workshops…

Although the visit was brief — a one Within 24 hours of their arrival, they day stop on our way to Winnipeg — already understood the area, and we we discovered that Thunder Bay has quickly worked out solutions to some become an extremely promising trail of our biggest trail issues…Their centre in the works. presentation was informative and While the Thunder Bay section of the enthusiastic, and sparked plenty of TCT is still in the planning phase, we discussion among the participants.” are looking forward to returning in – Allison

2011.”

– Chad & Deanne

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We are indebted to the example and leadership IMBA Canada has shown us, and we now have become a credible partner in our community, leading the way in volunteerism, recreation, health and fitness.”

– John

Working with Our Partners

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Parks Canada The partnership between IMBA Canada and Parks Canada was the driving force behind the vision and creation of the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew program in 2010.

Building on a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2008, Parks Canada came onboard as partner and program funder for 2010 and 2011 seasons.

Over the course of the year, the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew visited ten Parks Canada sites and presented eight IMBA Trailbuilding Schools. In total, nearly 100 Parks Canada staff were trained on trail design, building and management from a sustainable multi-use perspective.

As the program continues, we look forward to engaging with more staff and volunteers within Parks Canada, and exploring and promoting the great wild spaces that Parks Canada preserves.

Jasper National Park

10 Official visits to Parks Canada sites

8 IMBA Trailbuilding Schools for Parks staff and volunteer groups

26 Field days working on Parks’ property

9 Multi-media presentations

94 Parks Canada staff trained

35 Trails visited

13.5

Grasslands National Park

Kilometers of trail designed

435 Meters of trail built / maintained Fundy National Park

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Kudos for the IMBA Canada Trail Care Crew “Chad and Deanne were wonderful. We had a great time and learned lots of good practical stuff to help us move forward.”

— Glenn, Nova Scotia “Thanks to our IMBA weekend we solved a huge trail problem for our club, which we could not have done without the work of the crew plus volunteers.”

— Tom, Saskatchewan “Many people were surprised at what they had been doing wrong and were amazed at how simple problems such as poor drainage could be alleviated with just a bit of work and some forethought.”

— Kevin, Newfoundland “The IMBA presenters were par excellent providing valuable and ‘workable’ knowledge in a warm, straight-forward and memorable way…IMBA is to be complimented for their outstanding philosophy and mission to apply an ‘environmentally-friendly’ approach to trail building and sustainability.”

— Stan, Ontario “[The visit] brought out trail crews together with other trailbuilders to address some of the issues we have with unsustainable trails in Fundy National Park. The Park is now energized to improve our trail system.”

— Matt, New Brunswick “Chad and Deanne’s visit has absolutely changed the way

the local mountain biking community now looks

at riding here in Corner Brook. They helped us

organize, plan, dream and be inspired.”

— Geoff, Newfoundland

Grasslands National Park, SK

88% Number of participants who rated their experience as “excellent”

87% Number of participants who reported that the workshop helped them to address their local trail issues.

100% Number of participants who said they would recommend the workshop to a friend.

Feedback given via online survey distributed by email.

THANK YOU! A great big thank you to all the groups who helped to contribute to a successful season!