Bytown Motorcycle Association

NEWSLETTERDecember 2009

VOLUNTEER POWERED!

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Published by riders, for riders.

QUINNS LAKE TRAIL LOGGED OUT!

• Limerick Forest Updates• 10 reasons to attend the AGM• Larry “builds bridges”

Bill O’NeillLights it Up

is it really over?

BMA AGMJanuary 17thEAT DRINK AND

BE MARY

Written permission must be requested to reproduce, or reprint all or portions of the content contained herein.

© Bytown Motorcycle Association 2009

To contact anybody about anything please email us at: offroad.newsletter@gmail.com

If you would like to receive the newsletter by email please contact: offroad.newsletter@gmail.com

BYTOWNMOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

www.bytown-motorcycle-assoc.ca

IN THIS ISSUE:

semor - get lights!BMA Greenies

sad day for the quinns10 reasons

KLIM UpdatesSmugMug is redonkulous

STOCK BLING

dirt from the prezthe view from here

exhaust noteBMA Snapshot

photo: Carolin Lueders

Dave “Woody” PercivalDa Prez

Mike HillierDe Udder Prez

Carolin LuedersStill Countin

Mike O’RiellyMinute Man

Dave PhiferDone Beggin’

Andrew JasiakFull Count

Dallas ShannonWinter Blues

Kaveri GuptaSpin Doctor

Jeff AckertLarry MurrayDoug HunterContributors

Christian LacasseCarolin Lueders

Doug HunterKaveri GuptaPhotographs

Some say Woody’s 4-Hour is tough. Some guffaw at that suggestion. An unidentified rider shows us what he thinks...

Was he:

a) kicked in the ding ding?b) going into the fetal position?c) getting ready to have a nice warm bath?d) yelling for his riding buddy, RAAAAALPH?e) looking for loose change?f) reaching for a cold beer to celebrate victory?

BMA SNAPSHOT

If you have pictures of your riding buddies in compromising positions (no golf clubs or fire hydrants please) send them over and we can all have a look:

offroad.newsletter@gmail.com

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Woody’s feelings on BMA’s 2009 season! Need we say more?

Dirt From the PREZby Dave “Woody” Percival

Written permission must be requested to reproduce, or reprint all or portions of the content contained herein.

© Bytown Motorcycle Association 2009

BYTOWNMOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

www.bytown-motorcycle-assoc.ca

Gidday everyone, welcome to the late late season end of the BMA newsletter. It’s December and according to the weather, the unofficial end to the riding season. We had a great ride last Wednesday at my place with Jeff Morgan, with my Husaberg 450 under the microscope. Look for an article in a future issue of Inside Motorcycles. Good fun for very late in November.

For a lot of trail riders this was a perfect high miler year, soggy but cool – “Just Dandy” as Warren would say. For a lot of us, this was a bumper year for trail riding because we were in the woods making and maintaining the vast trail network we have created. In the annals of club history this year will be remembered near the top for the selfless ef-fort the BMA volunteers gave. We put on one of Ontario’s benchmark trail rides - The Calabogie Boogie and what a job we did. Ladies and Gents you should all be very proud of the net result of your efforts. A link to the Trail Riders magazine on our website sums it up - an epic adventure with the safety of a sweep, and the author was talking about the 08 version at that. Of course, the 09 version of the boogie was even better, it seems each year we just keep applying previous experiences with fresh ideas to keep moving this event forward. With great trails left over for us to ride now and into the future, there is a great mod-ern history in the club.

More great modern history will be the clubs newsletter. Dallas Shannon has taken this to near cosmic proportions, well organized and laid out with witty writing that we can all relate to.

More great history made this year must certainly include the great coup, which is the Larose forest. In spite of previ-ous efforts, when we were unceremoniously tossed out of the forest while being labelled as rough users, all the while atvs and trucks pounded the heck out of things. After much interface at meetings and open houses we have re-gained a foothold on use in this forest and the political will has been turned to our favour with new trails being devel-oped and ridden. Thanks to Marlene, Ed, Dale and com-pany for their tireless efforts on this important and forward thinking project, take a bow please!

Great work continues in our major riding area the Limer-ick forest a marquis riding area in eastern Ont. that owes its success to the hard work of our many club volunteers, led by Larry Murray, Kevin E and company, the forest has become a major riding destination for hundreds of riders.

We also had some great racing on the schedule with our season climax, our Colin Snider memorial team 4 hour hare scramble at KTM acres, in Perth. 76 teams, 140 riders,

good weather and again a great group of the clubs volun-teers coming together to raise 4000 dollars for local chari-ties. Spectators watched as some great riders took up the challenge with many solo racers in the group. With house-hold names like Alan Lachapelle, Patrick Beaule, Tyler Medalia, Claude Leonard and his ultra fast son Loic with the usual bevy of fast local talent we just had a great time.

So now we come to the clubs AGM …Sunday Jan. 17. Lunch is free and catered but please call us with your reservation as the hall is limited to about 100, please give myself or Carolin a call to reserve you a meal. It starts at about noon, with the meeting at about 1-1:30 pm. We will be taking nominations for all positions as needed. Please think about contributing to keep this club moving forward. This year is my last as president, as I have much work on the Lanark County trail groups, 42 odd properties on several thousand acres. As a director and part of the trail identification subcommittee we are now well placed to bring new riding opportunities to our ridership.

For three of the last four years I have done my best and it’s really been a privilege to be the president of such a fine group of friends and fellow riders. So the only thing I will ask, is that people in this club that have not yet shared their visions and ideas, come forward and share the load with the people that have got us to this point, and make even better memories for the next generations riding his-tory.

Thanks for the time and gidday.

See you on the trails,Woody

This is me. I’m on a trail called Gonads. I’ve never asked why, but I assume you either have to have large ones to ride this trail or your bike repeatedly gives you shots in the nads while riding this trail. More on this riding area in the spring.

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THE VIEW FROM HEREby Dallas Shannon

Is it really over??

On October 11th I announced the end of my riding season.This grand announcement came the day after a great Calabogie ride with some fellow BMA riders. Thinking it was the last Calabogie ride of the season, we ended up in the in the legendary (but no more - see inside) Quinns Lake Trail. It was all my fault - I insisted. I felt it was important that we go out with a bang. Of course, I was excited and riding like a jackass, uncharacteristically up the tailpipe of my buddy. Tailgating once is a while is excusable - we’re all guilty of pushing the guy in front of us, but doing it as you are heading down one of the many washed out rock-gardens in the Quinns is outright stupidity. Of course, it wasn’t long before fate reminded me what quality of rider I really am. As I was getting pitched over the handlebars I couldn’t help but say to myself - “Idiot!” Long story short, I separated my shoulder in the Quinns that day - a real donkey move. Luckily, I (with help) rode out to the 77, headed north and had riding buddies that were under-standing. THANKS GUYS, you know who you are.

Two days later, while still in an Oxycontin fog, I announced to my riding buddy that it was the end of my riding season. Mid-October, wearing a sling and PJ’s I was certain it was over...I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Since then, I’ve worn a sling, missed the 4 hour, waited out hunting season, healed AND had 6 more “last rides”. Sure, I didn’t get to have the pulp wrung out of me at Woody’s 4 Hour (I was really looking forward to it!), but I was just happy to ride again. Anywhere. Everyone I stopped and chatted with on the trail was saying the same thing - they were just happy to be here...

So, to answer my own question, - this time, I think it’s really over.

All in all it seems the season was good. The BMA did a good job and I feel like there is growing interest in both off-road riding and the BMA itself. Personally, I rode more than I probably ever have in one summer, no complaints.

Other good things have happened. The BMA has set up a sweet KLIM gear deal and next year’s BMA gear will be KLIM brand. I’m excited as I know it’s great stuff and this deal is testament that the BMA is a large enough club to be taken seriously by an international brand. I’ve already got a sneek peek at the gear - pictures and more info on this deal are inside this issue.

SmugMug was another good thing. Not only are they a GREAT site but they are rider friendly. We’ve posted lots

of great pics and it’s a very good representation of the BMA and what we do here. TRIVIA - If anyone knows WHY I consider them “rider friendly” I’d like to hear from you. Email me at: offrroad.newsletter@gmail.com and maybe you’ll win something. Maybe. If I find out you’re a dualsporter I’m going to kick you in the GONADS (that’s a hint!).

Now, some quick business to attend to:

1. All you slobs who need new riding socks (that’s every-one), now is the time to get them. Tech Sox gave the BMA a sweet deal - $42 for TWO pair. If your chest hurts just thinking of spending a whopping $42 on yourself, give your riding buddy a pair and keep a pair for yourself. Don’t feel bad about it, we both know he can’t read and even if he could he’ll never know the difference. Just don’t get mad when he hands you ONE pair of Tech Sox.

2. Dirt Biking is Not a Crime, but not supporting the peeps who support you IS A CRIME. Check out the businesses who advertise in our newsletter - they help us keep this rag going. While you’re at it, buy a T-Shirt from dirtybikes.ca. The shirts are only $20, Matt is a good guy and he puts a lot of time into dirtbiking in Ontario. While you’re at it, buy your dog one too.

I’m going to do both ASAP, but I don’t want to hear ANYTHING if you get get a pair of Sox from me for Xmas.

See you at the AGM!

Annual General Meeting

Upcoming EventsJanuary 17th • 11:30am Marlborough Community Centre

This will be a lavish affair held at a secret location (see below). Wear your Sunday best. Looking out-side at the weather, if you can ride to this event, God bless you.

Please, please RSVP with Woody if you are coming for the food. The meal is catered and we need to

know if you want a plate. Also mention, if you want food on that plate.

Call Woody (613)267-6861 or email: woody@woodys-cycles.com

There MAY BE - video, music and/or a guest speaker.

There WILL BE - door prizes (lots of great door prizes - more on this later), cool refreshing beverages, great food.

BMA Club Guarantee - You will hear unbelievable stories of epic trail rides, accomplishments, feats of heroism, breakdowns and crashes. All of which MAY be true.

Food will be served at 12pm, please show up on time. Or don’t.*

(If you do not arrive on time then Dallas and Doug H. WILL eat your meal for you. Don’t bother to thank them - it’s their pleasure.)

Marlborough Community Centre Notes Take 416 to Roger Stevens exit 49 west, through NorthGower, continue west about 4 km to second main roadturn left on Malakoff to first stop. Marlborough Community centre on right

Business listings distributed by YellowPages.ca™

A. Marlborough Community Centre 3048 Pierce Rd, North Gower, ON K0A 2T0 - (613) 489-3094

©2009 Google - Map data ©2009 Google, Tele Atlas -

For those who have joined modern society here are the GPS coordinates:

45° 05’ 29”N 75° 45’ 25”W

For those who have heard of the internet, here’s the Google Map Link:http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Marlborough+Community+Centre&sll=45.092811,-75.759868&sspn=0,0&ie=UTF8&hq=Marlborough+Community+Centre&hnear=&ll=45.116298,-75.723095&spn=0.083342,0.222301&z=13&iwloc=A

For those who have heard of neither, check out the map on the left.

Woody’s Cycles

www.woodys-cycles.com • 1-800-991-BIKE(2453)

off any purchasewith the mention of this coupon

BMA MEMBERS!

10%

10 Reasons to Come to the Annual General Meeting1. You get to drink exotic beverages, from exotic places - Perth, ON.

2. You’ll get to see KTM Kevin hold a clinic on cleaning and prepping your bike for winter storage. For the good of the club, I’ve volunteered my bike.

3. You’ll get a shot at winning fabulous door priz-es. Show up, hang onto your ticket and make a face like you’ve had two bran muffins and 2 cups of coffee. Maybe we’ll call your number...

4. You’ll get to enjoy the spoils of a great year at the BMA - catered lunch and beverages.

5. What else do you have to do on a Sunday in January...

...adjust your valves?

6. You’ll get to hear imaginary stories you’ve never heard before, told by people you’ve never met without a helmet on.

7. Glen Cooper will be there. That’s why I’m going.

8. You may get your crotch grabbed. That’s why Faron Young is going.

9. GPS Jeff is going to be there. You can ask him as many GPS questions as you can in 3 hours - if you can find him.

10. Christmas is past and you’re broke. Where else can you get a free meal and an afternoon’s worth of entertainment for nothing?

In all seriousness, the BMA wants you to come out for a laid back afternoon of laughs, food and drink with a side of bench racing. We’ll get a bit of club busi-ness done and you can tell us where we’ve hit or missed in the past year.

MY BIKE

Hello Readers,

As I am writing, snow is covering the ground at an impressive speed. I guess winter has finally arrived. Some riders definitely enjoyed our dry trails to the last drop as they were still riding on December 6th (a rare feat.) As many of you know, a BMA pictures website has appeared on-line sometime around October. Since its launch it has proven to be a great success.

You will find hundreds of riding pictures that were taken during BMA events or other organized rides between members. We received some great shots by riders who participated in these rides. In the last two and a half months, 60 000 pictures have been viewed by visitors to the website... and it’s only the beginning! We can’t wait to post some 2010 photos.

Please go there and enjoy, it’s free! You’ll find pictures of all sizes that are fast to download if you want to save them on your computer or print them at your local photo developer. If you need support, write us!

Here’s what we would like:

Bring a camera on your rides, Shoot it and Share it!To see the pictures go to: http://bytownmotorcycle.smugmug.com/

If you would like to see your pictures appear on the website, please send them to:

clac911@gmail.com and offroad.newsletter@gmail.com

Happy Holidays!Chris

WE JUST UPDATED THE VINTAGE

PHOTOS AS WELL AS MANY OTHER GALLERIES!

10 Reasons to Date BMA Members1. Skill is definite.

2. They like to go fast.

3. They like to get dirty.

4. They can take a pounding.

5. They are good with their hands.

6. Dirt bike riders’ timing is perfect.

7. Protection doesn’t slow them down.

8. They are ready to go after a quick fuel up.

9. Once they fall down they get right back up.

10. They can go for long periods without tak-ing a break.

BREAKING NEWS - QUINNS TRAIL LOGGED

The end of an era. The Quinns Lake Trail, which has been recognized as one of North America’s best off-road trails, has recently been logged. When you enter the trail, you ride about 3-4 minutes and then cross a HUGE logging road that destroys the trail completely. The logging road and all the wood is being staged at the bot-tom of (what used to be) the first big hill climb. That hill climb is now being used as a skid-der trail and all of the rock has been removed by an ex-cavator to smooth it out. At the top of the first few hills (it twists back and forth on the way up) they are logging that area too. The trail can be picked up on top of the first series of climbs but they are logging right beside it so it's hard to say how long it will be there.

They have also cut a logging road from the base of that first hill that heads off to the right. I didn't follow this road but it goes quite a way back into the bush by the

looks of things. When I came upon this it totally blew my mind - I was in shock. The other guys with me had never been there before so they had no idea why I was staring around in disbe-lief.

I talked to Terry Brummell from the Ottawa Valley Off-Roaders and told me that their club found out it was going to be logged back in September but he wasn’t sure when

the logging was actually going to take place. He had not been up there to see the damage but was not surprised.

Anyway, I thought I would pass this infor-mation along to other BMA members.

A LITTLE LIGHT EXPERIMENTATION BY BILL O'NEILL I read this on the ODSC Forum and thought it was interesting and useful. I contacted Bill O’Neill who graciously agreed to enlighten us. Bill is a bright guy and sets a shining example of what you can see at night if you harness your energy.

I've been playing around with lights this year. Thought I'd share.

First, we needed to put together a 'working' lighting sys-tem for my son’s CR125 to comply with the WEC rules. The main problem is the lack of a power source on the CR. This is what we came up with:

This headlight unit is a cheap UFO model that came with a regular 35w/35w bulb.

I took out the bulb holder and made an aluminum plate to mount an LED array on and an aluminum braket to hold the battery box, switch and a resistor (not seen).

Here you can see a close-up of the battery box (4 AA cells - get 'em at The Source) and switch. The connectors are to connect the tail light.

Here is the 5 LED module we used. It takes about 4V at 300ma or so, for about 1.2 watts. It came out of a cheap bike light we got at Crappy Tire. We'll probably need to re-place it with something else because after the Quebec and Parry Sound rounds (4 races) one LED no longer works and 2 others seem to be on their last legs. The resistor needed for this was a 3 ohm 5 watt. Other light module/battery combinations would require something different. You all now how to apply Ohm's law, right?

Here is the tail light. It's a cheap but surprisingly handy unit from Polisport. It has exacty the same LED module in it as the headlight.

How does it work? With fresh batteries it's quite convinc-ing. Turn it on and it looks as though you have real lights!How long does it last? I'm guessing about 4-6 hours with fresh COSCO quality alkalines. Can you actually use it to ride with it? During the day, sure. At night you out-run the beam at approximately 5 km/h on the trail or about 15

km/h on a paved road. I would not use it at night.

Now, on the brighter side (oh yeah, you heard that. Got a million of them):

My son and I got a couple of these back in '06:

We use these for real night riding. They are the 8' halo-gen race ights from Trail-tech. They are great, and yes, you can ride full speed through the woods with them at night. We use them with the Trialtech helmet lights. They came with 55W halo-gen bulbs but are offered in a 35W HID version that is supposed to be much bet-ter. Well, better is good, no? When I looked into how much it would cast me to upgrade them to HID from Trailtech, the bill was going to be close to $550. Ouch!!!

After search or two on eBay I cam across these:

This is a HID conversion kit with two bulbs and two bal-lasts. Total cost, $74 delivered to my door. Do they work? Well you be the judge. The following two pictures were tak-en with the lights 2 meters from a 18% grey background.

Camera was set a ASA 400, and f8 at 1/125 second for both pictures.

Here is the 55W halogen. No bad and as I said, very use-able. Note the very nice pattern - big square in the middle and nice side lighting.

Here is the 35W HID. Same exposure. Note the same nice pattern and the huge increase in brightness. Given that the halogens were really good, these will be awesome. As yet untested on the trail, but I've got great expectations.

Well, while I was shopping for HID kits, I came across some LED H1 replacement bulbs that would fit into the 8' race lights. So I thought I'd get some to try out. Of the

Friends of the BYTOWN MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

will receive 25% off a day of riding at Trail Tours and Dirtbike School. Visit trailtour.com to book your loved

ones ride today. While you’re there, book one for yourself.

LIMIT ONE COUPON PER RIDER. PLEASE INDICATE YOUR DISCOUNT UPON BOOKING.

GET PAID TO WRITE!*

We are always looking for submissions or story ideas...

EMAIL! offroad.newsletter@gmail.com

* Are you kidding me? We don’t ACTUALLY

pay anybody...

15,987,231 available for sale on eBay I noticed the majority of them were just like these 3:

The ones with the 13 LEDs turned out to be by far the brightest, and you can see that my testing of the wattage verified that. So I popped the 13 LED unit into the 8' light and, using the same exposure for the halogen and the HID took this picture:

Now, on my monitor I can just make out 4 diffuse and incredibly dim blobs of bluish light. I could not actually see anything on the tiny screen of the camera, so I opened up

the lens to f2.8 (that's 8 times the exposure!) and took this shot:

Hmmm. Not very impressive for 2.8 watts. Calling these things a replacement for the 55W halogen is joke. They are little brighter than the kit I put together for the WEC and no where near 1/12 the brightness of the HID lights. In all fair-ness, I never expected too much. However, I do not think economical LED technology that truly replaces HID, or even halogen, is around the corner anytime soon.

Friends of the BYTOWN MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION

will receive 25% off a day of riding at Trail Tours and Dirtbike School. Visit trailtour.com to book your loved

ones ride today. While you’re there, book one for yourself.

LIMIT ONE COUPON PER RIDER. PLEASE INDICATE YOUR DISCOUNT UPON BOOKING.

BMA Code Of Conduct1. Do not trespass on private property2. Ride on existing trails3. Respect nature4. Respect and be courteous to other people who also have the right to be on the trails5. Remember that few other vehicles are as maneuverable as bikes, so give the others lots of room6. Hunt camp owners do a lot of trail grooming - respect their efforts7. Stop when you see a horse8. Do not ride during hunting season9. Comply with all legislation, bylaws and insurance requirements10. Always wear a helmet and other safety gear (but take off your helmet if you talk to someone)11. Do not litter12. Leave the place better than you found it13. Keep your bike QUIET. More sound = less ground!

WHAT THE HECK IS THIS CARD? WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?

Step 1 - Volunteer. - believe me, the club could use your help and I bet you’ll enjoy yourself.

Step 2 - Print this page and fill out the card.

Step 3 - Give this to Dave Phifer or any one of your friendly neighbourhood club execs.

Step 4 - Clap yourself on the back. Your donation of time just helped the club and gained you some respect

among your fellow club members.

Do you even know what you’re looking at??? LOL

You’ll have to show up to find out!

Could this be the BMA Annual General Meeting door prize?

BMA KLIM GEAR UPDATEA month ago the BMA did a club gear deal with KLIM Canada.

For those who ordered, here’s what’s happening:

We have ordered the BMA Club patches that will be appear on each cargo pocket of the pants. These patches are currently in production and will be shipped shortly. Once these have arrived the BMA exec are going to meet and decide a final club price for the pants. Once the final price is decided, we will call for pay-ment - most likely a cheque mailed to the BMA address.

For those who still want to order, check out below for the deal, it’s not too late.

The BMA has partnered with KLIM Canada (pronounced “CLIMB”) to provide the BMA with riding gear for the 2010 sea-son. The KLIM brand is arguably some of the best quality off-road riding gear being manufactured and members who are currently using the KLIM brand are very happy with it. Please check out their website to learn more:

www.klimcanada.comThe BMA executive are pleased to offer its members customized, high-end gear at prices that are unavailable outside the club. Also, we are excited about our club being represented on the trails with some of the best gear available on the market. YOU MUST BE A 2009 BMA MEMBER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS OFFER. BMA membership does have privi-leges!

The BMA and KLIM are currently offering two pieces of gear for next year - the highly sought after “Dakar” pant and the “Revolt” jersey (see attached images).

KLIM has offered us a good discount off the retail price and the BMA has agreed to subsidize the price even more. All gear will be screen printed with the BMA logo (maybe not exactly like in the attached image but similar) so that the BMA will have visibility on the trails. The jersey will be screen printed on the lower back so your club affiliation will be visible even while wearing protective gear.

PRICING

Currently the retail price for the Dakar pant is $199 CDN. After BMA Club logo, shipping and the club subsidy - the MOST you will pay will be $137.

Currently the retail price for the Revolt jersey is $50 CDN. After BMA Club logo, shipping and the club subsidy - the MOST you will pay will be $36.

There will be an executive meeting to determine the final gear subsidy. Chances are good that you will pay less for this gear than the above amounts.

KLIM SIZING CHART - http://www.klimcanada.com/store/assets/KLIM-Sizing-Charts.pdf

THE PANTS ARE SOLD AS WAIST SIZE (Tall Sizes Available), THE JER-SEYS ARE SOLD WITH TRADITION-

AL SIZING (S, M, L, XL, XXL)

TO CONFIRM YOUR ORDER PLEASE PROVIDE:

FULL NAME:EMAIL ADDRESS:WHICH ITEMS YOU WANT, THE SIZE AND QUANTITY FOR EACH ITEM:

Hunting Season and the BMAThe weather this year has been great for late season riding. As BMA members we have to remember that we share our

riding areas with other users. Recently, a com-plaint has been lodged with the BMA regarding dirt bike riders in the for-est during the 2 weeks of hunting season - the first 14 days of Novem-ber. Our representative, Larry Murray has ad-dressed this complaint and assured the indi-vidual that the BMA asks it’s members to stay out of the forest during this time. Please read our Code of Conduct. This document reinforces the

clubs wishes to keep dirtbikes out of the forest during the deer hunt. Please respect other users and pass this idea onto other bikers that may not be part of the BMA. Thanks for listening!

Please be clear with your ordering information as we’ve al-ready had a lot of orders and we suspect that there will be a lot more orders taken. The more details you can provide the easier it will be for us!

PAYMENT

Payment can be made to the club after the order is con-firmed and before the gear is ready to ship. You will be contacted for payment in the future. If you order gear, you will be held responsible for payment. The club will not be responsible for unpaid product.

SUMMARY

We have worked hard to get the club the best possible deal on high quality riding gear that will make our members happy and represent the BMA well on the trail. Please support our efforts by purchasing and wearing BMA club riding gear next season!

If you have questions please email me as I’m going to be heading up the co-ordination of gear orders.

EMAIL: offroad.newsletter@gmail.com

Woody’s Cycles KTM & Husaberg Off-Road Experts at Your Service

Merry Christmas sale now on! 25% off All Remaining Tires

25-75% off KTM Clothing and Accessories

Great selection of quality trade ins, now in stock. Come by and check us out.

819 & 613 area codes: 1-800-991-BIKEor 613-267-6861

www.woodys-cycles.com

LIMERICK FORESTupdates...IF WE BUILD IT THEY WILL COME

In the last 2 months, the BMA did some bridge building in the Limerick forest - both literally and figuratively. Here’s the financial breakdown. A big thanks to all who came out - there was a huge group! To read more about the project and see photos check out Exhaust Note with Larry Murray. If you want to see all the photos, go to the Bytown Smug-Mug account. He breaks down the details of the project. The forest management, council and stakeholders are all impressed with our efforts. Score one for the dirtbikers.

In summary, here’s how it worked out for the BMA:

Total Revenue $7450.00 Total Expenses $5409.80 Profit for BMA $2040.20

Go, go Gadget Arms!*

* Reference only recognizable for certain age groups. Sorry.

Subject: National Trails Coalition (NTC) Funding Announcement Hi Folks;Great news! County Council has just approved accep-tance of the NTC funding for the “Limerick Forest Trailhead and Education Centre” & “Limerick Forest Trail Improve-ment” projects. The total grant is for $250,000 ($200K for the Chalet and $50K for the trails) with the County’s portion amounting to $125,000. The work is to be completed by the end of March 2010. I think we’re going to have a busy fall! TRAILS:We have had a plan in place for quite a while regarding the trails work. However there are additional, finer details to work out now that we are actually getting the funding. One area will be to consult further with the Merrickville people

to ramp up plans for the trail network which we were originally planning on doing over the next couple of seasons on Scotch Line Rd. There will also be other items to work on such as trail signage for both Lim S and Lim N (i.e., directional arrows, interpretive trail signs, corporate sponsorship of same, info kiosks, etc.). We will also benefit from the fact that some of the work which we have already completed on the trails/access roads since the end of May can be back-charged against this project as well. TRAILHEAD/EDUCATION CENTRE (Chalet):We have preliminary plans for a new trailhead/edu-cation centre to replace the Chalet. They are more of an “artist’s concept” than a building plan, but I have attached them for your interest anyway. Look at them with a big pinch of salt – they will obviously change but they should provide you with the basic idea. I had lengthy discussions with Les Shepherd (our Director) and Dave Kenney (the County building and asset manager) yesterday about the new building and what could / couldn’t be accomplished with the $200K. We are still looking at going with basically the same idea as originally proposed, i.e., a 1-story log cabin approx. 1200 sg ft., with washrooms, showers, kitchen, a bit of storage room and the rest being a meeting hall; constructed from Limerick Pr logs, located where the Chalet presently stands.

However, there will also have to be some changes made to some of our original ideas due to potential costs. Some of the things which we discussed yesterday include; a) not enough funding for a basement – “slab on grade” appears to be the way to go; b) given point “a”, our original dimensions of approx. 30’ x 40’ may get increased a bit to allow additional room for the furnace, storage space, “accessible” washrooms, etc.; c) the attached plan shows the kitchen as be-ing a little larger than probably neces-sary so we can decrease it in favour of more room somewhere else; d) we’ll probably need a new septic system; e) heating will be a propane furnace (and fireplace) – including air “refresher” to circulate humid summer air and will also be “programmable” with ability to turn heat up/down via telephone (this is

key as it will provide us with 24-7, 12 month/yr use); f) heavy duty vinyl flooring (some of which I have seen and it actually looks OK); g) alarm system; h) ceiling – up in the air – sorry about the bad pun – we would like some type of vaulted ceil-ing showing the beams etc., (to help provide that “rustic” look) but that may not be possible from both a cost standpoint as well as the need to run heating ducts through the ceiling as they won’t be able to come up through the floor when we don’t have a basement; i) the walls of course will be log except for in the washrooms/kitchen area; j) the old building will be demolished and removed – if there are any useable beams or something similar which we can utilize in some kind of memorial to the original building, ie., a mantle piece over the new fireplace, etc., then we will do so; k) a good PR plan will be needed. FRIENDS of LIM MEETING:So, that’s a lot to think about and there will no doubt be some changes, but hopefully it will give you an idea of where we are heading. Which brings me to my next point. If enough people are interested I can book the library in Algonquin for an evening meeting ..... or we could always meet for an hour or two at the Chalet (but not inside for more than a few min-utes to have a quick look) to discuss these projects. We definitely want your input but it needs to be done fairly quickly as time is of the essence if we are to get the tenders/contracts out so that the building can be closed in before the snow flies. I would suggest some time in the next week or so, i.e., the week of the 17th or 24th depending of course on your summer vacation schedules etc. Any thoughts? So there it is! We’re going to get a new trailhead/edu-cation centre, some new trails, and have the old ones improved! The next 7 months are going to hectic but fun! I’m sure that with everyone’s input/help we will end up with a great new trailhead/education centre which we can all be proud of. And last but certainly not least, a huge thank you to County Council for their ongoing commit-ment and support of the program as well as to the Ontario Federation of Trail Riders (OFTR) for actually submitting this application on our behalf! Geoff McVeyLimerick Forest Manager

ATTENTION BMA Members!

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This issue, Larry is letting us know what happened with the Limerick Bridge Building project. Larry headed this project up and made it all happen. From what the participants told us was that Larry’s favorite part of the project was that he got to drive an ATV. In the future look for Larry on the local ATV trails...

photos by Carolin Lueders

Riding at Limerick Forest just got a little easier!

This fall the BMA & OFTR with grant monies from the NTC and UCL&G have entered in to a work agree-ment to supply and install 350 feet +/- of bridging at the south block of the for-est. This is the area where most of our off-road riding is done. The value of this project was $7500.00.

25 areas have been iden-tified, that fall into one of three groups (Close, Bypass, or Bridging)

14 areas needing bridging, from 10 feet to 100 feet.

11 areas needing to be closed or bypasses built.

Over the last 8 weeks the lumber for the bridging has been showing up at my house. Along with my wife and son (April and Cole) we have been building the bridging. The bridging looks more like a bike board walk then a bridge. Check out some of the pics and you will get a better idea. The bridges were made of 100% local cedar that was cut and milled within 20 kms of the Limerick Forest. They are 1 meter wide and placed on 100mm X 100mm stringers. Each 9 meter section is designed to interlock with the next section without any offset and the weight is around 75 kg per section.

It was one of those perfect days where everyone pitched in to make sure no one person was stuck doing all of the work.

The Motley Crew.

Kevin Eastman takes this bridge building stuff seriously.

When the bridging is done we will have used:

• 720pc of 50mm x 150mm x 1meter cedar planks • 80pc of 100mm x 100mm cedar stringers • 80pc of 75mm x 25mm x 1 meter cedar runners • 20pc of 50mm x 150mm x 3 meters cedar • 50kg of 4” galvanized nails 4500pc. • 5000 screws #10 x 4” • 1200 screws #8 x 2.5” • 70 bolts ½ x 10” along with nut and washers

On Saturday, Nov. 21st the BMA hade a great team of workers out to start plac-ing the bridging at Limerick. We also had great weather and a good lunch!

There were 3 teams at work most of the day and the workers that helped were Al/Ryan/Andrew/Jarred Jonker, Cory Ber-nard, Kevin Eastman, Andrew and Con-

ner Betty, Paul Behncke, Glen Cooper, Terry Young, Paul and Matt Leonard, Kaveri Gupta, Dallas Shannon, plus me. Most worked 4-5 hours plus traveling. The teams were able to lay down almost 200 feet of the bridging and one section is over 100 feet long, this is a must see and a must ride!

The weather is looking good for December and I hope to get one more day of work (along with some riding!) in be-

100 feet of pure environmental excitement.

fore the snow comes.If you have not been riding at Limerick the past weeks, you need to get out there and have some fun! The trails are in good shape and the forest is busy with other riders, don’t miss out on the fun! See you thereLarry

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