1/14/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Benno’s

 

Welcome by Chris McArdle

Review of the some of the changes from the board meeting. Introduced new board members.

Explained Functional leaders. Explained breaking out Trail Leaders differently.

Active Business:

Fundraising – Matt Gissibl from the Bike Fed explained some of the Bike Fed’s fundraising efforts by

targeting bike shops. Talked about t-shirt sales. Chris Cooper will provide Sara’s email to Matt.

Volunteers:

22 people qualified for shirts in 2013. City Print said pricing pretty much the same as last year. Less

people qualified for a shirt than in 2012. 1700 volunteer hours total, 60 people total. Minooka being big

volunteer-hour winner. Next meeting, we’ll be talking about working the metro booth at Expo.

Marketing: Collateral and Signage and Mapping. Derek has Templates for sock guy. Old logo may not

show up great on the socks. Might be worth sending anyway and see if the company can give us

options. Will look into pricing per quantity. May look into DeFeet per Matt @ the Bike Fed. Matt

explained how the t-shirts/socks work to sell at bike shops. Socks cost $5/bike shops re-sell for ~$12.

Maps – working on posters and maps. Any dates to have ready for printing? We need brochures now.

Derek committed to printing brochures. Chris will email Tom and have him send artwork to Derek.

Do we have a separate map of the Alpha? What about Bubba’s Woods? Bubba’s not approved.

Signage – Marty put link up on the Facebook page. Carsonite signs

Social Committee: officially recognizing Odd Tuesday, Spring/Fall social rides, also a monthly ride at a

trail system. May – August. May would be Minooka. Showcases the various area trails, try to get new

people to ride the trails. We’re looking for more people to be a part of the marketing team. Derek put together a survey

Trails: tosa trails are icy, Ron said he’s posting trail conditions Waukesha Bike Alliance facebook page and will post to Metro page as well South Shore – Harold brought up at the trails meeting. May not be

accessible to mtn bikers unless people can speak to county supervisors, etc. Need to find a way to get it legitimized. Harold went to Port to the Ozaukee County group. 2 mi mtn bike loop wanted there.

Already have committed $60,000 a pre-fab pump track and a skills course near skateboard park. Hope to have approval for it by the end of March. Chris has reached out to this group to have a combined meeting. Ozaukee County is looking at a combined IMBA chapter with a number of bike groups in that area – all groups will operate independently and combine to form the chapter. At Hoyt MMSD will be taking out the steps and the carwash soon.

County Trails Council – effort to encourage groups to prepare and develop trails within the county, City of Milwaukee has purchased two trail counters to getting data about trail usage. Ramsey wants to get moving on the memorandium of underwriting of bike trails 2/4/14. County Trails meets the 2 nd odd month at 10 am at the county parks building.

Events:

2014 Fatbike Access – 70 advocates attended – Hansi has a post about this event IMBA event is Jan 19 – 20 at Rays. If you go to Ray’s on Saturday you get Sunday free.  Waukesha Bike Swap - 2/15 proceeds go to Waukesha Bike Alliance not sold out yet 75 – 80% sold out.

Fatbike race in Sheridan Park

Bike Expo – volunteers needed

May 16 – 18 Regional IMBA in Madison @Trek will open up the Farm for riding IMBA World Summit in August in Steamboat Springs, CO. Club would like to pay registration fee for several people to go to the sessions and encourage Metro members to go as sort of club ride.  February meeting will start 50/50 raffle for cash, tires, and metro t-shirt

New business:

Marty emailed Marna @ the Rock re: Wednesday night racing. We’d like to see a series like this continue but we don’t want to compete with the Rock and we’re not sure what their intent is. These event prices are based on insurance and county parks issues.

11/9/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Welcome by Ron Stawicki

Treasurer’s Report – Harold received the quarterly IMBA check for recent memberships/renewals.

Carsonite signs were purchased and have been paid for.

Fundraising – no fundraising report this month. The next need for fundraising will be Trailhead signage and we’ll need to determine what amount is required so we can contemplate what kind of fundraising we’ll need to do.

Volunteers – Chris Cooper reported 857 hours of total volunteer time this year. This is down a bit from last year but we haven’t had as many needs this year. We’re still looking for a person to coordinate the Social Committee – please contact Chris Cooper if interested. We had four people who worked on theBubba’s Woods Weed-out day in coordination with the neighborhood surrounding Bubba’s Woods.

Marketing – no Marketing report this month. Social Committee – we’re looking for a leader of the Social Committee – if interested, please contact

Chris Cooper.

Trails Council/Milwaukee County Parks – Marty talked about the new parks requirements regarding permits. No progress on the MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the parks department.  National Bike Patrol – no Bike Patrol report this month.

Trails – Minooka trail work is underway – always Sunday mornings from 8 – 11 through November (just two more weeks to go). Minooka is hosting the Global Fat Bike Day on Dec. 6. Many trees down at Hoyt and some have been down for awhile. The county is aware of these trees but hasn’t dealt with them yet. Marty and Harold met with the County about Bubba’s Woods recently and the County has said everything is fine there for now, but requested no more re-routes. Oak Hill is in good shape. Alpha’s also in good shape. Harold and Marty along with the County walked the north side of the river from Hoyt to develop the trails there. County is agreeable to trails on that side of the river. Harold and Marty used black flags to mark that side of the river for possible trails. In the Spring, we’ll finalize the trails we want to build.

Signage – is now in our possession. Marty has called Digger’s Hotline at the request of the County. Marty is aiming for next weekend at Alpha or Hoyt.

State Trails Council meeting - scheduled on Thursday, Nov. 13 from 10 – 3 at Lapham Peak. It’s during the day should anyone be interested in attending and it’s open to the public. Part of the discussion will be on eBikes, which we discussed at length in this meeting.

Upcoming & Recently-held Events:

•  Singletrack High Movie – the Shorewood HS Mtn Bike team put this on and Marty attended
•  Fall Social Ride had a good time but it was lightly attended this year
• Lapham Peak FatBike series has a kick-off meeting on Thursday, November 13 at 7:30 pm. The
• race series starts November 20 at 7:30 pm – check Wheel & Sprocket’s website for information.
• Race series will continue into January. Proceeds go to the Friends of Lapham Peak.
• Turkey Hurl ride scheduled for Thanksgiving at 8 pm at Tosa Village at the Red School House.
• Santa Rampage, Saturday, December 6.
• Bike Across the Lake – tentatively Feb. 14 if winter weather is horrible
• Spring Social Ride being discussed for May

New Business – no news about Kletsch Park.  Elections – Chris McArdle nominated for Chair. Chris Cooper nominated for Co-Chair. Ron Stawicki

becomes Member at Large. Harold nominated for Treasurer. Anne Newhouse continues as Secretary.  Lynne Senkerik nominated for Volunteer Coordinator.

December meeting – December 9 at The Bike Fed offices at 3618 W. Pierce St, Milwaukee. We are inviting someone from the County Park department to attend.

10/14/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Welcome by Ron Stawicki & Chris McArdle

Treasurer’s Report – We took in $411 in raffle at Ray’s on October 2. We bought a couple of carsonite signs and the installation tool for the signs, which Marty picked up in Madison.

Fundraising – no fundraising report this month. We’ll need to think about fundraising for trailhead signs in the future.

Volunteers – We had another month of numerous volunteering events. Kletsch Park cross country meet went well with six Metro volunteers. Next Saturday, October 18 is the Weed Out in Bubba’s Woods – we’ll be looking for Metro volunteers to help out with a strong presence. We’ve had 605 hours in volunteer hours so far in 2014 with many hours not entered yet. If anyone has hours, please send to Chris Cooper.

Marketing – not a lot going on in Marketing. We discussed moving some of the marketing documents to a google drive. Marty thought we may need more posters ordered.

Social Committee – we’re looking for a leader of the Social Committee – if interested, please contact

Chris Cooper.

Trails – Marty picked up the trail installation driver tool and carsonite signs. Marty suggested starting to install soon while the ground is soft and not frozen yet.

Trails Council/Milwaukee County Parks – Marty talked about the new parks requirements regarding permits. No progress on the MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the parks department.

Bike Patrol – Bike Patrol has/had a busy month. WEMS race at Alpine Valley, NICA race series, and some local Cyclocross races.

Trails – Minooka trail work is underway – always Sunday mornings from 8 – 11 through November.  Minooka will be hosting a Global FatBike event in early December. Tosa trails are in good shape.  Marty will be meeting with the parks staff regarding trails on the north side of Hoyt Park-ish. Alpha trails were dried out enough for the WORS race. Andy joined us from the Colectivo WORS race and discussed the event, which was well received.

Fall Social Ride – October 18 at 10 am starting at Benno’s – The Garden Party.

Upcoming & Recently-held Events:

·         The recent Little Switzerland event was discussed

·         Matt Gissibl from the Bike Fed spoke to the owners of Little Switzerland (who also owns Mt. Morris) and talked about their conversation.

·         Andy from Colectivo spoke about the WORS event. He will be attending the race directors meeting coming up in a couple of weeks.

·         Ray’s preview was a great night and a lot of fun

·         Matt G also talked about the Bike Fed summit/IMBA summit.

·         November 7 Bikes and Beats at Turner Hall fundraiser.

·         Lapham Peak FatBike series starting November 20 at 7:30 pm – check Wheel & Sprocket’s website for information.

·         Santa Rampage, Saturday, December 6.

·         October 28 benefit Winter Bike Party from 6 – 9 at Great lakes Distillery benefiting the

Milwaukee Bicycle Collective. Free admission.

Fall Social Ride – October 18 at 10 am starting at Benno’s – The Garden Party.

New Business – Harold talked a little about Kletsch Park in Glendale, but we hope to have more information at the next meeting.

November meeting – November 9 SUNDAY night at 5 pm @ Benno’s featuring Metro Elections.

December meeting – December 9 at The Bike Fed offices at 3618 W. Pierce St, Milwaukee.

9/9/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Welcome by Ron Stawicki & Chris McArdle

Treasurer Report – Harold will be taking over the Treasurer’s role. Marty has put the stickers for signs on hold for now.

Fundraising – raffle is over so we need to figure out what’s next.

Volunteers – Chris Cooper was contacted by North Shore High School cross country race about needing volunteers for their race at Kletsch Park on September 18. Four volunteers are needed – contact Chris

Cooper if interested. Fall Color Fest is on Sept 27 and we’ll need volunteers to set up and be in our tent. If interested in volunteering for the event, contact Ron Stawicki who can put you in touch with the volunteer coordinators from Wheel & Sprocket. Talk to Chris McArdle if interested in volunteering for the Colectivo WORS race on Sunday, Sept 28. October 18 is a weed-out from 9 - 12 by Milwaukee County Parks (107 th & Menomonee River Parkway) in Bubba’s Woods. That is same day as our social ride (see below). The group agreed that a good turnout of Metro volunteers would be a very good idea.

Marketing – the new order of brochures has been received. We have officially moved into the black for the socks although we still have a lot of X-large socks available. We talked about more marketing materials under development.

Social Committee – we need someone interested to take over for the Social Committee. Contact Chris Cooper if interested.

Trail teams – Trails Council Meeting is Thursday, Sept. 11.

Trails – Ron said trails at Minooka are dry and fast. High School Race went great – about 108 participants. Waukesha County Parks felt it was a success. October/November are the Fall build season at Minooka. Tosa trails are in great shape too. Alpha trail has not dried out since June and it’s still wet and closed to riding. Harold talked to County and they want Metro to take over the trails at Kletsch Park that are along the river. The current trails are about two to three miles but they definitely need some work and signs for sale.

Bike Patrol – Had a large group at the Wolfman Tri at Bear Paw. Also a large group at the first High School race at Minooka as well.

Odd Tuesdsay Ride – one more ride this season which will be September 16 th . We plan on doing a cookout. Mike Crabb will post.

Wednesday Night @ the Rock – racing is completed this season.

Fall Social Ride – October 18 at 10 am. Location to be determined.

Rays – Preview night is October 2 6 to 10 pm. Ray’s will open on October 4. Rays has a lot of new stuff this year including new skills sections.

New Business – Bike Fed is having an annual meeting in Madison in October. November 9 Metro meeting will have elections. This meeting will be on a Sunday at 5 pm. We had representatives from Little Switzerland opening September 20. Facebook page Little Switzerland Bike Park. We briefly discussed the Fat Bike race series at Lapham. Barnyard Classic outside of Madison, cyclocross/mountain bike race. Nicolet-Roche trails October 4.

October meeting – October 14 meeting at Benno’s.

8/12/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Welcome by Ron Stawicki

Treasurer Report – We have a vacancy with Derek stepping down from the Treasurer’s position and Harold Schmidt has agreed to come back to the position when he returns from his travels. We received our quarterly IMBA membership payment at just over $900 so a lot of people renewed or signed up for membership. The signs/stickers were ordered but Marty has pended it until better stickers showing a mountain bike are available.

Fundraising – sold 480 tickets with over $3300 gross, $2500 net. Raffle Greg Heil Wheel & Sprocket.

Kate & Maciej Rays, Tom Vomastic wins top prize to Erik’s.

Volunteers – 325 volunteers logged so far with some still missing. Tom Vomastic has been putting in a lot of time lately and his hours are not yet logged. We may need additional volunteers coming up for the NICA race at Minooka and Ron will look into what their needs may be and see how Metro can help.  Also, with late Summer/Fall coming up, we’ll need volunteers for trail work so stayed tuned for more information.

Marketing – we need brochures but we still have posters available. We may need some additional help with Graphic Arts coming up as Tom has been getting busier with his job. Social Committee – Danielle is stepping down from the Social Committee so we’ll need someone else to step into that role. Please contact Chris Cooper if interested. Social Ride scheduled for 10/18.

Trail teams – Andy was here from the Collectivo team and asked if anyone had been to the Alpha trail.  Marty explained what he’s recently seen. September 28 is the WORS race and the trails will need some work. Marty suggested Andy contact the County regarding a special permit in case they need it for rain before the event, etc. Marty suggested that two weeks before, they’ll need to plan for a lot of trail work. Bubba’s Woods has dried out (until today) and there has been some work done recently to the entrance from Highway 100. Hoyt is in good shape but may need some general maintenance. Oak Hill is also in good shape. Minooka trails have new signs in within the last month and a few other suggestions for new signs. All comments were positive about the new trails. October/November is the Fall build season for Minooka on Sunday mornings.

Hoyt Park – Lindsay Kriete a local racer and Tosa resident came to the meeting to tell her story of her dog being killed recently by a train while she was on the trails and suggestions she had for building trails on the North side of the river. Marty explained some of the discussions that they’ve with the County about the north side trails. Additional opinions were shared about a sign we could put up or what we could do until we get approval for more trail building. There will still be some ongoing discussions about this.

Wednesday Night @ the Rock – racing is still ongoing although there are a lot of different faces showing up these days.

IMBA World Summit – in Steamboat Springs, CO in August.

 

May 13, 2014

Page 1 of 2

September meeting – Waukesha at Magellan’s September 9.

7/8/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Welcome by Chris McArdle & Ron Stawicki

Treasurer Report – Marty said 100 signs/stickers are ordered from Carsonite. Signs should be coming within a couple of weeks. In addition, one tool was ordered at $150/each.

Fundraising – Sara talked about the raffle. 400 have been distributed and we seem to be doing great with our goal of raising between $4000 and $5000. Sara still has more raffle tickets should anyone else be interested in selling them. Raffle drawing will be at the August meeting at Bennos. We are one pair of socks away from break even for sock sales.

Volunteers – volunteers need to remember to send their hours to Chris Cooper. Currently about six people have qualified for t-shirts but a lot of hours haven’t been logged yet.

Marketing – we may need to order more brochures but we don’t have a lot of other marketing going on currently. Derek is still looking at business cards and stickers too. (Business cards will be to hand to people as we’re doing trail work or talking to people about the trails.) Someone suggested putting a QR code on our marketing, especially our posters so Derek will look into.

Social Committee – Fall social ride 10/18 but the route is still under consideration. With the Sunburst race cancelled, Marty discussed doing a ride on July 27 with a tour of all trails in one day. He will post on

Facebook.

Trails Council Meeting – meeting Thursday, July 10. Marty had no further agenda items for the Trails Council.

Trail teams – Minooka trails are in good shape. The County is still working on signage so it may still be hard for some to navigate. Minooka is hosting the High School Race series this Fall. Hoyt’s in good shape, some of the dead falls have been removed between Swan and North and Bubba’s woods is closed (although people have still been riding there). Oak Hill is open with the usual wet spots and some of the dead falls have been removed. Alpha has been closed and has some wet spots too.  Odd-Tuesday Rides – July 15 at 6 pm. Mike will have to wait to see how the trails are before deciding which trail to ride.

National Bike Patrol – Mike Crabb said they patrolled the WORS race in Wausau. They also just completed the US Cycling Amateur Champions in Rockdale as well.

Wednesday Night @ the Rock – first week of racing was last week although it rained and was messy for everyone.

IMBA World Summit – in Steamboat Springs, CO in August. If interested in attending, Metro will sponsor the session fee. Early entry ends soon.

August Meeting – next meeting with the raffle drawing is Tuesday, August 11 at Benno’s.

6/10/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Welcome by Chris McArdle & Ron Stawicki

Treasurer Report – no treasurer’s report this week.

Fundraising – Sara talked about the raffle and the process for everyone taking raffle tickets. The raffle is in August and we are hoping to sell 500 tickets total. Sara will keep in contact via email with all selling tickets but money will be collected at our August meeting. Tickets are $10 or 3 for $20. Top sellers off raffle tickets will win a 29er wheel set provided by Ben’s Cycles. More Metro socks are still available at $10 for a pair.

Volunteers – Trail day on Sunday afternoon at Oak Hill – thanks to the volunteers who showed up. Chris Cooper reported that no volunteer hours were loaded this month.

Marketing – Posters were completed

Social Committee – Harold commented that we are looking at dates for the Fall Social Ride, most likely in October 18. Tom Vomastic talked about a group going up to Cooper Harber or Brown County,

Indiana. He’ll put a post up on Facebook about organizing a group. This upcoming weekend has a lot of great social events including the Fat Tire Tour of Milwaukee.

Trails Council Meeting – no meetings lately. Milwaukee County Parks is contemplating a trail pass/permit for usage on trails. They are interested to know what’s going on the trails because there are all kinds of events or usage for things they might not be aware of and they are responsible for trail usage.

Trail teams – Over 4 miles of Minooka trails are available and are in good shape and getting more riders all the time. Signage is still coming for the new loop. Tosa trails in good shape. This past weekend, volunteers worked at Oak Hill and got a lot of work done. Hoyt still needs a little bit of trimming. Alpha trails are in good shape as well.

County Parks MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) - Harold discussed the MOU wording from the county. Chris brought up a suggestion made at the Regional IMBA summit about having something stronger in place then an MOU.

Odd-Tuesday Rides – June 17 at Alpha at 6 pm.

National Bike Patrol – Mike Crabb said they are in need of tubes. We have an amount ear marked for National Bike Patrol usage. Ron is going to get through Wheel & Sprocket. There are new people in the Wausau area that are being trained at the WORS event this weekend. They are still looking for new people in Madison too.

Harold discussed Biking with Barley on Memorial Day weekend – contact Harold if you’re interested.

Regional IMBA Summit – discussion on contracts and insurance and other language suggested for use.

5/13/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Welcome by Chris McArdle

Treasurer Report – No report this month.

Fundraising – we discussed having Metro socks for sale for $10. Sara Stum discussed the raffle that we and the prizes. Three prizes: $250 gift card from Wheel & Sprocket, season pass for Rays, and a $1500 top raffle prize from Erik’s Bike Shop, plus, Sara has suggested getting an incentive prize from Ben’s Cyclery for the top seller of raffle tickets. At the June meeting, Sara will bring raffle tickets for everyone to start selling tickets. We’ve applied for two raffle licenses and are waiting for them to arrive by mail.

Volunteers – Chris Cooper reminded everyone to email him their volunteer hours to get logged. We haven’t had many things planned or scheduled besides the Minooka Trail Work.

Marketing – Derek T. discussed a volunteer opportunity offered and encouraged through his employer and suggested others look into that. We’ll post something on the Facebook page regarding the need for volunteers. Tom created a draft poster and needs the Board approval. Harold discussed that he and Marty start distributed posters in the past in May so we’d like to have the posters available soon. Chris McArdle has received our new Metro pop-up tent and we can start using for events. Chris will bring it to our odd-Tuesday ride next week at Hoyt so everyone can see it. Cody offered to donate business cards if someone else gets the graphics completed.

Social Committee – Harold discussed our Spring social ride. We had nine people show up for the ride – the weather wasn’t particularly great. Fall social ride will be discussed over the next couple of meetings.

Trails Council Meeting – Harold said they met last week (first week of May). Chris discussed getting everyone to use GPS and put on Strava to show usage of the trails.

Bike Patrol – Mike has no new information. The Bike Patrol is still looking for new patrollers.

Trail teams – Second loop finished at Minooka – about four miles of trail to ride. Ron says the trails dry pretty quickly. He’s also working on trail signs. Next three weeks continues trail work. Statewide Bike to Work week, Waukesha Bike to Work day next Wednesday 6 am – 9 am. 7pm on Wednesday for the Ride of Silence in Waukesha. There is also a Ride of Silence in Cudahy and others around the area.  Obviously, the weather has made the trails unrideable for now.  Regional IMBA Summit in Madison – this upcoming weekend May 17 – 18. Chris M and Marty are attending portions of the event. If you’re interested in going, Metro will pay a portion of the fee. There was a limit to the attendees, however.  Odd-Tuesday Rides start next Tuesday, May 20 at Hoyt Park, weather permitting.  Harold discussed Biking with Barley on Memorial Day weekend – contact Harold if you’re interested.  Wednesday Night @ the Rock – Racing will start June 4 through September (based on daylight). Metro has not committed to be involved at this point but future discussions are likely to happen.  Open Forum – Harold discussed Biking with Barley for Memorial Day weekend starting at Blue Mounds State Park – talk to Harold for more details.

IMBA World Summit – if interested in attending, Metro will sponsor of portion of the fee.

Wisconsin High School Cycling League - Kathy Mock, Co-Director of the League (along with Don Edberg of WORS), was here to discuss. There are four scheduled events during the season that runs from July through October. Wisconsin was the 11st state to join the national league. Milwaukee seems to be a hub of interest in the high school league. If you’re interested in more information, the contact information is www.wisconsinmtb.org, email is Kathy@wisconsinmtb.org.

Metro is a sponsor for the Oak Leak Discovery Tour in Milwaukee. If interested, you can get the tour booklet at any of the golf courses and a few other locations around the area.  June Meeting will be back at Benno’s, 74 th & Greenfield. If you have a suggestion for a future meeting location, please let Chris know.

Events:

Regional IMBA Summit 5/16 – 18 in Madison – we are looking for someone to attend this, contact Chris McArdle

IMBA World Summit in Steamboat Spring, CO 8/20 – 24 – if anyone is going, please contact Chris McArdle

4/8/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

Welcome by Chris McArdle

Treasurer Report - We have a number of recent purchases yet to clear for the new Metro socks and canopy, to name a few. General Liability insurance is in place starting Thursday, April 10 – needed especially for trail work. Insurance dictates no one under 12 at club events. New waivers for 2014 will be have to be signed at every club event – nothing really different here, however, some people hadn’t signed in the past. New waivers are not yet available but will be ready for next month. 

Fundraising – working towards a raffle with more information next meeting.

Volunteers – shirts are available and were handed out at the meeting. Ron Stawicki will be taking the Waukesha members shirts. The shirts are in high-vis color and say Trail Volunteer on the back so we should be wearing them during trail work times. Chris Cooper ran through volunteer hours and sign up

for additional volunteer positions. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Chris Cooper. Ride for the Arts ride marshal program was discussed – three volunteer hours will be available for anyone who will commit to a ride marshal. Trail work season will be starting soon and we’ll need plenty of people to help.

Marketing – Derek showed off the new Metro socks we’re selling for $10 each and he also discussed the newly-revised trail maps. Comments were made that a lot of people at the Expo were happy that the Minooka trails are available for riding.

Social Committee – Social Ride on 4/26 will be leaving from St. Martins church parking lot in St. Martins with the ride being in that general area and moving southwest. Additional information will be posted at Facebook and our website.

Trails Council Meeting – was held on March 13. Marty and Harold suggested inviting the County Parks Director to our next meeting in Milwaukee. They have both talked with him and Marty was invited for a sit-down meeting with him.

Bike Patrol – Mike received a lot of inquiries at Expo and is hoping that generated interested that will get more volunteers. The Bike Patrol is now handling marathons, half-marathons, triathlons in additional to the trails and they are looking for additional people with a medical background who like to ride.

Trail teams – Reminder that all trails are still closed. People tried to ride at the Southern Kettles this past weekend and were ticketed and fined. The question was raised about using Round Up on the Milwaukee County trails. We discussed hitting garlic mustard soon as that is normally the first thing that greens up. Minooka has a busy weekend coming up – Saturday, April 12 there is a Kohl’s Cares team coming (potentially up to 35 people) to work at Minooka at Noon in area 3 where the Rugby fields are. Going forward, trail work will be Sundays from 8 – 11. There will be some trail work happening at Estabrook Park that Harold will be leading.

 

Wednesday Night @ the Rock – Marna joined us to discuss. Racing will start June 4 through September (based on daylight). The Rock bike park should be open – weather permitting – by mid-May. Marna is now the bike park operator for the BMX track. June 5 – 7 will be a huge event for BMX racing and The Rock will contact us if volunteers needed (they probably will need volunteers). The Rock is projecting the price for Wednesday racing at $15.

Open Forum – Harold discussed Biking with Barley for Memorial Day weekend – talk to Harold for more details.

 

Events:

High School Mountain Bike League training event - April 26 – 27 at Trek

Regional IMBA Summit 5/16 – 18 in Madison – we are looking for someone to attend this, contact Chris McArdle

IMBA World Summit in Steamboat Spring, CO 8/20 – 24 – if anyone is going, please contact Chris McArdle

3/11/14

Metro Mountain Bikers

South Shore Cyclery

Welcome by Ron Stawicki (Chris McArdle out of town)

Club Financial Status – Insurance discussion

501©3 status – Derek said that IMBA recommends that we get our own EIN. Marty said we have an EIN and he will be locating the information for this. Marty stated that this tax-exempt status was part of the IMBA deal as a chapter status. Sara Stum also recommended that we need 501©3 status as part of our fundraising. We will continue this discussion at our next board meeting.  MOU Discussion – haven’t scheduled meeting with the parks department. Trail council meeting is March 13 at 10 am.

Updates from the Rock on the Wednesday night cross country races – none. South Shore Cyclery will also send an email to their contact at the Rock inquiring about the status. Metro’s new insurance will enable us to do racing for a fee but people would still have to be Metro members. Question was if any IMBA members could race or just Metro members. IMBA requires $500 for the chapter (includes $1 million umbrella), $4.75 per member per year, $2.50 inland marine coverage. Costs historically have been much less than that. Events like the Odd Tuesday right would require Metro membership. Question was if there were any other options for insurance? Insurance is not yet set for 2014.

Committee Updates:

Marketing – update on socks, shirts, flyers. Tom completed the flyers and now Waukesha parks needs to approve. Socks are ordered and should be here for the bike expo. We worked with the Bike Fed on the sock order. They will be available for $10. Brochures are ready to go as well.  Matt Gissibl from the Bike Fed showed us the new design available for mountain biking specifically and discussed how working with local bike shops can help drive sales. The Bike Fed sells their t-shirts for $25.00 retail at the local shops. The bike shops will order can order from the Bike Fed. Metro long- sleeved t-shirts are still available for sale.

Fundraising Updates:

We need the 501©3 status in order to hold our fundraising raffle.

Volunteer Coordinators:

Expo is the next big thing for us. We’re hoping the tent will be available for Expo. There are still a few times to fill with Metro volunteer and the schedule was passed around. Volunteer t-shirts still need to be ordered. We’ll need to inventory before and after. Cash box can go to Benno’s or with Derek for safekeeping. Trailbuilding will probably start later than normal this year due to the weather. Watch Facebook, Twitter, and email for dates. We’re still looking for ride marshals for the Ride for the Arts. 

Social Committee – Spring Social Ride is April 26. At this time, the thought is to have the social ride leaving from St. Martens and ride towards Burlington on trails.

Trail Team Updates:

No updates

Grant Park – there’s enough interest for trails in Grant Park. We still have to get the County Parks department to sign off in order to have official trails. We need a plan of where we want to ride and the Parks department would have to review. We would be adopting existing trails. South Shore Cyclery is working with their City of Cudahy departments and there seems to be interest in developing insurance.  We need South Shore cyclists and businesses to call Pat Jursik and offer their support.  Discussion of multi-use trails

Amber from South Shore Cyclery said their Fatbike and Snowshoe race was awesome. They are going to be looking for ways to make it bigger and better for next year.  Port Washington/Ozaukee – city is putting in a new pump track near the skate park. Cedarburg trail at pleasant valley park 3 mi down 4.5 total finishing this summer. Ozaukee county parks department is trying really hard to get mountain biking trails on county parks land but it’s come up against huge backlash – according to residents at the meeting, mountain bikers are apparently into drugs and murders. Having support from mayor or aldermen has been a huge bonus.

National Mountain Bike Patrol – Mike Crabb said the Wisconsin Bike Patrol is broadening their name to “just” bike patrol because they are patrolling other events like triathlons and marathons. They are looking for more people to get involved. TOaD has approached them but they don’t have to staff to help. They are also looking for people who have professional training as EMTs, nurses, doctors, etc. March 13 from 6:30 – 8:30 at Steinhafel’s conference room – Waukesha County Bike/Transportation Plans

Upcoming Events:

April 4 – 6 – Wheel & Sprocket Expo

April 8 – Metro Meeting @ Benno’s

April 13 – Metro Board Meeting

April 26 – Spring Social Ride

May 16 – 18 - Regional IMBA Summit in Madison