May 17 Minutes

1. Online Registration:

• Clubs need to take into account the transaction fees associated with each event
• Registration information needs to be sent to the MCA office one month in advance of the event
• Clubs are encouraged to use the online waiver form - see past races for examples
• Information forms will be reformat  to reflect the information needs of the race bibles and in a format that can be written to (Word over PDF)

2. Late Fees and Race Costs

• Will introduce a family price for next year to make races more cost friendly for families
• Out of province racers who show up the day of the race to register will not be charged late fees
• It was decided to keep the same day registration fees high to encourage advanced registration for events. Suggested that this should be a minimum of $40

  
3. Club Points

• A new system will be developed for next year to make it fairer and to take into account the number of riders in a category
• The system should reward clubs that bring people into the sport, i.e. points for new participants, increases in riders from one year to the next
• There was discussion on the merits of separating kids from adults in the results

4. Movement between categories

• Need to make sure that racers know there categories and that they consistently race in that category. If a rider races in another category without getting permission from the committee they will not receive any points for that race
• The number of points that a rider takes with them to the next category is thought to be too high, this will be readdressed for next year
• Hal will check the results from the current races to verify that there has not been any movement between categories without written permission

5. Leaders plates

• Concern by commissaires that it was difficult to track racers who had leader plates (there are no numbers on the leaders plate). It was decided that we would like to stay with the current systems and that we would ask the commissaires if they could try and make it work

6. Reach the Beach

• Race date to be changed because of availability of facilities - changed to August 1.

7. Promotion

• Bur Oak – set up a booth on a Saturday to promote the MTB racing and hand out information to casual riders using the trails
• There should be an MCA booth at the Ice Bike event
• A MTB Ambassador should be at all races and events to answer questions about cycling
• Draws for free races from Ice Bike and Bring a Friend
• Interview new racers and put the interview up on the MCA website

8. Junior category clarification

• Hal to clarify the junior category and post information on the commissaires blog

9. Trails, mapping and trail marking

• Discussion on the importance of cleaning up the signs and tape used to mark trails for races - all tape and markings are to be removed from a race site following a race, especially if it is in a public park
• A post calling for contributions of trial maps and GPS files will be posted. This is to build a resource that mountain bikers can use for their trail rides

10. Provincial Falcon create timeline and tasks

• A timeline and planning schedule regarding the provincials is to be created.

March 15th Minutes

March 15th MTB Meeting
Location: MCA Office, 145 Pacific
Time: 7:00 – 8:40
Present: Kevin B, Dave D, George M, Shawn Z, Carl (BBC), Mike H, Hal L, Ron B,

1.    Review of the February Online Meeting

• It was decided that for the time being we would keep the alternating meeting system where one month we meet in person and the next month the meeting would be online via the blog (http://mcamountainbikecommitteeblog.blogspot.com/).

2.    Race Categories and Movement - review and vote on policy

• Changed the points requirement from 70 to 80
• Changed the time requirement from 50% to 70%.
• Changed the wording from three consecutive races to three consecutive races entered – this is not limited to one season
• Policy was passed
• The Racer Information Manual was also reviewed and passed 

3.    Cup Points - review and vote on policy

• Changed to line-up with Road system

4.    Online Registration - identify races to be included

• Two methods run through MCA or set up your own. It was decided that we would use the MCA. This means that the MCA administers the payment of money collected. The advantage of this is it saves organizations the setup fee of $199 and monthly maintenance fees of $15 a month. The MCA will hold back all levy fees and other administrative fees owed for each race or event.
• ACTION – Hal to email all the clubs about the online registration system and to get information about each event so the online registration page can be set up
• It was decided that all the organizations would be approached to see if there would be agreement for switching the levy from the $2 for each participant in Cup races to $1 for each participant in any sanctioned MTB event
• ACTION – Hal to survey all organizing clubs to see if there is agreement on the changes to the levy system

5.    Promotion

• Posters have been distributed to almost all the bike shops. Business style cards pointing potential new racers to the MCA website to be designed and printed.
• ACTION – Kevin to design cards
• Additional posters to be printed and distributed to YMCAs, gyms, etc.
• It was suggested that all those holding a citizen license would get into all MTB races and events for free (they may be asked to purchase a food ticket). Citizen racers can race but do not need to prized. This is to be promoted on the MCA website
• Draws for free citizen license to be held at various races. One citizen will receive their fee back in a draw at various events throughout the season.

6.    Participation Series

• Clubs were polled about the creation of participation series – most felt that there were better ways to attract new participants to racing (see above)

7.    Risk and Liability

• Ron attended and reported on a risk management workshop he attended in Ottawa
• Clubs are covered if:

1. Clubs are full paid members of the MCA
2. All race and event organizers have to have the organizer designation on their MCA license – if a club is listed as an organizer they must have a member with the organizer designation on their license 
3. The event has to be on MCA calendar – this makes it a MCA sanctioned event

• Club rides are different; any coverage is void if non-licensed riders participate in any group ride or event. Rides with a mix of riders from different clubs are covered so long as all riders have their MCA license
• ACTION - Ron to send email to all organizers informing them of this

8.    Provincials

•  Provincials are slated for Falcon Lake. We are waiting for word from the Falcon Lake group that we can use the facilities
• All clubs need to provide volunteers for this event
• The MTB committee will be setting the course in June/July
• This will be the location of Provincials for the next couple of years in anticipation of using the venue for a Canada Cup in 2012

9.    Information Forms

• Information forms to distributed by email to all organizers to start collecting information about each event
• ACTION – Hal to send out information forms

10.    Rules

• ACTION – George and Shawn to provide rules for Enduro and Super D events

11.    Meeting Dates

• It was decided to keep Mondays as the meeting date for meetings for the time being

12.    Other – Trail Association

• The promotion of trail associations that are interested in trail building will be supported by the MTB committee through the website
• Possible other support could be: the use of equipment, letters of support, access to site development fund – to be discussed further

November 2009 Minutes

Date: 16/11/2009

Location: MCA Office

Race Schedule

·         The committee discussed the structure of the race schedule for the upcoming 2010 season.

·         We are working with the road committee to have a balanced schedule where Mountain and Road Cup events will not be run on the same weekend.

·         The plan is to have 5 Cup races, the Wednesday Night Series, 4 endurance events (one being a 24 hour race), and two gravity events.

·         Other races will be put on the calendar as events and may conflict with Road Cup races – Road can do the same.

·         It was decided that Falcon Lake will be the location for the 2010 Provincials race pending availability

Kids of Mud Races and Mountain Bike Races

·         The issue of running KoM races concurrently with regular Mountain Bike races was discussed. It was decided that running these events on the same day and the same venue would not be encouraged because of the logistical and resource difficulties of running an event of this size and magnitude.

Commissaire and First Aid Training

·         First aid training course is being planned by the MCA early in 2010. Clubs will be encouraged to  have people get their first aid training to facilitate the development of first aid personnel that they can use for their events.

·         A commissaire training course will be run in 2010.

Race Organizer and Athlete Manuals

·         Updates of the race organizer and racer’s manuals are being worked on and will be in place for the 2010

·         A race organizer’s meeting will take place in January outlining the goals and objectives that the committee would like each organizer to achieve for their event

MB Cup Points

·         A new points system for Mountain Bike Cup races is being developed and will be in place for 2010.

Provincial Team

·         Jay asked if clubs could give the Provincial Team a discount rate for entry fees, feeling that this would help attract kids to the program. It is up to the individual clubs to do this but it would be encouraged that they should provide a break to theses kids.