Okay – what I want to say to all of you here is WHEW. Yes – discussions (can we call THIS thread a discussion!?) got heated, but IMO this was all due to happen anyway. I’ve spoken to Flowta, Deon & John’o today, and maybe they now have a bit more info than what they had before, but for the most part we all want the same thing – Tokai to be a proper MTB destination, which we as Capetonians can be proud of. People HAVE been hurt as a result of this, and the way it was done could have been better but the bygones are, well, shall we say, gone by. As for all of you sorry saps (yes, I’m including me on this characterisation as well) the process was this: - Form TMMTBF (Table Mountain Mountain Bikers Forum) comprising the following bodies: 8]o Table Mountain Bikers 8]o PPA 8]o AMARider 8]o Tokai MTB All this argument seems to have been to get more representation into the body of Tokai MTB, so that there could be “better trails” and “more representation”. Nevermind that the snake trails (in their current format) were an interim measure to alleviate pressure on the DH trails, at least until the EMP / Trail Rationalisation / Burn had been completed and we had enough scope & budget to enable a proper, “professional” trail builder to come in and tell us what to do and handle the design process, then leave us plebs to do the low-level maintenance (trails to be consulted on were Snakes top to bottom except Rinkhals – needs a full EIA due to the amount of dirt we need to move from an already “reclaimed site”; DH4, Climbing trail linking all trail heads and a couple of others) Also nevermind that the DH & XC reps are hardly not representative of the riding fraternity. Within Tokai MTB at the moment you have the following people on the INTERIM committee: - Deon (Chair) - Me (vice) - Dan Dobinson (XC Rep) - Gary Barnard (was due to be DH rep but due to personal reasons was only really able to commit to coming on pretty much now) Vince Muir was offered the position of DH rep but turned it down late last year after a rather public exit from Tokai. The way forward from when the Forum was started was agreed that Tokai MTB (headed by Deon) was to make use of the donation given to Tokai to get a vehicle, and a dedicated work force to continue low-level maintenance on the existing trails. Then the logging started. And this is where all the dis-satisfaction started as well, as it ruined a good couple of the best trails on the mountain (no argument from me there) What Deon had to do then was get approval for the re-opening of a temporary replacement for those snake trails, so as to alleviate the pressure on the DH trails (which were being inundated with XC riders dragging their brakes around each corner, and riding UP them) at a time when Tokai had unprecedented rain levels, in a freshly logged area. This devastated any attempt to build a trail during the winter months, and a couple of weeks into summer. The direction and general lay of the trail was discussed with Vince & Duane (at the time the reps for DH, unofficially) and Deon was given the go-ahead to put the temporary trail in place. A week later, once the trail had just been opened (blazed only, just the logs & branches moved and the general direction mapped out) there were already calls of “lack of flow” and “too pedally”. This was to be expected, given that the trail hadn’t been completed (there were still massive amounts of dead undergrowth on the trail, as well as soft “fluff”) and the trail went on. This became the norm, and regardless of whether people rode them just the once, or just 2 times following their initial opening, the trails “lacked flow” and were “too pedally”. The trail was always going to be an interim measure though, so a bit of pedalling wasn’t supposed to be a bad thing. It wasn’t mean to be a DH trail, after all. But the comments continued, and attempts to increase the flow were tried (opening up corners, small reroutes and so on) and the trail became a bit faster, far more “flowy” and more enjoyable. But not to everyone. Not everyone likes to pedal, it seems. These are just the interim trails though, remember, and the process from here on out was the following: - Continue with low level maintenance & safety alterations (divert on Vasbyt to cut out DH / Vasbyt crossing for example) - Wait for EMP, Trail Rationalisation, Burn - Contract Bennett Nel to design and build replacement (permanent) Snake Trails & DH4 & Climbing Trail (Boulders extension all the way top to bottom linking up all trail heads) once approval for each had come through - Organize appropriate material for build (not easy – Parks don’t want us to bring in material due to possible contamination, but they don’t want us to use material on the mountain. It HAS to be of the same soil type – we do have clay in places but it’s buried – but it also has to be totally in keeping with the surrounding environment. No concrete. No normal soil. No foreign bodies. No foreign plant material. Etc etc etc) - Build and then revert to low level maintenance All the time, funds were being raised in order to make this a reality. But in order for funds to be raised, a proper body had to be formed. In the beginning, it was recommended that we use AMARider as the accounting and auditing body as well as have them hold the bank account, as they are well-versed in these matters. But inefficiencies crept in, and by late last year, when more and more interest was being expressed in the fundraising initiative, a decision was made to separate the bank account and TOKAI MTB from AMARider from an accounting & auditing perspective. This is when Deon, together with a motivated donor and financial expert, determined that the best course of action would be to set up an NPO (non-profit organization) in order to run Tokai MTB more efficiently from a tax and accounting perspective (seeing as the majority of income was to be donations – an NPO is tax efficient in this respect) and that process took a while to conduct. That brings us to present day – the NPO is not yet formed, as the funding committee together with Deon and Parks had witnessed several worrying aspects of a couple of dis-satisfied users on the mountain, and were worried about the continuation of the NPO should the committee change So – with this AGM coming up, what can we expect? Well – for one – a proper representative panel, formed by riders, for riders. It is important to note that there are also positions for Chairman, Vice Chair, Treasurer and so on. At the moment, however, there IS a panel of riders, representing the riders. Dan Dobinson and Gary Barnard. They can hardly be called out for NOT being a part of the riding community, and are well versed & respected in their own rights as riders. Dan Dobinson has fantastic tourism and PR credentials, and Gary Barnard has tried and tested Financial Management capabilities – giving them both the opportunity to be both reps and fill other positions on the committee. Me? Well I’m just a sap. But one that tries to help the process as far along as possible, intervene where necessary and get the information out when I can and when I have it. I’m also “in charge” of the volunteer movement. To quite a success, I may add. Deon, well he is the driver behind this. His relationship with Parks & the fundraisers, not to mention his ability to maintain the trails, cannot be called into question. That role is not to be sniffed at. It requires hours of arduous work, management and drive. So – again – what can we expect? Well – for one, maybe a different Chairman. Maybe a new rep or 2. Maybe a different Vice Chair. Who knows? What will be certain is that there WILL be a dedicated, High-Level trail designer appointed as the Trail Designer, for all of us to work and learn from. Bennett Nel, maybe. Probably. Mark Gordon isn’t an option (he’s in the Garden route at the controls of several JCB’s) and Hylton Turvey is in Karkloof. But there will be someone. All I ask is that for those coming, they think long and hard about who they would like to represent them. Riding prowess and international trail exposure doesn’t necessarily translate into knowledge of what other riders want, or what the Park can handle given its unique (yes, they are unique) challenges with soil, rain, management and so on. So – be thoughtful in your nomination and voting. Vote properly, with your head, not your heart. Who will further your needs as riders? Who, as your chosen Representatives of DH & XC, will hear your complaints if you have them, and bring them to the attention of the Chairman and Vice Chair, who in turn needs to have enough of a relationship with Parks to motivate the changes / additions properly, and with enough of a relationship to ensure that Parks Listens? Who has the relationship with Parks, who has the skills needed to spread the information, and who has the riders’ best needs at heart? That is all I ask… Because Tokai, like it or not, is OURS. And we all want to make it BETTER.
