First Tokai MTB AGM

[Blackbeard]

Hi Marko,

 

I'm not interested in getting into a slinging match, so I'll just state my case as diplomatically as I can then.

 

For the record, I didn't join this thread to win friends. Got plenty of those already . My intention has never been to win people over to my way of thinking. We all have our own opinions. Mine are strong, but then I am very passionate about MTB'ing. I am not alone in those opinions btw. As stated previously there are many people who are to a lesser or greater degree dissatisfied with the trails. My comments are tame compared to what I often hear out on the trails. Standing by the trailside with a spade in your hands eliciting comments is unlikely to deliver many negative ones, or any criticism from passing riders. Perhaps a better gauge of rider opinion would be ongoing car-park or online surveys to establish a broader, more meaningful perspective. As far as I know, no such surveys have been carried out at Tokai in the past two years

 

What I did want was to get as many people aware of the upcoming AGM and encourage them to attend and play a role in the future of Tokai. Apart from publicly stating that I would nominate Deon for one of the seats, I haven't ever mentioned who my other nominees would be, so no-one could accuse me of leading any campaign here. I've also said that Deon might even be pleasantly surprised with some on my list. For the record, I don't want to be on the committee, in case that might be one of Deon's concerns. I prefer riding to online forums! I'm more than happy though to give what time and other resources or input I may be able to provide where needed.

 

I'm not sure exactly which part of my comments upset you but I can't apologize for them. They are my opinions and I have every right to express them. The most vulgar word I used was "crap". If the term "amateur" offends you, then stop to consider that the volunteer group, by its' very nature is indeed a bunch of amateurs in that it is an unpaid contribution from a body of people with limited experience and knowledge. This is not intended to be derogatory. The problem is that I would like to see trails as built by professionals. Not sure how much you get around, but there are some mind-blowingly good trails sprouting up all over the WC. If Tokai still left me feeling the same way I do after riding other trails, I wouldn't even be here (it used to). I firmly believe that given the same mountainside , same constraints and bureaucracy, same limitations in terms of mechanized equipment etc. there are builders out there who would have produced a much better experience (for all type and level of rider). I also believe that doing it that way would, in fact, be the most cost effective way of doing it.

 

What qualifications would a professional trail builder have? Are you merely using the term in the sense that its someone that claims payment for services rendered?

[(Deon)]

I will confim with the group. It was agreed in the forum as the date that suited all. I really hope not, but if it is needed then that is what must be done.

[(Deon)]

What qualifications would a professional trail builder have? Are you merely using the term in the sense that its someone that claims payment for services rendered?

A pro has got good experience and can provide for a wide range of riders.

 

Money is secondary to good trails.. but everyone needs money so it is the necessary evil.

[jimmy hardtail]

So who is currently on the committee?

[Blackbeard]

A pro has got good experience and can provide for a wide range of riders.

 

Money is secondary to good trails.. but everyone needs money so it is the necessary evil.

 

Thank you Pain or Shine. So at best, a "professional" trail builder would be a passionate amateur and the "professionalism" of said individual would be based upon the esteem he or she is held in having regard to their commitment, passion and experience? Very subjective criteria.

 

Edit: spelling

Edited February 4, 2014 by Blackbeard

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

What qualifications would a professional trail builder have? Are you merely using the term in the sense that its someone that claims payment for services rendered?

 

Indeed. YOu get crap professional trail builders, and great ones. We, the mortal few, are teh average ones who just want to carry on learning from those better than us. Which is why we were going to be calling Bennet in to consult on the future trail design, once the burn had happened. Not our fault that the guys decided to log and destroy the surrounding slope, and that a temporary "relief trail" ha to be put into place to take pressure off the DH trail. Those "relief trails" are the Snakes in their current format. Yes, they are pedally. Yes, they are sandy (was going to be fixed but now the clay has gone to Cecilia Forest) but they are temporary trails, there until the burn has come and gone and the resultant landscape has been assessed for future trail design. THAT is what Bennet was going to be called in for...

[kandui]

First post of this thread is the notice that was posted. AGM on the 18th.

AGM date remains the 18th. Nothing changes.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

.

Edited February 4, 2014 by cpt armpies mayhem

[(Deon)]

Deon, Myself, Dan Dobinson, Gary Barnard.

Well, yes and no. Gary has been very interested but still waiting for final commitment. There are reasons why.. but for all purposes, we are starting again.. this was just interim and the AGM on the 18th is going ahead...

[Blackbeard]

As a beneficiary of the hard work of Pain or Shine, Mayhem, others the identity of whom I know not and the many volunteers, I would like to say thank you. I am well aware that navigating a legal and bureaucratic minefield is not easy and I am grateful that we have access to the mountain.

 

While I invariably enjoy my rides at Tokai, I freely concede that I have neither the skill nor knowledge to venture a meaningful opinion on the more technical rides. I accordingly thank those who offer their constructive input for the betterment of Tokai.

 

I wish you all well in your meeting.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Blackbeard

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Well, yes and no. Gary has been very interested but still waiting for final commitment. There are reasons why.. but for all purposes, we are starting again.. this was just interim and the AGM on the 18th is going ahead...

 

Hence the edit... Damn fingers.

 

So to confirm - Deon, myself, Dan Dob. Gary would have been coming on shortly, but had wanted to come on sooner but couldn't (personal reasons)

[(Deon)]

As I said before, it was only interim until ratified. If we run an open election, that's all good too. We had the choice of one or the other, now it's the other.

 

Edit: Interim to establish NPO, bank account etc.. Cant have an VA account without some signed constitution. The ratified version would be updated at all points of registry.

 

The constitution BTW is on page 1 if anyone is still looking.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Pain or shine

[DJR]

Just so ya'all know, I'm working my arse off today to buy bike stuff (and food), but I'm still checking on this thread and I think it is still important to keep it as public as possible to prevent it becoming a closed shop at some point. I also think that it is good preparation for the AGM to have most of the issues dealt with beforehand. It will allow for a much more productive AGM meeting. What I think is appropriate to sort out behind closed doors, are inter-personal conflict between individuals to get old baggage dumped before the AGM. Make sense to anyone else?

[Guest OldFlow]

Just so ya'all know, I'm working my arse off today to buy bike stuff (and food), but I'm still checking on this thread and I think it is still important to keep it as public as possible to prevent it becoming a closed shop at some point. I also think that it is good preparation for the AGM to have most of the issues dealt with beforehand. It will allow for a much more productive AGM meeting. What I think is appropriate to sort out behind closed doors, are inter-personal conflict between individuals to get old baggage dumped before the AGM. Make sense to anyone else?

 

Perfect sense!

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Please read what I'm posting next. It IS long, but I think we should all read it...

 

Myles.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

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.

Edited February 4, 2014 by cpt armpies mayhem