Category Archives: Uncategorized

The KBRA was invited to attend the BC Government’s announcement today regarding the addition of 1,300 hectares to the Lac Du Bois grasslands area. This includes the area where we are fortunate enough to be able to ride; the KBRA will continue to work with BC Parks to ensure mountain bikers are represented in this new park area. Overall, this is very positive news for all non-motorized users!

http://www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2013/04/2800-hectares-of-grasslands-protected-near-kamloops.html

It’s Bike To Work week! The morning Celebration Stations will take place May 28 to June 1 from 6:30 to 9:00 AM in front of the law courts on Columbia St. where there will be free Starbucks coffee, fruit, breakfast snacks, newspapers from Kamloops Daily News, lots of prize give-aways, and a chance to win the grand prize of a new Kona bicycle, supplied by long-time BTWW supporter, The Bicycle Café (which is also offering free bike maintenance courses on May 16th and 23rd at their Valleyview shop for those wanting to tune-up their rides; contact Marcia (marcia.a.dick@gmail.com) to register or for details). Steve Quinney, a former bike shop owner, will also be on site every morning to help with simple bike repairs.

Afternoon Celebration Stations will take place from 3:30 to 6:00 PM on the 28th on the North Shore (location TBA), the 29th at the new Valleyview bike interchange, and June 1st back at the law courts, which is also the event wrap-up BBQ.

http://www.biketowork.ca/kamloops

Gotta love those acronyms…   The Kamloops Natural Areas Advisory Committee has had two official meetings now.  So far we’ve gotten most but not all of the administrative overhead out of the way, such as finding out who all the various reps from the various interest groups are, creating a contact and mailing list, and developing meeting schedules and a Terms of Reference.  Not the most exciting stuff, but all very necessary steps when dealing with 24 people from diverse groups trying to meet towards some common goals.  The group will be meeting monthly and we have a loose idea formed on what the expectations and deliverables will be from this committee to the City staff.  Mountain Bikers are well represented with lots of multi-activity park users getting a seat at the table.

We spent some time reviewing the maps for the “natural areas” parks within the city and learning about what some of them have to offer the citizens, and what issues, conflicts and challenges some of these parks have.  Turns out there are a lot more parks than I knew of: some new, some old, some small and some huge.  Our focus will be on the two big ones first with a revision of the original Management Plans for Kenna Cartwright and Peterson Creek parks.

Hopefully we can raise the hot topic of the closed trails with the parks staff soon.  The discussion point will likely start with “What makes a trail designated vs unauthorized?” and then proceed into “What can we do to get certain trails designated and re-opened?”

Also coming soon to the city website… is the DRAFT version of the “Trails Master Plan” which we’ll forward the info on as it becomes available.

Thomas

The Parks and Rec staff at the city have formed a committee of local residents and reps from various interest groups to help advise and formulate “Management Plans” for the natural areas and parks within the City of Kamloops.  KBRA has managed to secure a seat on this group and we’ll do our best to get the views of local mountain bikers expressed through the planning process.  The first meeting is coming up in early February where we will establish the Terms of Reference and other administrative necessities of forming an advisory committee.  Check back here for an update once we get into the heart of the issues and start getting down to business about biking opportunities and access in and through our natural areas.

Also… the City of Kamloops is hosting an open house session for the public to view their new “Parks Master Plan” on the evening of Feb. 2nd.  Click here for city website details and we’ll see you there!!

2012 Bicycle Cafe Calendars are now on sale!
Featuring local riders on local terrain shot by
epic photographers ( John Gibson, Dan Barham,
Sterling Lorence, Matt Miles and Kaleb Trozzo)
these are a great present for the holidays. Pick
yours up today at the Cafe,only $19.99 and
proceeds go to Project Sierra Leone.

Blue skies, great trails, friends and fun were on the agenda for the annual KBRA wrap up event on October 23.  Dozens of riders were on hand for a day of riding at Harper and to help the Kamloops Food Bank by exchanging food donations for Mostly Mental shuttles. Over 200 pounds of donations were collected and riders hit the Harper trails in stellar conditions. Thanks to the local shops for contributing prizes for the day – Bicycle Cafe, Spoke and Motion, Taboo, Full Boar plus Time 2 Ride SunPeaks and Blair Jones. The KBRA event season is wrapped up but there is still lots of time before snow flies – get out there and ride a bike!

With the recent closure of some trails in Kenna Cartwright Park and the subsequent response from the public, the city has decided to hold an open meeting to discuss the future of parks management. If you are interested in showing support and representing the mountain bike community, please attend this meeting. This is an opportunity to help the local government understand the importance of mountain biking and the positive impact it has within the community as well as on local tourism. See below for details and we hope to see lots of you there!

More proof that Kamloops riding produces great riders – congrats to Catharine on her amazing and inspiring win.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/article/1049033–kamloops-catharine-pendrel-wins-mountain-biking-world-title-in-switzerland

Welcome to the KBRA website, please follow along as we continue to build this site into your one-stop destination for mountain biking information for the Kamloops region.  Any suggestions or additions you wish to have please let us know.