The Hun City Bike Club has come up with a fun way to pump up its membership, combining a downhill race and barbecue with a membership drive on Oct. 16.
The 4.5-kilometre race start point and registration area is at 99 Mile, up Ainsworth Road and between the entrance to the Nordics ski facility and the 100 Mile Snowmobile clubhouse.
The event is free to bike club members and $10 for non-members, but entry for the race also buys a club membership. There is a raft of prizes to be given away, including items from bike companies Norco and Kona.
Registration starts at 9:30 a.m. and racing starts at 11 a.m., with divisions and prizes for 15 years and under; 15-18 years; 19-29 years; and 30 plus years for both ladies’ and men’s categories.
Club director Dwayne Chamberlain says the race trail has some steep parts, corners and berms, but no technical trail features.
“It’s a pedally downhill kind of trail.”
The race ends at the bottom of the trail, and then riders can free-ride the rest of the way down to the barbecue in the bike park, which is at the end of Seventh Street, past Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School.
Chamberlain says he hopes the race will help raise the club’s membership, and provide it with extra funds and manpower to make improvements to the trail system.
He would also like to see the club reach a point where it can purchase insurance that would allow it to build technical features on the trails.
Chamberlain says membership is open to all ages.
“If you can pedal, you’re in. It’s for people who want more trails and people who ride the trails and want to feel like they’re contributing, but you don’t need to be a member to ride the trails.”
Club members currently maintain the existing network and the bike park.
Recently, the local forest firefighting crew, Storm Riders, built a 3.5-km section of trail at 99 Mile as part of their community-building volunteer work.
Their contribution is greatly appreciated by those who use the trails, Chamberlain says, adding the Williams Lake and District Credit Union also sponsored trail signage.
“We owe a huge thanks to both.”
