BikeJam- Good Friday, 10-3, April 6th @ Juan de Fuca recrea

[Lister Farrar]

It's still to be confirmed, but we had a very positive meeting with Juan de Fuca staff (community sport and parks) to discuss a kick-off event for the school cycling league. Staff said they had no objections, thought the idea was exciting, and would forward to their bosses this week.

So mark this in your calendar for any kids you know in middle or high school.

The festival-style event at Juan de Fuca recreation will feature 7-8 stations where students from grade 6-12 can try different disciplines of cycling. Expected to be a highlight will be the Camp of Champions airbag (same as Jump Ship), a dual slalom course, mtb stunts and a trail, cyclocross course, road skills course, velodrome and bmx. Maybe even trials and bike polo. Bring whatever bke you have, but we're aiming for loaner bikes for each discipline.

The idea will be to attend from 10am-2pm, and have a half hour at each station. Kids will be grouped by grade, and rotate round the stations every half hour or so. We are hoping to serve a snack at lunch time. The main goal will be to have kids have a good time and get interested in coming to the league events.

Volunteers needed: Station leaders, instructors, grade group leaders, food, mechanical support, and draw prizes.

[norman marcy]

I can probably volunteer
thanks Lister for all your work on these things
cheers
norman

[Lister Farrar]

Thanks Norman. Any particular area you're interested in? There is a committee lead by Kate Beardmore (parent at Monterey and Oak Bay), who's doing the promo efforts. I'll probably line up the station leaders from among the local bike shops. I would guess the biggest need will be the hours going round the schools pitching the event and league (which requires some familiarity with the league), followed by guiding a group around the stations on the day.

[Lister Farrar]

We need adult volunteers. You could bring your kids, and do a group leader job, and watch them.

Don't miss this celebration of cycling and youth. The buzz is building and we're expecting more than 100 middle and high school riders. And the press release hasn't even gone out yet. Cool video here (thanks to High def productions) http://www.schoolbikeleague.ca

Group leaders
There will be seven groups, one for each grade 6-12, of 10-20 kids rotating around seven stations at Juan de Fuca. We need adults to ride between stations with them to make sure they find the stations and help the station hosts supervise the kids. We would like at least 14, a leader and a sweep for each group.

Stations and Hosts
Mountain Bike: Geoff Pendrel, National Downhill Coach, Endless Biking Coach
Dual Slalom: Scott Mitchell, Trek Procity racing, SIMBS President, Super D league event organizer
Cyclocross: Drew Mackenzie, organizer of the Cross Club series
Road: Erinne Willock, Olympian.
Camp of Champions Air Bag (Dirt Jumping): Jarrett Moore, Oak Bay Bikes/Lavan and Rocky Mountain Team Rider, Slopestyle Pro
BMX: Michael Hanwell GVBMXA, league event organizer
Velodrome: Michael Cooper GVVA, league event organizer

Groups and Rotation
Riders meet at a tent at the library at 10am and are assigned to their group and leader by about 10:15am. The plan is to divide the kids by grade so they will be with their peers. E.g. grade 6’s w grade 6’s, etc. (7 grades and 7 stations). But we’ll be flexible for late arrivals, larger or smaller grade groups. We will assign an adult to guide the groups from station to station and help hosts with supervision. The rotation will be clockwise around the stations. Mtb, dual, cross, road, airbag, bmx, velodrome. It’s a shot gun start, i.e. each station will have a group at the start.

[Lister Farrar]

Also looking for a photographer and videographer to record what happens at BikeJam for next years proposals and promotion. You wouldn't need to stay the whole day, just get a variety of shots of grade 6's to grade 12, experts to novices, and all 7 stations.

[Lister Farrar]

Thanks to Norm, Paul C, Duncan, David, Evan, Eric, for committing to come and responding to the Facebook event invitation. http://www.facebook.com/events/299746843429873/?__adt=3

The cool thing about the Facebook invitation is you don't have to 'friend' anyone, (if you're phobic about party photos you didn;t get invited to), just get an account and search for BikeJam, and click "coming", So it adds to our (virtual at least) tsunami of prospective attendance. Inviting 'friends', if you're that brave, is even better, because then the ripple effect spreads.

Tech and communications guy Brandon Thomson call FB a necessary evil. So, resistors, cross your fingers, get an account, spy on your kids, and help us help facebook do it's network magic.

And bring your grade 6-12 kids. They really, really, want to see you go off a jump into an airbag. You will be the coolest mum or dad on the block.

[Lister Farrar]

More good press:

http://www.goldstreamgazette.com/sports/145991625.html

[Lister Farrar]

Thanks to Vanessa too for coming.

Volunteers meet at the north end of the parking lot of the library at Juan de Fuca recreation centre /Westshore Parks.

We will have a tent there for registration. The riders will be put into groups there, and each group assigned 2 guides. We have first aid kits, but bring your own if you can.

More folks welcome. We need 2 adults for each of 7 groups. Let us know if you want to be with your child's group. Or prefer another one.

And bring your hucking boots. Brenna says she's doing a back flip into the airbag. You gotta top that.