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New initiatives announced for GCC at AGM

The Golden Cycling Club held its AGM last week, bringing significant changes to the local organization.
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The Cycling Club is hoping that the races Golden hosted last year will lead to an increase in traffic on its trail network this summer.

The Golden Cycling Club (GCC) held its AGM last week, bringing significant changes to the local organization that overseas one of the area’s most popular adventure sports.

The Club’s board has undergone a restructuring that outgoing President Chad Gennings hopes will help make things run more smoothly.

In the past, GCC had a director for each different trail system. This year, instead of directors for individual trail systems, the club will have directors for areas of focus.

“For example the new director committees would be new trail development, trail maintenance, skills development, alpine rides and social events,” Gennings said, who will take on the role of Director of Trail Maintenace.

“There are two big (advantages) coming from these…It allows us to focus on a five year plan. What do we want to look at when we look at the entire system? For new trail development, rather than just looking at one specific area, people on that committee can now look at the entire network.”

The club is currently seeking government approval on various alpine trails, approval that has already been granted for a pair of trails that could be opened sometime this year.

Club members are planning to work on the upper part of the LSD trail as well as a trail that will run from Cedar Lake to Kicking Horse Trail this year, with the latter already having funding secured for the work.

Schacher’s Trail, the proposed trail that will honour late mountain biker Sean Schacher, remains in the planning stages. The proposed trail would take riders from the Town of Golden up to the paraglider launch site.

In addition to maintenance, the club is hoping to ramp up the social side of things with the creation of a variety of events to bring bikers together. The increased initiative for social events came out of an online survey that indicated that members would like to see more in this area.

“It indicated that…trail development and trail maintenance was something that we were doing well, but things that they wanted to increase in the club were social events. Those include tooney races, poker rides, skills clinics, a kids program and Strava races and we’re going to offer all of those this year. We did a calendar for May and June and we have something going on pretty much every day of the week,” Gennings said.

Jeremy Harris, who represented the Club in last year’s Transrockies Single Track 6 event, will take over as president this year.

Many of the races that flooded Golden’s streets and surrounding mountains last year won’t be returning this summer. The Transrockies race, which was well received by organizers and competitors, will be taking place in the Okanagan this summer. Still, Gennings hopes that the positive buzz that was received last year will lead to increased traffic on Golden’s trail network this season.

“As far as if it will bring people to the area, well I guess we’re going to find out this summer.”