| Director's Message Welcome!  Yeah that’s me hamming it up in the picture you see next to this article. I show photos of me mountain biking to family and friends and they think I’m nuts. In actuality riding bridges and teeter totters pales in comparison to some of the nasty technical stuff I’ve ridden in the past, and I will in the future. What’s interesting about the different bridges and stunts we’ve created at the Charlottenburgh Forest Mountain Bike Area (CFMBA) is how people conquer them in no time at all. It’s especially pleasing to watch the kids as they overcome their fear and bridge the gap. The first time I saw a 9 year olds face after riding one of our many bridges, I knew we were truly on to something with the mountain bike area. I know how good I feel when I ride and accomplish something on a bike, think of what runs through a child’s mind.
It's amazing how much has been accomplished in such a short time. It's also amazing how so much can be accomplished by so few. I reality there's about 5 or 6 people who make it all happen on the trails. A group of hardworking guys who sacrifice their own riding time to create what we now affectionately call 'The Burgh'. So if you see people working on the trails while you're riding them, make sure you say thanks, they're the reason the trails are open. Get moving! We live at a time where more and more people (children and adults) are living sedentary lives. Computers, television and video games take up too much of our time and we don’t get enough exercise. The World Health Organization has declared obesity a worldwide epidemic, and nowhere is it more prevalent than in North America. Quite frankly our society is fat, and it’s getting fatter! Society is obsessed with the notion that health care can cure all of our problems, when they really should be focusing on sickness prevention. I've read it is 11 times more expensive to cure an illness than it is to prevent it in the first place. Let me put it this way. You do basic maintenance on your car to avoid major mechanical problems, so why not eat properly and get exercise to ensure you stay healthy? Why wait until you get sick? To coin an old phrase 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure'. If you think we've got problems now, wait 15 years when we start seeing people in their 20's keeling over from heart disease and stroke. How much will it cost us then? We need more recreational facilities for children now, to avoid a catastrophe in the future. We think the Charlottenburgh Forest Mountain Bike Area is a good place to start. End of rant. I hope to see you on the trails. The loss of a mountain bike friend It's a sad day when you lose a friend and we lost a great one recently. Very few people who ride our trails know the name John DeRonde, but John was instrumental in the creation the Charlottenburgh Forest Mountain Bike Area. It was a snowy day in December of 2000 when John and I drove out to the property where the trails are now situated. I can still remember trudging through the snow with John trying to imagine bikes gliding across the terrain. John was a strong supporter of outdoor activities for everyone and always showed support for us. When you're riding at 'The Burgh' and you get to the west side of the trails you're riding on John's property. Our thoughts go out to his family. He will be missed.
John R. Bolton
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