Prince Rupert mountain bikers and cyclo-cross riders are being encouraged to attend a meeting and become part of Prince Rupert's first off-road cycling association.
The meeting is being organized by Prince Rupert's Randy Cunningham, who would like to see the association achieve a number of goals; the first being building sustainable trails for riders to use in Prince Rupert.
Cunningham said he hopes the group will be able to acquire land it can convert into recreational space for bikers, whether its city owned or government forest land.
"A personal issue for me is that there isn't an area where people can mountain bike in Prince Rupert, officially," he said.
Cunningham has been working on what he refers to as a "pirate trail" within Prince Rupert for more than a year. He worries the trail could be shut down at any time and hopes the formation of a club will give Prince Rupert mountain bikers a legal recreation space.
Aside from giving mountain bikers a recreation area, Cunningham believes if there were mountain biking trails within Prince Rupert it could draw in tourists, boosting the tourism industry.
"I think mountain biking is extremely viable in Prince Rupert ... as a mountain biker, I can ride through the snow, rain, through the dry season, 365-days per year in Prince Rupert," Cunningham said.
"We have ridable terrain year round."
Cunningham said he loves building trails and hopes others interested in the sport will attend the meeting to share their expertise, whether it be bookkeeping, event planning, trail building or just a passion for the sport.
At the first meeting, attendees will elect a board of directors and will begin working on the club's mandates. Cunningham said all decisions the association makes will be made democratically by the group.
"A purpose of the association will be to bring people together as an organized group so we can obtain a non-profit status. By doing so we will have access to grants," he said, explaining the money could be used to put on various events for mountain bikers, BMXers and cyclo-cross riders.
The off-road cycling association's first meeting will take place at Cowpuccino's on Feb. 23, starting at 7 p.m.