Speaker: Today's speakers were Jeff Simms, Owner/Operator of the Bike Monkey/Ice Monkey in Truro and Ashley Simms, Director of Parks, Recreation and Culture for the Town of Truro.  They were here today to talk about the Railyard in Victoria Park.

 

Jeff was born and raised in Old Barns.  He started the Bike Monkey about 5 years ago. Since then he has been active with various partners to continue to develop biking as a recreational activity in the area.  Ashley is also from the area having worked at the Athletic Center of DalAC before joining the staff at the town. She is responsible for all the Parks and Recreation programs and infrastructure in Truro.

 

Jeff and Ashley outlined the development of Biking in Victoria Park.  Over the past 20 years some 40 Km of trials have been developed through the Park by a dedicated group of volunteers.  A number of events and races have been created such as the "Victoria's Secret" Mountain Bike Race and more recently the Colchester Short Track series of bike races. These events have grown considerably.  The park has become a "destination" for people to come and ride their bikes or simply to come and observe the races. 

 

This development of bike tourism has lead to the need to take the initiative to the next level by branding the site (the Railyard), making improvements to the infrastructure (signs, trials, washrooms etc) and finally, hiring someone to do continuous maintenance of the site and make further improvements.  The project was in phase one and the branding initiative is underway.  There was a presence at the Saltscapes Expo for example and brochures about the facility had been passed out to raise awareness.

 

A new website is in development that would highlight the full project including features such as the Bike Skills Park 

 

The second phase of the project will include some of the hard infrastructure such as washrooms, change rooms and showers.  

 

It is envisioned that the park will be used all year long as new Fat Bikes allowed for riding all winter long. More and different competitions will happen and this will bring even more people to the Truro area to enjoy what we have to offer. 

 

One interesting idea was a partnership with Via Rail that would bring a special train from Halifax to Truro loaded with cyclists for the weekend rides and events. These cyclists would have to have accommodations, food and supplies while here.

 

Happy Mug: Happy Rotarians included:

50/50: Wayne Gillis had the winning ticket (again) but missed the joker and left the $82 pot to build.