To make a bried comment in regards to Tom's observations.
We have 200 paying members. We have about 20 or 30 members who go to the
meetings. Of those how many are active? Fewer yet. So, is it a surprise that
mountain bikers are not being adequately represented? We depend on too few
volunteers to get the jobs done.

I joined PUMP a few years ago to meet people and to have some fun. Last
year I dedcided to step up to the plate and be more active because I didn't
think my favorite area, Mount St Helens, was being receiving the publicity it
needed - I'm NOT saying Jerry, Andrea, haven't been doing an awesome job in
taking care of trails up there. I wanted to get more publicity generated. So,
I
ran for the Board in November and have tried to channel information the best
I can. I've also been more active in coordinating work parties on the Smith
Creek trail - which really wasn't useable by any user. It's now in the best
condition it's been in since it was built.

Another point I want to make is that there is a subgroup of mountain bikers
who started knocking PUMP because the features at Scappoose were being taken
out by PUMP members. PUMP was blamed for their removal by some riders who
used those features. Those 'features' were put in without permission, and had
to be taken out in order to preserve our use of the trails that had been put
in with permission of the landowner. So, who was a fault here? Please don't
respond to that question. All I know is that I am thankful to the landowner
for allowing us to use their property to ride on some trails.

At some point in time in the future, I can hear someone complain that PUMP
was responsible for the loss of riding on trails around my favorite mountain.
And, you know what? My statement to them will be: where were you when we
needed you?

I want to see a group that has thousands of active members, I want to see a
large Board of Directors, I want to see committees with multiple members who
can adequately respond to issues as they arise. I want to see work parties
having to turn away volunteers. I want to see multiple scheduled rides each
weekend for different skill levels and riding interests. What's the best way
to get there?

So, where are you?

Dave


**************One site keeps you connected to all your email: AOL Mail,
Gmail, and Yahoo Mail. Try it now.
(http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000025)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]