As the official mountain biking season winds to a close (SORCA's final riding event of the season, The Loonar Enduro, is scheduled for Oct. 24), it's worthwhile reflecting on how far mountain biking has come in this community.
I've been involved in the local mountain biking scene long enough to remember when you could expect 40 people at a Toonie race, and the after-party consisted of a couple of bags of nacho chip, burgers and a keg of beer.
As the evening would wear on, a fire was lit, the peanuts would come out and the brave few would sit around the fire working on killing the keg.
Times change, of course, and some of the older guys have traded in their mountain bikes for golf clubs. Now, it's unusual to have fewer than 100 riders out at a Toonie, and instead of burgers, you're likely to feast on some pretty fancy nosh afterwards.
And whereas in the past, SORCA had to fight to get mountain biking issues onto municipal agenda, not a counsellor today would say publicly that mountain biking isn't an important part of Squamish's identity - and economy. But even though they say it, it doesn't mean that they always act on it.
The recent announcement that SORCA received of $100,000 further confirms the contribution of mountain biking to the community. And that funding can help put a dollar figure on the value of the mountain biking trail network.
Fifty thousand dollars of that money is being used to build a two kilometre downhill trail, the Half-Nelson. That's $25,000 a kilometre worth of trail.
Given that Squamish has over 200 kilometres of mostly volunteer-built trails - and allowing that the Half-Nelson is a specialized and expensive trail - the undeniable fact is that mountain bike volunteers have given millions of dollars of infrastructure to the municipality.
In addition to that infrastructure value, according to a 2006 survey by the BC Mountain Bike Tourism Association, mountain biking brings a couple of million more into the Squamish economy each year through races and tourism.
As we coast into municipal budget season, there will undoubtedly be lots of debate about where cuts will happen and where money should be invested.
It's easy to dismiss recreational activities as luxuries that don't deserve funding. But often that kind of thinking is misguided.
Mountain biking and other recreational activities like rock climbing and kite boarding bring a lot of money and a lot of people into this community. There are not a lot of things that a municipality can do to entice people to come and invest here, but promoting "quality of life" is an area where they can have an impact.
Squamish's reputation as one the world's premier recreational destinations still needs to be protected and enhanced. There's lots of work still be done (signage being an obvious area), and when council is deciding where to invest in the community, it's critical that they recognize this truth.
