On March 30th under freezing rain warnings and wind gusts the community gathered in the warmth of Mohawk Inn’s Conference centre to celebrate the end of another successful year with HAFTA.
Just like the year previous, the second year had brought yet again a new round of challenges and victories for us. President Peter Weldon led off the night with his President’s report which detailed in specific what had been accomplished. Most of these accomplishments are listed in our news section.
Get this party started
Who is HAFTA?
We have limits yeah
Garry pressing the buttons.
Members intrigued
Kelly, Jenn, Curtis – Familiar faces!
Packed!
To the future
After the President’s report our financial officer Barry Szydlik presented our financial status.
Numbers!
Hmm… numbers. I guess they’re necessary.
Seems to add up
About 50 people came through
Standing room
More chairs next year!
We have new t-shirts out for 2017 (softer fabric, casual fit and black) and some of our riding jerseys are still in stock as well. Local Artist Jany Mitges brought a piece of her work in to share.
$60 Jerseys
$20 T-shirts
Board member Jenn and Karen your Rock Riding Realtor
Only a few left, contact us for sizes
Already sold, sorry!
Our sponsorship coordinator Paulo gave us an update on which organisations in the community are helping out the club
Our sponsors
Paulo fresh from his Costa Rica trip
Bruno is sceptical!
Executive Rob supervising
Gary still seems interested and Bart will be okay!
Darryl put on a brave face for this presentation!
After the various reports on HAFTA’s year we got to some more exciting things such as the raffle of various goodies from sponsors for our members!
Swag
Who was Perry? Prize from theprfctline.bike
Jack P. drawing a ticket
Stephen won this nice 9point8 jersey
Jenn won this prize pack from Mill Town
Igor won this sweet shop shirt from BikeZone
Nate from Sacred Rides lucked out with a BikeZone shop shirt.
Bike Zone prize pack!
Pete, did you shake the bag or just picking favourites?
Tim got himself a Staran shirt
John another lucky member
Rob also won a Staran shirt
Ute with her new shirt and a bit blurry(sorry!)
Lots of digits on those tickets!
New member Bern from teamvango.ca also won
Mel strikes a pose with her winnings
Rachel was another happy winner
After the last raffle prize was handed out we relax and begin the socialising.
Jeff from BikeZone in Mississauga on a stealthy Transition
Oriel and Bill
Hilarious apparently!
BikeZone’s Pivot Switchblade went for a run around the parking lot
No strangers to the AF!
“Oh God” ?
Derek from Staran answering questions
This year was short and sweet. Time is flying by so we hope you’re getting out there and riding your bike!
Stay tuned to the goings on in the AF through Facebook, Twitter or the schedule.
Have you ever wondered why rocks are grippy in the winter and early spring, but really slippery in the summer (humid rocks are the worst) and fall? It’s not just about rain because the spring is pretty darn wet isn’t it and the rocks aren’t nearly as slippery as summer – What gives!
It seems to me the type of rock in the AF is primarily limestone and dolomite (the latter forms the “umbrella” of the Niagara escarpment). This is one piece of the puzzle, but first a geology lesson!
According to most geologists the much of rock you find in the AF is bioclastic and began forming approximately about 450 Million years ago at the bottom of a then tropical sea out of deposits of shells/poop of millions of critters. This carbonate rock is what the nearby quarry mines and you’ll find it in use all around our society as concrete, mortar and cement.
So we have moisture (rain + humidity) and limestone, but that won’t be too slippery, so what is the third factor – Well, it’s living stuff like algae and moss.
Read on:
So there you go, combine these three factors in a damp and humid environment and slowly you get soapy rocks.
In addition to being badly flooded this trail is temporarily closed for the swamp critters in the pond to the north to do their thing over the next month or until our section of it sufficiently dries.
Do your best to respect the land you ride on because you are connected to it! Other trails are drying, but we have had overland flooding so most trails are no good as they have large swathes with lots of ponding.
