My First Post

I officially became a member of ECMTB sometime in 2004. Long before that I lurked the forums and browsed the articles. I'll admit that I was slightly intimidated by the obvious community, and I was hesitant to try and infiltrate the clique.

Wikipedia defines a clique as an exclusive group of people who share common interests, views, purposes, or patterns of behavior. All the members of the group have some type of relationship with one another, and thus the group is tightly knit together as a type of social network.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that I was a mountain biker, thus I already fit the definition of ECMTB's clique. All that I was lacking was a relationship with the rest of the members of the group. I became a member in 2004 because I had just moved to Fredericton, NB and I didn't have anyone to ride with. My first post on ECMTB was a request for riding partners in Fredericton, a request for that relationship with the community.

It was painfully clear at the time that Fredericton wasn't well represented on ECMTB. Fortunately, mountain bike culture is rich in Freddy Beach and I quickly met plenty of people. It was hard to co-ordinate everyone for rides, so I turned fellow riders to ECMTB for making plans. In 2005 and 2006 we had regular weekly rides all orchestrated on ECMTB. Popularity of ECMTB grew in Fredericton and other parts of New Brunswick. In the summer of 2007 the largest group ride I've ever been on was held in Hillsborough, just outside of Moncton, NB. There were over thirty riders, all of whom learned of the ride on East Coast Mountain Biking.

Backing up slightly, somewhere late in 2006 I seized an opportunity to become involved in East Coast Mountain Biking as an owner. 2007 was a building year while myself and Chris Kozanczyn settled in our new roles as owners. In 2008 we’re excited to deliver the best year of mountain biking that ECMTBers have seen.

Chris and I, and our faithful volunteer provincial representatives Mike Phillips and Ray Brown are knee deep in plans for 2008. I can’t help but look back at my first post on the ECMTB forums and admire what has come from it. I could have kept lurking the forums and browsing articles, but then I wouldn’t have the opportunity that I have now. I didn’t start East Coast Mountain Biking, but with Chris and the gang, I’m continuing it in the best interest of the community that supports it. I enjoy every minute of my work with ECMTB, although I use the word 'work' loosely. When it starts to feel like 'real work' I’ll step aside and let the next generation take over.

In order for that next generation to develop, they need to make their first post. This year I have met well over a dozen forum members, that is more than one a week! However, I fail to recognize their online alias since they rarely, if ever make a post.

Please take this as a personal invitation to introduce yourself, comment in a thread, argue trail etiquette or component selection, get directions to a trail or make arrangements for a group ride. Help develop the ECMTB community, help make ECMTB better. You'll find that the clique will be your clique.

Posted by O9man at March 10, 2008 06:59 AM

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