Why has Pink Starfish been decommissioned?

Her twitter feed is a gem. Hard to tell if it is someone who hates mountain bikers so much or a mountain biker making fun of people that hate mountain bikers.

certainly borders on parody doesn't it? amazing the energy she puts into this; i guess everyone needs a hobby. check out her blog:

http://twowheeledlocusts.blogspot.ca/

pretty catchy name, i must admit.

certainly borders on parody doesn't it? amazing the energy she puts into this; i guess everyone needs a hobby. check out her blog:

http://twowheeledlocusts.blogspot.ca/

pretty catchy name, i must admit.

that "wheeled locusts" isn't her term, that's been around for decades, if anything I think she stole it from vandeman

i like it. someone should print shirts.

i respect the time and work you've put in to trail work and advocacy Sven, but you and the NSMBA are wrong on your stance of being "silent". the organization's choice to be quiet on numerous issues tends to cast doubt and make it look like you have something to hide. the organization would come off looking better if it was forward and honest on these sensitive topics instead of hiding and letting speculation run rampant. if the organization speaks in a prspectful and honest manner there will be no controvery. it is not juet the lack of info here, but also on the nsmba webpage, facebook page and twitter that is an issue.

the only reason Monica and people like her have any "ammunition" is becuase you give it to her by not being forthright. as a publicly registered charity that is a volunteer run organization i believe the nsmba has a duty to inform those who are affected by the decisions of the board and it's employees and to answer questions in an open an honest manner.

Agree very much with this. The NSMBA overall do fantastic work but my only complaint would be that they are not very good at the public communication side of things. Most people do not have time to head up to the End of the Line on a weekday evening to sit around and chat with board members, as friendly and welcoming an opportunity as that is.

People have families and busy lives and often struggle just to get out on their bikes. They come to nsmb.com, or facebook and twitter, to get caught up on what's going on outside of what they personally see on the trails when they're out riding.

If it's a matter of capacity, maybe the board needs to appoint more than one person in charge of communications and/or social media. If it's a matter of priority… well, I'd suggest it needs to be moved up the list a little. We'll all benefit.

Agreed with above. I don't doubt there are some discussions that are better conducted out of the public eye, but often the balance isn't quite right IMO.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the NSMBA have a call for donations some time ago to fund work on a 'classic old school shore trail.' At the time, people asked which trail the money would go towards but the NSMBA were unable to announce the trail at the time due to some politics/bureaucracy somewhere. I think (and may be wrong here) that the trail eventually was revealed to be Starfish. If my memory has served me correctly, presumably that money has now gone to waste? Shame if so…

Edit: Nope. I was wrong. As you were.

It was ladies

http://nsmba.ca/content/2016-05_heritage-fund-trail-selection-announcement-ladies-only-lower-ladies

heckler, to answer your questions you sent in a rep comment:

- i have a twitter account but don't use it, my handle is @bodymasterspt
- i am signed up on instagram but again don't use it, my handle is happy_carpenter
- my facebook is my real name, Mark Rowe and i have liked the nsmba page and see the updates
- i am signed up to the nsmba as an email member under two different emails and get the updates
- i check the nsmba website for info
- i also book off work and give up a day's wages when the agm comes around so i can attend the meeting, i believe i spoke with you at the last one

so you can see that i am not choosing to be silent. many people in the mtb community know who i am and it is not difficult to get ahold of me. i am pretty easy to find.

while i may not follow all the feeds every waking moment of the day, i am connected enough to see what's going on. the issue is not that there is no communication, the issue is often the level of communication and how it seems to be distributed on a limited level or not at all when it comes to certain topics.

a good example is when the nsmba decided to cut a new line into the trail i built which was done with permission from the LSCR and followed guidelines they set out. as per the nsmba's own definition, this new line they cut into salvation would be considered a parasite line. when the nsmba decided to go ahead and cut this line there was absolutely zero communication with me about this new line. granted i was not as active as i have been in the past, but i had not abandoned the trail as was asserted at the time. the nsmba even saw fit to take my tools from the trail which of course i discovered when i went to do some ground work. how hard would it have been to give me a courtesy call (they had my phone number) or an email or even a pm here to let me know what was happening and that they were moving ahead with this new line. even if they didn't contact me, if they had made their plans public it would have afforded me the option to get in touch with them. the only reason i found out is because i reported my tools as being stolen here on the boards and then the nsmbA got in contact with me.

the addition of this parasite line has cost me a probably a hundred hours or more in terms of extra work in having to deal with re-routes of the exsting line to accomodate their work. this line that the nsmba cut probably involved hundreds of hours of volunteer labour and no doubt paid labour as well. i was told that this line was put in as the original entrance in it's current state was not acceptable for beginner or intermediate level riders and i do not disgree with this except on the point that salvation is not a beginner line. in that light it took me about 40 total hours of work to put in a new entrance that will require maybe another day or two of labour to make 100%. and if i don't count the 20m of new trail, the work i did to clean up the original entrance totalled maybe 20 hours including realigning the skinny at the start and resurfacing the downramp that intermediate riders would use to bypass the first log ride.

if the nsmba had done a better job of communication they could have saved themselves hundreds of hours and dollars that could have been put to use on other projects that were in a state of higher need.

i have made significant efforts to build a good working relationship with Mark Wood and the NSMBA and it has worked to some extent. but i do not agree with how they choose to interact with the public. those who may not be as aware of things may not see an issue with how they operate, but myself and many others do. i still beleive in the vision of the nsmba and fully support some of the work and iniatives that they do, but they still have things they can impove on.

i am more than interested in finding out why pink starfish has been closed.

Mark, my point was simply that there are several other online outlets for information that are being well used, and there are many open invitations for questions, in person and online.

No, I do not know why PS was decommed.

Mark, my point was simply that there are several other online outlets for information that are being well used, and there are many open invitations for questions, in person and online.

No, I do not know why PS was decommed.

that's true Sven, but the point that myself and others are making is that the information being distributed can be limited in scope. people want answers to the hard questions as well.

i respect the time and work you've put in to trail work and advocacy Sven, but you and the NSMBA are wrong on your stance of being "silent". the organization's choice to be quiet on numerous issues tends to cast doubt and make it look like you have something to hide. the organization would come off looking better if it was forward and honest on these sensitive topics instead of hiding and letting speculation run rampant. if the organization speaks in a prspectful and honest manner there will be no controvery. it is not juet the lack of info here, but also on the nsmba webpage, facebook page and twitter that is an issue.

Please understand that there is a land manager invovled. Respect their right to work at their own pace. Trails may be the top priority for the NSMBA, but the land manager can have other priorities.

You're right that questions need to be answered, but please give the two parties involved time to resolve things rather than shout that we need answers now, Now, NOW!

Please understand that there is a land manager invovled. Respect their right to work at their own pace. Trails may be the top priority for the NSMBA, but the land manager can have other priorities.

You're right that questions need to be answered, but please give the two parties involved time to resolve things rather than shout that we need answers now, Now, NOW!

yeah you're correct that the land managers may have other priorities and get that, but i'm also not shouting for answers right this instant. what some of us are concerned with though is a pattern of not being entirely open on the part of the nsmba. that is an issue that can be addressed aside from pink starfish closure while that gets sorted out.

yeah you're correct that the land managers may have other priorities and get that, but i'm also not shouting for answers right this instant. what some of us are concerned with though is a pattern of not being entirely open on the part of the nsmba. that is an issue that can be addressed aside from pink starfish closure while that gets sorted out.

This whole thread has been about Pink Starfish. You've raised valid points, but in the context of this thread I interpreted them as more demanding than you intended. I see that now.

I totally agree that communication should be better. On a number of issues, not just PS. But I know what it's like to deal with municipal staff on sensitive issues. There's an aversion to having things blow up in public. That's why it's often more effective to work through back channels.

On some things, quieter is better. Not all things, but I'd put PS in this category.

I waste too much time on teh internetz, but regardless of what actually went down, it's interesting to note just how much time the extremely vocal minority have to stir the pot, whether it be locally or worldwide. This letter for example and the comments below. I gave up on reading the comments due to it being too mindblowing for words:

http://www.northvancouverpolitics.com/2016/04/controversial-letter-and-dnv-public.html

And then there's good old Mikey V..

He'll hath no wrath….

Both should seek treatment.

she is tireless

But we can take comfort knowing that between her and the late Ernie Crist (RIP), their efforts to ban mountain biking…

I talked to Councillor Crist, and he said the frog lady was literally flooding him and the rest of council with complaints. I think he only objected to mountain biking because he hoped her complaints would subside and he could get some peace of mind.