I'm really looking forward to this year with Rock Crawl. We need to get everyone out looking for new trails and clearing old ones to make this a success and to give us new places to go with the loss of Harbourview.

At this time I would like to remind members to stay out of Harbourview as we do not need the bad press and don't want to lose the access we have to other places.

I would also like to see more members coming out to club functions as a good time is had by all, and it would be nice to see old faces as well as new ones.

We all must work together to make the best of everything we do. Keep up the good work.

See you on the trails!

~Chris Borton, IRC President.

OHV Working Group Update

The OHV Working Group is currently working with Western Forest Products, the Ministry of Forests and the CRD to find an appropriate area for potential public OHV use in the southern island.

The facilitator of this group, Judith Cullington is currently meeting with these groups to determine possible locations for such an area.

Unfortunately, the CRD has contracted the facilitator only until January 30, 2002 at which time a written report of the progress of the OHV Working Group will be submitted and presented to the CRD Board at the January Board meeting.

It is my belief that our work has just begun with the OHV Working Group and it is critical that we make it known to the CRD Board that it is essential to extend Ms. Cullington's contract and provide additional funding for the continuation of the OHV Working Group.

Back in February of this year the CRD Board agreed to provide $10,000 towards the creation of this OHV Working Group in hopes to address the needs of Off Highway Users on the Southern Island that were to be displaced by the joint purchase of the Seraphim properties by the TLC and the CRD.

Considering the $3 million dollar donation (of public tax monies) towards this purchase, it is essential that more funds be allocated towards the continuation of this committee especially since so much of the groundwork is in place with local governments, forest companies and the Ministry of Forests.

It would be a shame for all of the committee's hard work to be wasted if the CRD does not continue to fund this project. All of our work will have been done in vain.

What can you do?

Write to the CRD Board and your CRD Board representative and let them know that it is critical for the Board to continue to support the interests of OHV users in the area.

Address your letters to the CRD Board and mail/fax to:

Capital Regional District, P.O. Box 1000
524 Yates Street, Victoria, B.C., V8W 2S6
(Fax 360-3130).

To find out the address of your local CRD Board representative visit the CRD Board of Directors link at http://www.crd.bc.ca/board/director.htm.

Do not let the CRD Board drop this issue and leave us without a designated area to recreate.

~Lori Hryniuk

Mystery Run 2001

On Sunday, October 22, 2001, over 60 4x4 enthusiasts took part in a joint adventure between the IRC and Island4x4.com known as the Mystery Run.

The event, conceived by Keith Daly of Island4x4.com, was a good excuse to bring the two clubs together to meet each other and have a good time. Well that was definitely accomplished, along with the help of Cara Duffield of Island4x4.com, and Lori Hrynuik and Gina Innes of the IRC.

Keith Daly's full report on the event can be viewed on the Island4x4.com site at http://island4x4.com/events/mysteryrun/index.html.

To get an idea of what happened on that infamous Sunday in October, here are a few quotes from Keith Daly's article.

• We set up each team based on a rough criteria: each team had to have an experienced wheeler, a newbie, a stock truck, a winch, an Island4x4.com member, and an IRC member at a minimum.
• The riddles were NOT EASY. Even some of the most experienced and knowledgeable wheelers were stumped on a few of our colourful clues.
• It was exactly how I pictured it when we first started planning a few months before: absolute MAYHEM. Four of the teams headed off for the trails right away, and two of the teams were stuck on their first clues already. One of the teams that had headed out had lost a teammate in the first 2 kilometres.
• Well, I didn't think we'd have that kind of turnout. 32 vehicles in total actually registered, and probably at least that many passengers if not more.

We hope to see more events like this - it was a blast!

Watch that rocker panel!	A strange collection ....	Snap! An RCMP Officer launches a probe into this team's activities