Meghan Tabor, former president of the Revelstoke Cycling Association, has been announced as the new executive director of Mountain Bike BC.
Tabor plans to pull from her 11 years on the Revelstoke Cycling Association board of directors and role as Tourism Revelstoke’s executive director to helm B.C.’s future as a mountain biking destination.
“I’m excited to continue working with the [Revelstoke Cycling Association] in this new capacity, bringing local perspectives into provincial conversations,” Tabor wrote in her farewell letter. Her work to steadily connect the association with Tourism Revelstoke in support of volunteer trail initiatives is something she’s hoping to mirror across the province.
“I think there are a lot of clubs that don’t even know who their tourism destination management organization is,” Tabor told Revelstoke Mountaineer. “Tourism Revelstoke really recognized that [Revelstoke Cycling Association] is fully volunteer-driven, and they’re providing this amazing asset for our visitors.”
This partnership is one of the things needed to help keep local clubs sustainable, she added.
“The tourism growth is one thing which is exciting, and I think there’s a ton of opportunity. On the other hand, there’s no sustainable trail funding for these volunteer-driven clubs,” Tabor said, explaining that clubs and local non-profits are largely the stewards for B.C.’s mountain biking trails.
“What excites me is trying to bridge the gap between the two,” she said.
Combining resources province-wide
Seeing no lack of passion for mountain biking, Tabor pointed out the sport attracts those willing to get out and get to work building new trails and features. But resources can be limited to hunt down grants, advocate for provincial funding and build large-scale projects.
Pulling inspiration from the BC Snowmobile Federation and its overarching support of local snowmobile clubs, Tabor wants to make Mountain Bike BC a stronger provincial supporter of all biking clubs, taking on those larger projects and administrative duties.
“I really see it as an opportunity to kind of do the heavy lifting on the back end that hopefully translates into some real, tangible change for some of these organizations on the ground,” she said.
Strengthening the province’s mountain biking tourism sector offers a unique opportunity for rural and remote communities, Tabor explained. Mountain Biking BC’s current Northern BC campaign highlights communities and trail networks often overlooked by visitors and even provincial residents.
“The north is such an underrepresented region from a tourism perspective, but it is doubling down on mountain biking,” she said.
Mountain biking tourism isn’t just for those traveling from out-of-province, and support can range from seeing if the local bike club offers a day membership pass, visiting businesses that support local bike trails and events or even just joining in on local races and socials.
“Driving those mountain bike visitors to these smaller destinations will hopefully support these small businesses as well. Especially the ones that do cater to more of a mountain bike visitor,” she said, highlighting coffee shops, breweries and campgrounds as prime businesses to take advantage of mountain biking tourism.
Who is on the trails is changing
Looking back on her time with Revelstoke Cycling Association, Tabor highlighted the growing accessibility of local trail networks as one of her favourite projects.
While providing access for adaptive mountain bikes was the initial focus, Tabor explained accessible trails also support families introducing younger kids to the sport and riders still working up their courage on two wheels.
This demographic shift is part of a changing lens across the industry, Tabor said, explaining that the stereotypical North Shore cool guy poster image of a typical mountain biker is evolving as interest in the sport grows.
“It never happens overnight, and I think it’s going to take a bit more of a systematic shift for it to get there, but I think we are moving in that direction,” she said, pointing out that she often sees more women riders on the trails than compared to a decade ago.
“It’s only positive for the whole sector. The more people on bikes, the better,” she said.
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