Downhill race component cancelled Brady Fotheringham Contributing Writer THE inaugural North Shore Festival held this weekend at Mount Seymour pledged a lit- tle more tian it could deliver. The event was billed as a live entertainment festival with hip local bands, a tech- nical exposition of mountain bikes and equipment, and two days of cross-country, downhill and dual salam mountain bike races. Up to $30,000 in cash prizes were up for grabs, but most big-name riders like Olympic silver medalist Alison Sydor and North Vancouver downhiller Andrew Shandro had ather commitments and didn’t attend. Deadlines to finish build- “ing the cross-country course “were pushed to the last minute. Meanwhile the sunny long weekend and $500 booth fees for the tech expo may haye contributed to relatively low attendance. Event organizers estimate 2,500 people attended over two days. Roach Products Inc. owner Ingrid Doerr, who had a booth ar the event, expressed disappointment with atrendance and cost. Over 200 riders were registered in the cross-country, dirt criterium and dual slalom races. Despite the downhill being cancell -d, many participants accepted the shortcomings of the festival and said they looked forward to next year’s event. Originally the downhill course cut through the ski run Elevator Shaft. Organizers had hastily built 2 45-foot bridge Wednesday, August 4, 1999 - North Shore News - 3 st hike festival Meanwhile event organizer BIG air guru Kevin Sansaione rips it up over the double jumps at Mount Seymour Sunday. Riding a bike made by North Van-based Cove Bikes, Sansatone placed sixth in the dual slalom race at the North Shore Festival. Phone trouble follows minibus‘move to Surrey Brady Fotheringtignp xem. Contributing Writer “Ae - CUSTOMERS trying to reach the Local Minibus ser- vice on the North Shore last week were out of luck after the company’s phone number was disconnected. “Customers, some of ihem seniors who regularly use the inexpensive shut- tle service, dialed BC Tel directory assis- tance only to find that ‘the phone company had no_ information about the minibus organization. Oze Siekham, whose father is one of _ two parmers in Super Shuttle, the parent company . of Local Minibus, said that the company went through “an ownership restruc- turing in June. The process, he said, caused some uncertainty over the phone - bill for the minibus company. Local Minibus has been offering the minibus shuttle service throughout the - three North Shore municipalities since ‘ last summer, The company expanded into Surrey last week with 10 vans. A ’ larger population in Surrey and fewer bureaucratic hassles with the Motor - Carricr Commission than those experi- enced by Local Minibus on the North Shore” brought the company to the municipality. . A former third partner in Super Shurtle, Aniarjit Johal, who owns a share in Newton Whalley Hiway Taxi, had expressed concern over Siekham’s aspi- rations to expand into Surrey where “It’s a deliberate attempt... to stop the minibus service.” — Jazz Siekham Local Minibus would be competing with the taxi company. The original number for the Local Minibus service, 872-8888, was discon- nected last Wednesday. Ir‘ used to be combined with several phone numbers used by Airport Super Shuttle, a differ- ent company owned by Johaf. Sickham said Johal let the bill for the 872-8888 number go unpaid wirh Omnitel Communication Inc., the phone service company used by the minibus company. “Irs a — deliberate attempt by one of our former shareholders (Johal) to stop the minibus service,” Siekham charged. Ichal said he decided he didn’t want to be part of the Loca) Minibus/ Super Shuttle organiza- tion because it would compete against his . taxi interests in Surrey. Local Minibus now has a new num- ber with BC Tel (899-8849) and is try- ing to get its old number reinstated. Ads in local papers are supposed to appear this week a. ording to Sieckham. “There’s been great support, but we need more volume in North Vancouver,” Sickham said. The North Shore service has been struggling to make money for the past year duc to high leasing costs for five vehicles and low rates charged to cus- tomers. Local Minibus charges a $3.50 flat rate for one person to trav- el virtually anywhere in North Vancouver. An additional $1 is charged when crossing one of six zones. The rate is lowered if you share the ride with other passengers. to protect a stream, but 10 feet of snow and concerns by BC Parks and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans forced the course to be dropped. Event coordinator Doug Devlin said that organizers didn’t want to push their luck with BC Parks by running a downhill course that didn’t mect with strict environmental regulations. As it turns out, most of the professional downhill like Shandro were racing elsewhere at Apex Alpine in the Okanagan. The 52 registered downhillers included several from Cycles Balfa who drove all the way from Quebec to pro- mote their new pro downhill bikes, which look much like off road motorcycles. Shawn Farion was successful in persuading out-of indus- try companies such as BC Hydro to display their prod- acts at the tech expo. Outdoor adventure compa- nics such as Kinesis, PowerBar, Coast Magazine and Gut First Aid all set up booths Mang with the stan- dard bike company parapher- natia stands handing out bike swag goodies to passersby. This, however, was Farion’s first mountain bike event and at tins it showed. There were no announce- raents introducing the pro/elite racers, a traditional practice at most big moun- tain bike events like the for- mer Specialized Cactus Cup races at Whistler. Long delays stacting several cate- geries for the cross-country races pushed the awards cer- cionies to Sunday. The dual slafom course was a bit tight, burt many of the racers worked on the course Saturday with shovels, creat- ing an cight-foot jump at the end that pleased hardcore riders and spectators alike. The big event was the men’s and women’s pro/elite cross- country race, a 48-kilometre (30 mile), grind through the Seymour mountain switch- backs, snaw-laced hills and asphalt. Amber Chorney of Vancouver, racing in the women’s pro,felite cross-country event, lost to Trish Sinclair of Victoria by one second in the final hundred metres after the owo briefly touched wheels passing cach other. North Vancouver's Christine Platt finished third in the pro/clite event and the North Shore's Doug Horn, won the veteran expert men's race. Two young up-and-coming boys from Bowen Island, Matt Fail and Colin Kerr, placed fourth and third respectively in the cadet expert men’s event. Kerr is currently top dog on the Kids on the Shore secondary school races and is holding third place in the B.C. Cup series. lopping up oil spil in the parking lot Local duo invent a biodegradable answer to oil spills - Kevin Gillies News Reporter THE mess left by the Exxon Valdez was just a “drop in the bucket,” according to two North Vancouver entrepreuners who want to clean up parking lot oil deposits. Kevin Daum and Bill Eberly say they have devel- oped a biodegradable solution that pulls ofl out of concrete and asphalt for recycling. “The major deposits of oil are in parking lots,” . says Daum as he walks around Parkgate Village Shopping Centre in Deep Cove, pointing out large oil spots. “There’s a lot of bloody oil out there. It’s when you stop and start your car that it dumps the crankcase,” Daum says. “The problem with that of course is oil is toxic and the agents they’re using (to clean it) are toxic,” he says. “Basically it ends up in the rivers and oceans.” But the 30-year-old says his new products — which has a patent pending in the U.S. — not only help lift saturated oil to the surface for collection, but are biodegradable and recyclable as well. The cleaner brings the oil to the surface where it’s wiped up or absorbed into polyurethane pads, which themselves are an oil product. The whole thing can be thrown into an oil recycling bin. North Vancouver District environmental protec- tion officer Richard Bose is excited enough about it that he’s trying to get it used in district parking lots and clean-up programs. “What we want to de is bring about better aware- ness and programs and that’s why we’re excited with what Kevin’s doing,” says Bose. NEWS photo Cindy Goodma: racers NEWS photo Paul McGrath KEVIN Daum with the cleaner that wili bring See NVD page’ __ oil to the surface of parking lots for recycling.