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CORBA eTerraTimes for April 1, 2010

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In this issue...

  • CORBA News
     
    • Welcome to CORBA's blog!
    • A Message from CORBA's President
    • We're looking for Office Space. Can you help?
  • Upcoming and Recent Trailwork
     
    • March 27: COSCA Spring Trailwork Day Report
    • April 17: State Trails Day in the Angeles National Forest
    • April 23-25: Santa Monica Mtns Trails Day at Pt Mugu State Park
  • General News
     
    • Aquatic Snails Infest Santa Monica Mountain Watersheds
    • MBU Volunteers take Advanced Skills Clinic
    • Rwanda Fundraiser Ride is Saturday, April 10th
    • Bike Night at the Hammer
    • Griffith Park Neighborhood Council Elections
    • Calabasas New Millennium Trail Boulder Update
    • Angeles National Forest Update
    • SoCal League Into Second Year of High School Mountain Bike Racing
    • Report on the 2010 National Bike Summit
    • Los Robles Trail in Thousand Oaks Crosses Private Road
    • Support Rails to Trails
    • New on the CORBA Website

PDF VersionGet this eNewsletter as a PDF document!

 
The Glendale Police Department's Students Training as Role Models (STAR) Program works in collaboration with the Glendale Unified School District and Catholic Charities. They aim to provide at-risk-youth ages 9-14 with a supportive setting with law enforcement as role models who conduct life skills, survival and safety training among other positive self-esteem building activities. This was their first ride with CORBA's Youth Adventures program. Read more about this Youth Adventures ride in our blog.

Welcome to CORBA's blog!

CORBA’s new blog is a tool for us to stay in touch with you. We’ll keep you updated on the latest from our mountains and trails. We’re always working behind the scenes on your behalf, but need a better way to keep you informed.

Most importantly, you’ll be able to provide us your valuable feedback and points of view by commenting on our news postings, and by active participation in our upcoming forums.

And, we'll use the blog as the primary source of news. A major side benefit will be to cut down on the length of the eTerraTimes each month. Most articles will start with a few sentences to get the gist across, then link to the full article in the blog. This way, if an article doesn't interest you, you won't have to scroll through multiple paragraphs to get to the next one.

We hope you'll let us know what you think about this and other news items. View the full article to learn how to comment on the blog articles.

A Message from CORBA's President

By Mark Langton

Get out and ride! I was out Monday and it’s perfect—cool temps, new growth, great smells—don’t take it for granted!

I want to acknowledge Louisa Bonnie (photo at right) for her tremendous efforts in coordinating and producing CORBA’s Fat Tire Festival for the past several years. Louisa has announced that this will be her last year of involvement with both the festival and CORBA’s Board of Directors. Her presence will be sorely missed. But I bet you’ll see her more out on the trails!

CORBA is looking for Office Space. Can you help?

For nearly 22 years, CORBA has been run on a volunteer basis without an office or a central business location. We have a P.O. Box, and our monthly board and member meetings are held at locations around the San Fernando Valley, Eastern Ventura County and the West Side. We are growing and need your help. We’re looking for a central location from which to coordinate our advocacy campaigns, run the Fat Tire Fest, reach out to land managers and run our education and outreach programs.

Read all the details in our blog entry, including our search for an intern to help us.


Upcoming and Recent Trailwork

March 27: COSCA Spring Trailwork Day Report

On Saturday, March 27, about two dozen volunteers took part in the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency’s (COSCA) Spring Trailwork Day. We worked on the Mountain Creek Trail in Newbury Park. This trail was built last October during the Annual COSCA Trailwork Day by a much larger group of volunteers (see photo gallery). On Saturday, we widened much of the top section, fixed the drainage around a switchback and cleared out a lot of overgrowing brush on the Reino / Potrero Ridge Trail it connects to.

For the full story and photos, read our blog entry on COSCA's 2010 spring trailwork.

April 17: State Trails Day in the Angeles National Forest

Join the CORBA Trail Crew and other trail user groups for a day of trail maintenance. Work will be on the Stone Canyon Trail.  This trail goes up to Mount Lukins. Details.

April 23-25: Santa Monica Mountains Trails Days

This is a weekend event with CORBA, SMMTC and other trail user groups with camping at Danielson Ranch in Point Mugu State Park. You can come in Friday night and stay until Sunday or leave Saturday after trail maintenance. Some people just come in for Saturday. There will be a barbecue and raffle on Saturday evening. Informational flyer and registration form coming soon. Details.

 


General News

Aquatic Snails Infest Santa Monica Mountain Watersheds

New Zealand mudsnails have taken over four watersheds in the Santa Monica Mountains and are spreading fast, expanding from the first confirmed sample in Medea Creek in Agoura Hills to nearly 30 other stream sites in four years.
Mudsnails now infest the Malibu Creek, Trancas Creek, Ramirez Creek and Solstice Creek watersheds and more. Mudsnails don’t look like much: An adult is about the size of a grain of rice. But one can produce 40-million clones and they quickly drive out insects and tiny animals that provide food for frogs, birds and fish.

For the full story, read our blog entry on mudsnail infestation in the Santa Monica Mountains.

MBU Volunteers take Advanced Skills Clinic

On March 20 CORBA hosted a special session of our Mountain Bike Skills Clinic program. CORBA president and skills clinic instructor Mark Langton offered this session to Mountain Bike Unit volunteers and class of 2010 recruits. The class was held in the beautiful setting of Malibu Creek State Park. Sixteen MBUers participated.

For the full story and photos, read our blog entry on the MBU Skills Clinic.

Rwanda Fundraiser Ride is Saturday, April 10th

These 5-, 25- and 50-mile fun rides are to raise funds and build awareness for Project Rwanda. The entry fee is $50, or $25 for the 5-mile fun ride.

For further details, view our blog entry on the Rwanda Fundraiser Ride.

Bike Night at the Hammer

Grab some friends and pedal on over to the Hammer Museum at UCLA for a bike-centric evening of food, live music, film, and fun. Enjoy free museum admission, a screening of Pee Wees Big Adventure, a screening of bike-related short films, performances by Dobrega and Fusion, a vegan food bar, free bike valet parking by LA County Bike Coalition, and surprise special guest! Presented by the Hammer Student Association (HSA) in conjunction with artist Lisa Anne Auerbach. Details.

Griffith Park Neighborhood Council Elections

The Greater Griffith Park Neighborhood Council (GGPNC) held elections for 10 available seats on March 20th. The results are unofficial until the end of this month, but is appears that the entire Los Feliz Forward ticket won the election. Ron Ostrow, one of the apparent winners in District "B," has assured CORBA of his commitment to road cycling and willingness to talk about mountain bike issues. For more, view our blog entry on the GGPNC election.

Calabasas New Millennium Trail Boulder Update

The boulder that slid onto one of the switchbacks of the New Milllennium Trail, as reported last month in the eTerraTimes, has been removed. See the blog entry and photos.

Angeles National Forest Update

On March 17th, CORBA volunteers attended a meeting with ANF Volunteer Coordinator Howard Okamoto. We received some encouraging news. While the theme of the news is good, nothing is definite, and planned dates may change if we get another round of storms or inclement weather.

Right now the forest closure remains in effect, unchanged since it was first imposed after the fires.  However, the FS hopes to open much of the forest to the public in mid to late April. The area that will definitely remain closed is the Arroyo Seco Canyon, roughly the area from Switzers to JPL, between Brown Mountain and Mt. Lukens. For more, view our blog entry on the Angeles NF Closures.

SoCal League Into Second Year of High School Mountain Bike Racing

The Southern California High School Mountain Bike Racing Series follows up on a highly successful inaugural series with a five-race season that is attracting considerable attention from high school students across southern California. 80 percent growth is seen as the 2010 Racing Series kicks off at the beautiful Vail Lake Resort near Temecula on March 14. For more, view our blog entry on the SoCal Interscholastic League.

Report on the 2010 National Bike Summit

League of American Bicyclists National Bike Summit 2010, March 9-11 in Washington, DC.

The Summit was a great experience.  700 + advocates, 75+ of whom were mountain bikers attended.  It was intense and exhausting, very well organized, and extremely motivating.  Days went 8 AM-10 PM. 

Major announcements included:

1.  Google unveiled its new bike routes on Google Maps.  It’s customizable.  (Point and click on the route to change it to your needs.)  Google wants feedback.  If you’ve got it, click on “report a problem” to suggest routes, correct errors, etc.  They’ll check out your comments and route should be changed in 30 days.  Their algorithms tried to avoid traffic congestion and hills

2.  Bikes Belong announced a new initiative to bring ordinary cyclists to advocacy.  They’re trying to get one million bike advocates signed up.  Take the pledge at http://www.bikesbelong.org/peopleforbikes

View the rest of this article in our blog entry on the 2010 National Bike Summit.

Los Robles Trail in Thousand Oaks Crosses Private Road

A section of the Los Robles Trail in Thousand Oaks crosses over a private dirt road, an extension of South Ventu Park Road in Newbury Park. Actions by trail users such as stopping vehicular traffic or traveling away from the path of the Los Robles Trail as it crosses the private dirt road are illegal. Failure to respect this private property could affect future public access to the Los Robles Trail. View the complete story in our blog entry.

Support Rails to Trails

ACT Act would improve trail, walking and biking networks around the country: “Active Community Transportation Act of 2010″ Introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Read more on our blog.

New on the CORBA Website


Recreational Rides

For a list of upcoming recreational rides, please visit the CORBA Calendar.


Free Mountain Biking Skills Clinic

Saturday April 3rd is the next skills clinic.

The CORBA free skills clinic is held on the first Saturday of every month at Malibu Creek State Park.

Mountain biking is a lot like tennis or skiing. Just a few minor adjustments in technique can make a huge difference in your control and proficiency. If you want to get better faster, you need to know the fundamentals of mountain biking technique. Whether you're just  getting into mountain biking or have been riding for years, you'll learn some valuable tips from our Introduction to Mountain Biking  skills class that is offered each month. Check out our Skills Clinic web page for all the information. After the clinic, see photos of your new skills on the CORBA web site that you can share with your family and friends!


Follow CORBA on Twitter

We have set up an account with Twitter to help keep people informed of the latest developments in our trail advocacy, recreational rides and trailwork days. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CORBAmtb.


Support CORBA

Join or Renew your membership today on our membership web page.

Join Our Team! Do you have any ideas about mountain biking recreation in the L.A. region? Would you like to apply your skills and manage projects that contribute to the sport and lifestyle that you love? Is there an advocate in you? We are recruiting motivated individuals who work well with others. Send an email to info@corbamtb.com or come to a monthly Members Meeting to find out more about what we do and how you can help. Check the calendar for the next meeting.

Other simple ways to support CORBA

(Click on the links above to get more details!)


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