Photo: National Park Service
The National Park Service has completed the purchase of another important land parcel along the route of the Backbone Trail, leaving just a scant mile or so still not open to the public. For more information, click here.
Archive for September, 2011
Backbone Trail Just Got Closer to Completion
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011COSCA Annual Trailwork Day to Be October 15th
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011Join CORBA, SMMTC, COSCA and other volunteer groups to work on the Conejo Open Space trails in Thousand Oaks. There will be a thank you lunch and prize drawings after the work. This is a great event with many volunteers. This year we will be revitalizing a trail in Sunset Hills that had become completely overgrown. If you hike or ride the trails in Thousand Oaks, come out and help maintain these trails! No prior experience is necessary.
This annual Conejo Valley event draws a large crowd and as always helps to put some very sweet trails back into good shape. Be sure to stay afterwards for the free lunch and raffle. Meet at the Conejo Community Center in Thousand Oaks (Botanical Garden Entrance off Gainsborough Road). Registration and board busses: 7:00-8:00 a.m. Things to bring:
• work gloves
• long pants and long sleeved shirt
• water, snack
• sunglasses and sunblock
Tools and instructions on how to use them safely will be provided. There will be a free thank-you lunch and free raffle afterwards from noon until 2:00 pm.
Directions: Meet at Conejo Community Center Park in Thousand Oaks. Exit 101 Freeway on Lynn Rd. north, right on Gainsborough Rd., right at the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden sign (just past the 7th Day Adventist Church). Breakfast snack is also provided.
Check the COSCA Trailwork Volunteers web page for more information.
Take a Kid Mountain Biking October 1, 2011
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011Saturday October 1, 2011 – Saturday October 1, 2011
1925 Las Virgines RD
Description:
On October 1st, in conjunction with the IMBA Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day, CORBA will be having a fun ride at Malibu Creek State Park at 9:00 am. This will be a ride followed by a barbecue. All ages are welcome!
If the kids are too young to ride, feel free to bring a bike trailer or trail-a-bike and tow them along. These can be your own kids, nieces, nephews, friends kids, neighbor kids… Kids must have their own bikes and helmets.
There will be a few different ride options for different age groups. Feel free to participate even if you don’t have any kids to bring.
Childhood obesity in the United States has reached an all-time high. Experts say that the current generation of U.S. children could actually have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. IMBA and CORBA believe mountain biking can help reverse this trend. We need your help to get kids back on bikes.
To get to Malibu Creek State Park, take the Ventura Freeway (101) to Calabasas, exit Las Virgenes Road/Malibu Canyon. Go south 3.5 miles. You will cross Mulholland Highway and go another 1/4 mile to the entrance to Malibu Creek State Park on the right.
From Santa Monica, take Pacific Coast Highway north to Malibu Canyon Road and turn Right. Go 6 miles to the park entrance on your left. Just past the ranger kiosk to the left is a large gravel parking …
Meet at upper parking lot.
More New Riders Join September CORBA Kids Ride
Monday, September 19th, 2011On Saturday September 3rd, the CORBA Kids Club rode again with several new riders and a lot of excitement to see each other again after our last big ride in June.
Dave reviewed trail ettiquette and safety tips with everybody, we welcomed the newcomers, set our walkie-talkies, and then all 17 riders saddled up and headed out. It was the club’s second time at Sycamore Canyon/Point Magu, which was the perfect place to avoid the heat. Adult riders were Joy, David, Dave, Suzy, John, Kat, and Lorenz. Kid riders were RJ, William, Julia, Nolan, Sean, Natalie, Ethan, Josiah, Emma, and Simon. Larry and youngest son, Elliot, cheered us on and took photographs (see the photo gallery of this ride).
There was a surprising amount of poisen oak along the sides of the trail. Kat pointed it out to the new riders, and made sure everybody was careful not to put their bikes into it while waiting for the others to catch up.
All but two of the water crossing were completely dry, and most kids completed them with no problems. We took our first break where the kids used the facilities, ate their snacks, and climbed a downed tree.
At the end of the ride, several adults and kids played in the beach cove, while Dave readied the BBQ, and cooked everyone lunch. After lunch and snacks, we reluctantly broke up the party.
We hope you will join us next month for the IMBA’s annual Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day at Malibu Creek State Park. Meet at the upper parking lot 9 a.m. Different ride options will be available, and a free BBQ lunch will be served.
Nov 13th Fat Tire Fun(d)raiser
Sunday, September 18th, 2011
Save the date: November 13, 2011.
For 2011 we have altered the format of our annual anniversary event. In years past it had grown to be quite the undertaking, with lots of festival activities, vendors, a poker ride, even a cyclocross race. Although fun for attendees and a great success, our volunteer coordinators and support staff got pretty burned out, despite the many accolades received from appreciative participants.
The bottom line is to raise money for our programs while having fun celebrating our great trails and advocacy efforts. So this year we decided to keep it simple and do what we love best–RIDE! We are excited to be back at Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas. The main ride route will feature the Crags Road Trail through the creek canyon, past the MASH site, and up Bulldog Motorway, and will also connect to National Park Service property at the Solstice Canyon section of the Backbone Trail with an optional out-and-back to Kanan Dume Road at Tunnel #1. It will continue along Mesa Peak Motoryway and down Tapia Motorway, finishing by coming back into Malibu Creek State Park via the Tapia Spur Trail. With the out-and-back to Kanan Dume Road the ride is 27 miles, or 15 miles if the Backbone Trail to Kanan Rd. is skipped. There will also be shorter easy rides in Malibu Creek State Park including the Grasslands Trail to De Anza Park. There will be plenty of opportunities for every level of rider to have a great ride in support of your local trail advocacy organization.
Of course, we’d hate to pass up the opportunity to have some cool demo bikes on hand, and so far we have gotten commitments from Trek, Specialized, Giant, and Bionicon who will have some of the newest technology on hand.
We’re also very excited to announce that New Belgium Brewery will be serving samples!
And of course there will be a raffle, with some really cool prizes including bikes, gear, and more.
Click here for more information and to get registered. Hope to see you there!
COSCA Strategic Plan Public Workshop Sep 20
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011The Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency will host a public workshop to solicit your comments as a basis for developing a strategic plan for the open space and trail system of the Conejo Valley. The public is invited to provide their opinions and thoughts about the mission of COSCA, as well as their vision of how the open space and trail system should develop in the future. Click here to visit COSCA’s website.
DATE: Tuesday, September 20 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
WHERE: Conejo Recreation and Park District Headquarters, Board Room 403 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360
CONTACT: Shelly Austin, COSCA Associate Planner, saustin@toaks.org or (805) 449-2339.
Eagle Scout Project at Verdugo Peak
Tuesday, September 13th, 2011On Sunday, September 11th, 32 volunteers headed up Hostettor road (La Tuna Canyon) in the Verdugo Mountains. Eagle Scout candidate and 
St. Francis High School racer Steven Ayoob had chosen to work on the trails at Verdugo Peak for his Eagle Scout project. Verdugo Peak is the highest peak in the Verdugo Mountains. CORBA trail crew volunteer Steve Messser served as an advisor for the project, supplying CORBA’s tools and expertise.
After a round of coffee, juice and donuts, the group held a moment of silence in memory of the victims of September 11, 2001. Steven gave instructions and organized the group before heading up to the peak and trailwork site. At the top Steve Messer gave a talk on safety, tool use and the objectives of the trailwork.
Steven Ayoob is a member of Boy Scout Troop 127 out of Glendale, and is the troop’s fifth Eagle Scout candidate for 2011. He has ridden the trails in the Verdugos and wanted to help improve and preserve them. The user-created trails that lead up to the peak along the old firebreaks have been ridden and hiked for decades. They have been becoming increasingly rutted and eroded in recent years. About 32 volunteers came out to help with the project, filling ruts, cutting in rolling dips and nicks to divert water, and trimming brush.
Ayoob also had some of the volunteers install a restored and freshly painted park bench on an overlook near the top of Whiting Woods motorway, giving weary hikers and riders a place to sit and enjoy the views of the Crescenta Valley and San Gabriel Mountains.
One of the volunteers who came out was Eagle Scout Chris Sercel, whose Eagle Scout project was the restoration of the Doc Larsen trail in 2010. He put the leadership and trailbuilding skills he’d learned in his project to good use, helping direct one of the two crews working on different sections of the trail. Sercel’s Court of Honor, the ceremony and final step in the long trail to become an Eagle Scout, was held the day before on Saturday, September 10th. At that ceremony Chris surprised CORBA’s Steve Messer with an Eagle Scout Mentor pin for his guidance on the Doc Larsen project, a true honor.
Ayoob’s Eagle Scout project was coordinated with the City of Glendale’s Community Services and Parks Department. CORBA thanks Steven and all the volunteers for their contributions to Glendale’s trails, and we congratulate him on a successful Eagle Scout Project.
September 3rd Skills Clinic Photos
Sunday, September 4th, 2011We had 28 participants in this month’s basic skills clinic at Malibu Creek State Park with clear weather and a perfect temperature. There was no water in the creek – everybody rode across but there were no splashes! You can see all the photos in the September Skills Clinic Photo Gallery!
September eTerraTimes published September 1
Thursday, September 1st, 2011The September edition of CORBA’s monthly newsletter, the eTerraTimes, was published today, September 1. If you don’t get it by email, you can view it online.
As always, the eTerraTimes has all the latest news for mountain bikers in the Santa Monica Mountains and surrounding areas.
