Archive for the ‘CORBA News’ Category

Farewell and Thank You Dr. Al Farrell

Sunday, April 19th, 2020
Dr. Al Farrell, Photo by Mbaction.com

Al Farrell, Patron Saint of Mountain Biking MBAction photo

It’s with great sadness that CORBA must report that Al Farrell, the Patron Saint of Mountain Biking, died in a motorcycle accident near Palm Springs on April 15. Al was a generous benefactor of CORBA throughout our 33-year history. Al, an investment manager, used to live in Beverly Hills and came early to our sport. He traveled extensively and enjoyed riding in new places around the world.

When CORBA was founded in 1987, Al was one of our first contributors. In 1988, when CORBA helped create the International Mountain Bicycling Association, Al made his first donation to IMBA in CORBA’s name. In 1989, as CORBA’s trailbuilding efforts grew, Al bought us a collection of trailbuilding tools so we wouldn’t be dependent on agency inventory. These were just the first of many years of friendship, good counsel and contributions. In 1991, CORBA created the Al Farrell Award, our highest honor to recognize individuals and groups for their “outstanding contribution to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and its visitors”.

In 2013 Al submitted CORBA’s nomination for induction the Mountain  Bike Hall of Fame. Al was himself inducted into the MBHOF in 1991, having already established a long-lasting legacy.

It wasn’t just CORBA who he supported. BTC East Bay, BTC Marin,  SHARE, and our local L.A. Wombats were among the beneficiaries of his generosity. Al was an early supporter of NORBA (pre-USA Cycling) and he boosted prize money at early races. It’s fair to say that he helped create professional mountain bike racing. He was a Founding Angel of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame; a long time supporter of Trips for Kids, and dozens of other mountain bike organizations and programs.

Just recently, he made a substantial Founder donation to the California Mountain Biking Coalition. He was gregarious, generous and always ready to do what was needed to be done. For more information on Al’s contributions to the mountain bike community, check out Mountain Bike Action’s tribute at https://mbaction.com/in-memoriam-dr-al-farrell-a-patron-saint/amp/

We send our heartfelt condolences to his wife Shirley and the Farrell family. We’ll miss you Al, but we’ll never forget you. Thank you.

Happy New Decade! A 20-Teens Retrospective

Wednesday, January 1st, 2020

CORBA has a lot to be proud of this last ten years. It feels like the twenty-teens was the decade in which mountain biking really came of age. The sport has grown and we’ve seen tremendous changes and challenges. Mountain bikers are no longer a newcomer to the trails, but we’ve still got a long way to go.

There’s no denying the explosive growth of mountain biking last decade. We’ve all seen more people on trails, and more of them on bikes than ever before. I’ve met more riders with less than five years experience than in any five-year period before the last. Conversely, we’ve seen relatively few new trails constructed in that time. The trail supply is not keeping up with the demand here in Southern California. The agencies and volunteers can’t keep up with maintenance of the supply we already have. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed in ten years, and has gotten worse with agency budget cuts and increasingly severe weather. It’s why we ask you to come out and give a morning back to the trails once or twice a year. You’ll appreciate them so much more after a morning of trailwork.

Let’s take a long look back at what has changed and been accomplished last decade.

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CORBA Annual Update

Wednesday, February 27th, 2019

We’ve been overdue for an update, and as President of CORBA, I have to apologize for the lapse in communication as to our many ongoing efforts over these past few months. For me personally, it has been a challenging year, but the one thing that has not lapsed is CORBA’s dedication to improving trails and mountain biking opportunities in and around Los Angeles.

Over the past year, CORBA has seen many successes, and just as many challenges. CORBA members and all SoCal mountain bikers have a lot to celebrate about 2018. Here are some notable moments:

  • Restoration and re-opening of the Gabrielino National Recreation Trail trail after nine years of closure
  • Partnering with the US Forest Service to conduct a high-level, four-day Trail Stewardship Summit
  • Opening of Sapwi Bike Park in Thousand Oaks with the first public pump track in the area (phase one).
  • Volunteer construction and opening of 3+ miles of new multi-use singletrack trail at East Walker Ranch, City of Santa Clarita.
  • Acquisition of funding for tools to equip the SCV Trail crew
  • Completion of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument Management Plan, with significant review and input from mountain bikers through our participation on the SGM Community Collaborative.
  • A new cost-share partnership agreement with the Forest Service for future trail maintenance and volunteer training
  • Adoption of a bike-friendly Santa Susana Mountains Trail Master Plan, Phase 2 by Los Angeles County with input from CORBA and our SCV Trail Users committee
  • Ongoing maintenance of dozens of miles of multi-use trails in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Conejo Open Space and Angeles National Forest
  • Installation of bench seats at Brown Mountain Saddle, Angeles National Forest
  • 11 free Skills Clinics held at Malibu Creek State Park. (For the first time in more than 20 years, we had to cancel a clinic due to the Woolsey Fire).
  • Continued support of the Mountain Bike Unit in patrolling the Santa Monica Mountains, a CORBA-initiated program
  • Repairs, updates and maintenance on our fleet of 40 Youth Adventures bicycles
  • Approximately 18 Youth Adventures trips, taking at-risk youth on interpretive mountain bike rides
  • Represented mountain biking interests at numerous public meetings, scoping meetings, and planning sessions
  • Monitored and responded to legislation affecting bicycling on our public lands.

Challenges

However, even with all these successes, CORBA’s biggest challenge is that our membership numbers have declined by 40% since December 2017.

While we have been highly successful in our grant applications, receiving almost $85,000 in grants that have supported Sapwi Bike Park, new trail construction in Santa Clarita, restoration of Station Fire damaged trails, tool purchases, and our Youth Adventures program, all of those funds are allocated to their respective projects, not to CORBA’s operating expenses or advocacy efforts.

Our board of directors has continued to work tirelessly on behalf of mountain bikers throughout the greater Los Angeles area. There are only five of us, and we’re all at capacity. As unpaid volunteers, we can only give so much of our time. It’s your memberships and donations that keep us going.

However, with several ongoing projects, including trail maintenance, Woolsey fire recovery, efforts to complete Sapwi Bike Park, create a new bike park in the City of Los Angeles, plans to develop much-needed mountain-bike optimized trails, preventing trail closures due to Wilderness, and helping form a state-wide California Mountain Biking advocacy group, our plates are already full.

In 2019 we’re looking to expand our Board of directors. We need additional support in communications and branding (including social media), accounting and fundraising. With an estimated

Regardless, our past successes and your enjoyment of them is what drives us to continue to work and advocate for mountain bikers in and around Los Angeles.

CORBA Membership Update – We Need Your Support

Wednesday, February 27th, 2019

CORBA is only as strong as its members. Join us!

CORBA has recently changed our relationship with IMBA. As an IMBA Chapter, all memberships were joint CORBA/IMBA memberships with the membership dues being split equally between CORBA and IMBA.

Entering 2019, CORBA is no longer a Chapter of IMBA. We are now a co-branded Affiliate under the new IMBA Local program. IMBA, in the wake of their financial troubles, has restructured and are no longer a “membership-based” organization. Your membership is now with CORBA, not IMBA, unlike the previous arrangement under which you were joining both organizations.  IMBA now provides membership management and other services to organizations like CORBA for a much lower fixed cost per member. This greatly benefits CORBA, as the vast majority of your membership dollars now stay local, instead of just 50%.

If your membership has lapsed or expired, or if you’ve never been a member, we urge you to join or renew. For less than the cost of a good tire, you can keep us going and growing, representing and supporting mountain biking in and around Greater Los Angeles. If you prefer not to join, your tax-deductible donations are just as much appreciated and all of your donations support local trails.

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The September 2018 eTerraTimes newsletter was posted September 6

Thursday, September 6th, 2018

CORBA’s eTerraTimes newsletter for September was posted today, September 6th. If you don’t get it by email, you can view the online version on our website.

The July 2018 eTerraTimes newsletter was posted July 5

Thursday, July 5th, 2018

CORBA’s eTerraTimes newsletter for July was posted today, July 5th. If you don’t get it by email, you can view the online version on our website.

Sapwi Trails Bike Park Fundraiser on Thursday June 14!

Tuesday, June 5th, 2018

The Conejo Valley’s first bike park is nearly a reality. Help us with our fund raising efforts. Get your tickets (link below) to join us for a progress update on the Sapwi Bike Park, our fundraising campaign kick-off, and viewing of movie “The Moment“. The event will be held at Giant Bicycles North American Headquarters in Newbury Park.

Ticket price of $15 includes admission to movie, light snacks, and a raffle ticket! Additional raffle tickets will be available for purchase at the venue; must be present to win.

Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sapwi-bike-park-movie-night-the-moment-tickets-45814979838

CHECK-IN & MINGLE: 6:00pm
PROGRAM START: 6:45pm
Q&A plus RAFFLE: Immediately following movie

Stay up to date on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SapwiBikePark/ or our website sapwibikepark.com

The May 2018 eTerraTimes newsletter was posted May 3

Thursday, May 3rd, 2018

CORBA’s eTerraTimes newsletter for May was posted today, May3. If you don’t get it by email, you can the online version on our website.

LA Times Reports on Gabrielino Trail Restoration

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2018

At the last volunteer work day on the Gabrielino Trail, we were delighted to have Louis Sahagun, reporter for the LA Times and a photographer join us. They were there to cover the restoration efforts undertaken by CORBA and MWBA on the Angeles National Forest.

Quoted in the story are Erik Hillard and Matt Baffert of the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association, and Steve Messer of CORBA. The article covers efforts by mountain bikers to open the Gabrielino Trail from Redbox to JPL, but doesn’t mention the continuing efforts by the Boy Scouts, the Sierra Club, and the Angeles Crest 100 volunteers who have worked on the trail east of Redbox.

We appreciate the news coverage! Read it on the LA Times web site, or in the March 2nd 2018 print edition.  http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-gabrielino-trail-20180502-story.html.

We also have a PDF version.

 

The January 2018 eTerraTimes newsletter was posted Jan 3

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018

CORBA’s first eTerraTimes newsletter of the year was posted today, January 3. If you don’t get it by email, you can the online version on our website.