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Archive for the ‘Board of Directors’ Category

CORBA Membership Drive and Ride Feb 23

Friday, February 7th, 2020

Join us on February 23 for CORBA’s Membership Drive and Ride. Guided rides will be available for all skill levels. Registration is required. The guided rides are free. You’ll have the opportunity to speak to CORBA Board members about issues that you care about.

February 23rd, Sunday. Meet at 9am at the TOP of Reseda. Be ready to ride at 9:30am. Please arrive early at the CORBA table to renew or purchase a CORBA membership. One lucky member who renews at or before the event will win a CORBA jersey.

Renew your CORBA membership or join TODAY for as little as $39 for the year! https://www.imba.com/join/chapter/corba

WHO IS CORBA? WHY JOIN?

Concerned Off-Road Bicyclists Association was founded in 1987 to serve the mountain bicycling community of Los Angeles and surrounding areas including southern Ventura County. CORBA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to gaining and maintaining public trail access for mountain cyclists and the public at-large. CORBA encourages and promotes the safe and environmentally responsible use of unpaved roads and trails for bicycling and to educate the public about all aspects of off-road cycling and trails. Become a member to support CORBA’s ongoing efforts to improve bicycle access to trails. CORBA depends on membership dollars to fund our advocacy efforts and ongoing programs.

Posted in Board of Directors, Charity, GirlzGoneRiding, Rides and Events | Comments Closed

President’s Message: Changes are Coming

Thursday, March 2nd, 2017

Changes are coming. We just need to figure out what is in the best interest of you as mountain bikers, for our members, for CORBA, and finally for IMBA.

Since the abrupt loss of Suburu as a sponsor of several of its core programs last year, IMBA, our parent (and child!) organization, has had to undergo some major cutbacks. The Trail Care Crew and other programs are on indefinite hold. Staff layoffs and the resignation of Executive Director Mike Van Abel set IMBA on a much-needed transformation.

The IMBA Chapter program, which CORBA joined in 2011, was a key factor in IMBA’s recent growth. Much of the funding for the Chapter program came from Suburu, including travel expenses incurred by the Regional Director. One of the main functions of the RD was to liaise with and help coordinate all the chapters in a territory. In our case, the region is California and Hawaii.

In return, IMBA receives 60% of your membership dues and CORBA receives 40%. The basic membership is $35, with options at $50, $100 and higher that include swag. IMBA handles everything regarding membership management. The time and energy we would otherwise spend on membership management we can devote to advocacy and trailwork. IMBA has supported us in Washington DC while we worked locally with members of Congress to prevent trail closures due to wilderness legislation. We’ve had access to IMBA expertise including the Trail Care Crew and Trail Solutions crew. We also increased our membership numbers by about 40% when we became a chapter.

Recent IMBA messaging, however, has not been taken well by a portion of our members. Some have quit their membership and chosen to donate money directly to CORBA (which we welcome, regardless of membership).

IMBA recently chose Chairman of the Board Dave Weins as its new Executive Director. He’s widely respected and well-known. He ran a chapter himself. The ED is at the service of the IMBA Board of Directors, so we don’t expect any immediate changes in IMBA policy or messaging.

Overall, we’ve had a productive, fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship with IMBA. However, it’s been quite expensive at 60% of membership dues and is unsustainable without Suburu’s sponsorship.

Proposed changes to the program to make it sustainable are to increase the base membership price to about $50. About 40% of our members are now at the $35 level. Understanding people’s financial constraints, we expect to lose some members if the membership price is raised.

In the 1990s IMBA’s mantra was to give 20-20-20. $20 for IMBA, $20 for your local organization, and twenty hours of volunteer trailwork. Considering inflation, that’s not much different to the proposed changes: local and national advocacy group memberships for $50.

Hopefully most of you see the immense value in our programs: keeping trails open, restoring trails after disasters, advocating for mountain bikers to land managers and organizations around Southern California. We have bike parks completed and operating, and are working to bring more to the area. Without CORBA’s 30 years of advocacy, your local riding options might be much more limited.

Other proposed changes include the development of a Regional Leadership Council in which all SoCal chapters could meet among ourselves and coordinate efforts. We’d also get a new nationwide insurance plan which is hopefully less expensive than our current policies. We’d have access to experts in various fields by email or voice. It’s a streamlined and more efficient program. The question is whether it’s worth the 60% share of membership dues IMBA takes.

San Diego Mountain Bike Association and others in California are considering whether to stay in IMBA’s chapter program or go it alone. CORBA must make also this decision in the near future. There is much value to CORBA’s relationship with IMBA, but there’s also great value in a California-focused organization as proposed by San Diego Mountain Bike Association. At more than double CORBA’s membership, SDMBA could easily thrive as an IMBA Associate Club, rather than a chapter.

The departure of any chapter would reduce the number of IMBA members nationwide. A departing chapter might lose some members too. Some members may subsequently choose to join both the local organization and IMBA at the national level, as things were before the chapter program. It’s doubtful all current members would join both under those circumstances.

However, significantly weakening IMBA will ultimately hurt us all. IMBA remains dedicated to improving mountain biking for everyone. STC, which most of our members also support, has a much more narrowly focused mission that affects California more than most other states. IMBA’s efforts are having a positive impact nationally and local, but the local impacts are more difficult to quantify. The soon-to-be-released “Guidelines for a Quality Trail Experience” developed in partnership with the BLM, is a great example. Aimed squarely at Land Managers, this extensive new reference will be key to helping land managers understand our needs and desires. It will help guide the development of more bike-specific trails to meet a growing need. We can’t wait to supply a copy to our local Land Managers as we advocate for quality trail experiences locally. Resources like this help us all.

IMBA has taken feedback from its chapters on the proposed chapter program changes through a series of conference calls and surveys. They’re tweaking it based on the feedback and we’re waiting for the final version. When that comes, we’ll have a decision to make. But we’re interested in hearing from our members, and from those who aren’t members. (Why not?)

Most of you already join at the $50 level and higher (and we appreciate your support!). How many who now pay $35 can’t or won’t want to join us for $50?

How many of you feel strongly either way about our association with IMBA? Would you join both organizations separately if we parted ways, or just one or the other?

We may send out a survey in the near future asking these and other questions, but feel free to email or comment to share your views.

In the meantime, it’s business as usual for CORBA. We’re busy with trailwork, advocacy, bike parks, fundraising, education and mountain bike advocacy. We’re improving relationships with Land Managers and looking for new opportunities. We’re in it for the long run and need your continued support.

Posted in Board of Directors, California, CORBA News, IMBA News | Comments Closed

CORBA welcomes Peter Sullivan to the Board of Directors

Wednesday, March 1st, 2017

At our February 2017 board meeting, we were excited to have a new nominee for our Board of Directors. His approval was unanimous. We welcome Peter Sullivan to CORBA’s Board.

Peter has been active in cycling since his Schwinn Stingray days in the 1970s. He’s been riding and racing since the earliest days of mountain biking, and still competes. He also enjoys getting out and exploring on his gravel grinder. Most recently, he’s been tightly involved in the SoCal High School Cycling League as a coach for the Newbury Park High School Mountain Bike Team. Newbury Park took third place in the high school State Championships last year, a reflection of Peter and his fellow coaches’ dedication and effectiveness.As a high school coach, he’s already given back so much to the sport, and especially to the student-athletes he has trained. Mentoring student-athletes, and helping them build confidence, fitness and bike handling skills are just a part of it. Sharing his love of the sport completes the package.

He’s seen the sport grow from its roots in the 70s, though its infancy in the early 80s, to an Olympic, College, and High School sport today. He’s seen mountain biking become more and more popular and understands all too well the importance of actively working to keep access to our existing trails and to seek out and open up new opportunities. As mountain biking grows, so must our access to quality trails and places to ride.

“Mountain biking and cycling have given so much to me over the years that I thought it was time I give back,” said Sullivan. “I’m excited about having a bike park project in my neighborhood too,” he added.

One of the newest opportunities we have is the Sapwi Trails Bike Park in Thousand Oaks. Peter has been an advocate for this project since its inception. He’ll be serving on a new committee to oversee development of the bike park, and is excited to work on this project. We’ll be holding a meeting about it in a few weeks, so stay tuned.

CORBA is fortunate and excited to have Peter’s local knowledge, enthusiasm and dedication working with us to support all mountain bikers in SoCal.

Again, welcome and thank you Peter.

Posted in Bike Skills Park, Board of Directors, Conejo Valley, CORBA News, High School League | Comments Closed

2016: A Busy, Productive Year

Wednesday, January 4th, 2017

2016 is behind us, and what a year it was for CORBA and mountain bikers! We were extremely busy last year, cutting trails, cutting trees, and working on behalf of the mountain bike community to ensure continued and improved access to mountain biking in the greater Los Angeles and Eastern Ventura County areas.

Jim Burton cuts the ceremonial ribbon, as Steve Messer, Matt Lay and Jenny Johnson of MWBA, and Ken's daughters Heather and Tania look on.

Opening of Ken Burton Trail

In 2016, the Gabrielino Trail Restoration project, with REI, Bellfree Contractors, and Los Angeles Conservation Corps, was completed. Ken Burton Trail restoration with MWBA was completed, opening the Ken Burton trail and a popular loop after seven years of closure, thousands of volunteer hours, and nearly three years of planning.

(more…)

Posted in Angeles National Forest, Bike Skills Park, Board of Directors, California, CORBA News, CORBA Youth Adventures, Environment, Etiquette, Free Basic Skills Clinic, GirlzGoneRiding, High School League, Los Angeles, MBU, Palos Verdes, San Gabriel Mountains, San Gabriels National Monument, Santa Clarita Valley, Santa Monica Mountains, Santa Susana Mountains, Trail Access, Trail Building and Restoration, Trail Crew, Verdugo Mountains, Youth | Comments Closed

CORBA Welcomes Two New Board Members

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016

Scott Mabbutt

With Mark Langton leaving CORBA’s Board of Directors, we put out a call for Board nominees. We’re happy to announce that we have welcomed two new board members, Scott Mabbutt and Joyce Deprest.

Scott is a respected filmmaker, storyteller and self-declared cat whisperer. When asked how he came into mountain biking, his is an unusual story: “My first bike was a portable folding bicycle that I bought because I heard that Talking Heads artist David Byrne rode one around New York City.” That quickly led to a full-blown love of bicycles, and especially mountain bikes.

Scott is a member of the Mountain Bike Unit (MBU), a group of mountain bike volunteer patrollers that work closely with the National Park Service, California State Parks and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) patrolling the Santa Monica Mountains to assist and educate visitors on the trail. Scott can be found somewhere in the Santa Monica mountains every weekend.

He has attended several CORBA board meetings over the past few years, just to keep abreast of what’s happening in the area. Now he’ll be attending as a CORBA board member, helping keep CORBA on mission. We’re delighted to have him aboard.

Also joining the CORBA board is Joyce Deprest. Joyce is an MBU member and patroller, with her favorite place to ride or patrol being Point Mugu State Park. Joyce has been instrumental in re-introducing MBU members to do trailwork.

Joyce Deprest is a native San Fernando “Valley Girl.” Her professional life began working in Non-Profit Organizations, including event planning, office management and as the Director of a Synagogue in the San Fernando Valley. During the past 6 years Joyce has rediscovered her love of the mountains, canyons and oceans.

Joyce Deprest

The re-experience started with an impromptu hike up a narrow trail in Serranio Park, meeting up at Dirt Mulholland and then up what appeared to be an impossibly steep hill to climb. The adventure was so exciting the next day she did it again. She was hooked. Joyce soon discovered that not only did she enjoy the hiking and being in mountains, and embracing the awesome canyons and ocean views, she loved meeting people on the trails. She found that without an effort, people talked with her and asked her for directions. Joyce started talking to Mountain Bikers and learned that by mountain bike riding she could go further, see more and grow her experience with the Santa Monica Mountains. After her first ride on her 10 year old hybrid bike, in Sycamore Canyon/Point Mugu, she realized that a mountain bike with suspension was necessary. The knowledge grew and with that knowledge and a few crashes she realized she needed some MTB riding lessons. One day online she discovered Mark Langton. For the next 4 months she and Mark met in Los Robles for weekly training sessions. In addition to hiking and riding, Joyce was also interested in learning about the trails and trails maintenance. By the end of that year Joyce had completed a one week Trails Maintenance class with COSCA and had participated in many hours of trail maintenance with CORBA.

Joyce continued to hike, ride and work on trails. She joined Girlz Gone Riding and in January 2015 Joyce joined the Mountain Bike Unit with the goal of supporting the parks, advising and assisting visitors. Shortly after graduating from the MBU Joyce took on the role of Fundraising Coordinator with the Mountain Bike Unit. Her commitment and sense of stewardship of our public lands is inspiring.

We’re excited to have two new board members who also serve with the MBU. The MBU was a CORBA program, arguably the first organized volunteer patrol in the country. The MBU program grew beyond what CORBA could manage, and is now an independant program of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, administered by the National Park Service. IMBA’s National Mountain Bike Patrol is largely based on CORBA’s early work in establishing the MBU.

While our Board of Directors now stands at five members, we are still interested in expanding the Board, and will continue to accept nominations.

We invite everyone to meet the CORBA board of directors at one of our Board meetings, or the upcoming Ride and Mingle event on November 27.

Posted in Board of Directors, MBU | Comments Closed

Thank You Mark Langton!

Wednesday, November 2nd, 2016

Thanks Mark!

Mark Langton was one of CORBA’s founders in 1987 and one of IMBA’s founders in 1988. He served 13 years on CORBA’s steering committee, and subsequently joined the CORBA Board of Directors. He has served as CORBA’s president, as one of the first volunteer patrollers for the Mountain Bike Unit and he’s taught the CORBA Introduction to Mountain Bike Skills Class every month since 1992. Now after 29 years, he’s stepping down from the CORBA Board as of December 2016.

Thanks Mark, we couldn’t have done it without you.

Mark was a BMX and mountain bike racer when trails started to be closed to us in the mid 1980’s. In August 1987, when the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy held a meeting to discuss a prohibitive mountain bike policy, Mark was one of about 30 riders who showed up to argue for shared use trails. We lost that night, but Mark and several others met weekly to form CORBA, organize local mountain bicyclists and interact with the agencies and other trail users.

It became clear that trail closures to bicyclists were emerging as a national problem. Preliminary talks between California clubs began about forming an umbrella organization of local clubs. CORBA sent Mark and Kurt Loheit to the meeting which marked the formation of IMBA.

CORBA’s approach has always been to show up, to participate, to take the high road and to be persistent. Mark has done all that and more. He’s been deeply connected to the sport as a racer and for several years as the editor of Mountain Biking magazine. He was the co-author of Riding Santa Monica Mountains Best Trails with Jim Hasenauer and of Where to Bike Los Angeles Mountain Biking with Jim Hasenauer and Steve Messer. He also wrote the Outdoor Action Guide Mountain Biking, and a skills manual, Mountain Bike Master: Essential Skills and Advanced Techniques Made Easy. He worked as Director of Communication for Giant Bicycles and for the National Off-Road Bicycle Association, before it was absorbed by USA Cycling. His knowledge, his ability to communicate and his industry connections brought national attention and resources to CORBA.

When the Conejo Opens Space Conservation Authority began dealing with the same trail access issues as the nearby Santa Monica Mountains agencies, they took a more open, community-minded approach. They told the complainers “These trails will be shared by the community. Work it out.” Mark was one of the founding members of the new Conejo Open Space Trails Advisory Committee and his efforts built strong alliances with equestrians and hikers. For years, COSTAC has been a model of user cooperation and the power of education in not only reducing user conflict but building a strong, united, and inclusive trail community.

Mark teaches the basics at CORBA's free skills clinic

Mark demonstrates the basics at CORBA’s free skills clinic

Mark’s longest service commitment has been the CORBA Mountain Bike Skills classes that he has taught every first Saturday of the month since 1992. No matter how much you know or think you know about mountain bikes, Mark’s class will improve your riding. He has the uncanny ability to see the deficiencies in riders’ positions or techniques and clearly, incrementally help those riders improve. Literally thousands of riders have taken Mark’s course. He also does fee-based coaching.

While Mark will be stepping down from the CORBA Board, he won’t be going away. Mark will continue to lead our free monthly Mountain Bike Skills Clinics. Remaining board members, Jennifer Jacobson, Wendy Engelberg and Steve Messer, will carry the CORBA torch forward, with the addition of two new board members.

CORBA and mountain bikers locally and across the country owe Mark a huge debt of gratitude for his years of dedication to the growth and advancement of mountain biking.

All we can say is Thank You Mark.

Tags:Mark Langton
Posted in Board of Directors, Free Basic Skills Clinic | 4 Comments »

Join our Board Meeting every 4th Monday

Tuesday, March 1st, 2016

Come and join us to learn about current issues and let us know what concerns you! Always open to the public, the CORBA Board of Directors’ meeting is held the 4th Monday of the month in Woodland Hills. REI is kind enough to let us use their meeting room, for which we thank them profusely!

Every month (except December, when we have no meeting), we discuss these topics:

Issues of trail access for mountain bikers
Mountain bike advocacy and ambassadorship
Public involvement
The latest news from the land managers, including State Parks and National Park Service
Trail building and restoration
Furthering woman’s mountain biking
Bike parks and other dedicated mountain bike facilities or trails
Education and etiquette
Anything brought forward by members of the public

The meetings are 6:30 – 8 pm at the REI in Woodland Hills:

6220 Topanga Canyon Blvd
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
P: (818) 703-5300

Google Map and Directions

We look forward to seeing you there!

Posted in Advocacy, Bike Skills Park, Board of Directors, CORBA News, Etiquette, GirlzGoneRiding, Special Announcement, Trail Access, Trail Building and Restoration | 1 Comment »

CORBA’s Steve Messer Receives NICA Award

Monday, February 29th, 2016

All the 2015 NICA Award Recipients. Photo by Karl Nielsen

2015 NICA Award Recipients. Top row: Todd Wells, Hal Miller, Scott Armstrong, Austin McInerny, Jeremy Call, Kade Brantington, Hannah Heydinger, Robert Parks, Mark LaPaglia, and Mike Perry. Bottom Row: Lucas Euser, Liam Ruff, Steve Messer, Nash Dory, Preston Bagley-Gurtner, Esmée DeBarssi, Zoë Mae Dunn, Kathy Parks, Robert Kertesz, Gary Fisher and Lauren Duensing. Photo credit: Karl Nielsen.

On January 30, 2016, Steve Messer was the honored recipient of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association’s Community Impact Award, sponsored by QBP. The award came as a complete surprise to CORBA’s President, and was equally unexpected by SoCal League director Matt Gunnell, with whom Steve and CORBA have work since the league’s infancy to support High School Mountain Biking and getting more kids on bikes.

Read about all of NICA’s 2015 Award Recipients at Nationalmtb.org

Sixteen outstanding participants in high school cycling leagues across the U.S. were honored at the 2015 National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) Awards, held at Clif Bar & Company Headquarters, in Emeryville, California.

NICA presented awards in ten categories to individuals and organizations considered to be the most outstanding student-athletes, dedicated coaches, and the most supportive volunteers and sponsors to have helped advance the high school mountain biking movement over the past year. Photos of the entire event by by Karl Nielsen are available, and a short recap video will be posted soon.

Matt Gunnell introduces Steve Messer

Steve has been involved since a young riding buddy introduced him to high school mountain biking as the League was beginning its second season in 2010. The SoCal league’s first season had proved the NorCal model could be replicated, and led to the formation of NICA. Steve has been involved in getting student-athletes and teams out doing trailwork, doing major Station Fire restoration projects, helping secure venues for high school league races, and calling on High School teams to use their voice in advocacy efforts.

Steve was introduced by Matt Gunnell, director of the SoCal High School Cycling League, with whom Steve has worked, strategized, and even presented at the IMBA World Summit on the synergies between high school mountain biking and advocacy.

Matt’s introduction to Steve:

I am very honored to present the Quality Bicycle Products Community Impact Award to Steve Messer. Reading from the nomination submission for this award, I quote…”Steve does it all. He’s an inspiration. He’s indefatigable. He’s designed and built courses, mentored coaches and students, helped with administration, helped launch new teams, established partnerships between teams and IMBA chapters to do trail work, and more. This is just a sketch of his contributions. His commitment to the SoCal League is immense, and he still makes time for CORBA/IMBA advocacy leadership as well as general road bike advocacy. With 1000 Steves, mountain bike opportunities would be improved a thousand times over. Sadly, there’s only one of him.” It is with great pleasure that I present this award to the one and only Steve Messer!

2015 NICA Awards. Photo by Karl Nielsen http://www.karlnielsenphotography.com/2015 NICA Awards Ride, Emeryville CA Photo by Karl Nielsen http://www.karlnielsenphotography.com/2015 NICA Awards Ride, Emeryville CA Photo by Karl Nielsen http://www.karlnielsenphotography.com/

Steve gives acceptance speech. Photo by Karl Nielsen

Steve’s Acceptance Speech:

What a privilege to be here at the Clif Bar headquarters surrounded by so many people dedicated to getting more kids on bikes.

Thank you Matt for that introduction, and thank you so much NICA for this unexpected honor. There are many people I have to thank, especially the teams, coaches and volunteers of the SoCal League, and NICA for thier leadership. I know there were other equally-deserving nominees whose work is just as impactful and important as what I’ve been trying to accomplish. I’m just one of many, many mountain biking advocates around the country, striving to preserve and create great mountain biking experiences for our future generations.

Just five months after 76 SoCal League student-athletes raced the inaugural SoCal finals in 2009, and NICA was just getting going, our local National Forest and most of our favorite trails were destroyed by the Station Fire and subsequent El Niño storms. We had this burgeoning high school sport, and most of the trails I had ridden for more than 25 years were suddenly closed or gone. The Mountain biking community was devastated. My motivation to restore the trails, and some forward-thinking coaches who were already doing trailwork, grew into a serendipitous partnership between CORBA and local high school teams that needed places to ride and train.

Working with a half-dozen or more local high school teams and their coaches, boy scout troops, and other groups, we collectively restored most of the front-country trails within three years of the fire. We’re still working on restoration projects, and continue to have student-athletes joining us. In fact we have two teams coming out next weekend for trailwork. Not coincidentally, the recipient for the Distinguished Alumni Award, Jeremy Call, will be bringing out his team next weekend. It’s a win-win for the teams, for our public lands and for all trail users.

Matt Gunnell and Steve Messer. Photo by Karl Nielsen

Early on it became obvious to me that this was the next generation of land and trail stewards, advocates, and even land managers. Restoring trails and giving these student-athletes a place not only to ride and train, but to develop a deep connection to the mountains and the Forest as I have been fortunate enough to experience, is its own reward. The most gratifying aspect of all this is that I’m seeing the passion I have for trails and our public lands instilled in so many young riders.

Having an increased presence of well-behaved, responsible trail users that NICA’s leagues are producing is really helping foster more responsible riding. The equestrian community in our area certainly has noticed Slomo Bro is helping spread the message that responsible riding is a form of advocacy.

Within the high school mountain biking family, I’ve made some of my closest friends, my strongest supporters and allies, and feel a true community spirit. I’m awed to feel this trail love spreading throughout this community. Seeing the types of partnerships CORBA began to develop, now built upon and expanded as the nationwide Teen Trail Corps Initiative with IMBA and REI gives me great confidence in the future of our sport, our trails and the places we ride.

Again, I’m truly honored by this recognition, especially since it’s for something I just love doing. Thank you NICA, the SoCal League, QBP for sponsoring this award, all the volunteers who have helped me along the way, my spouse who is so supportive of what I’m doing, and everyone who has contributed to this incredible journey.”

SoCal was well represented: Jeremy Call, Steve Messer, Kathy Parks, Robert Parks, and Scott Armstrong. Photo by Karl Nielsen

Southern California was well represented at the Awards, with Scott Armstrong, the SoCal League’s Chief Course Marshall receiving the Clif Bar Volunteer Service Award, Coach Jeremy Call from Simi Composite team receiving the Camelbak Distinguished Alumni Award (and then bringing his team out for CORBA trailwork a week later!), and coaches Robert and Kathy Parks of the Temescal Canyon High School receiving the SRAM Coach of the Year award.

NICA leagues are now up and running in 19 states, with more coming online each year. There are now over 10,000 student-athletes participating in middle school and high school mountain biking races around the country. To learn more, visit http://SoCaldirt.org, or http://Nationalmtb.org.

Posted in Advocacy, Board of Directors, High School League, National, Youth | Comments Closed

January 2016 Skills Clinic and Beginners’ Ride Photos Posted December 3

Sunday, January 3rd, 2016

Malibu Creek State Park was busy with visitors on the second day of 2016. The morning started off overcast and chilly for 15 riders at the Basic Skills Clinic. The clinic is always held the first Saturday of the month. You can see the photos in our January photo gallery. This month, the clinic was followed by a Beginners’ Ride, sponsored by Cynergy Cycles and led by CORBA and GGR Director Wendy Engelberg. Photos of the ride can be seen at the end of the skills clinic photo gallery.

Posted in Board of Directors, Free Basic Skills Clinic, GirlzGoneRiding, Rides and Events, Santa Monica Mountains | Comments Closed

President’s Message: 2015 – A Year in Review

Thursday, December 31st, 2015

2015 has been one of the most active in CORBA’s history. There has been so much happening in our local mountains, in our sport, in our public lands, in the political landscape, and in bicycle advocacy in general. As always, CORBA has done its best to stay on top of the issues, to be leaders in the trail community, and to have a positive impact on our trails, our public lands, our community and our sport. Here’s a quick recap of what’s been happening this year, showing how your membership dollars and donations are being used to benefit all mountain bikers in the Los Angeles and Eastern Ventura Counties.

Advocacy

Puente Hills Landfill Meeting

Much has happened this year on the mountain bike advocacy front. One of the biggest issues has been the start of the process to develop a Management Plan for our year-old San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. The National Forest Foundation convened a Community Collaborative group to develop a broad base of support from a diverse range of stakeholders to help guide the Forest Service in its management of the Angeles National Forest and the SGMNM. CORBA has been involved from the start, in 2014 on the committee to establish the Collaborative, and this year as an active participant in the Collaborative. Forty-five diverse interests are represented, some of whom have traditionally found themselves at odds with our community. This has truly expanded our outreach and strengthened our place in the community.

We’re also continuing to work with Los Angeles County on several fronts: the Castaic Area Trail Master Plan, the Los Angeles County Trails Manual, the now-completed Santa Susana Mountains Trail Master plan, the LA County Park Needs assessment, the Altadena Crest Trail Restoration, the Puente Hills Landfill and bicycle access to trails in general.

This year we joined the Los Angeles Bike Park Collective. We have pending Bike Park proposals with Los Angeles County, the City of Los Angeles, City of Glendale, and Thousand Oaks. Fillmore Bike Park opened this past Spring.

We’re closely monitoring the development of the Santa Monica Mountains Trail Master Plan, which is expected to come out in draft form in 2016. We saw the Rim of the Valley Study completed. Legislation was introduced to create a new National Recreation Area, and expand our new National Monument. We’ve worked with legislators on a pending Wilderness bill, to ensure that it has minimum impact on mountain biking. We’re continuing to work with the Sierra Club and Wilderness Society to ensure that their efforts to protect our public lands do not impact our ability to enjoy them.

This year new e-bike legislation was introduced. Early drafts could have been interpreted to allow electric mountain bikes on non-motorized trails. We worked to clarify that this does not makes e-bike legal on trails. We’ll be watching the e-bike debate closely as they become more popular.

There’s a pending application to build a hotel on the DeAnza Trailhead. CORBA took the lead on asking the City of Calabasas to do a full EIR.

Outside the area, we’re keeping an eye on wilderness proposals in the Sierra Nevada mountains and BLM land swap proposals in the San Jacinto Mountains, both with the potential to close trails to bikes.