Due to circumstances beyond our control, we must cancel our Town Hall meeting at Paramount Ranch this Saturday January 26. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements regarding meetings to discuss shared use issues with agency representatives of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Happy Trails!
Archive for the ‘Santa Monica Mountains’ Category
Town Hall 1/26 Cancelled
Thursday, January 24th, 2013Cancelled – Town Hall Meeting This Saturday Jan. 26
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
By Mark Langton
The trail user community, and mountain bikers in particular, have a unique opportunity to get involved with our open space trails on the ground floor this Saturday. Whether you’ve been using the trails for years or are new to our open space, you can meet the newly appointed Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) Superintendent David Szymanski and discuss with him how we can change the culture of shared use in our mountains.
An avid mountain biker who has logged hundreds of miles on SMMNRA and COSCA trails in just the few months he has been here, Szymanski has stated that mountain bikers in the SMMNRA are a integral part of the trail user community. This purpose of this meeting is to engage the mountain bike community to come together and examine the issues of our shared use trail system.
Your attendance and participation in this meeting will speak volumes in promoting a cohesive and caring trail user community now and for future generations.
We hope you will join CORBA in helping make this groundbreaking event a success. We need a good turnout of mountain bikers to show that we are willing to make shared use trails in the SMMNRA the most pleasant experience for everyone possible.
When: 1/26/13, 2pm
Where: Paramount Ranch Pavilion, 2903 Cornell Road, Agoura Hills, California 91301
There will be a short guided ride around the Paramount Ranch trail network following the meeting. Paramount Ranch’s trails are great for kids and new mountain bikers. Paramount Ranch is also the location of many film and television shoots over the years, and the historic Western town is interesting and educational.
Update: Due to circumstances beyond our control, we must cancel this event. See the follow-up post on this site for more info. We apologize for any inconvenience.
Skills Clinic Photos for January 5, 2013
Saturday, January 5th, 2013It was a perfect day to be riding in Malibu Creek State Park to participate in the first basic skills clinic of the year. This month we had 15 riders and I’m sure eveyone had a great time with the clear and crisp weather! You can see the photos in the January Skills Clinic Photo Gallery.
Q & A With New Nat’l Recreation Area Superintendent Jan. 26
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013
Newly appointed Superintendent of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) David Szymanski, along with several National Park Service and State Park representatives, will be available for a question and answer session this January 26 from 2:00-4:00pm at Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills.
Presented by CORBA, this will be an opportunity to ask questions directly and discuss such issues as the future of the SMMNRA, improving user safety and minimizing conflicts, and creating a backcountry community through stewardship. This is a unique opportunity to meet our top land management representatives one-on-one and get a better sense of what the SMMNRA is going to look like in the next 10-15 years, especially on the brink of the final phases of the new Trail Management Plan.
It is important to have a strong showing from the mountain bike community to show our interest and commitment to working with land managers in the SMMNRA.
Girlz Gone Riding open ride February 9, 2013
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013LADIES SAVE THE DATE!!!! SATURDAY, FEB 9TH!
GGR on the advanced ride in October 2012
GGR (girlz gone riding), will now be having quarterly open rides starting Saturday Feb 9th! A GGR open ride is open to ALL LEVELS especially encouraging beginners. The Feb 9th ride will be in Reseda and an event page will go up here mid January where you will need to sign up for the Open ride. Sign up IS required: https://www.facebook.com/groups/350083721682365/. We will have beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of XC rides that will combine both single track, double track and fire road. LADIES ONLY PLEASE….Plan is to have 4 or 5 GGR OPEN rides per year in different locations. This is not only a great way to learn the trails, but meet other women your level to ride with! Let’s have a blast and see the GGR jersey’s out in full force! Sign up, helmets, mountain bikes, water and smiles required! Make sure to sign up on the GGR Face book page for all upcoming events and read our blog at www.girlzgoneriding.com.
Mountain Bike Unit 2013 Training Starts February 2
Wednesday, January 2nd, 2013
Calling all mountain bikers age 18 and over! The Mountain Bike Unit (MBU) is currently recruiting for its 2013 New Recruit Training Class. If you enjoy mountain biking and are interested in giving back to the community by volunteering some time to assist our understaffed Park Rangers in patrolling the parks, then the MBU may be just what you are looking for. The MBU supports and are sponsored by the National Park Service (NPS), California State Parks (CSP), and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA).
Here’s what it’s all about. The MBU assists in providing park visitors with a quality outdoor experience and preserving natural resources while patrolling over 60,000 acres of public parkland in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Beginning in February 2013, training will include visitor contact skills, State and National park radio use, park rules and regulations, first aid and CPR training, and field training exercises.
Patrol areas and opportunities include the following:
-National Park Service parks: Cheeseboro/Palo Comado, Zuma/Trancas Canyons, Rancho Sierra Vista, and Circle X Ranch
-California State Park locations: Malibu Creek, Will Rogers, Point Mugu, and Topanga
-We also patrol MRCA areas near metropolitan Los Angeles, such as Franklin Canyon and Upper Las Virgines Open Space Preserve
-In addition, we volunteer to patrol and support other events such as the LA and Malibu Marathons, Wheels to the Sea, the Ventura County Fair, and CORBA’s Fat Tire Fun(d)raiser
-The MBU also helps support CORBA’s Youth Adventure Program, which offers at-risk youth the opportunity to enjoy the mountain biking experience in our beautiful parks
All MBU patrols require at least two patrollers. All rides are self scheduled on the MBU website. We ask each of our volunteers for 100 patrol hours annually (roughly two four-hour patrols per month).
Would you like to learn more? We invite you to come to King Gillette Ranch Auditorium at 9:00 am on Saturday, February 02, 2013 for an indoor orientation meeting where we will share with you more details about this wonderful program and what patrolling with the MBU is all about. We encourage you to bring your bike and helmet because we plan to take potential recruits on a ride-along (sorted by ability) after the presentation, weather permitting. Training sessions will start the following week and extend into April. Visit the MBU training web page for more details, or to contact the MBU via e-mail (admin@mountainbikeunit.com). To see the MBU in action, view our gallery of MBU photos.
Malibu Times covers the MBU, Orientation February 2nd
Wednesday, December 26th, 2012
Today, December 26, 2012, the Malibu Times ran a great story about the MBU, including their beginnings as a CORBA program, and the vital role they play in helping ensure the safety of all visitors and trail users in the Santa Monica Mountains. The Mountain Bike Unit is one of the models on which IMBA’s Mountain Bike Patrol was based, now an international program.
The MBU is an all-volunteer organization, operating under an interagency operating agreement between the National Park Service, State Parks, and the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority.
If you’re interested in being a part of this exceptional and rewarding program, an informational meeting for those interested in volunteering is scheduled for the King Gillette Ranch Auditorium at 9 a.m. on Sat., Feb. 2. Actual volunteer training sessions begin on Feb. 9, 2013 at National Park Service headquarters in Thousand Oaks. For more information, visit the website at www.mountainbikeunit.com.
The Malibu Times story is available on the Malibu Times web site, or as a PDF.
Ride and Mingle Photos Posted
Monday, December 17th, 2012
Saturday’s Ride and Mingle was a great success, with plenty of good-natured conversation, some brief but important PSA’s about trail etiquette, great riding to incredible vista points, and a bunch of happy prize winners. Plus the perfect weather and remarkably clear views made the day extra special. Thanks everyone who came out to allow us to thank you for your support of CORBA.
Photos of the event and riders can be viewed at our RAM photo gallery.
RAM Still On 12/15/12
Friday, December 14th, 2012Despite the rain forecast for tonight (Friday 12/14) and early Saturday morning, we will still be riding and meeting at The Hub in Topanga State Park at 10am on Saturday 12/15. If it’s raining during the meeting period (10-11am), then we might just do the photo and forego the cash drawings. We’ll take a vote and see how everyone feels!
Be The Solution
Monday, December 10th, 2012
By Mark Langton
I agree with hikers. I agree that when a mountain biker goes by me too close and too fast, it’s scary and unsettling. And they don’t have to be going fast, just too fast for the conditions. If a mountain biker goes by me at 15 mph on a fire road, no problem. If a mountain biker goes by me at 15 mph on a singletrack trail less than six inches from me, then I have a bit of a problem.
I agree with hikers right up to the point when they say all mountain bikers should be banned from trails because some of them go too fast around other users. You can’t tell me I’m banned from the trails because of someone else’s irresponsible behavior.
I believe there’s nothing wrong with going fast, as long as it’s being done safely (and within reason). If mountain bikers go so fast as to create a danger to themselves–such as crashing and having to utilize tax payer money to get medical treatment and evacuation from the backcountry–then people could point at the mountain bike community as creating an undue burden on the resource management agency. But as we’ve seen, crashes of this nature are relatively few. But the agency still takes notice when there’s an increase.
I know there are those out there, myself included, who are angry at the people who disregard common sense and speed past others with no regard for common courtesy. They’ve replied many times to our blog posts. They are angry because they know that the people who are acting irresponsibly know they are doing it, but continue to do it anyway in spite of the fact they are giving the mountain biking community a bad name; when all they have to do is very simple. Be The Solution. Just slow down around others.
As an experiment today I stopped in the middle of a singletrack trail as a rider approached me coming downhill. Although he had plenty of room to see me, he ran into me, and nearly flew over the handlebar. He was apologetic, and the conversation we had was enlightening; because he was used to others getting out of his way, he just assumed I would, too. I recounted an instance when I was riding along a trail and I came upon a hiker with her head down, and as I slowed to a stop she looked up, startled, and nearly fell over backward. Had I assumed she heard me and was going to get out of my way, I probably would have run into her.
It’s never going to be completely safe on the trails. There are always going to be accidents, but by slowing down around others (and maybe even slowing down for blind corners), we might be able to avoid a lot of very avoidable ones.
