It was another perfect day to be riding in Malibu Creek State Park to participate in the free monthly basic skills clinic. This month we had 26 riders and I’m sure eveyone had a great time with the clear and warm weather! You can see the photos in the April Skills Clinic Photo Gallery.
Archive for the ‘Rides and Events’ Category
Skills Clinic Photos for April 6, 2013
Tuesday, April 9th, 2013Santa Monica Mtns Trail Days at Sycamore Canyon Apr 20-22
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013
Once a year we have an opportunity to work on the trails and then BBQ and camp at Danielson Ranch in Pt Mugu State Park. It is opened annually for the Santa Monica Trail Days! This is a unique opportunity to work on the trails that we enjoy so much in Sycamore Canyon, and the Saturday workday is followed by a BBQ and prizes, with free camping available on Friday and/or Saturday night. This is hands down the best day to get in some trail maintenance work! Camping is optional; you may leave with the escort after the BBQ. There will be trailwork projects on both Saturday and Sunday. Sign up for one or both! Pre-registration is requested by April 17th so we’ll know how many people to prepare for.
Schedule at a glance
Friday night April 19 – arrive for overnight camping (optional). Bagels and hot beverages supplied Saturday morning for campers.
Saturday April 20 – Trailwork, barbecue dinner, prize give-away. Bring your own lunch. Optional overnight camping. Bagels and hot beverages supplied Sunday morning for campers.
Sunday April 21 – Trailwork, prize give-away. Bring your own lunch.
You can volunteer to help out on Saturday, Sunday, or both.
BRING: LUNCHES, BEVERAGES, SNACKS AND WATER. Tools and instruction on using them are provided.
WEAR: Gloves, hat, long pants, protective clothing, and work boots or sturdy shoes.
REGISTRATION: Advance registration is required for the activities shown below, and appreciated by April 17th!
Saturday Registration: http://www.meetup.com/CORBAmtb/events/106405302/
Sunday Registration: http://www.meetup.com/CORBAmtb/events/106408382/
TRAILWORK: Saturday and/or Sunday. Help out with one or both! There are also opportunities to help out in the camp instead of trailwork.
CAMPING: Free camping Friday and/or Saturday nights for volunteers at the Danielson Multi-use Area located under the sycamores and oaks in the heart of Point Mugu State Park. Bring your own gear.
DINNER: Sat. Night Barbecue Free FOR VOLUNTEERS. Bring appetizers and beverages.
PRIZES: Thank-you prize give-aways will be held Saturday after dinner and Sunday after trailwork.
VEHICLE ACCESS: You will be able to caravan into and out of the park by vehicle only at these few designated times:
ARRIVE: Friday – 5 pm and 7 pm Saturday – 8 am and 4:30 pm Sunday – 8:30 am
DEPART: Saturday – 4 pm and after campfire Sunday – 8 am and 2:30 pm
Full details and camping/dining details are also provided on the registration pages.
CORBA Kids Club News
Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013The CORBA Kids Club returned to Sullivan Canyon for our monthly ride. Four dads, one mom, and 6 kids participated. You can view photos from the ride here.
On Saturday April 6 the CORBA Kids ride Malibu Creek State Park. Meet in the lower parking lot at 9 a.m. Email corbakids@corbamtb.com for more information.
GirlzGoneRiding News
Thursday, March 28th, 2013On Wednesday night, March 27th, GGR and SOCAL Endurance Ladies Team were treated to a video chat with the Queen of Pain herself, Rebecca Rusch! For details, please go to the blog here: http://www.girlzgoneriding.com/2013/03/27/the-queen-of-pain-herself-miss-rebecca-rusch-treats-ggr-socal-endurance-ladies-team-to-very-special-video-chat/
April 7th: GGR presents Wenches with Wrenches Workshop! This workshop is FULL! Event is closed! To be held at Pasadena Cyclery. We will simulate typical breakdowns on the trail and fix them ourselves.
April 27th: GGR OPEN RIDE! Sycamore Canyon, Newbury Park. All levels welcome and beginners encouraged to join! Sign up is required. Please sign up on the Face Book page for details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/584789154864505/?ref=3
October 20th: SAVE THE DATE! This is the main, annual GGR event at Malibu Creek State Park! Back by VERY popular demand is the beginner skills clinic! The GGR event is a FREE event! We will also be having a CORBA/IMBA membership drive, raffles, silent auctions, 4 levels of XC rides, and of course the famous swap meet! Cycle World Chatsworth: http://cycleworldbikes.com/, will be back for their 3rd GGR event for ride support and offer light bike repairs before and after the rides.
GGR now has a calendar page so you can keep up with all the events going on! http://www.girlzgoneriding.com/calendar/
Report on the Annual Conejo Open Space Trailwork Day, March 23
Monday, March 25th, 2013About 60 volunteers showed up on Saturday morning to help with the annual spring trailwork day, including nine with CORBA. We met at the new bridge in Hill Canyon, then walked a mile, picked up our tools, then hiked another few hundred yards to the work site.
The morning started off quite chilly, waiting in the shade of the canyon, but as soon as we emerged into the sun, it became quite pleasant.
The work was to clean up after the bulldozer that had scraped the hill at the north-east end of the Western Plateau Trail.
In some ways we were sad to see that this hard-packed, rutted dirt road had been smoothed out because it had been a challenge to climb through the ruts, and was really fun to come back down it. However, the road was in such bad shape that the COSCA rangers weren’t able to get their trucks up it.
There are plans to build new trails in the area of the Western Plateau. Being able to drive people and equipment up means that it will be easier to plan and build these new trails, so we’ll be able to use them sooner. Also, 4×4 vehicles have been illegally driving on the Western Plateau, damaging the trails, roads and creating tracks and bare spots in the open space. They had been doing this with relative impunity because the rangers weren’t able to get up there to stop them. Now that the risks are higher, hopefully the off-roaders will find somewhere legal to drive their vehicles.
The trailwork consisted mostly of knocking down a low berm the bulldozer left at the side of the road so rainwater can run off the road, and building drainages to help channel the water off. The CORBA crew was also assigned the task of blocking off the top of a very steep and loose road that had been chewed into the hillside by illegal 4×4 vehicles.
The ‘dozer driver did a really good job so there wasn’t as much berm to knock down as expected, allowing us to finish up about a half hour early, and head for lunch.
The COSCA (Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency) rangers barbecued up a lunch of hot dogs, beef- and vegie-burgers, with all the typical condiments, chips, fruit and ice-cold drinks. A real bonus was something you rarely see these days – ripe tomatoes!
After lunch, the CORBA workers picked up their bike tire, supplied by IMBA and CST to show appreciation for our volunteer work.
I think we had all hoped to be working on building a new trail on Saturday. Even though we were just putting the finishing touches on a dirt road, most people came away satisfied with the knowledge that we’re making it easier for the rangers and volunteers to preserve the open space and improve trail access in the future. CORBA thanks the many volunteers, especially the mountain bikers, who came out to help with this effort!
View the photo gallery of the volunteers at work and enjoying lunch afterwards!
The Ventura County Star wrote about this event on March 26, and included photos of two CORBA volunteers, including the lead photo. Here’s the link to check it out:
http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/26/conejo-open-space-gets-hand-from-volunteers-to/
Skills Clinic Photos for March 2, 2013
Saturday, March 2nd, 2013We had a surprisingly small class today. I had expected more, given what a warm day it was, especially compared to recent weekends. But just a dozen people when riding with us in Malibu Creek State Park to participate in the free monthly basic skills clinic. You can see the photos in the March Skills Clinic Photo Gallery.
GirlzGoneRiding March Update
Tuesday, February 26th, 2013Look what is coming up soon with GGR!!!!!
Sunday April 7th: Wenches with Wrenches workshop!
This is the 1st of our series of FREE workshops for 2013. To be held at Pasadena Cyclery: http://pasadenacyclery.com/. The workshop will run from 10am-3pm and will include recreating scenarios that happen on the trail we can repair ourselves so we don’t have to walk the bikes out. You will be working on your OWN bikes and using your own tools. Pasadena Cyclery will provide some tools if you don’t have them. They will also offer all GGR members a great discount for the day on items purchased the day of the clinic. We will only be taking 15 GGR girlz for this event due to the special attention the mechanics will need to give each and every one of us.
An event page for this will be on the GGR Face book page soon. Sign up IS required. This is a FREE bike repair clinic.
Saturday April 27th: The next GGR OPEN ride! Beautiful Sycamore Canyon in Newbury Park. Open to ALL levels and beginners encouraged! A sign up will be available soon on the GGR Face Book Page. Sign up IS required.
Sunday April 28th: GGR Girl Jenny Johnson is also doing a fund raiser to help raise funds for materials and tools desperately needed to maintain the trails in the San Gabriel Mountains! MWBA is a non-profit chapter under IMBA just like CORBA. There will be pancakes, prizes, music and swag! Please see the flyer for details!
Please look for a save the date for the big GGR annual event which will be at the end of October again. We will be having another CORBA/IMBA membership drive, silent auctions, raffles, skills clinics, back by VERY popular demand also will be the swap meet, and of course the awesome, incredible joy of cross country rides in our beautiful Malibu Creek State Park.
Want a GGR jersey in our beautiful GGR purple with CORBA/IMBA on your back?? You can order them year round now and have them shipped directly to you! http://www.girlzgoneriding.com/ggr-jerseys/order-final/
And last but not least, a VERY special ride in MARCH to the club who started it all! NORTH RANCH! They are celebrating 25 years of riding! Many of the GGR girlz are also North Ranch riders. It is where a lot of us met! For more information on North Ranch which is a co ed mountain biking group, please go on the site here: http://www.nrmbc.org/
Saturday, March 2: 25th NRMB Anniversary Ride Description: We will retrace the very first ride the NRMB ever did. We start at Cheseboro and work our way to the top of the Edison Power Roads. Then we drop down and “somehow” cross over to the Albertson Motorway. Then we go down Dead Cow and work our way west along the Power Roads just north of Kanan dropping down into North Ranch for a picnic. Meet at 9:30 am and be ready to depart 15 minutes later.
Endurance Rating = 3.5, Technical Rating = 3.5, 15 Miles and 1500 Feet of Climbing, About 3 Hours, Ride Leader: Randy
GGR would like to thank their year round supporters as well, please support them as they support our local women’s cycling community:
Cycle World: http://cycleworldbikes.com/
CORBA: http://corbamtb.com/
Please visit GGR on our blog page, then become a member on the FACE BOOK PAGE! We post all events, work shops, rides, trips, injuries, stuff for sale, fitness threads and more. This is a women’s only mountain bike group that is FREE. All ages and levels are welcome! We have teenagers to women in their 70’s who ride with us!
http://www.girlzgoneriding.com/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/350083721682365/
For any questions at all, please feel free to contact GGR Girl Wendy Engelberg: wendy@girlzgoneriding.com
February CORBA Kids Ride – Cheeseboro Canyon
Monday, February 25th, 2013On February 2nd, four kids and and four adults rode Cheeseboro Canyon through Sulpher Springs and to the first big wall. New riders Josh and son, Zachary joined us again, and Joy and RJ came back after several months. Larry hiked along side son, Elliot who was determined to ride on training wheels, and he did!
It was a perfect day; the weather warmed up gradually, and the kids had lots of opportunities to practice trail ettiquette as the canyon was very busy with runners training for the upcoming marathon in March.
Click here to see pictures from this fabulous ride.
Next ride March 2 at 9 a.m. Sullivan Canyon, Brentwood side. Hope to see you and your kids there!
COSCA Spring Trailwork Day March 23th
Monday, February 25th, 2013Come out and join the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA), CORBA, the Santa Monica Trails Council and other volunteers for the Annual COSCA Spring Trailwork Day. We will be building a new trail in the Western Plateau/Conejo Canyons area.
At noon, following the morning of trail-building, workers will be treated to hamburgers/vegi-burgers, chips, fruit and drinks while enjoying the camaraderie of fellow trail enthusiasts!
Wear protective clothing (long-legged pants, long-sleeved shirts, sunglasses), sturdy shoes, gloves, hat and sunscreen.
No experience necessary. Tools and instructions on how to use them safely and effectively will be provided. Must be 18+ years of age. Beware of poison oak, ticks & rattlesnakes.
Follow directions of park rangers and trail crew leaders at all times.
Pre-registration is required so that COSCA will have enough tools, crew leaders and food!
Directions to the meeting place and other details are included on the online registration page.
Lots of brush removed from Backbone Trail west of Kanan during Feb 23 trailwork day – and photo gallery
Sunday, February 24th, 2013During a joint trailwork day, CORBA and the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council trail crews cleared brush (lots and lots of it!) and fixed drainages on the 2.5 mile segment of the Backbone Trail west from Kanan Rd to Zuma Ridge Motorway.
- CORBA volunteers are knee-deep in cuttings that have fallen into the trail
We split into two teams to tackle this trail. 15 CORBA volunteers grabbed loppers and saws to take on the overgrowing brush. The tread along this segment is in pretty good shape, so a small group of four SMMTC and CORBA volunteers took earth-moving tools to clear out the drainages so rain water wouldn’t cause ruts in the future.
It’s important to clear brush from the trail not only to keep it from becoming so overgrown that it’s impassible, but also to increase the sight distances so approaching travellers can see each other from further away and have time to react/respond to the other’s presence. In the case of mountain bikers approaching hikers or equestrians, this should mean slowing down and preparing to stop, if necessary, to yield the right-of-way.
This trail had been worked by the SMMTC crew twice in the past few months so much of the brush had already been cut back, but there were two very bad sections. One was about 2/3 miles east of Zuma Ridge Mtwy where the brush has not been cut back for several years and both sides had grown almost to the middle. The other was on the switchbacks near Kanan Rd where the heavy branches overhead were drooping down so low that riders need to duck a lot of them.
We started from Zuma Ridge Mtwy and worked our way east, cutting back a few bushes to improve sight distances until we came to the major section that was overgrown. We spent most of our time there and now it’s very easily passible. And we created a huge pile of cut branches off the side of the trail!
Volunteers enjoy lunch at the Urbane Cafe after the workday is finished
Once that was done, we hiked east, pausing at the bridge for a snack and to enjoy the pretty area. We had hoped to clear the overhanging branches near Kanan Rd, but we only had time to clear some other problem spots we passed on the way there. Overall, we worked on 2 miles of the 2.5-mile long trail segment.
After putting the tools away, CST tires, 26″ and 29″, were distributed to everyone who wanted one, as a “Thank-you!” from CORBA, IMBA and CST Tires for helping out. Then we retired to Ubane Cafe for lunch.
We’ll have to have another trailwork day to clear those other low hangning branches, but they’re close to the trailhead so it will be easy to get to them. Stay tuned for news of future trailwork days to clear out this section!
Check out our trailwork photo gallery to see photos of this trailwork.
