By Mark Langton

Ride And Mingle 2 on December 28. Thanks to all who showed up to show their support of CORBA!

As we say goodbye to 2013 and look forward to another year of trail advocacy, I can’t help but reflect on the last year. To me the most significant thing was the loss of our dear friend Danusia Bennett-Taber. I am reminded of her almost daily, whether it’s with her involvement with the CORBA board of directors, or the Mountain Bike Unit, or simply riding on one of our local trails that she so enjoyed. Girlz Gone Riding keeps her memory alive with the first annual Danusia Memorial Ride on May 31. Danusia leaves a legacy of trail stewardship and volunteerism that is unmatched.

Speaking of Girlz Gone Riding, the group had its most successful year ever with great turnouts for their rides and the annual Rocktober XC Gala. We have to give them a big Thank You for helping raise funds and awareness for CORBA and its programs.

CORBA’s programs achieved much success in 2013. Our Trail Crew was extra busy with extensive work in fire-damaged Point Mugu State Park, helping to reestablish damaged trails and do much needed repair work to Guadalasca Trail. Cooperative work with groups throughout greater Los Angeles county, Pasadena, and Thousand Oaks (to name a few) ensure that the public trails remain in shape for shared use.

Our Youth Adventures and Kids Club programs were a little lean this year, yet we still had many outings with kids enjoying the outdoors on mountain bikes. We are in need of more adult coorinators for our Kids Club outings, so if you are interested in leading groups of adults and kids once a month, please send an email to me at info@corbamtb.com.

Our free Introduction to Mountain Bike Skills Class was once again a tremendous success, with more than 300 participants–and that was only 11 classes since December was rained out. Remember, it’s always on the first Saturday of the month at Malibu Creek State Park in Calabasas, and it’s always free!

As an advocacy group, we assisted the Santa Clarita Valley Trail Users in regaining access to the Canyon Trail in Placerita Canyon after Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation closed the trail in late 2012. CORBA continues to monitor and give input to a variety of public open space policy projects that threaten to exclude bicycles.

One of the most exciting prospects for the coming year is the emergence of several pump tracks and bike parks that CORBA is  consulting on and helping to move forward. The City of Thousand Oaks, Los Angeles county, and the City of Fillmore have enlisted our expertise for installing pump tracks, and we have been working with the County of Ventura and a newly formed bicycle organization in the Heritage Valley (Fillmore, Santa Paula, Piru) to develop a bike park with flow trails, jumps, and a pump track at Toland Park. This 212 acre parcel could very well become a regional destination for off-road bicycle activities.

Being inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame this year was both an affirmation and a call to action. Even though it’s hard to believe CORBA has been doing this for more than 26 years, it’s also astounding that there is still more to do! We will continue to push for more access to trails, since as we’ve said time and again, the more you disperse users, the less conflicts there will be!

As always, CORBA will promote the concept of “slow is the solution”: Simply slow down around others as you pass, and you solve the issue of people disliking bikes going too fast around them.

See you on the trails!