{"id":4976,"date":"2013-10-29T15:57:49","date_gmt":"2013-10-29T22:57:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/?p=4976"},"modified":"2013-10-29T15:57:49","modified_gmt":"2013-10-29T22:57:49","slug":"girlz-gone-riding-rocktober-20th-xc-gala-2013-wrap-up-and-photos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corbamtb.com\/news\/2013\/10\/29\/girlz-gone-riding-rocktober-20th-xc-gala-2013-wrap-up-and-photos\/","title":{"rendered":"Girlz Gone Riding Rocktober 20th XC Gala 2013 Wrap Up and Photos!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another GGR annual event in da books held at Malibu Creek State Park for the 3rd<\/sup> time. Dubbed the GGR Rocktober 20th<\/sup> XC Gala. This year\u2019s event was especially difficult and emotional for me personally for several reasons. I was on crutches (still am), so I couldn\u2019t help out with any of the rides or even much of anything else but announce. And of course this year\u2019s event was dedicated to Danusia Taber, who lost her battle to cancer this past May.<\/p>\n

(Editor’s note: You can view the entire photo gallery<\/a>, and watch a short half-minute teaser video<\/a>!)<\/p>\n

The morning opened up as usual with the girlz signing in and picking up their goodie bags and bike plates. Then many of them headed over to the Hammer and CORBA fuel station for some java and morning goodies.<\/p>\n

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The morning address was focused on how far we have come in the last 3 years. The enormous amount of women mountain bikers in Los Angeles and sticking with it speaks for itself!\u00a0 GGR has grown to almost 450 members, most of these ladies in the LA, OC, Ventura and San Diego area. Many of them made the drive to attend this event. Between GGR, Trail Angels and SOCAL Endurance ladies, we have over 1000 women riders! SOCAL is beaming with women who love their dirt!<\/p>\n

Women now have a voice in our local cycling community. Women are supporting each other more than ever to continue to ride , socialize, network and most of all have fun!<\/p>\n

We talked about how important it is to get to know your local bike shop and be a good consumer. This doesn\u2019t mean you have to spend a lot of money, this means to get to know the staff, make sure everyone in the bike shop not only knows your name, but knows what trails you ride, the bike you ride and the group you typically ride with. This is the start of building a great relationship with your bike shop which hopefully starts a chain reaction down the road. We want the shop staff to address all their women clients by their 1st<\/sup> name and be able to exceed their expectations as a consumer. We have a voice and we are growing\u2026.so please pay attention to us. We spend money in the shops too. We want bike clothes too. We don\u2019t want to purchase components we don\u2019t need.<\/p>\n

After I wrapped up the morning address, we brought up some speakers and presented awards.<\/p>\n

1st<\/sup> off was Mark Langton, President of CORBA: http:\/\/corbamtb.com\/<\/a>. CORBA is on the back and sleeves of our GGR jersey\u2019s and is a year round supporter to us. Mark talked about the different programs CORBA has to offer, CORBA\u2019S involvement in the cycling community, trail etiquette and slowing down out there, being aware of all the other users on the trails.<\/p>\n

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Next was Tessa Treadway. Team captain of SOCAL LADIES ENDURANCE TEAM.\u00a0 This is the largest women\u2019s race team in the country! All levels and genres of mountain biking are welcome!\u00a0 Amy Rambacher also came forward from the team and explained about a new genre of racing called ENDURO racing which she competes in.\u00a0 For more information about racing and joining the team, please check out the site here: http:\/\/www.socalendurance.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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Now it was time to bring Lance up. We had an award for Danusia, but we were never able to present it to her since she passed on this past May. So Lance, one of her best MBU buddies, accepted the award on her behalf. Lance talked about the memorial bench going up for Danusia in Sycamore, her favorite place to ride and just chatted about the incredible person she was. Danusia was instrumental in getting GGR off the ground, getting CORBA involved with us, and of course she was my close friend and mentor. I miss her dearly and she is truly missed in our women\u2019s community.<\/p>\n

We sold the Danusia Bells at the event all day. The bells can go on your packs or handle bars to ride with her in spirit. All profits from the bells go to the Sarcoma alliance which was hand picked by Danusia for the funds to go to prior to her passing. You can purchase a Danusia bell from GGR or CORBA here: http:\/\/www.girlzgoneriding.com\/ggr_products\/<\/a> or here: http:\/\/corbamtb.com\/store\/store.shtml<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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At this point, we just had one more speaker to lead us off into our morning rides. GGR\u2019s own skills coach Christine Hirst. Christine didn\u2019t know it, but we had an award to present to her as well!<\/p>\n

Christine has been the GGR skills coach for the last 2 events. She has volunteered her time for the day and has made such an impact with the girlz it has been amazing. We thank her so very much for her time, positive energy and great motivational speech to get our day going. The girlz were soooo excited to learn new skills they have never been taught. And to see them use them the same day was so very rewarding. This is what it is about. Improving, helping each other and sticking with it!<\/p>\n

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We then all got together for a couple of group shots and then the rides were on their merry way!<\/p>\n

The beginner\u2019s started off with their skills clinic with GGR coach Christine Hirst while the advanced beginner\u2019s, intermediate and advanced rides headed out. This year\u2019s beginners and advanced beginners got one big huge treat! Little did they know\u2026..the one and only, Leigh Donovan was one of their volunteer FLOATERS this year! YES! The most decorated woman rider in da world! Leigh was just her usual patient, generous and amazing self with our girlz especially through the long, dry creek bed. What a difference when another woman can show you exactly how it\u2019s done and that..hey, it\u2019s not that hard! YOU CAN DO IT!<\/p>\n

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We had 5 levels of guided rides for the day. Each with their own route and speed. This year we had a lot of new GGR ride leaders, floaters and sweepers who all did an amazing job! Thank you!<\/p>\n

Once everyone got back to the park after their rides, we started the afternoon activities. Lunch, more mingling, the ever popular swap meet, silent auction and the PLUG segment. The plug segment gives the girlz 30 seconds to come up in front of everyone and plug whatever they want.<\/p>\n

We then went to present another award from a friend of mine who has been a GGR supporter since day one. Mike Lord, manager of Cycle World. He has helped with every GGR event, volunteered his and his staff\u2019s time and resources. Mike is really a great guy and we were honored to have Sage from Cycle World accept the award for him. Please support Cycle World here: http:\/\/cycleworldbikes.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Our last inspirational speaker of the day was of course Leigh Donovan. http:\/\/www.leighdonovan.com\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Leigh was just recently inducted in the BMX hall of fame. It was amazing to listen to her story about how little women there were when she was racing BMX and all the changes she has seen in today\u2019s world of women\u2019s cycling. This is Leigh\u2019s 2nd<\/sup> time volunteering for CORBA and GGR and it really made our day that she was able to not only join us, speak, but really set a great example for our girlz. I thank you so very much Leigh for getting involved in our incredible community of women riders!<\/p>\n

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We closed out the day with the raffles. Each GGR event is a CORBA membership drive. This year\u2019s grand prize for the CORBA membership raffle drive was a NINER frame! Our own GGR Ride leader Joanne (J) Richards took home the grand prize!<\/p>\n

Liv\/Giant: http:\/\/www.giant-bicycles.com\/en-us\/livgiant\/<\/a> was there with the entire new line of 27.5 demo bikes for the girlz to try! This is the 2nd<\/sup> year Liv\/Giant has supported the GGR event with a truck full of demo bikes! \"au_GGR-2013-553\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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A couple of the girlz, GGR girl Carly and GGR girl Letty, gave us their thoughts after demoing these new bikes:<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried the Giant 27.5\u2033 in XS frame.\u00a0 Boy, was that girly thing full of fun. I only have experience riding 26-inch tires.\u00a0 I really felt the difference in the traction of the Giant and overall, the rocks and pavement almost disappeared! Or more like, I felt probably 50% less of its rockiness and bumpiness.\u00a0 I got used to it really, really (surprisingly) fast.\u00a0 The shifters were nice. The angle was more of a \u201clean forward\u201d sorta angle, which was a slight adjustment (maybe this is an individual adjustment\/modification).<\/p>\n

The neat thing is, after demo-ing this bike, I would really consider my next bike to be a 27.5\u2033 inch.\u00a0 I felt a LOT more stable.\u00a0 I consider myself an advanced beginner and this bike was just, great.\u00a0 It made me feel less nervous compared to riding my own bike.\u00a0 I often still get very nervous riding up and down rocky and technical trails.\u00a0 I have not tried 29-ers, but I imagine after a longer-term the added weight would bother me.\u00a0\u00a0 I read that 27.5\u2033 wheels add 5% weight and 29-ers are an extra 12%\u00a0 weight (this is a BIG difference!) compared to 26\u2033 wheels.\u00a0\u00a0 I am 5\u2032 4\u2033 and about 112 lbs.\u00a0\u00a0 Compared to my 26\u2033 XS Titus frame, the Titus is much more \u2018nimble\u2019 versus the 27.5\u2033 felt a lot more safe and stable.\u00a0 I\u2019d keep the 27.5\u2033!!!\u201d GGR girl Carly<\/p>\n

\u201cI rode the Lust Advanced and I am in love.\u00a0 The bike did all the work for me.\u00a0 The Lust was made for climbing and speed.\u00a0 The new tire size is perfect for my riding needs.\u00a0\u00a0 I usually ride a Pivot 5.75 and as much as I love it, it gets a little heavy on the long rides.\u00a0 I\u2019ve always been a little worried about not having enough gears if I rode a 1 x anything but I didn\u2019t feel like I was missing anything on this bike. I am hoping Santa is going to be very good to me this Christmas.\u201d GGR girl Letty<\/p>\n

We are so very grateful to all of our volunteers and supporters! This is a team effort. There are many people behind the scenes that make the GGR events possible and we couldn\u2019t do it without you! Please support the companies who support GGR!<\/p>\n