The voice of off-road bicyclists  

News from the CORBA Website Blog since the previous eTerraTimes

President’s Message: Sapwi Trails Bike Park Moves Forward

Conejo Rec and Parks District (CRPD) of Thousand Oaks listened to the public’s desires for non-mainstream recreational facilities, including the Bike Park, Frisbee Golf, Model Aircraft Launch, and hiking and biking trails. This is also balanced by habitat preservation and restoration, with only about 18 acres of the 145 acre park being developed. Things are moving forward with the park’s master design almost ready to be put out to bid.

CORBA and the CRPD have entered into an agreement to help bring a bike skills park to Sapwi Trails Community Park in Thousand Oaks. The agreement allows us to raise funds, hire design and construction contractors, put volunteers to work, and work side-by-side with the CRPD to make this happen.

To help fulfill our responsibilities under the agreement CORBA has formed the Sapwi Trails Committee, chaired by board member Peter Sullivan, with local cyclists, coaches, industry and a high school student-athlete who has already earned his Teen Trail Corps “Speak” badge for his efforts. The Committee consists of fifteen members, all local to, and with a direct interest in the park.

The committee is now soliciting input from the public on what types of amenities people would like to see at Sapwi Trails Bike Park. The online survey is available at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2V7ZKFP. Let us know what you’d like to see at the Conejo Valley’s first mountain bike park.

CRPD has recieved funding from a variety of sources. At the June meeting of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, CRPD was awarded a grant of $1.7m. Funding is now in place for the park’s infrastructure (bathrooms, parking, fencing, playgrounds, etc), with the final touches being put on the plans before going out to bid.

CORBA will be raising funds for the park, so watch out for fundraiser announcements. Follow the Sapwi Bike Park on Facebook or Instagram.

Monthly CORBA Meeting at REI in Woodland Hills

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 – 8 pm at the REI in Woodland Hills (Google Map and Directions):

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

We look forward to seeing you there!

Recreational Rides

A recent Beginners' Ride had 16 participants. Would you like to join us too?

For a list of upcoming recreational rides, please visit the CORBA Calendar.

• Visit our Events Calendar to see all the rides and other activities!
• Check our calendar to see when the next CORBA Kids Club ride will be held.

CORBA’s Club Rides calendar provides a full monthly schedule of mountain bike rides for all skill levels. Mountain bike rides are organized by CORBA member clubs and led by experienced and knowledgeable guides. Recreational rides are a fun and social way to experience a variety of trails in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, and beyond.

Upcoming Trail Restoration and Reports on Past Workdays

For many years, most trail upkeep has been done by volunteers because of budget cutbacks at our parks systems. So come out and help CORBA and other volunteers keep our trails in top riding shape! You can learn more about what to expect and what you'll need to bring with you on our Trailwork web page.

A number of companies and volunteer organizations have asked us if they could do trailwork as a team building exercise, or just to give back to the community. We are happy to work with such groups - shoot us an enquiry at trailwork@corbamtb.com for more information!

For CORBA workdays, we provide lunch for participants after we're finished. Please register in advance to help us prepare by knowing how many volunteers to expect. And... If you come out to two or more trailwork days in a year, we'll give you a cool long-sleeved CORBA trail crew shirt - be sure to ask for yours!

Children must be over 7-years old to attend, and children under 14 must be constantly and directly supervised by their parent or guardian who brought them. Children under 18 must have their waiver signed by their parent or legal guardian.

Summary of Recent Trailwork

There haven't been any CORBA trailwork days since the last eTerraTimes was posted at the beginning of May.

To see all trailwork dates, including those of other groups, visit the CORBA calendar.

Join our mailing list to get updates on trailwork opportunities!
Send an email to Trailwork-Volunteers+subscribe@corbamtb.com

General News

Grasslands Trail Reroute in Malibu Creek State Park Now Open

In 2010, a steep and unsustainable spur of the Grasslands Trail in Malibu Creek State Park was closed for plant rehabilitation. The spur was a shortcut from Grasslands to High Road. Fences were erected at both ends and “Closed” signs were posted.

The plan from the beginning was to rebuild the trail along a much less steep and much more sustainable route. After years of distractions by fires and floods in other parks, it is finally open! The new trail starts near the top of the old spur and connects to High Road a little further west (closer to the MASH site) than the spur.

It was built in two parts; first by volunteers on Earth Day in April, then finished by State Park workers.

Kudos to State Parks for building a great new trail! The old spur and parallel trails are closed so please use the new trail when riding Grasslands to allow the native vegetation to recover on the steep hillside! See the full story on our blog...

What’s up with the new bridge in Point Mugu State Park?

Recently a sturdy bridge was built across a short gully on the Sin Nombre Trail in Point Mugu State Park. This bridge bypasses a sharp corner that has been the location of many serious mountain biking accidents. Here’s the story of the corner and the bridge.

The corner in question is about 0.1 miles from the top of the trail at Ranch Center Road, where a small, usually dry stream crosses it. The corner looks really easy to negotiate and that’s the deception that has caused so many injuries. The natural tendency is to brake to slow on the downhill side to negotiate the sharp corner. The climb out of the corner is unexpectedly steep, so riders who haven’t downshifted can stall and put their foot down. They always put their left foot down because they’re already leaning that way after going around the sharp left corner. Unfortunately the trail is very narrow on the climb out, so unless the bike is on the very inside edge of the trail, the foot goes off the edge of the trail, followed by rider and bike, ending in a pile on the rocks of the stream bed. The seriousness of the injury is dependent on how lucky the rider is on landing on the rocks several feet below. Some of the injuries have been very serious, resulting in broken bones and nerve damage.

CORBA with lots of help from the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council worked to improve this section of the trail in 2012. Volunteers widened the hazardous section of the trail a few inches. Unfortunately the trail can’t be widened further because of oak trees and their roots on the inside edge of the trail.

This spring an Eagle Scout candidate embarked on a project with State Park officials to fix this issue once and for all. The result is the new bridge, with the old hazardous section closed off.

Probably some people will be upset that the thrill of rounding this one corner has been removed from the trail, but I hope that when they understand why, they will be happy to give up one turn to save less-experienced mountain bikers from falling on the rocks and seriously injuring themselves. As far as I know, nobody has been killed on this corner, but it was just a matter of time.

Many thanks to the young Eagle Scout who completed this project and the many scouts and friends who volunteered to help him! See the complete story on our blog...

HR3039, the San Gabriel Mountains Forever Act

On June 23, 2017, Congresswoman Judy Chu introduced a bill to expand wilderness areas in the Angeles National Forest, and protect several rivers as wild and scenic. Spearheaded by the San Gabriel Mountains Forever group, the bill is the result of many years of efforts to protect our local mountains.

A previous success of this group was the establishment of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. CORBA President Steve Messer has been representing mountain bikers on the San Gabriel Mountains Community Collaborative, working alongside representatives of the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, and other environmental and social justice organizations.

For the past eighteen months we’ve been working to ensure that mountain biking gets due consideration in these proposals. CORBA has opposed previous wilderness efforts that hurt bicyclists’ access to trails. With support from IMBA and MWBA, we worked out boundary adjustments that expand the Sheep Mountain and San Gabriel wilderness areas, but do not impact any trails that are currently open to bicycles.

The bill also establishes two new units of the Wilderness Preservation System, the Condor Peak Wilderness and the Yerba Buena Wilderness. These two wilderness areas protect the majestic Condor Peak, while leaving the Condor Peak trail (see photo) outside the wilderness areas with a wide buffer. While Condor Peak is not a popular trail for cyclists, it offers an increasingly-unique wilderness-type backcountry experience for those seeking to challenge themselves in nature.

The western boundary of the proposed Yerba Buena Wilderness is the Yerba Buena Ridge trail, which could provide an epic backcountry loop ride with Condor Peak trail. Both trails, however, are in need of maintenance and are on our radar for future restoration work.

We truly appreciate being able to be proactive, working with the Sierra Club, The Wilderness Society, CalWild, and the San Gabriel Mountains Forever group. We also benefited greatly from IMBA’s support at the national level, and our partnership with the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association locally. This bill protects the remote backcountry experiences provided by the Condor Peak trail, the Yerba Buena Ridge trail, and the lower Trail Canyon Trail, ensuring these trails through this pristine landscape will be preserved, ready to be experienced by foot, hoof or bicycle. See the compete story on our blog...