January in October? What's going on?

This just in from the Arctic Tundra that has become October along the northern Front Range of Colorado…

Yep, a day late and a dollar short…but still a ton of valuable info, nonetheless. Hope you’re all feeling toasty. I’m just happy I got a mountain bike ride in on Friday with Joe before Mama Nature got her months mixed up…

Anyway, here’s what’s happening with the club and around town.

Trails Team Meeting Tonight
Care about the trails you ride? Join the Trails Team tonight at Café Vino to discuss trails maintenance, trail building, trail projects on the burner, etc. Hope you can make it. Meeting starts at 6:30 and as always, Café Vino has one of the best beer and wine menus in town.

Cross Races Continue to Be a Huge Success
Cyclocross races at New Belgium got started with a bang. Three more weeks of great racing and spectating await. Kids races start promptly at 4:20 so that daylight does not become an issue. Several club members beat themselves up last week at the first race including Bill Heisterman, Jim Fu, and Covey Potter. Racing is $5 but you might as well bring an extra $20 and purchase a really cool long-sleeve t-shirt in support to young Black Sheep Jr. racing phenom, Skyler Trujillo, who’s working to make the national racing team. All proceeds from the t-shirts will go to support Skyler’s bid to make the team. T-shirts provided by Overland Mountain Bike Club, an official race sponsor, and designed by local artist, Amanda Acheson of Acheson Art.

The County Needs a Bit of Fire Assistance
Volunteers have been requested to assist with public education during a Prescription Burn in the Indian Creek area at some point between Mid-October and Mid-November. Weather conditions will define when and if the burn can occur and volunteers able to assist will have to be on-call. Duties to include sitting at the Blue Sky Trail and alert landowners to prescribed fire in the valley. All volunteers will have a radio and will be working with Natural Resources staff and the burn boss on when land owners and recreators can use the area.

If you are interested in this opportunity please contact CJ Cullins, Volunteer Program Coordinator, for further information. (970) 679-4552 or ccullins@larimer.org

Warm Someone Up
With the cold weather blasting in, wouldn’t it be nice if you could help someone else keep warm? Well, you can! Our friends at Recycled Cycles are collecting warm clothing in exchange for a $10 gift card to Recycled Cycles during the month of October. Limit 1 gift card per person.
Bring any warm clothing down to Recycled Cycles at 4031 S Mason. If you have any questions, contact Brent Straw, manager at (970) 223-1969.

Fort Collins RioSwap
Our friends over at Your Group Ride have organized the first annual Fort Collins RioSwap this Saturday evening at the Rio. Here’s the 411:

I want to invite everyone to the first annual Dia de los RioSwap or Day of the RioSwap. It's going to be an all inclusive bike swap and party. Entry to the Agave Room as well as table reservations are free. The only thing you pay for are the drinks. Come out on Saturday Oct. 17th from 6:00pm to 10:30pm to buy some stuff, sell some stuff and celebrate the bike. Word on the streets is that there will be a couple of pros on hand including a National Champion or two. For questions or to reserve a table visit: Your Group Ride for more info. Remember this isn't only a bike swap its also a party with a fully functioning bar. The Agave Room is located upstairs from the Rio Grande Mexican Resturant, at 143 Mountain Ave. Fort Collins. The door to the Agave Room is just west of the main entrance. The Fort Collins Bike Co-op will be on hand to recycle your unwanted and worn bikes, parts and accessories (including tires and tubes). If you can't sell it donate it! Spread the word!

Trail Day at Devil’s Backbone
One more trail work day is on the books for Devil’s Backbone. It’s this Saturday, October 17, 2009 9 am- 2pm. RSVP to Sean Paul at mailto:teleportal%40yahoo.com if you plan on attending. As always, wear sturdy shoes, bring some gloves, a snack and water.

CSU Working on Trails Website

This past summer, CSU received a new contract to create a public trails website using the data they have collected in the past few years for all of Larimer County trails. In developing the actual web interface, CSU seeks public input on what people like, don’t like, expect, etc., of a variety of existing trail websites. This is where they’d like your assistance. Michelle Kinseth, a graduate student working on this project, has developed a survey instrument that asks users to evaluate some existing trail websites elsewhere in the country. We want to hear what people think of them. The results of the surveys will help guide us in developing the interface for the Larimer County trails project. If you are interested in taking the survey, please let Michelle know and she will send you the necessary links. Email: cotrails@warnercnr.colostate.edu
CS would LOVE to have your input, as you are the real trail users and hopefully will be the ones who USE this site in the future! Thanks very much for your consideration. If you want to be kept up to date on other aspects of the project, or if you want to become more involved, please let CSU know. It would be nice to hear back from you!

And now the calendar:

(As always, check the Overland Mountain Bike Club Calendar for updated info)

Tuesday, October 13th
Trails Team Meeting at Café Vino at 6:30 p.m.

Wednesday, October 14th
Social Ride at Maxwell weather permitting. All riders welcome. Social hour at Josh Shafer’s afterwards. Rumor has it someone will be bringing some tasty sausages for the grill… As always, please bring something to share – food or beverage wise.

Saturday, October 15th
Trail Day at Devil’s Backbone. See contact info above.
Fort Collins RioSwap at 6 p.m. See info above.

Important Upcoming dates:
Monday, October 26th – Season Finale, Costume Contest and Cruiser Ride 6:30 until… At New Belgium Brewery. Bring $5 for your own pair of cool Overland MTB Club socks.

Saturday, October 31st – Trail Day at Bobcat Ridge. 9 a.m.

And that’s about all…well, almost…

As the season winds down and the Board of Directors begins planning for next season, please send us your suggestions about what you’d like to see in the future. We’d love to have as much input as possible from the membership in order to help guide our decisions making.

So far, the October Patrol Contest seems to be in the hands of Pete and David Skram. They each have 3 patrols on USFS lands. Can't somebody beat Pete?

Mountain Bike Jersey Order - Several of you have expressed interest in purchasing one of the 3/4 sleeve mountain bike specific jerseys with the Overland Logo. Minimum order is 5. Cost is right around $70.00. Please let Kory know if you'd like to order one.

And, a loud ‘Happy Birthday’ goes out to Joe Perrin today as he turns….hmmm…I’m not exactly sure. Less than 50, I think...

See you on the trails.