Monday, June 21, 2010

Bike to Work! And more...

Well, we survived a boy turning 6 around here... And now it's back to "normal", whatever that is... We do, however, have quite a few things going on this week. Number 1 - Bike to Work week. Everybody's doing it. You should too. I've been tryin to convince myself to ride to Windsor since I took the new job. This is going to be the week. Someone out there hold me accountable.  If you haven't checked out the activities for Bike Week/Bike Summer, you ought to get over to FC Bikes website and check it out. DK and his crew have been hard at work.

News: The Board of Directors has recently approved a couple of grants. $3500 went to the High School Mountain Bike League to purchase a trailer to help keep them organized, use at races, etc. From what I understand, it's being put to good use.  $2400 went to Larimer County Search and Rescue. They're putting together a Mountain Bike Search and Rescue Team in order to get into the backcountry more quickly when duty calls. We're glad to help both organizations. 

Did you know? Each year, Overland Mountain Bike Club sets aside a portion of its funds to help other "bike-minded" organizations in the region? In the past year or so, we've granted over 20k to help the biking community. Know someone who has a cool bike program who could use a little help? Contact us. (Yet another reason to join our club!)

We'll be launching a 'new' website at the monthly meeting. Less sexy. More functional. Just don't want you to be surprised. 

Card competition is rolling. Get those cards out. Prizes to be awarded.

Patrollers: There's a ton of traffic on the trails with the weather getting nice. Please get out and patrol. And to those of you who have been, THANKS!

New Members: Welcome! We're happy to have you on board. Tell the WORLD! Please contact us if you have any questions about your membership, picking up your goodies, logging into our website and signing up for events, etc. You can always reach me at: koryswan (at) gmail.com.

Be aware: Some unfriendlies have been SMASHING and GRABBING at local trailheads. Coyote Ridge has been averaging 3 a month. It happens elsewhere too. Take precautions.
And please report any suspicious activity.

And Upcoming Stuff:

Tuesday, June 22nd: City Streets Crit at the Streets and Sanitation Department. Visit our friends at YOUR GROUP RIDE for more info. This supports the efforts of the H.S. MTB League. Kids race free. If they can pedal, they can race. (LAST MINUTE HELP: Jason and the guys had a couple of volunteers drop out at the last minute. If you can donate some time to help with registration tomorrow, that would be great! And Yes. We'll 'points' you if that helps. If you can help, please contact Rob Noble at: robinsonnoble (at) yahoo.com)

Wednesday, June 23rd: Bike to Work Day: For the past couple of years, we've partnered with Performance Physical Therapy and Catalyst Coffee to host a Bike to Work tent. Barb needs help. We only have 4 people registered to assist. If you can spare a couple of hours Wednesday morning, please do. Sign up on our website in the Member Resources section.
Social Ride at Maxwell: The Social Rides are heating up. 30 plus showed up at Soderberg last week and stuck around for some socializing. Another 12 showed up for the monthly Beginner's Ride at Maxwell.  Awesome turnout. This week we're back at Maxwell with some socializing afterwards. Please bring drinks and/or snacks/food to share. Riders of all levels, members or not, are welcome. These are social, 'no-drop' rides.

Thursday, June 24th: Beginner Women's Skills Clinic - Awesome chance to get some personalized bike handling skills information. The sign-up and information is in the right column of this page. Space is very limited. Looks like only 4 spaces are left.
The Overland Women's Ride: Meet at Maxwell and ride with the ladies. More info on our calendar. Non-members are welcome. These are social, 'no drop' rides.
Trail Work at Ginny:  6 p.m. Doug and Steve will be back out at Bobcat Ridge working on the Ginny Trail. So far, they've completed the majority of the projects that the City has asked them to do. Nice work fellas. Please volunteer. Sign up on our website under Member Resources. (If you aren't a member and want to help, just show up!)
Night Ride with Rob: Rob Foster's leading Night Rides on Thursday nights. For more info, call him at the Lee's Cyclery South Store. Don't knock it 'til you try it.

Saturday, June 26th: Trail Day at Horsetooth Mountain Park with LCHA. Help out if you can. More info on our calendar.

Monday, June 28th: Monthly Meeting at New Belgium - Join us for our Monthly Meeting. Buy the new Oveland $5 T-shirt. It's cool. We'll have jerseys for sale too and be talking about our new jerseys that we'll be ordering soon. The new website will roll out. We'll have awards, chatter, new patrol competitions, etc!  Members and non-members are welcome. These meetings are always a good time. Thanks to our friends at New Belgium for always being such wonderful hosts.

That's all for now. (BTW: Thumbs up so far to the tubeless conversion.) And now, I've got to get to work.

-Kory

Monday, June 14, 2010

Wet, Wet, Wet

As you know, the theme of the weekend was water. Water, water, everywhere... Got a chance to drive up the Poudre Canyon and look at the flows. It's roaring. Also got a chance to take care of some things I've been meaning to take care of like bike maintenance, a tubeless tire conversion, and a workbench clean-up. That being said, please allow the trails ample time to dry out before you go ride them. It's probably going to be a few days. There'll be less stuff for us to fix in the long run.


Here's what's heading our direction:


Snake are Out: The recent heat has brought out the snakes. Please keep your eyes open and if you or someone you know or a stranger gets bitten, get medical attention IMMEDIATELY. Don't mess around. For more info, click HERE.


Friends of Lory Trail Day will be rescheduled. Don't know when but we'll let you know as soon as we do. Thanks again to Rodger and Paul for getting this all put together.


Wednesday, June 16th: Social Ride is at Soderberg this week with a Beginner Ride being held at Maxwell.(See info below) Don't know if the trails will be dry enough. Look for an email on Wednesday giving the 'Thumbs Up' or the 'Thumbs Down'. If it's a go, we'll socialize back over in the Fort at Jen and Kory's house. Details on how to get there are on the Overland website in the Member Resources side of things. If you don't know how to navigate that part of our website, please email me and I'll walk you through it. I'm at: koryswan (at) gmail.com.


Beginner Ride Info: Got a friend who just bought a MTN Bike but they haven't used it yet? Got a boyfriend/girlfriend you want to introduce to the sport but you don't want to bury them on your ride? Have you joined the club and still not made it out to one of the rides? This is your ride! Don't be intimidated to show up at this leisurely jaunt around Dixon Reservoir and Pineridge. It's gonna be a blast!


When: Wednesday June 16th, 6pm at Maxwell Parking area off of CR 42C, behind Hughes Stadium Show up at 5:30pm if you would like a ride leader to quick tune your bike.
Where: We'll ride around Dixon Res. at Pineridge Natural area for roughly 1 hour +/-.
What: This ride will be at a slow pace, NO DROP ride. No climbing. Focus on Skill Building. A great introduction to riding your bike on dirt trails.
Required items: Helmet, Water, Mountain Bike, and your best attitude! If we're (un)lucky we'll get to have a little clinic on how change a tube!  (If you're curious whether your bike is a Mountain bike or not, get in touch with the ride leader, Matt Wells: matt.wells21 at gmail) Hope to see you there!

Thursday, June 17th: VIP Night at Performance Bike, 8pm-9pm
Where: Performance Bicycle Shop on S. College Ave. (next to King Soopers)
What: Club VIP Night and Pizza Social. Free Pizza/drinks, lots of FREE GEAR giveaways, 10-15% off everything
Who: All club members, friends/family, and prospective members are welcome. Kids welcome, All Kids leave with free gear.


Thursdays: Ladies Ride: Join the Overland Ladies at Maxwell for an evening of riding with the gals. This will be every Thursday night.


Lee's Cyclery Night Ride - Led by Overland member, Rob Foster each Thursday evening once the sun heads behind the hills. For details and location, contact Rob at the Lee's South Store. You will need a quality light for this ride. If you have questions about lighting, contact Rob.


Saturday, June 19th: Curt Gowdy Trail Day. Our IMBA Epic trails need some help after the long winter and spring. Go help maintain and/or build trail at Curt Gowdy. Bring your bike and ride your brains out afterwards.


Wednesday, June 23rd: Bike to Work Day.  Once again, we'll have a tent and welcome all the bike commuters with snackes, coffee, etc. If you can volunteer, it would be much appreciated. Sign up on the Overland website.


Thursday, June 24th: Women's Skills Clinic, 6-8 p.m:  Please see the details below. The event signup will be on the site soon. We'll let you know when it becomes available. Just wanted to ge the word out now since it is coming up soon.

Who: Beginner Women
Where: Spring Canyon Bike Park/Pineridge - meet at Parking Lot of Spring Canyon Park on the west end (dead end of Overland Trail)

Why: To learn awesome tips from awesome women on bikes
Instructors: Barb Allan and Tami Perrin
Cost: Free to members of Overland Mountain Bike Club. $10 for non-members paid in cash the day of the clinic
Other important details:
Number of participants is limited to 12 on a first come, first served basis. Sign up if you plan on attending
Helmets must be worn by all participants
Bicycles should be in good working order with proper tire pressure. Instructors plan to talk briefly about bike setup and bike fit, answer any questions about basic bike mechanics then work on skills and go for a ride.  Light refreshments will be served afterward
 
Thursday, June 24th: Trail Evening at Bobcat Ridge. 6 p.m. - Head out to the Bobcat Ridge for a little trail work in the evening. Doug and Steve could really use your help.


Monday, June 28th: Monthly Meeting at New Belgium Brewery. Ride your bike to the meeting and earn a few extra points.


Please note: If you are new or simply forgot how to access the Member Resources side of the Overland website, please contact Kory. (koryswan at gmail.com). We list events, rides, patrols, etc and you can sign up for these things and earn valuable points and win valuable prizes. Also, please take a minute to sign up for any event you plan on attending or have attended. It heps us keep track of the amount of volunteer hours that we contribute every year.


If something is missing from the calendar, please contact me also. We're doing our best to keep things coordinated between committees but occasionally, stuff slips by.


If you have things you'd like the Board of Directors to address, please contact the Board at: bod (at) overlandmtb.org.


That's about it for now. Hope you all have a great week and get out on your bikes soon.

Monday, June 7, 2010

It's Gonna Be a Great Week! Friends of Lory, Bobcat, Social Ride...

I could grace you all with a new shot of another bloody appendage, and I’d like to say that I didn’t crash again since my last post, but… Ain’t mountain biking fun? Seriously, as I was looking west out over the terrain up at Bobcat Ridge, I was just thinking how great it is to be able to hop on my bike and get to somewhere so beautiful, so quickly. (On another Bobcat note, my chicken little self rode the first of the three skinny rides (when you’re going downhill) this weekend. Fun stuff. Let’s build some more. Speaking of which, we’ve got great trail stuff rolling this week, along with an awesome Social Ride. And, a little competition regarding one of our signature events, The Friends of Lory Trail Day. You’ll have to read a bit more to find out about that. Here’s what’s happening:

Monday, June 7th – Communication’s Team Meeting at Café Vino – 6:30 p.m. These guys are responsible for the ‘Card Competition’ (Who will win the prize at this month's meeting?) and the Overland bags going home with new bike purchases. They’ve also been setting up booths at bike-related events around town. It’s all in an effort to get the word out about our great organization, attract new members, and be able to continue to do all of the great stuff we do year ‘round.

Tuesday, June 8th – Trails Committee Meeting at Café Vino – 6:30 p.m. Wow! Can’t say enough about what this crew’s been up to…Working with the Land Agencies, planning trail days. Awesome stuff. Check out Stacy’s info below.

Wednesday, June 9th – Social Ride at Maxwell - 6:00 p.m.  Last week there must have been 30 of us. Great to see all the riders and hang out a bit afterwards. And great to see Jason Trujillo and the High School Mountain Bikers hitting the trails. As always, if you’re coming, bring something drinkable and edible to share. Thanks again to Josh for opening up his backyard. Please note: Next week’s Social Ride will be at the Soderberg parking lot. Social hour will begin afterwards at Kory and Jen’s. Login to the member’s website for address and details.

Thursday, June 10th – Bobcat Ridge Trail Evening - 6 p.m. We can do better than 2! Last Bobcat Ridge trail evening only saw two of us show up. And what great work the two of them did. Nice water crossing, by the way. Starting at 6 p.m. Show up for a little bit of evening trail work with Doug and Steve. These guys have been kickin’ butt out at Bobcat and it has made a difference.

Saturday, June 12th – Our summer classic – Friends of Lory Trail Day, now in its 14th year. Come give Lory a little lovin’. Sign up HERE! Rodge and Paul have done a great job organizing this event. This is one of my favorite days of the year. When 50-60 people show up to play in the dirt together, it’s simply fun. Overland will provide food and snacks. You provide your muscles, a camelback/water bottle, gloves, sturdy shoes, long pants and some sunscreen. Whichever member shows that he/she brought the most non-member volunteers wins a new car! (Okay, maybe not a new car, but something will be awarded to him/her at the next monthly meeting.) Talk it up at the office, the gym, the coffee shop, wherever. And share this link: www.overlandmtb.org/FLTD


Sunday, June 13th – Ride. And if you want, head over to CSU for the Oval Races in the evening.

Patroller’s Corner (From Bill H - our Patrol Director)
Hi Patrollers and Club members, I am going to try for a CPR/First Aid refresher this month, it will be a one evening review for anyone whose card has expired in the last year. And if we can get at least 6 people I will schedule a full CPR/First Aid class. So by Wednesday this week, email me with what you are interested in and what evenings work for you, the full class will take two, 4 hour sessions.  Also I will be ordering more patrol jerseys and vests, I have a limited amount of some sizes, those run $35. If it's a size I don't have I will place an order. Prices should be similar. Please email before the next social ride. Thanks! Keep up the great work and see you on the trails. Bill H (wfheist (at) msn.com

Speaking of Jerseys
We'll be ordering a new round of jerseys in some different styles. Keep an eye out!

Stacy’s Trail News
Overland Members have been invited to join the American Conservation Corp in working on the Margaret-Molly-Moon trail project happening throughout June. Yes, that’s NOW. There is some GREAT work about to be done. Everyone MUST pre-register through Kristy Wumkes if you are interested in volunteering. Here are the specifics:

June 8-10 NEW trail construction on Lady Moon Trail
June 11-12 Heavy maintenance on eastern Granite Ridge (formerly Molly Lake) Trail
June 15-19 NEW trail construction to create the Molly-Moon trail connecting Granite Ridge with Lady Moon Trails
June 22-26 Finish work for Molly-Moon then on to NEW trail construction for the Lady Moon Loop Trail
July 13-17 NEW construction continued for Lady Moon Loop Trail
July 27-28 Heavy maintenance continued on eastern Granite Ridge Trail


* Hardhats and tools will be provided. You will need to bring work gloves, boots, lunch, & rain gear.  Volunteers can do 4 hour or 8 hour days. This is really exciting and we hope that we will see a lot of Overland Mountain Bike Club members helping out on this newly opened area to bikes!

CONTACT:
Kristy Wumkes, Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests, 970.295.6721, kwumkes (at)fs.fed.us
Reminder: September 25th outreach and trail day at Redfeather Lakes. Looking for 3 volunteers to be trail crew leaders for the day (all instruction will be provided! A great opportunity to jump in and help out, even if this is your first time). Contact our esteemed Federal Trails Team - Jen Klink and Jeff Morton - for more information and to volunteer.


We’re All Invited
New club member, Matt Wells, has invited us all to an Overland Club VIP Night and Pizza Social. There’ll be a Group Ride sponsored by Performance ahead of time.
When: Thursday June 17th 8pm-9pm
Where: Performance Bicycle Shop on S. College Ave. (next to King Soopers)
What: Club VIP Night and Pizza Social. Free Pizza/drinks, lots of FREE GEAR giveaways, 10-15% off everything
Who: All Overland Mountain Bike club members, friends/family, and prospective members are welcome. Kids welcome, All Kids leave with free gear.


Tour de Fat News
The Tour de Fat truck will be rolling for places other than Fort Collins here in the next week or so. We wish our friends at New Belgium another great season of spreading the bike love. May your travels be safe and rewarding. Also, please get Saturday, September 4th on your calendar. The Tour rolls into Fort Collins that weekend and we need everyone out to help. It’s a huge fundraiser for us and it allows us to do what we do. Thanks again Tour de Fat Carnies, and New Belgium.


Please, please, please: If you have something you'd like to have published in the blog, or have a cool picture or story to share, email them to Kory by the Friday before. We know how important it is to share info, but we'd like to cut down on the amount of emails heading into everyone's email boxes. Please plan ahead a bit. Email them to: koryswan (at) gmail.com

And that, my friends, is all… See you on the trails…