Overland Mountain Bike Club

Bike to Work! And more...

2010-06-21T07:06:00.001-06:00

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

Wet, Wet, Wet

2010-06-14T06:11:00.002-06:00

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.

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

2010-06-07T05:43:00.004-06:00

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…

2010-05-31T10:09:00.001-06:00

So, over the course of the few years that I’ve ridden the Wathen Trail with Joe Perrin, we’ve nicknamed several spots where we’ve been bitten. The latest nicknamed area? Flipper Rock. Just ask Rob F. about it. Don’t worry Rob, it flipped me this week too. Ain’t mountain biking fun? Seems as thought Wathen took down a few of us in the past week. Joe went down on Widowmaker Rock. Always a fun one to crash on. Kevin D. went down just before Superman Rock and just after. Nothing like crashing at 6 a.m. in the morning.
Anyway, enough about owwwies. Onto the biz…

A quick recap from last Monday’s meeting from our Prez – Ron C.

1. Gave a report on TKMB, it was a great event. Recognized DeWayne & Tyler for wrenching and Full Cycle, Performance & Lee’s for contributions. Also mentioned I will be soliciting volunteers in June for fall TKMB.
2. Announced Skills Clinic, Friends of Lory Trail Day and the next trail meeting. Talked up skills clinic.
3. Todd, Monty and Ron talked about IMBA meeting and the need for club growth. Monty went off on a mooning storyJ
4. Three new Patrollers got First Aid kits. Nice work!
5. Bill solicited another round of CPR/FA re-cert. I need to go.
6. Monty talked about the Communications Committee and what they are doing. Thanks to Shawn, Jeff, Mary Lou and Ramon for helping out. And don't forget the CARD COMPETITION! Win valuable prizes!
7. Discussion on trail work at Bobcat, talked about the need to filter stuff on the Google calendar and the Overland website presentation. I updated the Google calendar to reflect that the Bobcat work was “Trail Maintenance” so it can be filtered on the Overland Calendar.
8. Gave out a bunch of tubes & patch kits to patrollers, sold some shirts and jerseys.
9. Lots of miscellaneous dates were thrown out by Todd for Gowdy/?? Trail days. Todd needs to put these on the calendar for us.
10. Stuffed all the bags for the Communications Committee. That went well.

Other stuff:

Overland Grant Awarded - Jason Trujillo has worked tirelessly to get this H.S. Mountain Bike League up and running along with beginning the process to become a non-profit soley focused on kids getting on bikes. Overland recently awarded Jason and his group the funds to purchase a trailer to store all of his gear, take to races, and use as a portable command center for events. If you want more info on Jason and his efforts, we can put you in touch.

Youth Skills Clinic, Saturday, June 5th – Please spread the word. There are still plenty of spots open for this event. Free to children of Overland MTB Club Members. $10.00 to those who aren’t. The link for the sign-up is in the right hand column.

Bike Parts Swap, June 6th 9-11 a.m. – Hosted by club member, Dewayne N, Informal bike part/misc stuff swap behind Full Cycle. This is a non-sanctioned event loosely organized by me so we can all get rid of our extra stuff in the garage/basement. Hope to see you all there. Oh, and bring some cool stuff!!

Communications Committee Meeting – Monday, June 7th at Café Vino. Come help us work to spread the word about Overland Mountain Bike Club. Meeting time, 6:30 p.m. CARD COMPETITION: Don't forget to put your name on your Overland Cards when you pass them out on the trail. I've already given away at least a dozen. My bet, however, is on Rob F. Win some prizes. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, email Kory.

Trails Committee Meeting – Tuesday June 8th. This from Stacy: News since last OMBC meeting:

1. The city is excited about the interpretive Pineridge signs, and suggested we also put a few on Maxwell's to spread out the messages
2. They are also excited to fix the few boggy spots behind the stadium that always get trashed after a rain. They plan to get on it in a few weeks.
3. I'm very actively seeking people to volunteer to do recon-rides on all of our trails. Basically, I need people to go out and ride, and really take a good look at the trail, how it flows, the condition it is in, and take note of areas of damage. Take photos. Give reports. Send the info. to me at ombc.trails (at) gmail.com so we can start planning our projects for the next 2-5 years. Please have people contact me THIS WEEK to get signed up for specific trails. This is an ongoing invitation to submit information to the trails committee, however it is important that we identify as many trail condition issues as possible in the next couple of weeks.

June 12th, Friends of Lory Trail Day – 14 years and running. This is a great event. Bring your friends and family. Many hands make for light work! Please sign up on the link in the right hand column. Also, Roger Thomson is looking for crew leaders. Let him know if you can be a crew leader.

A big thanks from Judy Chapman over at McKee Medical Center: “Thank you for volunteering for the Community Classic Bike Tour on Sunday. We had over 200 volunteers and nearly 1,500 riders. Due to this tremendous support, over $80,000 was raised for the Stepping Stones Adult Day Program expansion project!”

That’s all I’m going to run through right now. May your wheels keep contact with the ground, and if they don’t, I hope it’s a soft landing.

Monthly Meeting - TONIGHT

2010-05-24T05:01:00.000-06:00

It's that time of the month when we all show up at Catalyst Coffee and Tap Room and talke mountain bikes! Join us for our monthly awards. Updates on trail days, events, and more.

We're rolling out a little FRIENDLY COMPETITION tonight along with putting together a great Overland goody bag for folks who buy new bikes!

If you want to sign up to volunteer for Friends of Lory Trail Day, the link is in the column to the right.

If you want to sign up for the Youth Skills Clinic, the link is in the column to the right also.

Visit our CALENDAR for more info!

Hope to see everyone there!

May 17th and Beyond....

2010-05-17T05:43:00.000-06:00

Ahh, spring weather...Gotta love a nice little branch crushing snowstorm in May.

Hope you all are well. We're looking at an interesting week culminating in our 2nd Annual Spring Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day where 40 kids and their parents will roll through Pineridge and Maxwell. A big 'Thanks' to the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas for granting us access. Speaking of Take a Kid. If you haven't yet volunteered, please do so HERE. It's sure to be a great day.

Social Ride Presto - Changeo
The Social Ride will meet over at the Soderberg Trailhead this week. Mixin' things up a bit once a month. If you'd like directions, go HERE. Hope to see you all over there this week. As always, this ride is dependent on the weather. All riders are welcome. These are social, 'no drop' rides. We'll be meeting up for snacks and drinks afterwards. As always, bring something to share.

NBB Races - The FINALE
The Final Short Track Race of the Season runs Tuesday Night. If you haven't taken part, do it Tuesday. We have some very exciting plans for this race day. BRING YOUR ID----NEW BELGIUM BEER GARDEN ($4.00 NBB Cans---Ranger, Sunshine Wheat and Fat Tire) -- BRING YOUR ID and some extra cash......As usual we will have a raffle to give away and represent our sponsors products, including the grand prize drawing for the NBB Cruiser bike which is Super Rad this year. All that participated in the first two NBB Races and are present at the last one are eligible to win. Must be there to win. Titus will be there with their demo fleet of bikes you can test ride. Food for sale "Fly By Diner". See you Tuesday. -Jason

Trails Committee Needs Photos and Feedback
The Trails Committee is looking for input from all club members regarding trail conditions. Please take photos of sections of trail you feel are in need of work, whether simple trail maintenance or massive work-arounds and new lines. In order to effectively discuss our long-term trail maintenance and building plans at the June meeting, we need to identify the key trail problem areas in the next few weeks. Any input is much appreciated! And as always, please come to a trails meeting, or just email us with your thoughts on trail work you'd like to see done. We'd like to keep the ball rolling by having a number of trail proposals in the works throughout the year. Now is the time to contribute!

Send trail feedback and photos to: ombc.trails (at) gmail.com
There are a lot of trail days on the calendar this year - between Lory, Horsetooth, Hewlett's, Bobcat, Devils Backbone, and Redfeather, there will be plenty of opportunities to help repair and rebuild trails. Keep an eye on the OMBC website calendar. Thanks! -Stacy

Patroller's Corner
Congrats to our newest patroller Dave Skram!!! And our first Trail Ambassador Eric Skram!!! Way to go guys. Remember to get your IMBA/NMBP dues up to date and get your check rides in, we have a couple more riders very close.Thanks to everyone for the help with the Community Classic Bicycle Tour. I need to get a list of everyone who needs or wants First Aid and CPR refresher/recert or the full class, we will try to schedule something next month. Please contact me at wfheist (at) msn.com.
Also, look for an update on the Picnic soon. Thanks. -Bill H

Club Meeting next Monday
Hope to see you all at Catalyst Coffee and Tap Room on Monday, May 24th. We'll talk mountain bikes, have great t-shirts and jerseys for sale, recognize some riders, talk mountain bikes, and keep everyone up to date on what's going on around town.

Also, thanks to Overland Mountain Bike Club for sponsoring me over the past 9 months for the Leadership Fort Collins Class. What an amazing experience and an opportunity to learn more about our great city. There's a nice little write up where Overland is mentioned. Read it HERE. -Kory

We do have one classified ad this week from club member Matt Solley. Check his listing on Craigslist HERE.

And that's about it. Don't forget to stop by one of our great Local Bike Shops and show them some love. And of course, our pals at New Belgium don't mind your support either.

Here's to a dry week...

Spring Newsletter

2010-05-09T20:58:00.000-06:00

This week's blog is in two parts. The NEWSLETTER and the agenda below for the Trails Team Meeting on Tuesday.

Have a great week. See you on Wednesday for the ride. We'll either hit Josh's afterwards and console him or head to Maya Cove at the corner of Drake and Taft Hill.

Keep those knobbies rolling.

Trails Committee Meeting: Tuesday, May 11th, 7:30pm at NEW BELGIUM BREWERY.

2010-05-09T18:49:00.001-06:00

On the agenda:
1. Overview of the new Trails Committee Google calendars
2. Discussing upcoming trail maintenance days: how many OMBC trail days can we do this year (Pineridge, Bobcat, etc.) and how do we want to be involved with trail days of other groups (volunteers, food, etc)
3. Budget for the above-mentioned.
4. Group discussion of reasonable trail projects to propose over the next 2 years, based on cost, relationships with the land owners, and status of the current travel management plan for that trail area.
5. Prioritize projects and assign volunteers to start researching/writing a proposal for longer-term projects. I want to be sure each team has a project brewing.
6. Look at our comprehensive list of trails thus far, making additions as needed.

* Your homework:
1. We're compiling an exhaustive spreadsheet of all the area trails, per land agency. Please bring your front range trail knowledge to help fill in some of the gaps!
2. Decide if you want to be an integral part of a *new* trail project over the next couple of years, and be prepared to step up and volunteer to help with the proposal! Great opportunity to communicate with Trails Committee team leaders, land owners, rangers, trail designers, and volunteers! Never done this before? Sweet. You're in good company. It's a learning process.

* Trails Team leaders:

If you have any information on the expiration date / re-writing of your land agency's travel management plan, please bring that information to the meeting (better yet, email it to me as well) so we as a group can discuss ways we can pro-actively be involved in the new trail development and start thinking of a timeline for doing so. Also include the main contact person and their phone number/email for that land agency. Thanks!

* Do we have a volunteer to take the minutes for this meeting? Beer may be involved....

See you Tuesday!

Stacy
ombc.trails (at) gmail.com

Spring Take A Kid Registration Filling Fast

2010-05-06T07:26:00.001-06:00

We love kids. We love kids on mountain bikes. In fact, we love kids so much we've added another Take-A-Kid Mountain Biking Day to our calendar. We'll help kids understand the importance of being safe while out on the trail. We'll lead guided rides for Beginning riders, Intermediate riders, and Advanced riders. And of course, we'll have food too!

Any child who can pedal a bike is welcome to join us. (Parents are welcome to join us for the ride too.) Here's the info you'll need:

Where: Maxwell Natural Area Parking Lot
When: May 22nd @ 9:30 a.m.

Registration is limited for this free event and is filling fast. REGISTER HERE. You'll need to register each child individually. Please don't register yourself.

We hope to see you on May 22nd. We do have a limited number of 'loaner' bikes and helmets for those kids who might not have a bike and/or helmet. Helmets will be required on all riders who participate in the event.

Meeting Notes from April 26th

2010-04-28T08:27:00.002-06:00

WOW! Great turnout. Thanks again to Catalyst Coffee and Tap Room for hosting. Congrats to our top Patroller of the Month – Tommy B. and to our top Points Earner - Pete Skram (Who’s going to topple Pete this year?)

Update on the Colorado Summit:
Doug B and Todd T attended for the club. Doug mentioned we, as a club, are in pretty good shape. Todd spoke about Wilderness trail closures as bikes are lumped in w/motorized vehicles. This is something we want to pay very close attention to. Pump tracks are all the rage in Salina. Start building yours now. (If you’re curious as to what a pump track is, visit Lory State Park or Spring Canyon Park. They both have them.) Todd mentioned Gowdy. Doug mentioned that mtn. bikers are underrepresented and we need to get involved to ensure that our voice is heard.

That being said, the County’s Parks Advisory Board and Open Space Advisory Board are taking applications until April 30th. Who’s going to be the star for the mtb community and volunteer? Meetings are once a month. It would be great to have someone from the club on both of these boards. Go to www.larimer.org/boards for more info. Get your app in by April 30th.

Greg Mazu, Kristy Wumkes, and Ron Chambers walked Hewlett Gulch. The Forest Service is looking at re-routing the asteroid belt portion of the lollipop loop on Hewlett. If all goes well, the re-route will take place in 2011. We’ll work to remain involved as much as possible.

Take a Kid Mtn. Biking Day is just around the corner. To volunteer, sign up here: www.overlandmtb.org/TKMB . It’s May 22nd. We’ll see 40 kids and their parents. Registration for kids will be available soon.

Patrol and Club Picnic will be rescheduled. Sometime in June. Rodger T will showcase the new Overland Grill.

Forest Service Training/City Training – Good turnout for both. If you need training, please email Bil Heisterman. ( wfheist (at) msn.com) Bill recognized Doug, Dave, Paul, Jeff, and Nick. They have all gotten their first aid training done. Also, the patrol will support the Community Classic on May 16th. It raises money for the McKee Foundation and is McKee’s main fundraiser for the year. We need 5 teams of two. That’s ten folks, for you non-mathematical folks. Email Bill if you’d like to help out. It’s an 8 point ride for you point getters.

Team Leaders were announced. I wasn’t paying attention. I think they were Todd T, Jess Mallory, Doug Baker, New John, Pete, Thuan, and Joe ummm, and that’s all I remember. I think Bill still needs a leader or two. Email him if you’re interested.

Patrollers - Please make it obvious that you are a patroller when you are on the trail. When you’re out on the trail, especially Lory, please let Rangers know what you experienced while you are out. Joe mentioned that County Rangers don’t seem to be all that friendly. We’ll talk to Jacob about this.

Communications Team – Monty Seitz talked about events, stuff we’ve done to get the word out about the club, etc. Our big initial push was to get folks out to the kick-off meeting. Monty talked about what we’re doing to earn more name recognition including a goodie bag to each person who buys a mountain bike from our local shops. Jim Fu has been spearheading this and already has 500 coupons from Beau Jo’s. Coopersmiths is into it. Wags. Bean Cycle, etc.

We’re also looking for some people to help us out as Bike Shop liaisons. We’ll also do a new Overland Card and we’ll roll out a Card Competition at the next meeting. We also need help with the Communications Team. A list of things, some small, some more involved, was handed out. Contact Kory or Monty for a fresh list if you’re interested. We’ll meet on Monday evenings once a month. Keep an eye out on the calendar. Also, Peloton has agreed to offer 15% off at their shop along with Full Cycle and probably Lee’s as they always have. We’ll find out from the other shops in town. If you want to help out with Communications, email Monty.

Trails Team - Stacy Schroeder, our chairperson, spoke. Meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of the Month. The May 11th is the next meeting. We’re working on mainly maintenance. We’re working on a trail signage project w/Pineridge. Friends of Lory State Park in June is a huge day. We’ll also help with the August races before and after on the trails at Lory. Corey Rhodes has been working with the county on Sawmill/Rim Rock/Blue Sky. Jen and Jeff are working with the Forest Service. There will be a lot of opportunity to help them out – especially in the Redfeather area. We also have a GPS Team that is working on getting some good maps for people. Pete Skram is helping with this. Todd has a bunch of stuff going at Gowdy. He’s looking for input this Saturday, May 1st at 9 a.m. Extreme lines. Meet at the parking lot at the Middle Kingdom parking lot at Gowdy. Steve Lacey met w/Bobcat Ranger Carl. The city is receptive to us going up there and working on lines when people can go – not as a big trail day – etc. This would also happen at Soapstone. Steve’s trying to get this going on Thursdays. Keep an eye out on the calendar for upcoming trail days. And if you want to help with trails, go to a trail meeting. I’m so impressed by what this committee is doing. Nice work everyone.

Group Rides have been a success. Please volunteer to ride sweep at least once this season.

Barb ROCKS. Thanks to Barb Allan for her many years of service to the club. Kory will get her thank you soon.

If you’d like to volunteer with any club activities, please, ask how you can. We have opportunities, both small and bigger. Remember, all of us donate our time which makes this club awesome. Please help out in anyway that you can.

And last but not least, Jess mentioned that they’re going to start an Overland ride for ladies on Thursdays. This Thursday, Maxwell Parking Lot. Weather Permitting.

Welcome to all the new members! And thanks to all of those who have volunteered their time. See you soon.

Monthly Meeting Tonight!

2010-04-26T05:22:00.000-06:00

Hey Y'all,

What with the wet weather the past few days, I'm sure you're all geared up to talk mountain bikes and that's just exactly what we'll be doing tonight at Catalyst Coffee and Tap Room. In light of that fact, I'll keep this brief.

Monday, April 26th - Monthly Meeting, 6:30 p.m.
Catch up on the latest news, upcoming events, etc. If you're new and haven't received your water bottle and socks, this is a good time to do that. We'll also have jerseys for sale (40 bucks-what a deal!) and this year's t-shirt (5 bucks - even better deal). We'll also talk about what other types of gear you may be interested in purchasing as a group (jackets, vests, etc...)

Tuesday, April 27th - 4 p.m.(ish)
Short Track Races are back. Behind New Belgium Brewing Co. For up-to-date info visit our friends at Your Group Ride. Please do not park in Employee Parking Lots. And keep an eye out at Your Group Ride for updates due to weather. If you've always wondered about racing, this is a great intro. 5 bucks unless you're a kid. Then it's free.

Wednesdays - Social Ride times to change in May
This is the last Wednesday we'll do a Social Ride at 5:30. (Weather permitting, of course. What with more sunlight and all, we'll start riding at 6 p.m. Give everyone a chance to get there from work. And to mix things up, once a month we'll meet over at the Soderberg parking lot on the west side of Horsetooth Reservoir. A big thanks to John, Andy, and Pete for sweeping the three different group last week. Please set aside at least one Wednesday of the group ride and volunteer to sweep. Thanks.

That's about it for now. If you haven't had a chance to read the article on our friends at the Bike Co-op donating bikes to students at Putnam, it's a pretty cool story.

Other than that, we'll dispense a bunch of new info tonight - new contests, bbq info, etc. If you haven't yet become a fan of Overland Mountain Bike Club on Facebook, do it now. If you haven't yet become a member, it's the best 20 bucks you'll spend all year ( 35 for a household!) See you tonight. Everybody's invited.

Picnic Baskets, Monthly Meeting, and More...

2010-04-21T06:14:00.000-06:00

Greetings Dirt Lovers,

I'm sure there aren't any of you, aside from a few surgically impaired, who haven't touched a ribbon of singletrack recently. Good riding. Horsetooth Mtn. Park was in great shape last weekend. I don't know about you, but the work that the county has done on the Carey Springs trail is a big improvement. Less sketch. More flow. And I'm a huge fan of grade reversals instead of water bars... I love spring... And weekly social rides. Don't forget, Wednesdays, 5:30. Maxwell Parking Lot. Everyone is welcome.

NOT JUST FOR PATROLLERS. SIGN UP TODAY!
Our annual Patrol Picnic is more of a 'Welcome to Riding Season Picnic'. There'll be riding, there'll be some education, there'll be fun. All club members are welcome. We'd like to be able to feed you if you plan on coming. Our Patrol Director, Bill Heisterman, is calling in an order to Backcountry Provisions tonight. If you plan on attending, please go to the Overland website, login and add yourself to the day's event. If you haven't been able to figure out how to navigate the member's side of the website, send an email to Bill and tell him you're coming. You can reach him at: wfheist (at) msn.com. WHERE? Lory State Park-Corral Center. Saturday, April 24th. 9 a.m. Bring your bike.

MONTHLY MEETING THIS MONDAY! BRING $$ FOR OVERLAND GEAR
Join us for our Monthly Meeting. All sorts of information will be offered... Upcoming skills clinics, plans for trails, news on events, etc. If you're a new member and haven't gotten your socks and water bottle, now's the time. Pick up this year's Overland T-Shirt for the amazingly low price of 5 bucks! Where? Catalyst Coffee and Tap Room - Northwest corner of Shields and Horsetooth. Monday, April 26th, 6:30 p.m. Meeting is open to the general public.

AN EVENING AT THE RACES!
It's that time of year again. Short Track Races behind New Belgium will be kicking off each Tuesday starting April 27th. Great intro to MTB racing. Great spectating. Races are free for kids! If they can ride a bike, they can race. For more info visit our friends over at YOUR GROUP RIDE.

IMPORTANT TRAIL DAY JUST AROUND THE CORNER
Help us transform Pineridge into an Interpretive Mountain Bike Trail. We'll be adding instructional signage around Pineridge and helping the city designate the trail as a 'Beginner's Trail'. Volunteers are needed. Where? Pineridge Main Parking Lot, Saturday, May 8th.

TAKE A KID MOUNTAIN BIKING DAY REGISTRATION AND VOLUNTEERS
Spring Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day will fill up in a hurry with a 40 kid limit. I'll have registration ready to roll by Monday of next week. It's a great event. We'll need a bunch of volunteers to make this event a success. We'll also be able to show off the new signage around Pineridge. Volunteer Sign Up will be available by Monday also. Where? Saturday, May 22nd. Maxwell parking Lot. 9 a.m.

FOR SALE ITEMS AND EMAIL LISTS
In an effort to keep Overland's ACTIVE email list free of clutter, we'd like to reserve its usage for club business only. Our goal is to put all club communications in one weekly blog (this one) and make it a central point for info. That's our goal... People's in-boxes are already overflowing. In order to help us out with that, we're asking that you not post items for sale to the the general membership. Craigslist is a great place to advertise things. Our friends at YOUR GROUP RIDE have a "Classifieds" section in their Forum. We're also going to try something new. If you have a bike for sale - not an old derailler, a bent pair of purple anodized cranks, or a broken spoke - a complete bike worthy of riding, you may send the info to Kory at "news (at) overlandmtb.org", and I will post it at the bottom of each week's blog. Information to include in the email: The bike, the year, the cost, and who to contact. You may discuss the details of the bike with people when they contact you. I won't be posting a component by component list.

That's it for this week! See you soon...

Basket of Treats (This week's news..)

2010-04-04T07:58:00.007-06:00

Little plastic eggs are scattered about my house right now. Can’t wait to see the kids’ faces when the roam the house looking for them. I assume, the big grins they’ll have are similar to the one I had on my face as I got out and rode on dry singletrack yesterday. That’s all the Easter basket I need. In fact, isn’t the northern Front Range and our amazing network of trails one big basket of treats?

I have to switch to tubeless tires. I’m 3 for 3 on pinch flats in the past 3 rides… Thanks to the friendly patrollers who offered to help me out yesterday. (I’m pretty sure Dewayne could’ve changed my tire a bit faster than I did…) By the way, was it Overland/DPMBP day on Coyote Ridge yesterday afternoon?

Enough meandering. Here goes the WEEKLY TIDBITS... Man, I’m craving a Cadbury Egg right now.

SOCIAL RIDES: Wednesdays. Be there. Come to have fun. Come to hang out. Come to ride. Maxwell Parking Lot at 5:30. We’ll move them to 6 when we have a bit more daylight. Keep an eye out on the calendar for the change. Also, we’re planning on having a few special Saturday afternoon Q Social Rides. Go for a ride. Meet back for a Q as in BBQ. Details will be released when we’ve got it all pinned down.

NEW BELGIUM SHORT TRACK RACES - Coming soon. Great Family Event on a Tuesday eve. Keep an eye out on the calendar.

COLORADO H.S. MTN BIKING LEAGUE - Informative Meeting on Wed. 4/7/10, 6:00pm-7:00 or 7:30pm at Fort Collins High School (FCHS 4300 Lambkin Way, 80525) in the cafeteria (enter through the main front entrance).

PATROLLERS' CORNER (From our Fearless Patrol Director, Bill H.)

The trails are starting to dry and it's time to get out there. Remember to be nice to the trails.

Some important dates to remember…
• US Forest Service Good Host Training April 20th @ 6

• City of Fort Collins Good Host Training April 22nd @ 6

Thanks to everyone who got their CPR/First Aid recerts done. Those who completed it on March 15th & 18th, I have your cards and will give them to you at the Patrol Picnic and monthly meeting. We also have 6 new patrollers who have completed their Red Cross training. Congrats. We will have more classes in the coming months.

I need 2 more team leaders/captains, once they are in place we start building the teams and begin the competitions. If you interested let me know. Also looking for some of the experienced patrollers to help with scenarios at the picnic, it should be a lot of fun.

Patrol Training Picnic – The yearly, super fun, learn to deal with trailside injuries, learn to beat a rim back to life, eat plenty of pizza Patrol Training Picnic is April 24th at Lory State Park at the Corral Center Skills Park. This day is always a lot of fun.

Spectacular! From what I understand from Bill, the Patrol response this year has been nothing short of magnificent. Who’s going to unseat Joe Perrin as the top patroller come October? And who’s going to unseat Pete Skram for top points earner and steal away the Silver Sprocket? Who’s going to be rookie of the year? It’s going to be a great season…. Almost forgot.

TRAIL TEAM MEETING - Care about the trails? Show up at Cafe Vino on the 2nd Tuesday of each month. That would be April 13th this month. 6 or 6:30 p.m. Check th calendar to be sure (I'm not sure, right now...)

NEXT MEETING – Yes. We have a monthly meeting this April 26th. There was a bit of confusion about this but now we’re unconfused. Monday, April 26th, 6:30 P.M. at Catalyst Coffee and Tap Room. Plan on being there. Maybe we’ll even give out some prizes.

IMBA WORLD SUMMIT – You know you want to go to Georgia and rub elbows with mountain bikers from around the world. Contact Ron Chambers if you’re interested in attending. Starts May 5th. Ends May 8th. Lots of great stuff on mountain biking.

TAKE A KID MOUNTAIN BIKING DAY - We'll have the registration for this rolling soon. It's set for May 22nd. 40 kid limit. Guaranteed, this will fill up fast. Plan on volunteering...

FRIENDS OF LORY TRAIL DAY – June 12th. We need all hands on deck for this annual trail day. Get it on your calendar/crackberry/iphone now. Thanks to Rodger Thompson and Paul Slaughter for organizing.

Outreach Days, Skills Clinics, Q Socials, etc. will get on the calendar soon. Keep an eye out. And I think that’s enough for one week. Time for pancakes. Enjoy the treats this week offers. (BTW…I owe Bob Bonds a treat for answering last week’s question.)

Ridin' in the Sludge, Social Rides, and 1st Patroller's Meeting

2010-03-21T20:12:00.001-06:00

Last weekend was such a tease, wasn't it? Looks like this last batch of snow will be gone pretty quickly. Hopefully by the time it's dry enough to ride, I'll have my bike back together.

Ist Patroller's Meeting: Monday, March 22nd at New Belgium Brewery. You don't want to miss this meeting. Great info about becoming a patroller and how much fun it is to volunteer your time. It's all about the riding anyway. Anyway, the meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. Hope to see you there.

Riding Sludge (from Stacy S. our Trail Committe Chairperson)
Hope everyone got some quality time on the trails last week! I'm sure we're all a bit giddy from that sudden blast of spring.

I definitely heard a bit of grumbling about the trail conditions - directed at hikers, horses, and yes, even mountain bikers who got out on the trails just a few days too early, creating a bumpy, rutted out mess for the rest of us to "enjoy".

As this new snow melts and the trails slowly come back to life, let's minimize trail damage by WAITING to use them until they are dry. It's good for the trails, and a great example to others. I think there are still a few more days to be enjoyed out on the roads before full-on-mountain biking season is in effect. And remember, if you encounter sections of moisture along the trail, always ride THROUGH the mud, not around it. This prevents widening of the trail.

Group Rides
Social rides have begun. Just a reminder that you represent the club on our social rides and as much fun as they generally are, we must keep that in mind. These social rides are "No Drop" rides and it's important that whoever the ride leader is (patroller or not) and sweep rider, is that you keep a head count and make sure everyone is accounted for at various points of the ride and at the end. Imagine how it would look to less skilled riders if all they do is chase and chase. We are not a club of only experts. Let's remember to be teachers and coaches. The social ride is an excellent opportunity for doing this, answering questions during the ride and at the end. We all want everyone to experience what we love and join us. (If the trails dry out, we'll meet this week ride at 5:30 from the Maxwell Parking lot. Hope to see you there.)

That's about all for now. I'm keeping it short. See you tomorrow night or on the trails real soon.

Susan DeMattei, Dave Wiens to Host Colorado CycleFest

2010-03-17T21:25:00.001-06:00

Fundraiser to support Colorado High School Cycling League
Contact: Kate Rau kate@coloradomtb.org (720) 272-9282, http://coloradomtb.org/cyclefest2010.htm

DENVER, Colo. – Olympic and World Cup stars, Susan DeMattei and Dave Wiens are offering Colorado cyclists a memorable weekend when they host the inaugural Colorado CycleFest, Saturday May 1, and Sunday May 2, 2010, in support of the Colorado High School Cycling League.

In a joint statement, Susan DeMattei and Dave Wiens said, “CycleFest is the main fundraising drive of high school mountain biking for Colorado, so it’s really important that mountain bikers across the state come out and support this. More than just competition, high school mountain bike racing will introduce cycling to a whole segment of our youth that otherwise may never be exposed to it. Every boy and girl on your local high school mountain bike team gets to compete on race day; there is no sitting on the bench! The CycleFest is an unprecedented event, we are really looking forward to meeting everybody, and anyone who loves bicycles should definitely be there!”

Attendees at the Colorado CycleFest weekend will enjoy a gala dinner and silent auction on Saturday, May 1, in Palettes Restaurant at the Denver Art Museum. Then on Sunday, May 2, is a rare opportunity to ride with the two Mountain Biking greats, Susan DeMattei and Dave Wiens, when they lead a road ride from Boulder followed by lunch at the Bacaro Venetian Taverna, hosted by Fabio Flagiello.

Wheat Ridge Cyclery and Trek Bikes have provided a 2010 Trek Fuel EX8.0 for raffle. The lucky winner will be given a choice of color and frame size, or else to apply $2200 to any Trek bike at Wheat Ridge Cyclery. Tickets cost only $5 and may be purchased online at http://www.coloradomtb.org/cyclefest_raffle.html or else at the door. A host of fabulous prizes for the silent auction are donated by Specialized, SRAM, Trek, Wheat Ridge Cyclery and Yeti.

CycleFest tickets are $100.00 regular, and $150 for Patron tickets, which provide admission to a special cocktail hour. Proceeds from the ticket sales go to supporting the Colorado High School Cycling League, so be sure to purchase one for your friend/spouse/partner too! Tickets to all events are available online at http://coloradomtb.org/cyclefest2010.htm

What: Colorado High School Cycling League CycleFest: Cycling celebrities, gala dinner, raffle, silent auction and ride at Colorado’s two-wheeled social event of the year.

Where: Denver, Colorado (Sunday Ride is in Boulder)

When: May 1st, gala dinner; May 2nd, road ride and lunch

Who: Dave Wiens, Susan DeMattei

Why: Benefit for the Colorado High School Cycling League.

About the Colorado High School Cycling League

The Colorado High School Cycling League promotes personal development and teamwork through bicycle racing, and encourages the formation of teams at public and private high schools. With the cooperation of local race promoters and our sponsors, the League organizes a first class series of races designed for high school aged riders. The League makes high school racing the easiest route for juniors to get involved in the challenging and exciting world of competitive cycling. The Colorado League was kick-started with a generous grant from the founding SoCal sponsor, Easton Foundations, and is also generously supported by founding national sponsor, Specialized Bicycle Components, as well as SRAM, Trek Bicycles, Clif Bar and Co., Primal Wear, Yeti Bicycles, Wheat Ridge Cyclery and Fox Racing Shox. Contact: Kate Rau kate@coloradomtb.org (720) 272-9282

Weekly News and Updates

2010-03-14T21:04:00.003-06:00

I giggled like a little school boy on my first mountain bike descent of the new year on Saturday. Oh what fun it is to ride on a two-wheeled bouncy bike! By the way, the trails at Coyote Ridge are bone dry. And with that statement made, please become a fan of Overland MTB Club on Facebook and help us keep a constant dialogue running about trails. It's quick. It's easy. And it takes the guesswork out of trail conditions. What could be better? The more information we share, the easier it is for all of us to be more aware.

By the way, if you happen to be out and run into a muddy section, ride through it, not around it. Around it widens the trail. This is bad. And if the trail's just too darn muddy, turn back, and then go tell everyone on Facebook!

By the way, the City of Fort Collins keeps trail updates HERE.

First Group Ride of the Season
Be ready to ride on Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. for now, weather permitting of course. Yes, beginning this week. Dress appropriately. As of now, the weather man says 60's on Wednesdays...but... We'll move the rides to 6 p.m. a bit later in the season and we'll plan to mix things up a bit this year too. Maybe a once a month change of place to keep things fresh. Hope to see you there. BTW: We meet at the Maxwell Parking Lot. Bring something to share for afterwards.

First Patroller's Meeting
All Registered Patrollers and all newly interested patrollers need to come to the First Patrollers meeting at New Belgium on Monday, March 22nd. Come find out what patrolling's all about . Refreshements and food will be served. Bring a friend.

First Aid Classes for Returning Patrollers
Monday, March 15th and Thursday, March 18th. We have the Media Center at Rickards, Long, and Rulon (same place as always) reserved for us for the evenings of March 15th and March 18th. Contact Bill Heisterman, Patrol Director, at wfheist (at) msn.com if you have questions.

Trails Committee Meeting:
Tuesday, April 13th the Trail Committee will meet in the basement at Cafe Vino for some more ideas, strrategie, etc. This committe's picking up a head of steam and really working to help us make a difference. Contact Stacy Schroeder at schroeder.stacy (at) gmail.com if you have questions or want to help.

IMBA's Colorado Mountain Bike Summit
We've set aside some funds to send some folks to the Mountain Bike Summit in Salida in April. This will be a great way to network with other Colorado mountain bike groups, go to some cool training sessions, and really get fired up about mountain biking. Go to IMBA's Website for more information on the event. If you're interested in going, type up a reason why and submit it to the Board of Directors at bod (at) overlandmtb.org.

Awesome Trail Days on the Horizon
Get these days on your calendar! The IMBA Trail Care Crew will be at the Happy Jack Recreation Area (WY) from June 17th - 20th. They will need volunteers for trail work on the 19th and 20th. Lunch will be provided both days. IMBA will be offering a trail building 'school', probably the evening of June 17th. IMBA social event tentatively scheduled for the evening of June 19th. More information and updates can be found at Laramie Bike Net and the Laramie Enduro will also try to keep updates posted.

Alright. That's about it. See you on the trails.

Coaches Needed: High School Mountain Biking

2010-03-14T20:34:00.000-06:00

Colorado HS MTB Coaches!

We are pleased to announce team/club registration for the first 2010 Colorado High School Mountain Biking Racing Series is now open. Ride Leaders, Assistant Coaches, and Head Coaches may also obtain a General Volunteer License which includes liability insurance.

If you have any questions please contact me directly at the NICA Headquarters : Mike Cruz, (510) 524-5464, mike@nationalmtb.org

Coach Registration

The Coaches Licensing Program, devised by NICA, was first established in 2008 in an effort to ensure that Head Coaches, Assistant Coaches and Ride Leaders are trained in the best practices of youth mountain bike coaching. Obtaining your license also provides the League's comprehensive liability insurance and ensures that basic youth worker precautions are being made.

Our program is set up to encourage all Ride Leaders, Assistant Coaches, and Head Coaches to start working towards these higher level licenses. However, in 2010 all volunteers can participate with a General Volunteer License. Lastly, each team will need to have a coach attend the 2010 Leader Summit on June 5/6 to avoid a penalty fee of $50.

High School Mountain Biking Info

2010-03-14T20:32:00.000-06:00

There are people in our community who are already working on and thinking about the new Colorado High School Cycling League which is new this year and a part of the rapidly growing National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) Unfortunately, we are all like “Islands” that need to come together and form one alliance. Ryan Scalva, Rob Noble and I want to bring interested parties together and form that alliance.

With the help of a group called NCCE (Northern Colorado Cycling Events) we hope to build a foundation this summer and over the next few years that will help all schools towards having their own sustainable programs in the future.

Who should participate?

--- Any High School Student and/or parents interested in being a part of this start up organization.

---Any teachers/coaches interested in cycling and Mountain Biking in particular.

---Any cyclist interested in the growth of cycling in the community.

---Any cycling related industry representatives in Ft. Collins.

Current Colorado Needs:

• 10-12 Advisory Board Members from throughout the state

• Continued fundraising

• Volunteers to Help with the Inaugural Cyclefest Dinner May 1.

• Procurement of Silent Auction Items for Cyclefest Dinner

• Invite and bring guests to Cyclefest

• Race Support for 9/19, 10/03, 10/17 and 10/31 ---Volunteers at events (we will have one of the League races in Ft. Collins).

What Ft. Collins NEEDS!!!!

---Coaches to Attend the NICA Coaches Training and host group rides in Ft. Collins.

---Teachers/Coaches to start groups at individual schools (eventually).

---People to attend meetings and contribute ideas on how to grow this league in Ft. Collins (ex. Attract participants(students), event planning, fundraising advertising, etc….)

NOTE: The season starts in September 2010, however, We are rolling this out now in hope to gain momentum over the summer and lead into the school season of racing with a good foundation and communication among interested parties. I am adding High School Categories (not as a part of the High School Series) to the NBB Short Track Races and The Cycologist Mountain Bike Race Series. This should give 8 weeks of race opportunities and time to attract students to the sport leading into the 2010/11 school year and inaugural High School MTB Racing Season.

--Jason Trujillo

E-mail: jtrujillo (at) newbelgium.com

Celebrate Mountain Biking, Have Your Say, and a Whole Lot More

2010-03-01T06:23:00.001-07:00

MOUNTAIN BIKERS CELEBRATE!

It’s time to CELEBRATE! Why? Because we live in mountain bike heaven and we take it for granted. We’re spoiled. Seriously. With hundreds of miles of trails within a short ride/drive from town, great relationships with the land managers who look after our wonderful trails, limited trail-user conflicts, and a great bike culture, we have it good.

Don’t believe me? Drive down to Jefferson County and ask the mountain bikers about the trails they have to fight to keep open. Pick up one of the monthly mountain bike mags and someone’s always working to keep their trails open. We’ve got it good.

And that’s why we’re CELEBRATING. We’re celebrating the RIDE, the TRAILS, the FUN, and the FRIENDS. Oh, and don’t forget the ANTICIPATION of an upcoming season when the snow is gone and the trails are begging us to roll our knobbies over them.

What’s in it for you? Well, for an hour and a half of your time, you’ll get:

Area mountain biking 411
The ability to network with other local mountain bikers
A clear understanding of who Overland Mountain Bike Club is and what we do. From Group Rides to Trail Days. From Patrolling to Kids Days and Silliness. We’ll cover it all.
A bit of food and refreshments
And much, much more.

(By the way, if you're even considering joining the club, which, I don’t know why any of you wouldn’t, throw a $20.00 bill in your pocket. Or, sign your household up for $35.00. Best deal in town. Just ask Pete.)

Miramont Cycling Extravaganza!

As one of our Outreach Events and to get people fired up about mountain biking, we’re joining Miramont Athletic Club on Saturday, March 6th for their ‘Cycling Fair’. We need volunteers in two hour shifts to help run the booth. You’ll meet and greet, tell people about Overland and Diamond Peaks, and pass out some goodies. Sign up on our website and let Monty Seitz know what shift works for you. Email him at montyseitz (at) gmail.com. Set up starts around 7:15. The event runs until 3.

"Have A Say In How You'll Play"

This is huge. This is big. Would you like to see more Mountain Bike Opportunities in our State Parks? Show up to, “Have a Say in How You’ll Play”. Every mountain biker in our region would benefit by showing up to this event. Come out in force!

Colorado State Parks invites the public to “Have a Say in How You’ll Play” by attending one of five public meetings scheduled in the state’s major metropolitan regions during the month of March. Public input is needed to help guide development of the state parks’ 2010-2014 Strategic Plan, which will outline the agency’s top priorities and objectives for the next five years.

In developing the strategic plan, Colorado State Parks will also use the public comments to clarify constituent needs and improve services and programs. The strategic plan will be finalized in late summer 2010. Our local scheduled meeting:

Fort Collins/Loveland: Thursday, March 11, 2010, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Harmony Library, 4616 South Shields, Fort Collins.

All meetings are free and open to the public—there is no need to RSVP. For more information, visit our website at www.colorado.gov/parks and click the heading “Have Say in How You’ll Play.” Or, call Scott Babcock, Colorado State Parks’ Planning Manager, at (303) 866-3203, ext. 4306.

Mountain Bike Patrolling is Fun
Find out more on March 22nd

Why do people Patrol the trails they ride? Because it’s fun. That’s right, it’s fun. I've been a Certified Mountain Bike Patroller for 3 years now and each ride I've had has been fun. Besides, there are added benefits. 1. You always have a partner to ride with. 2. You get to help:

Help the land managers understand who’s out using the trails
Help people who show up unprepared or who get lost or get hurt
Help report problems that could cause dangerous situations on the trail.

And really, for most of us, it’s not different from anything we’d normally do on the trail anyways. It’s just a little more formal. The training’s a little more in depth. And you have to keep your eyes and ears open a little bit more when you’re on the trail. It’s not about enforcement, it’s about education. And it’s riding. And no matter how you slice and dice it, riding’s always fun. (And, we give out cool stuff to patrollers throughout the season.)

When: March 22nd at New Belgium Brewing Company. 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. Snacks and Refreshments will be served.

High School Mountain Biking UPDATE

This is from Jason Trujillo: There are people in our community who are already working on and thinking about the new Colorado High School Cycling League - please read this ARTICLE - which is new this year and a part of the rapidly growing National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) Unfortunately, we are all like “Islands” that need to come together and form one alliance. Ryan Scalva, Rob Nobl, and I want to bring interested parties together and form that alliance.

With the help of a group called NCCE (Northern Colorado Cycling Events) we hope to build a foundation this summer and over the next few years that will help all schools towards having their own sustainable programs in the future. If you're interested, contact Jason Trujillo. You can reach him at: jtrujillo (at) newbelgium.com

Two Mountain Bike Summits
The Colorado Mountain Bike Summit is supposed to be happening the first weekend in April in Salida. IMBA’s hosting it. We’re planning on having some representatives down there. Plan on attending. More details soon...

The National Mountain Bike Summit also sponsored by IMBA hits Georgia the first weekend in May. Read the whole article. We’re planning on having a rep or two there also. We attended one a couple of years back and it was very worthwhile.

And last, but not least, IMBA's offering a chance to win one of 10 free bikes.

That's all for now folks. See you real soon.

Winter FAC, Improvements, and a few Reminders

2010-02-14T09:57:00.003-07:00

There’s a light dusting of snow outside my house today. Not exactly what I was hoping for… Especially since I drove by Bobcat Ridge yesterday and the signs said ‘Trails Open’. By the way, the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas program keeps trail closures updated on their website. If you’re wondering, check them out.

Aside from trails, we’ve got a few things coming your way. Read on:

We’re working to develop our Facebook page as an online source for shared information regarding trail conditions, etc. The page allows people to share their riding experiences, hold discussions, and post information about trails and other upcoming events. Become a fan today!

Improving our Club
As most of you know, our Trails Committee formed last year in order to help us pinpoint our trail needs. The committee meets the 2nd Tuesday of each month at Café Vino and is still in need of some people to step up and fill some roles. Stacy Schroeder, the committee chairperson, sent out an email highlighting what goals the committee has for the year and the areas she needs help. If you need more info, or deleted that email, please contact Stacy at schroeder.stacy (at) gmail.com.

We are currently working to develop a Communications Committee whose focus will be to help get the good word out about Overland Mountain Bike Club and it's service arm, Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol. We’ll be looking for some help with this also and will let you know what types of things we need from people. If you'd like more info, contact Monty Seitz. You can track him down on Facebook or by logging in through our website.

By the way, committees are a great way for us to focus our individual talents. If there’s an area not yet being developed and you see a need, contact the Board of Directors and share your ideas. We’d love to hear your ideas.

If you haven't registered your membership for this upcoming season, what are you waiting for? Along with our Standard Membership for $20 ($23 online), we've added a 'Household' membership for $35 ($38 online). You might as well go ahead and SIGN UP NOW! It's the best $$ you'll spend all year long.

Dates to Remember

1. 3rd Annual Winter FAC for all Overland Members. Please login to our website and sign up if you plan on attending. This usually turns out to be a pretty well attended event. Hope to see you there. Event information can be found on that website.

2. Spring Kick-Off is March 8th. That’s less than a month away! As always, we’ll be meeting up at New Belgium Brewery and getting the mountain bike season rolling. Hopefully we’ll have some dry trails to ride by then!

3. First Aid Classes - Monday, March 15th @6:00 and Thursday, March 18th @6:00. Bill Heisterman, our new Patrol Director, has been working diligently to get this stuff planned with Tim Gaines and Thuan Ngyuen. Give these guys a big hug the next time you see them. In the meantime, get these classes on your calendar. We’ll let you know how to sign up in the near future.

4. A service of Overland Mountain Bike Club, Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol kicks off its season on Monday, March 22nd at New Belgium Brewery. Mountain Bike Patrolling really isn't what you might assume it to be. Come find out everything you need to know about DPMBP and the great group of patrollers who volunteer countless hours each year.

Cinema Spun

Thanks to the Fort Collins Club for hosting our first ever Cinema Spin Session last Monday night. It was great to see all the folks who showed up! Not a bad way to get in some pedal time when it’s cold, cold, cold. I can’t wait to see you all out on the trail mastering some of those monster drops and other tricks. Thanks to Monty for the use of his dvd player, Josh for the use of his projector, and Matt for his copy of Roam.

Local Youth Competes in World Championships

Overland Mountain Bike Club helped Skyler Trujillo get to Cyclocross World Championships. Check out this VIDEO of him during the race in Tabor. Skyler had a great time and thanks us all for our support.

Summer Trail Job

This just in from Todd Thibodeau, the Grand Master of Trails in Wyoming: Wyoming State Parks has a position at Glendo State Park for a full-time maintenance person who focus will be on trail development. Wyoming State Park plans on developing the next IMBA Epic Trail System at Glendo. This will eventually be a 50 mile trail system that blows anything in this region away. This is a full time seasonal position and will be available from February 15th to August 15. The pay will be around $8 per hour, but it includes housing on-site. If anyone is interested they should contact Paul Gritten at pgritt@state.wy.us or 307-777-8557.

And that’s about it. If you’re just itchin’ to get out and ride that mountain bike of yours, check out the 4:50 Club. That’s right, 4:50 in the a.m. all year long. I bow before them. See you on the 26th, if not sooner.
--Kory

Doesn't Anyone Want to Spin?

2010-02-01T06:09:00.001-07:00

Yes. That is correct. You are tired of the snow. I'm tired of the snow. Rumor has it a few trails around town might be rideable. Someone posted something on Facebook about a horse laughing... Someone else visited a bobcat. And others, yes others, yearned so deeply they drove south...and they loved it.

Become A Fan and Tell Us About It
This week looks like it's going to be a bit more clear - 40's during the day. Maybe there'll be some more drying happening. If you are discovering dry trail, please head over to the Overland Mountain Bike Club page at Facebook and post it? We're up to about 70 fans on the page. If you're not a fan, become one. All of us can benefit from your experiences. Attempt a trail and find that it's too muddy? Post it. Find a trail that's rideable? Post it. Have a great ride? Post it. Go over the bars and need to share? Post it. Not a Facebook member? It's easy enough to sign up.

Cinema Spin Social Ride
Thanks to Todd Heenan, owner of the Fort Collins Club, we're taking over the Spin Room at the Club next Monday night, February 8th at 7 p.m. I posted it last week and got one response. (Thanks Doug.) That either means you aren't reading what I'm writing or you were confused. I'm going with 'confused'...so, let me re-invite you.

Here's the lowdown: It's a group ride - inside. A movie will be shown. It's our version of New Belgium's Bike-In Movie except you ride inside and watch a movie. (This was all inspired by our own Stacy Schroeder) We'll be adding in some sprints and some hill climbs depending on the action in the movie. No one will get 'dropped'. After we've all worked up a sweat, we'll refresh ourselves with cool beverages. (Adult and non-adult refreshments will be available for purchase.) The event is open to all Overland Members but the Spin Room is limited to about 25 riders. You must RSVP to Kory. Entry to the club is free but bring some cash for beverages and snacks. The pedals on the spin bikes are SPD compatible. Not an SPD user? Regular sneakers work fine. That's about it. Fill up my inbox with RSVP's. First come, first served. So far there are two of us. That leaves 23 spots open.

Other Calendar Items:

Winter FAC - At Kory's house, February 26th. 5 p.m. Sign up on the Overland site - the event is listed - so we can plan for food and drinks. Hope to see you all there. This is a members/significant others event.

Season Kick-Off at New Belgium - March 8th. This is where it all begins. Bring your friends. Bring yourself. Bring your colleagues. Great time to talk bikes. Hear about what we have planned for the season. There's something for everyone.

First Patroller's Meeting - March 22nd - Patrolling just might be for you, but how will you know if you don't get the info. Last year we certified 15 new patrollers. They can't all be wrong, can they? Come to this informational meeting on our nationally recognized mountain bike patrol - Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol.

A good deal of events have already been added to the Overland Calendar All the monthly meetings are listed. The Take A Kid days and the Tour de Fat which is once again going to be held on Labor Day weekend. Get it on your calendar now. We need you.

That's about all. If you're out there riding, beware of the ice, keep the rubber side down, and try not to fall through any holes in the ice. If you're not riding, come on out on Monday and spin the night away. Hope you all have a great week.

Headin' South in Search of Dirt

2010-01-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

Looks like some of our members just couldn't take it anymore and headed south in search of some dry dirt. Thanks to Steve Lacey for submitting. Read on:

Saturday a few of us had enough of the snow and went searching for some terra firma (dirt) in Pueblo. Not only did we find a bit more dirt than we were expecting we found some of the best overall riding we've had in months.

The day started off at 6:00AM Saturday; Doug, Kurt Ireland and myself headed south on 25 heading for the Pueblo Reservoir. A little over 2.5 hours later we pulled into the park and mooched a parking spot in the Bureau of Land Management parking lot. Little did we know a mile or so further down the road there was parking at one of the trailheads. It was a bit chilly to start, 20 degrees, but quickly warmed up as Kurt was eager to put some miles on and we were quickly shedding layers at the Duke trail. We didn't have a decent hardcopy map but pulling up the singletrack.com trail map on Doug's Iphone and zooming in did the trick. The map is colorcoded with the trails' difficulty so naturally we were headed for the black lines. With trail names like Broken Hip, Hooters Alley and Skull Canyon (must have been where Doug picked up his friend in his pack) we had a feeling we may be in for some fun.

Like kids in a candy store we couldn't decide which trail to go down or up so we decided our plan of attack would be to go down each one and turn around and go right back up. Each of the advanced trails are short....but sweet with technical sections to keep them interesting without too much worry of killing yourself. With the right set of lungs all were pretty much ridable in the upward direction as well, except Hooters Alley; I don't think any size lungs could get up that one.....maybe that had something to do with its namesake.

Outer Limits trail is similar in difficulty to our Blue Sky trail binging you close to the cliffs overlooking the reservoir. Tight little turns and small elevation changes makes this trail a screamer and lung burner (if your trying to keep on Kurt's wheel). From the outer most point you return via a dirt road that again is as hard as you want to make it.

To get back to the truck we came back on the South Shore Trail with detours down Keyhole and Stonehenge trails both aptly named but we weren't quite done yet......Watertower and Steep Tech caught our eyes and we just had to try them. Again their names say it all but "Steep Tech"? more like Steep Stairs. Finally we arrived back to the truck and were happy to see it without a ticket....4:00 right on time. A quick change, a quick stop at Arbee's and we were back to the snow by 7:30.

Photos from our day

Hope you enjoy!

Steve

After what seemed to be hours of checking our course on the map at each intersection it was now time to get some miles in and we headed out towards the Vodoo trail. On our way we took a look at the log drop trail but a thick bit of ice kept us from riding the whole thing but we were able to try the logs and can't wait to come back for a try for a full assent. Failing to heed the detour sign on the Vodoo trail we quickly found ourselves having to cross a small frozen finger of the lake (hey a couple locals were with us at the time) and I'm sure glad I wasn't the heaviest one; there was evidence of a previous failure. If we knew these locals didn't really know the trails we may not have listened to their advice but we did and never made it to the Vodoo loop and opted for the Outer Limits trail instead.

February Events and Upcoming Season Info

2010-01-25T06:43:00.003-07:00

I just about hopped in the truck this weekend and headed south with only my mountain bike, my bike gear, and a handful of Avett Brothers cds. Like most of you, I'm ready for some dry dirt trails. (I know I'm preachin' to the choir here, but please don't ride our sloppy trails. Ruts're bad, bad, bad...) Even though the trails are less than welcoming, that doesn't stop the fact that our upcoming season is just around the corner. Check this stuff out and don't forget to check out the fun calendar items we have listed below.

The Trail Committee has been meeting and discussing projects for the season. They're in need of more able bodies. Stacy Schroeder sent out an email discussing what's going on. They meet the 2nd Tuesday of every month at Cafe Vino. All are welcome and if you need more info, contact Stacy.

The Communications Committee will be forming and working to get the word out about all the great things Overland does for the community. We'd like to make Overland a household name, attract new members so we can get all our great activities done, and have a lot of fun. Monty Seitz and Jim Fu will be the main contact people on this one.

Skills Clinics - New board member, Corey Rhodes, is working on organizing several skills clinics this year. I'm sure he'd love your help if you're interested. We're planning clinics for kids, women, and men.

DPMBP - A service of Overland Mountain Bike Club, Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol is always looking for folks who want to get out and help. Check the calendar below to find out when the first Patroller's meeting is.

New Membership for Families - We'll be adding a Family Membership this year for $35. Awesome deal. Look for the new online membership listing soon. (Family memberships are for immediate family members living in the same household.)

Sloppy trails do not have to equal no fun. Get out your calendars. Here's what we've got in store in the near future...(Don't forget to check our CALENDAR regularly. We'll be adding stuff as it comes up. In fact, we've already added quite a bit for the upcoming season, including the Kick-Off)

February 8th, 7 p.m. - Cinema Spin - Slip into your chamois, velcrotize your feet to your shoes, and join us at the Fort Collins Club for a little movie on the spin bikes. We'll spin for awhile, watch a movie while we're at it and when we're good and sweaty, we'll climb down off of those stationary torture devices and socialize. (Due to the limited number of spin bikes available, we'll be taking reservations on this one - Overland members only to start. If there's space, there'll be another email. And yes, we're keeping the movie a suprise for now.) To reserve your seat, email Kory. (The Spin bikes at the club accomodate shimano type cleats or regular shoes.)

February 26th, 5 p.m. - 3rd Annual Winter FAC - Can you believe this'll be our third Winter FAC? Join us for a couple of hours for some food, drinks, mountain bike chatter, and to catch up on all that's gone on since the Costume Cruise. Hope to see you. (This is also a members/significant others event and will require sign up on our website. Not a member? Sign up now. Place: Kory's house.)

March 8th, 6:30 p.m. - Season Kick-Off at New Belgium - Come find out what Overland Mountain Bike Club is all about! Social rides, trail days, Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol, skills clinics, and more! We're a great group of people dedicated to making sure mountain biking has a place along the northern Front Range. This event is open to the public! Snacks and refreshments will be served.

March 22nd, 6:30 p.m. - Patroller's Kick-Off at New Belgium - Want to ride your mountain bike and help others? Come and check out what Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol, is all about. We certified 15 new patrollers last year! Whether you're just thinking about becoming a patroller or you are a returning patroller, this is the meeting for you. Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol is a service of Overland Mountain Bike Club. This is event is open to the public. Snacks and refreshments will be served.

April 2nd and 3rd - IMBA's Colorado Mountain Bike Summit - Meet in Salida for a weekend devoted to mountain bike advocacy in Colorado. Information to follow.

April 24th, 9:00 a.m. - Patrol Training Picnic at Lory State Park - Need a patrol refresher? Working towards becoming a Certified Patroller? This picnic's for you.

One quick note before you all start making plans - The Tour de Fat will once again be held on Saturday, Sept, 4th which is Labor Day Weekend. This is our annual fundraiser and requires a ton of volunteer hours. Start recruiting your friends now. FYI - We'll be going back to the 3 shift schedule of previous years. Please get this on your calendar. We need all hands on deck. And of course, a huge THANKS to New Belgium Brewery for their generous support!

Mountain Bike Inside...

2009-12-07T07:29:00.004-07:00

If you hadn’t noticed, SNOW’S HERE! And the COLD’S HERE! Okay, so we're not really mountain biking inside...but we do have some cool stuff going on. Check out these bike related activities going on in this great city!

Here’s a quick list of cool stuff happening around town…

BOARD ELECTIONS – Final two days to vote for either Doug Baker or Corey Rhodes for the empty Board of Directors Seat. If you haven’t voted yet, please get your vote to Ron Chambers before midnight tomorrow night, December 8th.

KLUNKERZ Movie Night – Tonight, December 7th, Overland Mountain Bike Club’s hosting the first in a series of free Winter MTB Movie Screenings. We’ll be meeting up at The Tap Room at Catalyst Coffee, talking bikes, talking H.S. MTB League, having a beverage or two, and watching the MOVIE about the guys who started this whole crazy mountain bike thing. The General Public is invited. Door Prizes will be given out. Club apparel will be for sale.

Light Up the Night – Overland Mountain Bike Club, in partnership with FC Bikes, handed out close to 400 sets of Knog Lights this past Friday night! Great turnout even though the temps were heading towards ZERO. Thanks to everyone who came out and enjoyed the event down in the Gallery Underground. And if you haven’t yet gotten out to hear our very own BluChris, (Chris Whitman by day) spinning tunes, you don’t know what you’re missing.

Bikes for Tykes - Lee's Cyclery is looking for donations of bicycles (new or near new), and volunteers who can help make them safe and presentable. Please help by donating your time, energy and a new bike. Lee's contact person on this project is Colin, at the south Lee's Cyclery store. Call Colin at 970-226-6006 or email him at colin@leescyclery.com for more details. All bike maintenance and beautification needs to be completed by December 10th.

Training Somewhere Warm – Dan Porter over at YourGroupRide, the area’s most complete electronic bike news resource, has made available a training domicile for those of you who’d like to get out of the winter and ride somewhere warmer…Tucson, to be exact. Check out the info HERE. Pretty sweet rates, pretty sweet temps.

IMBA News - Colorado Mountain Bike Summit, April 2 and 3, 2010 - Salida, Colorado. Mark your calendars to attend the Colorado Mountain Bike Summit. Hosted by Bicycle Colorado, IMBA, and the Bureau of Land Management, the two-day event provides opportunities for advocates, land managers, and trail builders to network and create strategies to improve mountain biking around the state. Is there a topic that you would like to see addressed at the 2010 Colorado Mountain Bike Summit? Please let us know by replying to this email! Stay tuned for registration information in early 2010.

Eye Candy – Because I know everyone needs a little break at work…Here’s a little SOMETHING to make you go, “Wow, I’m amazed at what some people can do on a bike…”

And that, my friends, is about it. Kudos to those of you who’re getting out and riding in this cold….

Berthoud-Roubaix

2009-12-03T16:10:00.001-07:00

Yeah, it's cold, but if you work up a sweat and wear the right clothes, biking's still darn fun. Check out this FUN RIDE this weekend and get after it.

KLUNKERZ, Bike Travel, and BluChris

2009-11-30T07:05:00.006-07:00

Is it really the first Week in December? Hope you have your Santy Claus list is made. What’ll it be this year? Rechargeable lights for evening adventures? Tubeless tires? A shiny new two-wheeler? All of the above? Whatever it is, let’s hope this season smiles on cyclists. (And ice sliders everywhere...Thanks Kevin Cullen for the Kodak moment...Is this what we'd be forced to do if there were no trails? Oh, and you oughta see this guy on skates...)

(BTW: That's Dave Sanders dropping down the stairs on Sawmill before stuffing himself on Thanksgiving.)

Vote Today - Election Time Running Out
Overland Members - Please remember to send Ron Chambers your vote for the empty Board of Directors seat. If you didn't receive the email, contact Ron or Kory and we'll get it to you. Deadline for voting is December 8th.

Local Jr. Cyclist Heading to Belgium
Skyler Trujillo, with the help of Overland Mountain Bike Club and some cool t-shirt sales at the NBB Cyclocross races, has been invited to Cross Camp in Belgium. More info HERE.

Don't Forget
Dan Porter over at Your Group Ride works diligently to keep everyone in the area up-to-date on local cycling events. There's been some great stuff recently about local riders, etc. Put it in your favorites list and check it daily.

And just because it's December doesn't mean stuff ain't happening. Check out what's heading your direction in the next week or so in the NoCoFoCo cycling world:

Tuesday, December 1st, 6:30 – 8 p.m. Bike Travel Presentation at New Belgium Brewery sponsored by Bike Fort Collins
Interested in bike travel and what types of resources are available to cyclists? This is the presentation for you.
Who: Jim Sayer, Executive Director of Adventure Cycling Association, North America’s largest cycling membership group, based in Missoula, MT, will give the latest info on bike travel.
Where: New Belgium Brewing Company, 500 Linden Street
Why: Meet people interested in cycling, bike travel and touring, and find all the resources and inspiration you’ll need to enjoy the life-changing activity of bicycle travel.
Cost: Free and open to the public. Bring friends interested in cycling and bike travel.

First Friday, December 4th, 6-8 p.m. – ‘Bike Winter’ Fort Collins - Kick-Off and Light Giveaway Sponsored by Overland Mountain Bike Club and FC Bikes
You’ve seen ‘em – barely. The invisible riders who along the roadside who don’t use lights. Working with FC Bikes, Overland MTB Club will help light up the night by giving away Knog Light Sets to FC residents who ride their bikes to First Friday. More info about other ‘Bike Winter’ activities can be found HERE.
Where: Gallery Underground, 109 Linden St/Old Town Square
Entertainment: None other than BluChris (You know him as Overland’s Chris Whitman) will be spinning the night away.

Monday, December 7th, 7 p.m. – Winter Movie Series Kick-Off featuring KLUNKERZ
So, it’s gotten a bit chilly and maybe you haven’t been hitting the trails much. No need to stop thinking about mountain biking! Join us as we show Klunkerz, the award winning movie about the history of mountain biking. We’ll also talk a bit about the High School Mountain Bike Leauge. Door prizes for a few lucky souls. We’ll also have Overland socks and jerseys for sale along with a few extra copies of Klunkerz. Admission is free. Bring a friend. Get there early. Seating is limited. Where: The Tap Room at Catalyst Coffee, 3501 S. Shields Street

And that's about all she wrote for this week, folks.

Winter Biking? YES!

2009-11-29T21:53:00.005-07:00

FC Bikes has partnered with Overland for an event on December 4th where we'll be passing out sets of Knog lights to FC Residents who ride their bikes to the Gallery Underground where it just so happens that the unofficial dj of Overland Mountain Bike Club - Chris Whitman, aka, BluChris - will be spinning the unofficial tunes of mountain bike madness. Hope to see you there. Check what else is going on at WINTER BIKE WEEK.

Go Fast, indeed!

2009-11-23T14:59:00.006-07:00

Here’s a link that Kate Rau with the Colorado League sent along. This is a video of the 2009 Mountain Goat Challenge, the 3rd race in this year’s NorCal League series. It was held in early April in Pilarcitos Canyon off Eucalyptus Road at Fort Ord, just a little North East of Monterey, California. Pretty cool, eh? –Dave Skram

Quick Bits for Thanksgiving Week

2009-11-23T06:23:00.003-07:00

Hey All,

Just a few things on the horizon:

Elections - We have two eager fellows who'd like to fill the empty Board seat. Corey Rhodes and Doug Baker have thrown their hat in the ring. Thanks guys!
Overland members - please submit your vote to Ron Chambers via email as soon as possible. Election closes December 8th.

Trails Team - Interested in trails? We all are, of course. Have a pet project in mind? A trail you think really needs some TLC? Our Trails Team will continue the good work it started this past summer and continue to meet throughout the winter. Stacy Schroeder will take the helm of the Trails Team and let people know when/where the meetings will be held.

December 4th - First Friday - Light Up the Night with FC Bikes and Overland.
In conjunction with FC Bikes, we're passing out free Knog light sets to F.C. residents who rides their bike to the Gallery Underground for First Friday.

December 7th - Winter Movie and Presentation Series - KLUNKERZ
In an effort to keep everyone thinking mountain bikes throughout the winter, we're working with the Tap Room at Catalyst on a series of bike movies/presentations. Our first one will be Klunkerz. (See the post below for more info). We'll give away a few prizes, watch a movie, have a beer or two. See you there.

Enjoy your feast on Thursday. Hope to see you on the 7th!

Winter Movie and Presentation Series

2009-11-22T15:18:00.005-07:00

Want more info about Klunkerz? Click on the flyer.

And for those of you who've been inside too much because our trail are muddy... Get your mountain bike fix HERE! And we'll see you on the 7th.

Break out the Winter Gear and Lights...It's Time to Ride

2009-11-16T16:51:00.003-07:00

And the Winners Are....

Well, the Season Finale came and went. Congrats to Pete Skram for winning the Silver Sprocket. Congrats to Joe Perrin for winning the top Patrol Award. It’s Joe’s job to come up with a name for that cool little bike sculpture he’ll have to pass on next year. And thanks to everyone else who made Overland Mountain Bike Club’s introductory season a huge success. Also, a big thanks to each and every Patrol member. We understand the time and commitment that goes into getting certified. We look forward to improving that experience, making it easier to get trained, and supporting the Patrol as is needed.

Events Made Possible By You – Our Members

Here’s a brief list of things that were accomplished this year thanks to you, our members.

Patrol Hours – We logged 623 hours patrolling over 333 patrols. That’s raw hours and not by patroller. According to the last IMBA Patrol Newsletter, that’s more than 300 hours over their top patrol – and yes, we plan on reporting our hours to IMBA from now on.
Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day – Spring
Community Classic Bike Tour
Friends of Lory Trail Day
Lory State Park Mountain Bike Fest
Family Bike Fest @ Fossil Creek Park
Summer Slam @ Curt Gowdy
Summer Campout @ Curt Gowdy
The Tour de Fat
Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day – Fall
Bike to Work Day Station
Outreach Days at Horsetooth Mountain Park and Devil’s Backbone
Singletrack Social Rides on Wednesdays – A huge success ( I miss them…)
Trail Days – Too many to count… We worked at Curt Gowdy, Bobcat Ridge, Lory State Park, Hewlett Gulch, Horsetooth Mountain Park, and Shoreline ( I’m sure I missed something…)
Trails Team – Our Trails Team got up and running. Lots more to do but the groundwork has been laid.
Stone Temple 8 race support

And don’t forget the collective power we have just getting out and riding our bikes and letting people know who we are and why we’re out there. Thanks everybody! Keep spreading the good word.

Just Because It's Winter...

Well, even though the ‘Season’ is officially over, that doesn’t mean we have to stop hanging out and talking mountain bikes. Here’s some stuff to look forward to:

Night rides – Those of us who’ve done it know how much fun it is. We’ll keep you posted when they happen.
Weekend rides – Weather permitting, we hope to collectively get out and ride a bit. We’ll keep you posted.
Movie Nights – Once a month we’d like to get everyone together to talk mountain bikes, watch a cool mountain bike movie and socialize. Our first one will be in early December.. We’ll be showing ‘Klunkerz’. Invite your friends! Details are in the works. We’ll keep you posted. If you’d like to help organize these, contact Monty Seitz
Trail Team Meetings – We’d like to get that Pineridge Beginner Loop proposal done and start working on other plans for next year. This is a great time to sit down and hash things out. Look for more info soon.

High School Mountain Biking Coming to the Front Range
Thanks to Dave, Eric, and Pete Skram and the Ed Cleary’s for putting in some time to figure out how to help get a mountain bike league started for our high schools. They still need willing participants who can help out with Rocky and FC High. If you know someone or would like to help yourself, let them know.

Get the ‘Skinny’ on the Bobcat Trail Day

Greg Mazu of Singletrack Trails posted up this link to a very successful trail day at Bobcat. Thanks to everyone who came out and worked! http://blog.singletracktrails.com/2009/11/16/bobcat-ridge-volunteer-workday/

Rattlesnakes Hold Party at Red Mountain

Apparently, the parking lot at Red Mountain makes a great place to shake your tail. Check out this article at the Coloradoan and keep your eyes peeled the next time you’re up there. Thanks to Rodger Thompson for the link.

This year’s Board of Directors:

President: Ron Chambers
Patrol Director: Bill Heisterman
Vice President: TBD
Treasurer: Josh Shafer
Website Director: Kevin Cullen
Communications Director: Kory Swanson
Todd Thibodeau
1 open seat - TBD in email election

Please note: The Board of Directors meets often during the offseason. If you'd like to join us or have info or ideas for us, please let us know.

High School Mountain Bike League Info

2009-11-05T08:05:00.002-07:00

Here's some exciting stuff from Kate Rau about High School Mountain Biking in Colorado:

Colorado Outreach Events
Thanks to those who participated in recent Colorado League outreach events. Some of the most common comments heard:

“It is about time this comes to Colorado."

“Wow, how cool, I wish they had this when I was in high school!”

The Press Release distributed Thursday, October 22 created a buzz according to the numerous Colorado League visitors at VeloSwap. Scores of people dropped by the Colorado League booth, including several teachers who are excited to form teams. Thank you, VeloSwap, for your
support!

The Inaugural Bácaro /Ride to Eat, Eat to Ride/ with Tom Danielson, Team Garmin-Slipstream was certainly memorable: 62 riders, 32˚F temperature, snow, a brisk pace and a plentiful gourmet Italian meal. Thanks to Fabio Flagiello and Bácaro for choosing the Colorado League as the benefactor for this new Boulder tradition. We appreciate the support provided by the Boulder TREK store, Full Cycle, FasCat Coaching, Colorado Athletic Club, Wheat Ridge Cyclery, Pro Peloton, Cycle To, Vermarc, and SMBA. * We strongly recommend attending Fabio’s next ride at Bácaro!/*

*Upcoming: *Full Cycle, 1795 Pearl Street will host a festive Colorado League informational event on Wednesday Novemaber 11th, 6:30 PM.

*2. General Schedule of Events*

April 24, 2010: Cylcefest Dinner with Dave Wiens (Denver)

June 2010: Leaders Summit (Training for Head Coaches, Asst. Coaches, and Ride Leaders)

August 2010: Beginner/Intermediate Rider Camps

August 2010: Team Training begins

August 2010: Team Registration opens

September 2010: Races 1 & 2

October 2010: Race 3 & CO State Championship

*3. Ways to Contribute*
A big thanks to those who donated their hard earned cash and valuable time to the organization, thus far. The pedals are turning and we need more of you to demonstrate your interest by making a contribution no matter how small. Please help us share your passion for the sport by
supporting us in these efforts. Donations can be made at www.coloradomtb.org and are tax deductible. All the work on the Colorado League, thus far, has been voluntary and we are making the Colorado League the best it can be.

*4. Join a Committee*
We are very grateful to those who are championing the Colorado League such as *Matt Tomasko*, *Max Bradley*, *Herschel Goldberg*, *Mark Eller*, *Ron Gager*, and *Leslie Bohm*. Please consider joining one or more of the following subcommittees:

*/Venue Committee/ *Help us locate, inspect, and choose four or five
courses perfect for young high school racers

/*Special Event Committee*/ Help us produce high quality outreach and fundraising events, such as movie screenings and a classy benefit dinner

/*Outreach Committee*/ Host an outreach event in your local area at a school or bike shop

*/Development Committee/ *High school racing is funded primarily by the passionate stakeholders who want to bring the benefits of cycling into our schools -- help us connect with potential donors and sponsors

/*League Rider Committee*/ 8th-11th graders who would like to represent this movement

*/Race and/or Camp Volunteer/ *League events will count on your help in areas such as course marshaling, registration, venue set-up and take-down, and scoring

/*Coaches Committee */ Those interested in being a Head Coach, Assistant Coach or Ride Leader, please let us know which school(s) you would like to work with

_We thank those who have expressed interest in joining the Colorado
League's* Board of Directors*._ Our application process is under review and will be announced by year's end.

Colorado League on Facebook
*Are you a Facebook user? Search and join the group "Colorado High School Cycling League" as an additional source for League news.

For more information about high school mountain biking visit: www.coloradomtb.org and www.norcalmtb.org

This Week - Abbreviated

2009-10-20T15:01:00.001-06:00

Hey All,
Not much time to get this done...sorry. I'll post it to the blog but it's also below.

Tuesday Night, October 20th, Cyclocross at New Belgium. Fun to ride. Fun to watch. Bring $20 to buy a t-shirt to support local young rider, Skyler Trujillo in his bid to make the national team

Wednesday Night, October 21st, Final Group Ride. Meet at 5:30. For those who want to ride a bit longer, bring a light. We'll break into 2 groups. Weather permitting, of course. Social hour at Josh’s afterwards

Monday Night, October 26th, Season Finale followed by the 2nd Annual Costume Cruise. We’ll be eatin’ pizza, handin’ out awards, laughin’ at each other’s costumes, and then heading out for a cruiser ride around town. Make sure you have lights and some dough.

Saturday, Halloween, Bobcat Trail Day. Meet at Bobcat at 8 a.m. and help with maintenance and some cool new alternate lines. Food will be provided. Bring water, wear boots, gloves, a snack and your charming personality.

Still looking for a winner for the Patrol Competition this month. Who's going to pull it off. You've got all weekend to get 'er done.

--Kory

January in October? What's going on?

2009-10-13T10:21:00.005-06:00

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.

More Cyclocross. Weekly Blog Below.

2009-10-05T15:00:00.002-06:00

Hey All,

A little addition to this week's blog. Didn't get this until the afternoon off of Your Group Ride.

The rest of this week's blog is below this one. Read on.

Cheyenne CX races
Here is what came through the emails. I remember it costing only $5 last year. Clear Creek Park is accessed coming from the south by exiting I25 at Exit7 (College dr) head east and the the first left (Southwest Dr.) pass under the interstate and park is on the left. CCC contact: cheyennecyclingclub (at) gmail.com for more info.

CHEYENNE CYCLOCROSS SATURDAY'SOCTOBER 3, 10, 17, 24
TIME: 4 -6 p. m. LOCATION: Clear Creek Park
A & B Level Racing- Prizes- Fantastic course for all levels- Big time CX Racer? Come out and compete with the best in Cheyenne in an all-out "pain fest"- Never done it but wnat to try it? Come see what CX is all about and have a blast with other riders!!!-Want to watch? Come watch our racers in the most heart pounding 45 minutes imagineable!!! CYCLECROSS IS A SPECTATOR SPORT SO BRING THE FAMILY FOR AN INCREDIBLE AFTERNOON OF BIKE RACING ACTION!!! DON'T FORGET YOUR COWBELL

Great Day for the Kids and this Week's Shenanigans

2009-10-05T06:06:00.009-06:00

Take a Kid a Great Success
Another great event has passed and another week enters the fray. Good Monday morning to you all, albeit a bit of a wet one. Hope you found a little time to get out and hit the dirt this past weekend. The kids did and sure had a great time. Check out the gallery at the Coloradoan for a few photos of Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day and the article that made it into the Sunday news. If you don’t get the paper, Overland had a nice little pic on the front page as a lead-in to the article. Nice to get a little press. Thanks to everyone who came out in support of the kids on Saturday. It’s great to see all the smiling faces and hear the kids whoopin’ it up. Makes you want to be a kid again, don’t it? Maybe that’s why I still ride my bike…

A huge thanks to Take a Kid Sponsors: TWEEK'd Gear, Backcountry Provisions, Fort Fun, Recycled Cycles, Road 34, Full Cycle, Lee's Cyclery, REI, Phoenix Cyclery, IMBA, Colorado State Parks, Liberty Commons Athletics, and of course, New Belgium Brewery

New Board Members
Congrats to Todd Thibodeau and Bill Heisterman on being elected to the Overland Board of Directors. They don’t know what they’re in for yet, but they’ll soon find out. Once again, the board can’t do it all. If you have ideas, programs you’d like to see started, etc, let the board know and get involved.

Overland Supports Cyclocross
The New Belgium Cyclocross Series starts this Tuesday. We’ll be there in support. We could use a handful of people to come help with the kids races. If you can help out, let me know. We’ve also contributed some funds to help with kid prizes and a few lucky riders will walk away with some of the hot new Overland socks. If you’re looking for specifics, go to Your Group Ride. It’s well stocked with info for racers, parking, etc. Also, Overland is helping send Skyler Trujillo to U.S. Cycling camp in order for him to have a shot at earning a spot on the national team. T-shirts will be available at the cyclorcross series. All proceeds go to helping Skyler get there.

Join Georgia
Georgia Gould leads a cross clinic tonight if you’re interested in finding out what it’s all about before you show up to race tomorrow night. Info is HERE. The cross races are good fun and lots of folks do them on their mountain bikes.

Tidbits
A new online bike magazine has hit the intrawebs.

If you raced the Oval this summer, standings have been released and can be found HERE.

And now for this week’s happenings…

Monday,October 5th: Cyclocross Clinic with Georgia Gould, Board Meeting for Overland.

Tuesday, October 6th: New Belgium Brewery Cyclocross Races start at 4:20 p.m.

Wednesday, October 7th: Singletrack Social, 5:30 p.m. at the Maxwell parking lot. All levels of riders welcome. Social hour afterwards. Please bring something to share.

Saturday, October 10th: Crankin’ Contest. Meet at the Spring Canyon Bike Skills Park at 1 p.m. Be ready to ride. (Weather permitting, of course) RSVP to the email that Kory sent on Monday if you plan on attending.

Looking into next week...
The Trails Team meets at Café Vino on Tuesday, October 13th at 6:30 p.m. This committee’s really looking at getting some great stuff accomplished. Come on out and help out if you can.

Oh, can’t forget October’s Patrol contest: Get out and patrol the trails on Forest Service lands. Whoever gets the most patrols in on Forest Service land, wins a prize. So far, nobody has stepped up, but I’m sure somebody will.

Here’s hoping for dry trails and sunny skies. I ain’t ready for snow and cold just yet…

Elections, Contests, and the Season Finale

2009-09-28T06:13:00.009-06:00

Greetings Wheeled Wonders,

October’s almost here. A chill is in the air and we still have lots of fun stuff ahead of us.

Elections Tonight!

Elections are tonight at our monthly meeting. Ron Chambers, Bill Heisterman, Monty Seitz, Kory Swanson, and Todd Thibodeau have thrown their hat in the ring for the 4 open board seats. If you cannot attend the meeting, please email your vote to Barb Allan, director. Vote for 4 of the 5 people.

Curt Gowdy Does IT!
Curt Gowdy State Park achieved IMBA Epic status on Saturday, Sep. 26th. Congrats to Todd and his crew and all the volunteers who made it possible!

Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

We are still in need of volunteers for Take a Kid. Please sign up as soon as possible in order to help us plan for food, etc.

Overland Sponsors Cyclocross Races

Once again, we’re helping our main sponsor, New Belgium, run some great races out in the back 40 behind the brewery. With the October chill comes the heat of Cyclocross racing. We’ll need some volunteers to help with the kids races each week for the next 4 weeks. Hope to see you out there. The races start Tuesday, October 6th and run until the end of the month. Click HERE for more info.

First Ever Crankin’ Contest Coming Your Way!

Don’t forget. On October 10th, we’ll gather at 1 p.m. in Spring Canyon Park for a little bit of cycling fun. Pitting Overland Team against Overland Team, members will compete in a series of zany activities to see which Team rules the roost. No preview of the activities will be given as no one is allowed to practice ahead of time. Following the activities, a bbq will commence at Kory Swanson’s house. Team members are encouraged to ride their mountain bikes to the event as this will affect your overall score for the day.

Kooky Costume Cruise Coming Soon

After last year’s successful costume cruise, we’ll be doing another one after our Season Finale. The date? October 24th. Barb will stay out late one more time!

And this Week's Calendar...

Monday, Sept 28th,6:30 p.m. Monthly Meeting and Elections at Catalyst Coffee located on Shields, just north of Horsetooth.

Wednesday, Sept 30th, 5:30 p.m. Singletrack Social. As always, meet at Maxwell. Be ready to ride by 5:30 due to impending darkness. Hang out at Josh's afterwards. Bring something to share.

Saturday, October 3rd, 8 a.m. for set up and on...Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. Help the kids enjoy a day of riding out in Lory State Park on IMBA's National Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day.

I almost forgot...This month's Patrol Contest...We're targeting Forest Service trails for the month of October. Who can get the most patrols completed up the Poudre Canyon, in Redfeather, etc. There's still plenty of time left to patrol!

And that's about it for this week. See you soon!

IMBA Epic on Horizon and Lots More

2009-09-22T08:00:00.005-06:00

Patrollers Still Getting Out

Looks like we’re still getting lots of patrollers out on the trails. Looking at the patrol list I’m seeing patrols almost daily from Curt Gowdy and Redfeather to places closer to town. Keep up the good work y’all. And if you haven’t hit the trails up the Poudre Canyon lately, now’s a great time to start going.

Take a Kid Registration Still Open

Due to a slight mistake in the registration setup, some people may have encountered a 'This event is closed' message. Sorry about that. The glitch has been fixed. Please let people know that we still have plenty of slots open for the upcoming Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day and that they should register their kids before Saturday, Sept. 26th when registration officially closes.

IMBA Epic Designation on the Horizon

If you haven’t strapped your bike to your car and made the drive up to Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyoming, you just don’t know what you’re missing. The fine folks at IMBA, however, seem to be clued in. Join them this Saturday after the Stone Temple 8 as they designate Curt Gowdy as an IMBA Epic.

Help IMBA Bring Mountain Bike Racing to the H.S. Level here in Colorado
(from a recent IMBA release. If you’d be willing, Overland would love to support you.)

You may have heard about the incredible success that the Norcal and Socal high school mountain biking leagues have enjoyed in California. We now have a chance to launch the Colorado version -- high-quality racing and a comprehensive bicycle education program designed for young riders. We are asking for your help to make the Colorado High School Mountain Bike Racing League a reality. How can you get involved? Start with three simple steps:

Learn about the successes of the sister programs in California.

Forward this message to your riding friends, club members, cycling parents and anyone who might want to get involved.

Let us know if you'd be interested in attending a gathering (or hosting one) for like-minded supporters to help build momentum in your part of the state.

IMBA's goal is to raise enough interest and support to launch the Colorado High School League in the fall of 2010. With your help, we can do it!

Rattlesnakes Hatchin’
(Janice from Team BOB doing a little research for us all…)

I've noticed A LOT of baby rattlers (3 today) and finally figured out I always saw the little ones this time of year, so decided to investigate. This is what I found:The young are born between August and October. The newborn rattlesnake is about 10 inches long and has a small horny button on the tip of its tail. Rattler babies have venom, short fangs and are dangerous from birth. In fact, they are more pugnacious than the adults. Although unable to make a rattling sound, the youngsters throw themselves into a defensive pose and strike repeatedly when disturbed. Keep your eyes out because you won't hear them!

Crazy Joe Cross on Tuesdays

(From Dapper Dan at Your Group Ride)

Cyclocross racing sponsored by Your Group Ride began at 6pm on Tuesday September 15th in the field just South of Fossil Ridge High School (NOT at Fossil Creek Park where Joe Sap. ran it) and runs every Tuesday for the rest of September (15th, 22nd, and 29th). We’ve set up a great course on the on the High School cross country course. We’ve got barriers, we’ve got creek crossings, we’ve got run-ups, we’ve got dirt and we’ve got pavement. We’ve got it all, ‘cept tons of elevation gain and beer. Turns out they don’t allow alcohol on high school campuses anymore. Plan on running hot laps until it gets dark or some sort of winner is declared. Course layout by Troy Heithhecker - 2nd place at the 2004 Collegiate National Cyclocross Championships.
Check out the map

Note: New Belgium Cyclocross will be starting Tuesday Oct. 6th with a free Cyclocross clinic being hosted by Coach Ben Ollett and Olympian and all around speed demon, Georgia Gould.

And this week’s calendar: (Keep an eye on the weather…lookin’ like rain…)

Wednesday, Sept. 23rd
Singletrack Social starting at Maxwell – Leaving at 5:30 p.m. Please note the time change. We’ll leave the parking lot at 5:30 p.m. instead of 6 p.m. as the sun starts leaving us sooner. Snacks and refreshments at Josh’s afterwards. Everyone is welcome. Bring something to share.

Saturday, Sept. 26th
8:30 -Trail Day with the Boy Scouts up in Redfeather. If you can help out, contact Doug Cutter. He can use some trained trail people and has a couple of different shifts available.

9: 30 a.m. - Stone Temple 8 Race at Curt Gowdy. Volunteers still needed. Sign up on our website.
5:30 p.m. - IMBA Epic Designation at Curt Gowdy. Come and join the party!

Sunday, Sept. 27th

Outreach Day at Horsetooth Mountain Park. We need about 6 volunteers for this. Sign up on the website.

Monday, Sept. 28th

Monthly Meeting at Catalyst. Election Time! Come on out and vote for new board members.

A little farther out…

October 3rd - Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day – We’re still in need of volunteers. So far we have 50+ kids signed up. We need ride leaders, photographers, etc. etc. Sign up HERE.

And that’s about it as summer gets slammed into fall…

Colorado Trails Need Our Help!

2009-09-19T22:23:00.002-06:00

An Important IMBA Email Release this week.

Three Vital Issues for Colorado Mountain Bikers: Apex Park, Hidden Gems Wilderness Proposal and Roadless Protection

1) Ask Jefferson County to Reconsider Its Strategy for Apex Park

On Sept. 3, 2009, Jefferson County Open Space (JCOS) released its recommended, revised management plan for improving visitor experiences at Apex Park. IMBA and its local affiliate the Colorado Mountain Bike Association (COMBA) believe the plan needs substantial revisions before it will be fair and equitable to mountain bikers. If adopted in its current state, the JCOS plan would be a huge loss for the mountain bike community. It would also represent a dangerous precedent for JCOS, and potentially other public lands across Colorado. The only travel restrictions imposed by this plan are against cyclists' interests.
Please join us in asking JCOS to improve its management strategy for Apex.

2) Update on the Hidden Gems Wilderness Proposal
The Hidden Gems Wilderness Campaign is a proposal to greatly expand Wilderness areas in central Colorado. IMBA-affiliated clubs, including the Roaring Fork Valley Mountain Bike Association (RFMBA) and the Summit Fat Tire Society (SFTS), have expressed strong concerns about the plan. While mountain bikers support protections against development and resource extraction, we also know that Wilderness designations -- which eliminate bike use -- are not the only tool for protecting public lands.
Please visit the RFVMBA advocacy webpage for comprehensive information about the Hidden Gems plan.

3) Tell Governor Ritter to Support Strong Roadless Protection in Colorado
What's the common factor for the 401 Trail, Rabbit Ears Pass and Monarch Crest? They all include Forest Service lands known as "roadless areas." There are more than 4 million acres of Forest Service roadless areas in Colorado, all of it open to mountain biking. The state is looking for input on how all these wild lands should be managed -- they need to hear from mountain bikers. IMBA has been working with its collegues at Outdoor Alliance to make sure roadless areas in Colorado are protected and remain open for all of us to enjoy now, and in the future. Click here to file your comments.
Want to get a better sense of what roadless protection really means? Check out this online video.

Bring the Pain and the Weekly Outlook

2009-09-14T15:14:00.006-06:00

Not much goin’ on this week – unless you like ice cream, single speedin' (aka: pedal pain) or trail work. Lots of stuff to look forward to, however. Cross races, Curt Gowdy IMBA Celebration, Take A Kid Mountain Biking, Crankin’ Contest, Bobcat Ridge Trail Day, and more. The season ain’t over yet and it’s showin’ no signs of slowing down! (Picture: Nice shot looking north towards Breckenridge on Sunday)

Events off in the distance we’d love to see you at: On Sep. 26th, the Stone Temple 8 Endurance race returns to Curt Gowdy. Following the race will be a celebration as IMBA designates Curt Gowdy as an Epic Trail. We’d love to see the whole Overland Crew out to cheer Todd and the boys on as they receive the 'Academy Awards of Trailbuilding'.

On October 3rd, Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day returns. Parents, register your kids using the link to the right of this page. Volunteers sign up HERE or on the link at the right of this column. We’ll be hosting somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 kids at Lory State Park. We’ll need ride leaders, photographers, etc. to make sure this day is awesome for all of these kids. We’ll also be giving away a free bike to one lucky kid.

On October 10th, we’ll host the Crankin’ Contest – a day of Team Competition followed by a bbq. Details to follow soon. If you’d like to help organize this fun afternoon, let Kory know.

On Halloween, we’ll be scaring ourselves out at Bobcat Ridge working on some new features. This will most likely be our last trail day of the season. Hope to see you there.

Tim G. shared this week's video/article about guys who embrace pain. Check it out HERE.

And now for this week’s stuff:

Tuesday, Sept. 15th – Ice Cream Social w/the Buckingham Neighborhood. Volunteers needed. Click HERE, login and find the Root Beer Social event.

Wednesday, Sept 16th – Singletrack Social followed by Social Hour at Kory and Jen’s. (Josh ‘Bring the Pain’ S. may already be heading to Singlespeed Worlds in Durango so I don’t want to overwhelm him.) Kory and Jen will have directions from the trailhead if you don’t know where they live. As always, bring something to share.

All Weekend - Lookin' for some madness? Make the jaunt to Singlespeed Worlds in Durango and watch the crazies compete for a tatoo. Go Josh, go!

Saturday, Sept 19th – Curt Gowdy Trail Day. Come on out and work on the trails at Curt Gowdy. Want to carpool? Check with Rodger Thompson. He’s towing the tool trailer up.

And a little bit farther out…

Sep. 26th-IMBA Epic Awards at Curt Gowdy

Sep. 27th – Outreach Day at Horsetooth Mountain Park. Details to follow.

Lesson for the week: Knee caps – although solid – are no match for tree stumps which can end your riding season prematurely. OUCH! That had to hurt.

Oops, almost forgot the points tally:

Pete S. – Umm, apparently Pete’s trying to set a record with 300 points total so far including 49 patrols. Ain’t nobody catchin’ the Petester.

Team Points – Umm, yeah. Pete’s team, of course. Bill H and Thuan T have done a great job rallying their teammates with almost 1400 points for the season. Team 3 is within striking distance, however.

And that my sprocketed friends, is about all. Keep the rubber side down.

Tour de Fat a Success! And this Week's Stuff

2009-09-07T07:01:00.009-06:00

Well, we did it. Another Tour de Fat rolled in, rolled through, and rolled right out of town. Don’t worry. It’s not going far. If you want to participate in the beauty of bikes head on down to Denver this next weekend and bask in the glory of all things bike-ness. Check here for more details. You won’t have to pour beer, check i.d.s, patrol the parade, etc. You can simply sit back, enjoy the music and sip.

Speaking of the Tour de Fat, a huge thanks to New Belgium Brewery for supporting our organization through this wonderful event. A huge thanks to each and every volunteer who worked one shift or twelve and took time out of their 3-day weekend to make the event run smoothly. A good time was had by all. Oh, and before I forget. A quick shout out to Jess M. who, even after checking i.d.s for hours on end, nabbed a young fellow’s i.d. that well, quite frankly, wasn’t his. Nice work Jess.

Curt Gowdy State Park = IMBA Epic

The Stone Temple 8 race takes place on September 26th. After the race, a ceremony will be held to designate Curt Gowdy as an IMBA Epic. Plan on coming up for the race and for the ceremony. Also, if you can lend support to the Stone Temple 8 Race, you won’t be turned away.

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day on the Horizon

National ‘Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day’ happens on October 3rd. For the fall event we’ll be up at Lory State Park. Parents, sign your kids up HERE, tune up their bikes and bring them on out for a free day of mountain biking. Kids, write a cool essay and win a bike. Of course, we’ll need volunteers to help make these kids smile and smile. Look for info on volunteering soon.

That’s about all the jabbering I have in me. By the way, that's Todd Thibodeau up top at the 'Tour de Float'. And speaking of pictures, a ton of new ones from throughout the season have been added to our gallery. Check it HERE. Here’s the calendar for the next week or so:

Tuesday, September 8th:
6:30 p.m. - Trails Team Meeting at Café Vino. Got a ‘Trail Idea’? This is the meeting to attend. Plus, check out this ARTICLE about illegal trails. One more reason to get involved.

Wednesday, September 9th:
6 p.m. - The best group ride in town. Leaving Maxwell at 6 p.m. so be there a few minutes early to get geared up. Hitting Josh’s house for social hour around 7:45. Hope to see you out there. All level of riders welcome. Some go slow. Some go fast. The rest of us fall in accordingly. Hope to see you out there. As always, bring something to share.

Saturday, September 12: (Busy day!)
All weekend - The Beaver Meadows Mountain Bike Fest and Collegiate Race – Info here. Possible volunteer opportunities also.
9 a.m. – Our Saturday Singletrack Social leaves the Soderberg Parking Lot at 9 a.m. Please be ready to ride by 9 a.m. Team 2, who’s battling it out with Team 3, hosts.

That’s it for this immediate week, but…

Sat. Sept. 19th – Trail Day at Curt Gowdy. Help tidy up Curt Gowdy and work the trails before the IMBA Crew gets up there on the 26th. Might as well plan on riding afterwards. Also, Todd, Paul and the Crew need the tool trailer for the day. Can someone plan on taking it up there?

Sun. Sept 20th – Trail Day with our Friends at New Belgium. If you can’t dig in the dirt on Saturday, you can on Sunday with the crew from New Belgium Brewery at Hewlett’s Gulch. Help support our main sponsor and one of the most popular trails in the region.

Don’t forget to lube your chain…

Oh, I almost forgot. We’re working on getting the points thing figured out for the TdF and all those extra shifts and volunteers people recruited. Check the website in the next few days and add your name to the appropriate column.

Oh, and please get out and patrol! Especially up the canyon. We'd love to see an upswing in patrols as we roll into the fall.

Once again, thanks for helping out on Saturday. Make sure you find time to ride.

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day

2009-09-06T21:39:00.004-06:00

Sign up now for the Fall Edition of Overland Mountain Bike version of the International Mountain Bike Association's, Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day, October 3rd at Lory State Park. Space is limited. Sign up HERE.

Tour de Fat on the Horizon and Other Fun Stuff

2009-08-31T06:22:00.013-06:00

It’s Almost Here! Welcome to almost September. Labor Day weekend is just a stone’s throw away and we all know what that means…Three day weekend! Three day weekend! Along with the biggest bike party this side of the Mississippi. The TOUR de FAT rolls into town on Saturday September 5th, just in case you hadn’t heard. ! Got your costume ready? We are still in need of VOLUNTEERS. The Tour de Fat supports two local non-profits. Overland Mountain Bike Club, Northern Colorado and Southern Wyoming’s mountain bike resource and Bike Fort Collins, an organization dedicated to getting people out on their bikes and helping make Fort Collins safer for cyclists. If you haven’t yet signed up, please do so. If you have signed up but your neighbors, friends, and/or family haven’t, what are they waiting for? Volunteers receive a t-shirt, food, and two drink tokens. VOLUNTEER HERE.

Devil’s Backbone Outreach Day

Blue skies and moderate temps made for a great day this past Saturday to set up the tent at the Backbone and talk trails and bikes for a few hours. We talked with several trail users, handed out all sorts of literature, went for rides, and had a thoroughly enjoyable morning. Thanks to everyone who came out and helped out. I think it was a relatively calm day too. No crashes of note except for 3 year old Ella wiping out in the loose gravel on her little blue bike. Good thing she was wearing a helmet. Speaking of helmets…If you do happen to crash and hit your noggin’, please replace your helmet. Even if there’s no visible damage, the structural integrity of it could be compromised. It’s cheap insurance.

Monthly Meeting and Upcoming Elections

Last Monday evening we gathered once again at Catalyst Coffee to talk mountain biking and socialize. It was good to see everyone. Three members threw their hat in the ring for the upcoming Board of Directors election that will take place at our September meeting. Todd Thibedeau, Bill Heisterman, and Monty Seitz each gave a little talk about the direction they'd like to see the club head in. If you'd like to discuss their ideas with them more, seek them out. Most Wednesday evenings, Monty and Bill can be found at our Singletrack Socials. Todd will be at the Tour de Fat this weekend and you can always find him somewhere near Curt Gowdy State Park.

EXPAND Disabled MTB Clinic

The Boulder Mountain Bike Alliance and the City of Boulder could use your help on September 12th. Here's a great way to help share our love of mountain biking with a truly inspiring group. The City of Boulder EXPAND Program needs volunteers to tow adaptive riders up Marshall Mesa & support them thru tricky sections on the trail. More info HERE.

To register a disabled person that would benefit from this FREE clinic, or to volunteer for a morning or afternoon shift contact: Jenn Heilveil 303-413-7474 or email her at: heilveilj (at) bouldercolorado.gov

That’s about all the chatter I have in me this week. Here’s what to look forward to.

Monday, August 31
Tour de Fat Lead Training, 6:00 p.m. at New Belgium Brewery

TIPS Training, 7:00pm at New Belgium Brewery

Wednesday, September 2
Singletrack Social Group Ride – Meet at Maxwell. Be ready to roll by 6 p.m. Social hour at Josh’s house afterwards. Bring something to share. Anyone is welcome to attend.

Saturday, September 5
Tour de Fat. Need I say more?

Tuesday, September 8th
Trails Team Meeting - Come on out and talk TRAILS! The Trails Team meets monthly to discuss local trail issues and plan for future trails in and around the area. We’d love to have your input.

Thanks and Points Leaders

A huge thanks to Doug and Mary McCartney for being the shutterbugs that they are. Check out the wonderful uploaded photos of recent events in our gallery.

Oh, and that points thing. Leaders as of this morning:

Total Points Leader: Pete Skram - 220 points

Patrol Points Leader: Joe Perrin - 113 points

August Rolls to an End

2009-08-24T06:59:00.005-06:00

That’s right. August rolls to an end here this next week and rolls right into the Tour de Fat! The greatest bike parade and fest lumbers into town on September 5th with wacky bikes, original entertainment, and several thousand of your best friends. We are still in need of VOLUNTEERS. Help us make this day a success. The Tour de Fat benefits Bike Fort Collins and Overland Mountain Bike Club. Thanks ahead of time.

Two Trail Days

This comes from Mary and Doug who helped us divide and conquer over the weekend of August 15th.

“ The Curt Gowdy Trail day was a success. About 30 people came out to work on the trails including 15 members of Boy Scout Troup 101 from Wyoming. The trail work involved placing culverts, planting sign posts and rock armoring the soggy areas. Rock On wheels of Laramie provided a spaghetti lunch for everyone and although it rained throughout the day much was accomplished.”

And as mentioned last week, the trail day on the Shoreline Section of the Foothills trail was a success also. Check out last week’s post for more info.

A Couple of Helpful Patrollers

Many of us have taken the training to become ‘Certified Mountain Bike Patrollers’ for Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol. We go through First Aid and CPR classes. We meet with land agencies. We learn how to help people with mechanical issues, etc. And even though we spend the hours doing these things, not many of us get a chance to put our skills, especially our medical skills, into play, aside from bandaging our own injuries, of course. I guess this is a good thing, but it’s also a good thing to have those skills.

Recently, however, Patrollers Bill and Jess were out on the trail when their skills came into play with a rider who had a head injury. Here’s a little bit from both of them.

Bill: "…As we were loading up the truck at the trailhead, a man came up and asked if we could help him. His wife had had a bad crash coming down the trail… When we got to her, you could tell things were a little fuzzy but she was a trooper. Her helmet was cracked in a few places but it had done its job… Head injuries are always scary and even though I have more than basic first aid training the important thing to remember is to always stay calm. If you're calm and joking with them, they'll stay calm and be observant. Fortunately she was at the trailhead so the rangers arrived quickly an evacuation was quick and simple. From what I understand, she’s going to be fine… So don't ever think that bike patrols aren’t important. You never know."

Jess: (Who had crashed earlier on her ride with Bill and was in a bit of pain.) "…When we got there she was definitely a little loopy. She surely wasn't very sure of anything, but at least she was smiling and aware that she wasn't very aware. We hung out with her. Bill checked her out. The rangers showed up (three trucks worth)... I kept doing my best to tell bad jokes and stay out of the way.... I did ONE useful thing – blankets are a good thing. I helped keep her warm… They stuck her on one of those backboards and off she went. Poor girl. Glad I was there to bring some femininity to the whole male cavalcade of ubber-trained professionals swarming the area. I must say, it was quite the show for a mild concussion and broken finger. Better safe than sorry, and I was even able to re-use the single-use ice pack they took away from her broken finger for my shoulder. No no, I didn't TAKE it, they simply didn't want to continue using it, and well, I was in a bit of pain myself."

Nice work, Bill and Jess. Are you ready for an incident on the trail? Patroller or not, you may want to consider what you’d do if someone you know or don’t gets hurt out on the trail.

And now for this week’s calendar (and a little more…)

Mon, Aug. 24th – Monthly Meeting at Catalyst Coffee. 6:30 p.m. Night ride to follow at 8:30 p.m. for those who are interested.

Tues, Aug. 25th – Laramie Mountain Bike Series. More info here.

Wed, Aug. 26th – Singletrack Social leaving Maxwell Parking Lot at 6 p.m. Social hour afterwards at Josh Shafer’s. Bring something to share. These rides are a great way to break up the week. They’re quite fun and well attended. Hope to see you there.

Thurs, Aug. 27th – TIPS Training for the Tour de Fat. Info here.

Fri, Aug. 28th – F.C. Cycling Fest hosts the Oskar Blues Cruiser Ride and Concert in Old Town – the prologue to the Ride de Rist 5:30 p.m. Info here.

Saturday, Aug. 29th Ride de Rist. 7:30 a.m. Info here.
Outreach at Devil’s Backbone. Singletrack Social meets at Devil’s too. 9 a.m.

Mon, Aug. 31st – TIPS Training and Lead Training for the Tour de Fat. Info here.

Sat, September 5th – Tour de Fat. Volunteer here. Info about the event here.

Oh, yeah, and a quick review of points totals.

Pete S. still leads the way with Total Points at 185.
Joe P. leads the way with Patrol Points at 94.

Will anyone catch either of them?

Keep the rubber side down and don’t forget your helmet. See you on the trails.

Trail Day Volunteers Needed this Weekend

2009-08-20T10:00:00.000-06:00

Volunteers Needed for Trail Work Day at Horsetooth!

Trail work is an important part of keeping our outdoor community properly maintained and environmentally sustainable. We use our parks throughout the year for hiking, biking, horseback riding, walking our dogs, snowshoeing, and so much more! Giving back to our parks is a great way to show your appreciation and get outdoors and enjoy the trails, too.

We have one more trail work day this year, and we could use your help! We will be meeting at the Horsetooth Mountain Park trailhead at 8:45 am on Saturday, August 22nd. Northern Colorado Outdoors will be providing lunch from Backcountry Provisions, so RSVP to: info@NorthernColoradoOutdoors.com with your name, phone number, and lunch preference.
You can also go to our website and RSVP: www.NorthernColoradoOutdoors.com - just click on "Event Calendar" and sign up at the event date.

The trail work day will last until approximately 2:00 pm, so come prepared to stay for the duration. Bring water, gloves, a hat, and sunscreen, and ensure that you are wearing sturdy, closed-toed shoes and comfortable clothes.
Thank you for your continued support! We look forward to seeing you Outdoors!

Sincerely,

Kristina Brown
www.NorthernColoradoOutdoors.com

Weekly Outlook for August 17th

2009-08-17T07:04:00.007-06:00

Hope you're getting out and riding! The Tour de Fat heads our way in 19 DAYS! Yep, that’s 19 DAYS! If you’ve already signed up, THANKS! If you haven’t, we need your help. Please sign up to volunteer for a shift or two or three. Volunteer sign-up has been pretty light so far. Please rally some friends and family members and sign them up! We have plenty of slots open for people who don’t want to get TIPS trained. Then again, we have plenty of spots open for people who are TIPS Trained. (TIPS Training info is also on the sign-up page.) Thanks again! And if you haven’t gotten your costume together yet, get on it!

The Trail Day on Shoreline turned out to be a huge success. If you’ve been out there since Saturday afternoon, you’ll have noticed a big difference. We no longer have to worry about someone falling off the side of the earth as they zip along the trail. Working together with Todd, Richard, and Dan from the Larimer County Trail Crew, members of Team BOB, the CSU Cycling Team, the UNC Rec Center, New Belgium Brewery, and Overland Mountain Bike Club, moved a 350-foot section of trail up the hill about 10-20 feet in order to mitigate a constant erosion problem, help the trail drain better, and make using the trail a bit more pleasant. Thanks to everyone who came out and got dirty with us. Also, a huge thanks to Backcountry Provisions in Old Town for donating awesome, tasty, mouth-watering sandwiches for lunch.

The Silent Auction at Peloton Cycles for Stu Culp raised somewhere in the neighborhood of $4k. Check out Your Group Ride for updates on Stu and Dr. Tim. Thanks to Dan at YGR for keeping us all up-to-date.

And now for this week’s events:

Wednesday, August 19th – Singletrack Social Group Ride. Meet at the Maxwell Trailhead to ride by 6 p.m. Meet at Josh Shafer’s house to socialize afterwards. Please bring drinks or a snack to share. By the way, we had a season high 20 riders show up and break into two groups last week. These rides are turning out to be quite fun and break up the week quite nicely. I’m sure we’ll be riding the re-route on Shoreline this week. Please join us!

Thursday, August 20th – Bike-In-Movie at New Belgium Brewery. It’s back again and will be better than ever! Grab your cruiser, your bar bike, your fixie, your trike, load the fam in the burley trailer and head on over to New Belgium at dusk every Thursday for films, brews, and good times. The way they were meant to be - car free. This year NBB supports Wolverine Farm Publishing and Bike Fort Collins with our beer sales. So come support your local community.
This week’s movie – CLOSE ENCOUNTERS of the THIRD KIND

Saturday, August 22nd- Singletrack Social at the Soderberg Trailhead. Team 4 Hosts this week. Meet to ride by 9 a.m. Come and check out the work the county did on Loggers and Carey Springs. I’m curious to see what it’s like.

Monday, August 24th – Monthly Meeting at the Tap Room at Catalyst Coffee. Tour de Fat pre-game planning, socializing, trail talks, etc. Bring a friend. See you there!

Points Update: As of Monday morning, the points competition looks like this:
Overall Points Leader – Pete Skram with 142 points. Doug and Mary McCartney aren’t far behind
Patrol Points Leader – Joe Perrin has leapt onto the scene with a whopping 68 patrol points and 21 patrols.

That’s about it. Enjoy the ride and the week. See you at the trailhead or at the meeting! And don’t forget to sign-up for your shifts at the Tour de Fat!

Tour de Fat Heading This Way!

2009-08-14T07:31:00.004-06:00

The wild and crazy bike show and parade that is the Tour de Fat heads this direction in 3 weeks. This year's show on Saturday, September 5th benefits Overland Mountain Bike Club and its service arm, Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol, along with Bike Fort Collins. Plan on being there! And if you can help out and volunteer for part of the day, click HERE or on the link at the top right corner of this page and sign up. Thanks ahead of time, get your bike tuned up and start designing that costume!

Weekly Outlook for the Week of August 10th

2009-08-10T09:22:00.007-06:00

Top of the Monday mornin’ to you,

Area cyclists in need…

Please keep Tim Anderson, president of the Fort Collins Velodrome Association and organizer of the Oval Races, and his family in your thoughts this morning. Tim crashed in a bike race over the weekend and has had to have emergency surgery. More details about Tim can be found at Your Group Ride.

Also, if you are unaware, the family of Stu Culp has asked for donations of gift cards to help as they begin Stu’s recovery. To support the family, there will be a Silent Auction this Saturday, August 15th at Peloton. More details can also be found at Your Group Ride.

A few reminders:

Tour de Fat is just around the corner – 4 weeks away. Please spread the word. Sign-ups will be available in the next day or so. Keep an eye out. Also, don’t forget to get your TIPS training dates down. They’re on the Overland calendar.

We'd love to see an upswing in our patrols from now until October. The land agencies depend on our feedback and reports. Thanks to all of you who have been out there actively patrolling. From looking at this past week's totals, it looks like we've seen an upswing in patrols. Nice work. Joe Perrin has leapfrogged Dave Frisbie in patrol points. Pete Skram seems to be running away with the overall points totals at this point in time. Will anyone challenge?

Here’s what's happening this week:

Tuesday

Laramie MTB Series. Check the calendar for details. Also, the Trails Team Meeting was rescheduled to last week. It is canceled tonight.

Wednesday

Singletrack Social – Leave Maxwell by 6 p.m. Social hour at Josh's afterwards. Bring something to share.

Saturday

Curt Gowdy Trail Day – Head on up to Wyo and dig in the dirt. Please sign up on the website under Member Resources if you plan on going or email: dpmbp2008 (at) gmail.com

Shoreline Trail Day – Time for a little re-route on Monty’s favorite trail. Meet up at the Rotary Parking Lot at 8. (This is the parking lot at the top of the Maxwell Trail across Centennial) So we can plan for lunch, please RSVP by signing up under Member Resources on the website or by emailing dpmbp2008 (at) gmail.com At this point we need a minimum of 11 more people to sign up.

Singletrack Social @ Soderberg - CANCELED - Due to having two trail days on our plate, we'll cancel this week's Singletrack Social for Saturday

Silent Auction for Stu Culp – 5:30 p.m. Peloton Cycles

REMINDER: The next monthly meeting was rescheduled to August 24th at Catalyst Coffee due to a conflict with TIPS Training. Please make a note of it. We'd love to have a big turnout as this is the meeting where we go over a lot of the Tour de Fat information and procedures.

That's about it. Thanks for getting out there.

Shoreline Trail In Need of Help

2009-08-07T17:51:00.002-06:00

A tire’s width of trail is about all you’ll find in a handful of spots along the Shoreline section of the Foothills Trail, a well-traveled trail used by mountain bikers, hikers, and runners alike. With the generous amounts of rain Mother Nature has bestowed on our region, the trail has dangerously eroded away in several spots.

On Saturday, August 15th at 8 a.m. Overland Mountain Bike Club will host a trail maintenance day in conjunction with personnel from Larimer County. The goal for the day will be to re-route a portion of the trail, fix sections where drainage problems have caused ‘bog-like’ areas after rains, and armor a section or two to prevent further problems.

We’d love to invite you all to grab a shovel, a Pulaski or a McCloud and come out and help. Overland will supply lunch and tools. Please wear long pants, sturdy shoes, gloves and bring plenty of water. Meeting place is the Rotary Parking Lot off of Centennial. (Rotary is the parking lot at the top of Maxwell – The ‘A’ Trail) In order to plan for food, please email: dpmbp2008 (at) gmail.com.

Hope you can come out and help us make Shoreline even more enjoyable. Ride on.

Kory Swanson
Overland Mountain Bike Club/DPMBP

Monthly Meeting in Review

2009-07-28T13:01:00.006-06:00

Great turnout for our meeting last night. I think I counted 45 people. Great to see so many faces interested in banging their shins on rocks and going over the bars:)
Here’s a quick report on what was discussed…

1. Kristy Wumkes of the USFS attended the meeting and announced a new trail system that has just opened for mountain bike use up in the Red Feather area. Park at the Mount Margaret parking lot and look straight across the road. The entrance to the Molly Moon trail system is right there. At this time, trails aren’t marked. Trail maps and a kiosk are in the works. If you plan on riding or patrolling up there, check in at the Forest Service’s Visitor Center off of Centre street for more detailed info. Or, do as our fearless leader, Barb Allan, did and head up there and explore. Sounds like a variety of trails are up there, some similar to the Mt. Margaret trails and some more challenging.
2. Database Issues: Info from our database seems to have mysteriously disappeared. Please check your patrol rides and event participation for the first couple of weeks of July. If something is missing, please re-enter it. We are now doing nightly back-ups of our database.
3. Certified Patroller Issues: Have you completed all of your requirements for becoming a Certified Patroller but the info isn't registered on the website? Please contact a board member if this is a problem. We’ll get it taken care of as soon as possible.
4. Group Rides: Saturday Group Rides have been assigned to Teams. This Saturday, Team 1 is responsible for having someone at Soderberg to lead the ride. Remember, these are ‘No Drop’ rides.
5. Nathan from Pedal to the Point Bike Tour is in need of 10-15 volunteers for the August 9th event that raises money for Turning Point. Sign up on our website if you can volunteer.
6. October 10th has been designated for the Crankin’ Competition – Overland Team Games with a bbq to follow. Get it on your calendar. More details to follow.
7. Rob Foster talked about the goals of the Trails Team. If you are interested in being actively involved in trail building, maintenance, and access issues, the Trails Team meets the 2nd Tuesday of every month at Café Vino. Note: yesterday's blog stated that it was next week. This is not correct. Check the calendar for the correct date.
8. Shoreline Trail at the top of Maxwell continues to erode. We are in discussion with the County as to how to go about fixing it. We’ll keep you posted.
9. This Sunday, August 2nd, Barb Allan will lead the Adopt-a-Highway Clean Up. She needs a handful of people to help out.
10. Overland MTB Club jerseys are available for $40.
11. If you have an idea for a project that the club can help fund, please contact one of the board members.
12. Tour de Fat is right around the corner. This year there will be 2 shifts instead of 3. TIPS Training info is on our calendar.
13. There are a ton of events coming up. Check the calendar for dates. Trail days at Hewlett, Wathan, and Curt Gowdy. Lou’s Cruise, Outreach at DBB, etc.
14. Results for some Fort Collins Riders at Nationals in SolVista. Congrats to 4 local riders!

Fellow Overland Mountain Bike Club Member, Georgia Gould took the Gold Medal in the Women’s Pro Short Track.
Jon Vivolo, CSU Cycling, took the Gold in the Cat 1 Men’s 19-24 Cross Country Race
Teenage Phenom, Skyler Trujillo took home two Silver Medals – 1 in the Cat 1 Men’s 17-18 Cross Country Race and on in the Cat 1 Jr. 15-18 Short Track Race.
Heath Garvey over at Lee’s Cyclery took home the Bronze Medal in the Cat 1 Men’s 30+ Short Track Race.

15. Todd Thibedeau announced that Curt Gowdy has been selected as an IMBA Epic Trail this year. A celebration will happen in September some time. Keep an eye out for details. Congrats to Todd and all the trail builders and volunteers who have put untold hours into making Curt Gowdy a great place to ride.

Oh, and here's a quick update on points for the season so far.
Events Points Leaders: Doug Baker and Pete Skram, tied at 62 points
Patrol Points Leader: Dave Frisbie with 43 points
Total Points Leader: Pete Skram with 88 points
Team Points Leader: Team Two with 573 points

Weekly (Hopefully dry) Outlook for July 27th

2009-07-27T09:35:00.014-06:00

Greetings Singletrack Souls,

Curt Gowdy showed it to us all this past weekend. Great trail riding, big blue skies, a curious horse at 3 a.m. and a fear-inducing, duck and cover thunderstorm. A good time was had by all. Todd T. took great care of us and Doug and Mary M. made sure we had plenty of food to eat. Great teamwork getting the fire started on a soggy Saturday afternoon. If you haven’t made a point to getting up to Curt Gowdy to ride yet, get on it. The trails make the hour or so drive worth it. By the way, here's a little video starring our very own Steve Lacey and some of his riding buddies the week before up at Gowdy. (Picture: Soggy patrol clothes from a short-lived ride on Saturday)

This week’s events make for plenty of time to get out and patrol some trails. If you haven’t made it up the Poudre Canyon to patrol any of the ‘Gulches’, why not this week? It’ll be cooler up there and the trails always make for a good ride.

Colorado Trail Teen Returns

Remember Cassi Mason and her dad, Tony heading out to ride the Colorado Trail? They’re back. Here’s a bit of info from an email from them:

“We are back from our mountain bike tour of the Colorado trail. We had a wonderful 16 day adventure. You can check it out on our website. Thanks for everyone who helped to make it happen. We could not have done it without you.

Also thanks to everyone who helped us raise money for the Fort Collins Bike Co-op. For those who pledged but have not paid you can go to their website and contribute online or you can mail them a check. For those of you who may have missed the earlier emails, we were riding to raise money for the Bike Co-op, a local nonprofit that fixes and recycles bikes for folks here and in developing countries overseas.

Have a great summer and keep pedaling,” --Cassi and Tony Mason

And here goes the calendar stuff for the week:

Monday, July 27 – 6:30 pm, Monthly Meeting at Catalyst Coffee,

C’mon out and talk mountain biking. Check out the areas latest issues and upcoming events. Catalyst is at the northwest corner of Shields and Horsetooth.

Wednesday, July 29 – 5:30pm, Singletrack Social - Group Ride
More and more folks have been strapping on their helmets and coming out to ride. Last week we broke into two groups one heading around Pineridge for a bit mellower ride and one that headed up Maxwell and down Shoreline. We’ve been meeting for socializing afterwards. If you plan on sticking around, bring something to share – food or beverage. Hope to see you out there.

Saturday, August 1 – 7:30am, Trail Day at Hewlett Gulch with New Belgium
Once again, our fine friends at New Belgium Brewery will head up the canyon to give Hewlett Gulch some much needed TLC. These trail days tend to be fun, productive, and are also a great way for us to give a little back to our main sponsor. If you plan on going, please email Tamar Smolowitz at NBB ( tsmolowitz [at] newbelgium.com ) and let her know you plan on being there. Also, please remember to sign up on our website. You can meet at NBB at 7:30 a.m. or be up at the parking lot of Hewlett Gulch by 8 a.m. Heck, throw your bike in and be up there early, get in a ride or a patrol, and then work. Or, ride afterwards and check out your fine work.

Saturday, August 1 – 8:30am, Singletrack Social - Soderberg Trailhead

Sunday, August 2nd – 4:50 p.m, Six Day Races at the CSU Oval
Come on out and race pell-mell around the CSU oval. Fun to watch too! Lots of speed. Kids are welcome to race too!

Tuesday, August 11th - Trails Team Meeting @ Cafe Vino. Interested in helping out on the trails? This is the meeting to go to.

Enduro Riders: Several of us (at least 10 or 12 that I know of) will beat ourselves up on Saturday also. (At this point, I think at Trail Day at Hewlett Gulch sounds better.) If you plan to ride, show your club spirit and wear your Overland jersey! See you at the start and finish.

Remember, the Tour de Fat rides into town on September 5th. As far as I know, they're still looking for someone who wants to trade their car for a sweet, homegrown Black Sheep bike. Get it on your calendars and tell your friends. We need all hands on deck.

See you on the trails.

--Kory

Weekly Outlook for July 20th

2009-07-20T09:09:00.009-06:00

Greetings Fellow Knobbyists,

A couple of things before I get into the calendar:

1. If you happen to venture down the Shoreline Trail – the one that is part of the Foothills Trail system that you can access from the Rotary parking lot up off of Centennial Drive – be careful. Several sections of trail have been hit hard from the rains and have taken the trail down to a tire’s width. We’re currently in talks with Larimer County to come up with a solution to those problems and may be looking for some help to do some maintenance.

2. The Trails Team meets the first Tuesday of each month and it sounds like the meetings are going well. Interested? Check the calendar for details.

3. As we get closer to August, the Tour de Fat looms in the not-so-very-far distance. Get it on your calendar. Get it on your family and friends’ calendars. We need ‘All hands on deck’ and then some. This is our major fundraiser for the year and it enables us to continue to do great advocacy and trail work.

4. Sometime in September, we’ll be having some friendly Team Games followed by a BBQ. We'll keep you posted. If you have ideas for any fun bike-related games, email them to Kory.

5. Looking for some variety? Soapstone Natural Area has great trails that connect with Red Mountain Open Space and the Big Hole Open Space. I highly recommend descending the Cheyenne Trail. The picture up top is from Tom W. and Jeff S. who did a patrol up there on Thursday. We rode on Friday and easily connected about 35 miles of trail. It's beautiful. The trails twist and turn and roll and make you smile. The Plover Trail just opened last week and is the only trail I'd recommend against. It wasn't much fun as it's all flat and out in the middle of a prairie. Much of the trail follows a dirt road. One important note: There is no water at either Soapstone or Red Mountain. Bring your own.

And now the Weekly Happenings:

Wednesday, July 22nd – Singletrack Social with socializing afterwards. We’ve had good turnouts lately. C’mon out and join the fun. If you plan on socializing, bring something to contribute.

Friday, July 24th – Sunday, July 26th – Curt Gowdy Campout. Bring your family. Bring your bikes. Bring a smile. We’re heading up to Curty Gowdy for some good ol’ fashioned riding and goofing off.

Saturday, July 25th – Singletrack Social. The Social Ride relocates to Curt Gowdy this week and is in conjunction with the campout. The ride is open to anyone.

ATTN: The Beaver Meadows Mountain Bike Fest’s date has been changed. More info here: http://www.fccyclingfest.com/beaver-meadows-mountain-bike-festival

Monday, July 27th – Monthly Meeting – Catalyst Coffee – 6:30 p.m. Hope to see you there.

That’s about it. Enjoy your week and get out and ride.

Weekly (Sorta) Outlook for the Week of July 13th and Beyond

2009-07-13T11:27:00.013-06:00

Greetings Dirt Pedalers,

Sorry for the layoff between posts. Vacation got in the way…oh…and that job hunt thing. So, it’s Monday, July 13th and we’ve got a bunch of stuff on the mountain biking radar. So, here it goes… Calendar of events for the week(s) first and Other News following.

Tuesday, July 14th: Trails Team Meeting at Café Vino – 6:30 p.m. Anyone concerned about trails is welcome to attend.

Wednesday, July 15th: Singletrack Social leaving Maxwell Parking Lot at 6 p.m. Always a possibility for socializing afterwards.
Wednesday, July 15th: Ben Ollet continues his Skills Clinics over at Lory State Park. Sign up HERE for info.

July 17th – 19th or so: Apparently, Team 3 wants to do some serious team building this weekend. Many of them are rallying in Breckenridge for some good ol’ fashioned riding and other silliness. My guess is they’re planning to figure out how to win the Teams Point Contest…Any other Teams going to answer?

Saturday, July 18th and 19th: The Curt Gowdy Music Festival. Ride, camp, listen. Enjoy.

Saturday, July 18th: Singetrack Social leaving Soderberg Parking Lot at 9 a.m.

Saturday, July 18th: Trail Day on Wathan with Team B.O.B.

Sunday, July 19th: Urban Assault Ride. Check HERE for info. This is a fundraiser for the Fort Collins Bike Co-Op. Voluteers are needed to help with the event. Contact the Co-op to offer your time.
Saturday, July 25th and Sunday, July 26th: Overland’s Summer Campout!! Woo hoo! Come on up to Curt Gowdy. Bring your family. Bring your bikes. Ride. Play games. Have fun in the sun. Big ol’ BBQ on Saturday night. If you plan on coming, sign up on the club WEBSITE so we know what types of supplies to acquire.

Monday, July 27th: Monthly Meeting at Catalyst Coffee. Extra points will be awarded to the Team who shows up with the most members.

In Other News…

While up in Breckenridge for the 4th of July, I observed a few club members heading out for torture of the Firecracker 50. Kudos to Jim Fu, Rob Foster, and Jo VanCutsem. Check out the pics up top from the event.

FYI: Mountain Bike Patrolling can lead to rather ‘prickly’ moments. One of our very own had the ‘pleasure’ of assisting an injured rider whose lycra just didn't seem to ward of an attack by a hungry cactus. Any guesses as to who the lucky patroller was? And his/her patient

Rode Lory State Park on Saturday. Nice work on the trails everybody. Your hard work seems to be holding up well.

Riding the Laramie Enduro? A whole gang of Overlanders have signed up for the punishment of the Laramie Enduro. We’d like an accurate count of who will be out on the trail that day. The list, that I know of so far consists of: Ron Chambers, Josh Shafer, Corey Rhodes, Jim Fu, Matt Solley, Tommy Berglund, Mike Nosler, Dewayne Norvill, Bill Heisterman, Kory Swanson, and Scott Lamons. Registered and I don’t know? Shoot me an email. Also, several riders have mentioned how cool it would be for all of us to show up in our new jerseys.

Reminder: The Tour de Fat is September 5 and we need every single one of you and your closest friends and family. Get it on the calendar and start getting after your friends and family to get it on theirs too.

The Fort Collins Bike Co-Op has received $3500 in grants to train League of American Bicycling Instructors. Contact Rick Price at the Co-op for more info.

What do you think of this? Some Saturday or Sunday in early Fall, an Overland Teams Competition including a ride, games, food, etc? Sounds like fun to me. We'll see if we can get something like this put together...

I think that’s about it. Hope you’re making time to ride. Hope to see you on Wednesday evening.

Weekly Outlook, Last Week of June, Beginning of July

2009-06-29T09:37:00.014-06:00

Greetings Singletrack Slaves,

Lots o’ diggin’ in the dirt over the weekend. Mountain Bikers will greatly benefit from all the work that was done. Crews worked at both Curt Gowdy State Park in Wyo and Lory State Park here in our neck of the woods. Drainage issues seemed to be the theme of the day at Lory, what with all the precipitation we’ve seen as of late. A huge thanks to everyone who donated some sweat equity to our trail system.

Before I get onto what's up this week, check out the article and video from CBS up in Cheyenne about Curt Gowdy co-starring Paul Gritten.

So, what’s going on this week? Check it out.

Monday, June 29th,
6:30 p.m. – Monthly Meeting @ New Belgium Brewery. Bring some cash to pick up your new jersey. Only $40.
8:30 p.m. - Night ride will follow the meeting. If you plan on riding, make sure you have a trail-worthy lighting system. We’ll ride from the brewery, weave our way through town until we hit the base of Maxwell at the end of Prospect and go from there.

Tuesday, June 30th,
2:30 p.m – Trail Day @ Hewlett Gulch with New Belgium Brewery.
5:30 p.m. – Laramie Mountain Bike Race Series
6:00 p.m. – City Lights Criterium Series

Wednesday, July 1st
5:30 p.m. – Overland MTB Club member, Coach Ben Ollet offers a series of Skills Clinic for the intermediate rider @ Lory State Park. Check out his WEBSITE for more info.
5:30 p.m. – Singletrack Social – Maxwell Trailhead. Meet @ 5:30. Be ready to ride by 6.

Saturday, July 4th
8:30 a.m. – Singletrack Social is on the schedule but it is a holiday. We’ll make a decision at tonight’s meeting as to whether or not we’ll have the ride, cancel it, or meet somewhere else for a bit of variety.

A couple of bigger upcoming events you might want to get on your calendar:

July 25th and 26th – Overland Mountain Bike Club’s Summer BBQ and Campout during the Curt Gowdy Music Fest. Families welcome. Camping and Park entry will be free. Saturday Night BBQ will be tasty. Want to help plan it? Let us know.

September 5th – The Tour de Fat is on. Get it on your calendar. Ask your friends and family to get it on their calendars. We’ll need lots and lots of volunteers.

See you all tonight. Ride your bike to the meeting, earn an extra point.

-Kory

Weekly Outlook for June 21st

2009-06-21T21:49:00.006-06:00

Hope all the dad's had a great time on Sunday. Looks like Pop's Day kicked off a busy week for all of us here at MOUNTAIN BIKE CENTRAL. Welcome to BIKE WEEK! Pump up your tires and pedal hard. Here's what's what:

#1 Important thing. Friends of Lory Trail Day. Sign up. We need you. It's next Sunday. The link to the sign-up is at the top of this webpage in the right hand column. Easy. Easy. Easy.

Monday - CPR Review with Thuan.

Tuesday - 6 p.m. City Lights Crit. Check out: www. yourgroupride.com for more info. Lots of fun. NASCAR on bikes.
6 p.m. - Good Host Training with the USFS (Sign up with Barb if you still need this.)

Wednesday - A Busy Day!
6:30 a.m.- Bike to Work Day @ Catalyst Coffee. Overland is hosting a breakfast stop
5:30 p.m. Coach Ben Ollett returns to lead a Skills Clinic during the Singletrack Social to all interested. Meet in the Maxwell Parking Lot at 5:30. Ride by 6 p.m. The Skills Clinic will head over to the newly redesigned skills park @ Spring Canyon Park and then head out for a ride from there. Not interested in the clinic? Ride with us anyway.
6 p.m. - Full First Aid Class with Thuan. Contact Thuan if you need this class.
6 p.m. - Good Host Training with the City. Contact Barb if you need this training.

Thursday - First Aid Training with Thuan

Friday - Ride your bike.

Saturday - Trail Day at Curt Gowdy. Check our calendar for info.
8:30 a.m. - Singletrack Social @ Soderberg. Team 2 is leading this week's ride. Thanks this past week to Thuan N, Bill H, and Pete Skram for getting out and leading the ride.

Sunday - Did I mention FRIENDS OF LORY TRAIL DAY? Tell the world. Work on the trails and go for a ride after.

Monday - Mid-Season New Belgium Meeting. Earn extra points for riding your bike to the meeting. Heck, why not have that night ride afterwards that we've been talking about. Make sure you have lights that are at least 10w and that they are charged up. We'll head out west and ride some local trails. Oh, and there's always pizza and tasty bevvies at this meeting. Oh, and don't forget. We'll have the new jerseys for sale at this meeting. $40.

Tuesday - Trail Day @ Hewlett Gulch with the employees of our wonderful sponsor, New Belgium Brewery. Check out the calendar for more details and to RSVP.

That's all folks.

--Kory

Georgia, Ben, Leah, and Dusty - The Skills Clinic

2009-06-18T12:47:00.007-06:00

'How do I climb and clear an obstacle?'

'How do I descend and clear an obstacle?'

'What's the best way to take a corner at speed?'

These were just a few of the questions eager members of Overland Mountain Bike Club asked Skills Clinic hosts, Georgia Gould, her husband Dusty, her coach Ben Ollett, and her competitor, Leah (whose last name I regrettably missed).

Riders headed out into two groups and worked on a variety of skills from climbing technical sections to cornering. Most riders made it out of the evening unscathed. Most. We had one close call when one of our riders launched himself and his bike into orbit. Luckily, he landed well and suffered only a minor scrape or two.

Overall, it seemed like most riders enjoyed their evening with the pros. As a bonus, Coach Ben has offered his services at our next week's Singletrack Social on Wednesday at Maxwell. We'll meet at Maxwell and for those interested head over to the newly remodeled skills park before heading out on the trail. All members are welcome.

Weekly Outlook for June 15th

2009-06-15T10:25:00.006-06:00

Whew? Where’d the rain go? Okay, it wasn’t completely gone over the weekend but at least we could get out and enjoy the sunshine. The Fossil Creek Bike Fair went well. Lots of kids on bikes and a pretty exciting Bike Polo contest. The Outreach Day at Horsetooth, I mean Soderberg, went well after a slightly rocky start. Sounds like there was a lot of discussion with bikers going on. Thanks to everyone who got out this weekend and volunteered. Please don’t forget . The Friends of Lory Trail Day, one of our signature events, is on June 28th. Please sign up HERE

This week’s pretty low key in terms of volunteers! Yeah. A little breather. Nonetheless, living in the great cycling region that we do, there’s always stuff to do.

Tuesday, June 16th – Downtown Criterium Series begins with races for kids and adults alike. If you’ve never been in a Crit or seen one, check these out. More info at
http://www.yourgroupride.com/.

Feel like racing on dirt? Head on up to Laramie for their Mountain Bike Series. Registration will be at the warming hut at the Tie City parking lot of Happy Jack. More info here: http://laramiemtbseries.com/

Wednesday, June 17th – 6 p.m. The Singletrack Social moves over to Soderberg for the week. Georgia Gould and her coach, Ben Ollett will host skills clinics. Spots in the skills clinics are closed but there’s plenty of room for people to do a group ride on our own. If you signed up for the skills clinic and you can’t make it, please let me know as soon as possible. We do have a waiting list. Also, there’ll probably be some socializing going on afterwards.

Saturday, June 20th – 8:30 a.m. Saturday’s Singletrack Social is also at Soderberg. Team 1 is on the schedule for leading this Group Ride. Sign up on the website.

The FedEx guy showed up at my doorstep with a box of Overland jerseys. My lovely wife, Jen, agreed to model them for you. Nice pic, eh? Cost is $40. We’ll have them at the end of the month meeting at New Belgium. If you want yours ahead of time and are planning to be at one of the group rides, let me know and I’ll bring yours. Cash or check is fine.

That’s about it…other than the fact that my son turns 5 today and is quickly becoming a better rider than his dad. Whoa. I’m tired.

Keep the rubber side down. Here’s to more 70 degree days and sunshine.

--Kory

p.s. Remember to sign up to follow this blog. Valuable prizes will be awarded in a raffle for all followers.

Friends of Lory Trail Day Sign Up

2009-06-11T06:34:00.004-06:00

Friend of Lory is just around the corner.

Sign up HERE.

Fossil Creek Family Bike Fair

2009-06-08T16:25:00.001-06:00

The City of Fort Collins FC Bikes program is hosting The Fossil Creek Family Bike Fair at Fossil Creek Park (5821 S. Lemay) from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, June 13. The event will take place at the Park’s Oval Pavilion and will include live music, food, bike rides, bike games, bike education booths, and a bike polo tournament. Children can try their skills on the bicycle safety course and participate in the Paper Boy Challenge. There will also be a children’s bike decorating activity and bike parade.

Saturday’s event will also feature a locals’ velo swap. Please bring your old bikes and bike parts to sell, trade, or buy at the swap. Swap begins at 9 a.m. and runs through the afternoon; set-up for the swap begins at 8:30 a.m.

The Colorado Bike Polo tournament begins at 10:30 a.m. Rules and structure will be explained to team captains on the day of the event. Contact the FC Bikes office to sign up your team.
Get tips on family bicycling and commuting along the bike paths and bike lanes of Fort Collins. Check out ‘09 bikes and bike trailers from local bike shops and manufacturers. Local bike organizations will also be on hand to offer information on how to get involved with the bicycling community.

The Family Bike Fair is part of FC Bikes’ focus that involves growing the bicycle culture in south Fort Collins. FC Bikes hopes to integrate more bike-related events on the south side of town to incorporate education, encouragement, and community outreach.

For additional information on The Fossil Creek Family Bike Fair visit FC Bikes or contact Dave “DK” Kemp at (970)416-2411 or at dk@fcgov.com.

Outlook for the Week of June 8th

2009-06-08T05:52:00.006-06:00

Nice little hail storm we had yesterday. Almost had to get out my shovel. Looks like Joe Perrin had a chance to get out and whoop it up a bit recently. Let’s hope we can all ride like Joe this week. Here’s what’s happening:

Monday, June 8
6:00 pm - CPR Review (Contact Thuan if you need this class or any of the others upcoming ones. More info on the calendar.)

Tuesday, June 9
6:30 pm – Trails Team Meeting @ Café Vino

Wednesday, June 10
5:30 pm - Singletrack Social Group Ride and Socializing afterwards @ Josh Shafer's. Refreshments will be served.
6:00pm - Full First Aid Class - Part 1

Thursday, June 11
6:00pm - First Aid Review and Full First Aid Class - Part 2

Saturday, June 13
8:30am Singletrack Social - Group Ride
11:00am Fossil Creek Family Bike Fair (Need a few volunteers to come out and work the tent.)
Sunday, June 14
9:00am Outreach Day @ Horsetooth Mountain Park (Bring your bike. Go for a ride. Go for a patrol. Talk to trail users at the tent. Be an ambassador for mountain biking. Probably a good day to get in a Patrol Check Ride if you still need one.)

Also, Friends of Lory Trail Day is just around the corner. Tell your friends. Tell your family. Sign up HERE.

Also, sign up to follow this blog and you’ll be entered into a RAFFLE at the next monthly meeting. We've already had one winner.

Red Mountain Kick-Off Cancelled

2009-06-05T16:31:00.002-06:00

Bummer. Red Mountain Open Space Grand Opening has been cancelled due too much rain. Apparently the road in is in pretty rough condition.

Rain, Rain, Rain...Ride Cancelled tonight

2009-06-03T07:31:00.001-06:00

Tonight's Singletrack Social at Maxwell Parking Lot is cancelled due to rain. Bummer. At least my lawn and garden are happy...

Monthly Meeting Notes

2009-06-02T15:48:00.003-06:00

May’s Monthly Club Meeting Review

So, we actually had May’s monthly meeting in June. What can we say? It was a busy month. Thanks again to Catalyst Coffee for hosting us. Our next meeting will be held at New Belgium Brewery on Monday, June 29th. Hope to see you there.

If you didn’t get a chance to make the meeting last night, here’s a quick run-down of what was discussed:

Special Guests: Freshman, Cassi Mason and her father, Tony came to discuss their trip along the Colorado Trail. They will travel the entire length of the 500-mile trail on their mountain bikes this summer. They will be raising money for the Fort Collins Bike Co-op. If you’d like to support them on their trip, send a check to the Fort Collins Bike Co-op or contact Tony Mason at tony(at)greyrock.org.

Great News! After many years of working with the IRS, Overland Mountain Bike Club and Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol have received ‘official’ non-profit status. A huge thanks to Doug and Mary McCartney for their persistence in getting this done.

Spring Canyon Bike Park is undergoing a remodel in order to make it more sustainable. A pump track will be added and many of the other challenges will be changed. Jason and Pete from IMBA are here working on it and need people to come out and help. They’re working from 9-5 daily until it is done.

Bobcat Ridge trail work is happening this Saturday – 9 a.m. ish. Contact Doug Cutter if you want to help out.

Trails Meeting – Josh Shafer gave a rundown of the Trails Meeting that took place a couple of weeks ago. The Trails Committee is working on designing a long-term plan for trails in the area. They’re also working on creating a proposal for doing a ‘Beginner’s Loop’ at Pineridge. If you are passionate about trails, join them on June 9th @ 6:30 @ Café Vino. Regular meetings will be held on the second Tuesday of every month.

Friends of Lory Trail Day is Sunday, June 28th. A variety of tasks will be accomplished during the day.

This Friday Night, June 5th, Full Cycle and Northern Colorado Outdoors will have a Summer Kick-Off. Drinks, Food, and Goodies will be available.

Grand Opening at Soapstone Open Space and Red Mountain Open Space is this Saturday. Barb requested volunteers to come out and help people with rides and to staff the tent. If you plan on riding, Slime or Stan’s your tubes. Cactus are everywhere.

Todd Thibedeau gave us the Wyoming Report. Club Member and Ride Diva, Tami Perrin hosted a Women’s Trail Clinic at Curt Gowdy recently and it was a great success! Another ½ mile of trail was cut up in Curt Gowdy last week. This coming weekend is the Curt Gowdy Summer Slam. Great event for families. Doug and Mary McCartney will be hosting the Diamond Peaks/Overland Tent and need people to help out. Sign up on the website.

June 13th is the inaugural Fossil Creek Bike Fair. If you can make it and help out with the tent, please do so. This looks to be another great event for kids and families. The event will take place at Fossil Creek Park which is south of Harmony off of Lemay.

June 14th – We’ll have our first ever ‘Outreach Day’ at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space. Great day to get in a patrol, a check ride, to talk with area trail users, etc. Come on out and help out!

June 24th is Bike to Work Day and Overland Mountain Bike Club, along with Catalyst Coffee and Performance Physical Therapy will host a station at Catalyst Coffee with is on the NW corner of Shields and Horsetooth. Come on out and cheer on the bike commuters.

Overland Mountain Bike Club recently approved a grant to Bike Fort Collins’ Museum Without Walls Program. Jeff Nye will be looking to acquire classic mountain bikes for the museum’s collection.

Help plan Events! The Events Committee has some upcoming events that we need help coordinating. The Overland Summer Camp Out and BBQ will be held at Curt Gowdy during the Curty Gowdy Music Festival to be held the weekend of July 25th. We have a large group campsite reserved and will have a group meal on Saturday night. Help is needed to coordinate this event.

A formal complaint was filed with the City regarding the Tour de Fat. New Belgium is currently working to solve this problem. The Tour is scheduled for September 5th.

Thuan Ngyuen will volunteer his time to train people who still need First Aid/CPR Training. See the website calendar for upcoming dates. Email Thuan if you plan on coming. You can find his email address on the website.

New Overland member, Jeff Riggen won this month’s Blog Member raffle. He signed up to follow this blog. There’ll be another raffle next month. Don’t waste time. Sign up now and keep up-to-date on mountain bike news and club happenings.

Community Bike Classic – Overall, the day went really well. Plenty of help from members. Thanks. A big thanks to Bill Heisterman for coordinating this event with event organizers.

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day, the Spring Edition, went well. Thanks to Jed Emmons, Doug Baker, and Pete Skram for taking some awesome pictures. Thanks to all the volunteers both from Overland and Team BOB for helping out. The City of Fort Collins was happy with the even.

Outlook for the Week of June 1st

2009-05-31T16:16:00.004-06:00

Hey Dirt Pedalers,

June's here and so are lots of activities. Check out new member, Pete Skram, helping out at Take-A-Kid Mountain Biking Day.

This week's stuff:

Monday, June 1st - Monthly Meeting @ 6:30 at Catalyst Coffee - NW corner of Shields and Horsetooth. Following the meeting, we will congregate at my house (2100 Bronson Court) and head out for a Night Ride. If you are interested, make sure your lights are charged and that they are at least 10w or the equivalent. We will ride Pineridge, Maxwell to the top, possibly Shoreline or Ridgeline and back. This ride's usually about 13 miles. Bring a cold beverage for after the ride. Please RSVP if you can make the ride so I know how many to expect.

Monday - Friday - Spring Canyon Bike Park Remodel - Join Jason and Pete from IMBA and help them redesign the Bike Park to help make it more sustainable. If you can help out, bring a shovel, gloves, rock bar, rock cradle, etc. They're volunteering their time, let's volunteer some of ours. They'll be working roughly 9-5.

Wednesday - Singletrack Social followed by a Social Hour - Meet at the Maxwell Parking Lot after 5:30. We leave the parking lot no later than 6. We'll meet at Josh Shafer's house (right across the street from the CSU Stadium afterwards for food and beverages)

Saturday - WHOA - Lots of Stuff

Grand Opening at Soapstone Natural Area and Red Mountain Natural Area. We need help with the tent and rides. Sign up on the website.

Summer Slam at Curt Gowdy - Great Family Event. Staff the tent, go for a ride, have your kids participate in all sorts of cool activities. This is a Saturday and Sunday Event. Help is needed both days. Sign Up on the website.

Singletrack Social - 8:30 a.m. at Soderberg - We need someone to lead these rides. Preferably two people - one to lead a 'chill' ride and one to lead a more 'advanced' ride. We've had some beginners showing up and want to make sure they have a good time, their questions can be answered and that they don't get hammered into the ground. Please sign up on the website.

See you all tomorrow night.

--Kory

Giving Our Trails Some Respect

2009-05-26T14:41:00.007-06:00

Some of you may already be aware that last Tuesday, May 19th, we had our first ‘Trail-specific’ meeting for Overland Mountain Bike Club/Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol for this season. For those of you who aren't aware, Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol, and now Overland Mountain Bike Club, has been working with local land agencies and looking after the trails in our area for more than a decade. In recent years, we have finished the Kimmons Trail and the Howard Trail over in Lory State Park. We have funded trail projects. Recently, we've given a grant to the USFS for a crucial re-route on Hewlett Gulch, a trail we helped maintain also. We helped build alternate lines on the Ginny Trail at Bobcat Ridge. The photo above is from last fall on our Bobcat Trail Day. And these are just to name a few.

That being said, it was nice to finally have a meeting dedicated to discussing our local trail networks and our long term vision for putting Fort Collins on the national map as a mountain bike destination. Although the turnout wasn’t as big as I’d hoped, the people who did show up brought plenty of passion and knowledge to the discussion.

Our first meeting was pretty laid back. We mostly just started the discussion about our trails -where we are today and where we want to be in the future. Some of the topics that were brought up:

1) The need to start a Trail Committee within Overland Mountain Bike Club with monthly meetings and social gatherings to build camaraderie.

2) Start a “Big Picture” plan for the greater Fort Collins/Northern Colorado area by mapping out where we would like to build trails in the future in an effort to make our area a world class mountain bike destination.

3) Applying for grant money to help fund our vision

4) A real need to perform routine maintenance to currently existing trail networks, Shoreline, Maxwell, Horsetooth Mountain, etc.

5) Building an experienced Trail Maintenance Team within the group

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday June 9th, location to be announced. If you're passionate about trails and are interested in furthering the role of mountain biking in Northern Colorado, please show up and bring a friend. We'd like to hear from all interested riders from XC to DH. Check the calendar at http://www.overlandmtb.org/ for more details about our gathering place.

Thanks again to all dedicated members, including our hometown hero, Georgia Gould and her husband Dusty, who took time out of their schedules to come meet with us.

~Rob Foster

Outlook for the Week of May 25th

2009-05-25T14:30:00.004-06:00

Hey Dirt Pedalers,

The next couple of weeks offer plenty of opportunities to get out and share your love for mountain biking. Here's a quick rundown from Monday to Monday:

Wednesday, May 27 - Singletrack Social - Group Ride (Weather permitting, of course. It could be a bit sloppy out there.)

Saturday, May 30 - Lory State Park Mountain Bike Festival (We still need volunteers to lead rides and staff the tent.) Please note: The Singletrack Social will be a part of the Mountain Bike Fest. It will not be held at Soderberg this week. The ride will begin at 10:30 a.m.

Saturday, May 30 - Westridge Trail Day - Trail work day. Check out our website calendar for more details if you feel like digging in the dirt.

Monday, June 1 - Monthly Meeting at Catalyst Coffee, 6:30 p.m.

Also, the following weekend,

June 5th - Northern Colorado Outdoors and Full Cycle host a Summer Kick-Off.

June 6th, looks to be pretty busy. The City's Soapstone Natural Area and the County's Red Mountain Natural Area will host their Grand Openings. Overland will be hosting Group Rides. And, Curt Gowdy State Park hosts its 'Summer Slam' - an outdoor extravaganza with all sorts of activities for families, including mountain biking! Both events will need volunteers.

See you out on the trails!

When a Rattlesnake Bites

2009-05-22T07:24:00.004-06:00

The weather's warming up, people are on the trail and so are RATTLESNAKES. There seems to be plenty of wives tales out there regarding rattlesnake bite treatment so we went straight to people who know. Tim Gaines, our resident First Aid/CPR expert and our resident E.R. doc, Matt Solley get us up to speed on rattlesnake bites.

The best advice? Don't let it happen. Stay alert when you're on the trail.

That being said, if you encounter someone who has been bitten or you are bitten by a rattlesnake bite, here's what to do:
Rule #1: Call 911 (If your phone doesn't work, go immediately to Rule #2)
Rule #2: GET TO THE HOSPITAL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Rule #3: Monitor the patient's AIRWAY, BREATHING, & CIRCULATION but don't forget the goal of Rule #2.
Rule #4: Remove jewelry, watches or tight clothing. The bitten extremity will swell dramatically and hinder circulation. They'll also be much more difficult to remove.
Rule #5: Remain calm and limit movement of the bitten part if possible. This becomes complicated for the leg or foot, especially if you're alone. If you have a SAM Splint or something similar, quickly splint the bitten extremity. Use common sense and don't do anything that will prevent or delay the Goal of Rule #2. If you're alone get to a phone or get help as soon as possible.
Rule #6: Do not try to suck out the venom. It doesn't work. Remember the Goal of Rule #2.
Rule #7: Don't use a tourniquet. It only wastes time. Remember the Goal of Rule #2
Rule #8: Don't ice it. It only wastes time. Remember the Goal of Rule #2
Rule #9: Leave the snake alone after it bites you. If you want to prove that it was a rattlesnake take a picture.
Rule #10: Monitor the progress of the swelling of the bitten extremity every 15 minutes. You can do this by drawing a circle around the swelling with a pen or marker but make sure you're working on the Goal of Rule #2.
Rule #11: Keep your cool. You'll probably be fine if you get to the hospital and get anti-venom in you.

One last bit of advice: Get some medical insurance if you don't have any. Rattlesnake anti-venom is very expensive. You'll get taken care of in the ER regardless of your insurance status, but I'd hate to see you get slammed with a 100k doctor bill later on. As an aside, if you're reading this then you're pretty active so have a decent chance of getting hurt anyways in some other way, shape or form.

Miles and Miles of Kid Smiles

2009-05-20T06:46:00.010-06:00

Not drizzle, not clouds, not gloomy weather could stop forty or so eager kids from strapping on their helmets and throwing a leg over their mountain bikes for some great dirt riding fun last Saturday, May 16th. Overland Mountain Bike Club's first Take-A-Kid Mountain Biking Day, the Spring Event, turned out to be a great success.

Kids, parents, and volunteers alike headed into the Pineridge Natural Area from the Maxwell Natural Area parking lot with smiles on their faces and rode a mixture of double-track and singletrack. Some, who upon return to the parking lot, hadn't gotten enough time on their bikes, eagerly headed up the Maxwell trail for a little bit longer ride before the pizzas showed up.

Of course I'm biased here, having a couple of kids who took part in the event, but there's nothing better than seeing eager kids look at a rocky downhill section of trail and just let it fly. How great it is for them to look down that trail, at the turns, at the rocks, at the uphills, at the downhills and make it through it all and return to the parking lot with a sense of accomplishment.

A quote from one parent regarding the day, "I just wanted to say thank you for everything that you did to put together the Spring Take A Kid Mtn Biking day today. My children, as well as myself, enjoyed it immensely. We have only been in Fort Collins for about a year so this was such a fun way to find a new great trail and make some new friends. My daughter made best buddies with a little girl in her group and even got invited to her birthday party. What a wonderful community this is. And that's a lot in part because of people like you. Thanks so much.

And that pretty much sums it up. Many thanks to all our volunteers, Team BOB for lending support, Lee's Bike Shop for offering mechanical support, the City of Fort Collins Natural Areas Programs for being such gracious hosts, REI, Full Cycle Bikes, Recycled Cycles, and Performance Bike for goodies for the kids, Domino's Pizza, and Tweek'd Gear for the awesome t-shirts.

Oh, and some photos from the day are posted HERE. Open the Gallery called 'Events on the Trail'. More photos will follow....

Lonely Coffee Cup

2009-05-13T10:17:00.002-06:00

A very nice, old, and abused coffee cup followed me home from one of the medical classes this year. If it is yours, send me a note and it will come home to you.
tim

Friends of Lory Trail Day

2009-05-11T05:48:00.006-06:00

One of our signature events, Friends of Lory Trail Day, digs in on Sunday, June 28th. C'mon out, grab a shovel and get dirty with us. No need to be a member of the club, although we won't discourage that. All you need is a willingness to lend a hand.

Last year we built a bridge and finished the new Kimmons Trail, a little over a mile's worth of new, intermediate trail designed by our very own Greg Mazu, sole proprietor of Singletrack Trails.

Sign-up for this year's event is here: FRIENDS OF LORY SIGN-UP

Outlook for the Week of May 10th-17th

2009-05-11T05:46:00.002-06:00

Hey Dirt Pedalers,

Here's a quick rundown of what's going on this week.

Wednesday, May 13th:

Trail Day on the Wathan Trail w/Team Bob ( 9 a.m - 2 p.m.) Get out and work on a great trail!

Singletrack Social - Meet at Maxwell at 5:30. Great opportunity for an after work ride. Group leaves the parking lot no later than 6. Rides tailored to abilities and Barb will be leading a Beginner Skills Clinic for those who are interested.

Saturday, May 16th:

Singletrack Social - Meet @ Soderberg @ 8:30 a.m. Group rides no later than 9 a.m. We need a couple of people to lead this ride who aren't volunteering for Take A Kid.

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Day - 9:30 - 2 p.m. - Meet @ Maxwell Parking Lot. If you're signed up to work, check your times. Set-Up crew needs to be there a bit earlier

Sunday, May 17th:

Community Classic Bike Tour - Volunteers needed. Contact Bill Heisterman for more details. You can find his email on the patrollers list on the Overland website.

Yeti Demo Day @ Devil's Backbone 9 a.m - 2 p.m.

Hope you all are finding time to ride. Look for the full newsletter later this week.

Medical Class Update

2009-05-09T17:12:00.003-06:00

The first round of CPR and First Aid classes for 2009 has been completed. Once more i need to grovel - sorry about the scheduling snafu(s).
If you didn't get your CPR or First Aid card at the class, the rest have been mailed out and should be along to you in a couple of days. If not, send me an email.
If you took a class with me this year, the medical and CPR fields for you on the online roster should be correct. Again, if not, send me a note and i will research our records.
Any suggestions for next years classes anyone?
Beginning this Friday, i will be working somewhere near Gould, so you SHOULD come up for a ride!
tim

Bike Resource Night

2009-04-29T22:23:00.002-06:00

Great to see all the bike folks from the City of Fort Collins coming out for the evening to talk bikes and share their love for cycling with others. Barb and I talked to a lot of people about Overland and passed out some new brochures and a lot of stickers. All in all, it was successful.

Finishing Out the Week

2009-04-29T06:17:00.005-06:00

Well, it's been a busy week and it ain't over yet. I'm most excited about The City of Fort Collins Bicycling Resource night hosted by none other than David 'DK' Kemp. It's tonight at the Drake Center. Show up and check out '09 bikes, opportunities to get involved with bikes in the area, etc.

We've also got our weekly Singletrack Social tonight and on Sat. morning, a bunch of training for mountain bike patrollers and more. Here's a quick rundown.

Wednesday, April 29
5:30pm
Singletrack Social - Group Ride, meet at Maxwell Parking Lot
6:00pm
First Aid/CPR Challenge and Review Classes - see details on our calendar
6:00pm
Volunteer Training-City of Fort Collins - note, see our calendar for change in venue
7:00pm
Resources for Bicycling in Fort Collins -Drake Center, 802 W. Drake
Thursday, April 30
6:00pm
First Aid/CPR Classes
Saturday, May 2
8:30am
Singletrack Social - Group Ride. Meet at Soderberg Trailhead
9:00am
Gowdy Grinder Mountain Bike Race @ Curt Gowdy State Park
Sunday, May 3
9:00am
Outreach Day @ Devil's Backbone

Take A Kid Mountain Biking Filled Quickly

2009-04-29T06:01:00.006-06:00

Well, that was pretty amazing. Our newest event, Take-A-Kid Mountain Biking Day, Spring Edition, filled up quickly. We're sorry if you're son or daughther didn't get a chance to register for our Spring event. Space was limited.

Luckily, you won't have to wait long until we do it all over again and host our much larger Take-A-Kid event at Lory State Park the first weekend in October. Keep checking back at our website for registration details.

For now, see you out on the trails.

Singletrack Socials: Group Ride Giddy-Up

2009-04-23T14:31:00.005-06:00

With the warmer weather ahead of us, we've now begun our Singletrack Social Group Rides. On Wednesdays, meet at the Maxwell Parking Lot at 5:30 p.m., gear up and be ready to ride before 6 p.m. (The Maxwell Parking Lot is just South and west of the CSU Football Stadium)

On Saturdays, we'll meet at the Soderberg Trailhead @ 8:30 a.m. to gear up and be ready to ride no later than 9 a.m. (The Soderberg Trailhead is past the East Bay Marina off of Shoreline Drive on the west side of Horsetooth Reservoir.)

On Saturdays, we'll also be planning some Skills Clinics. Keep your eye on the calendar and this blog for more info.

Family and friends are always welcome as we'll offer a 'Chill Ride' for those who would like to take it a bit easier and a more advanced ride.

New trails on the Western Slope

2009-04-22T16:14:00.005-06:00

OMBC member Greg Mazu has been working in Grand Junction, CO all spring to bring more sustainable singletrack to the Lunch Loop area.

Singletrack Trails has been working for Bicycle Colorado, the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Association (COPMOBA), and the BLM to construct 6 miles of new trails. Greg and his crew have constructed vital new trails to bypass the infamous Widowmaker Hill and the asphalt/gravel road section of the Gunny Loop Trail.

You can follow the progress over the next couple of weeks of the Singletrack Trails crew at www.blog.singletracktrails.com and see more photos here.

OMBC President Barb Allan testing out a new feature on Gunny Loop

Riders flowing the sweet singletrack goodness.

Race Photos

2009-04-22T15:27:00.002-06:00

Hey All,

Just a quick note, some NBB Short Track Photos can be found on our website @ www.overlandmtb.org/gallery Click on the 'Events on the Trail' Gallery.

And if you haven't made it out the the races, there are still 2 left. Great time had by kids and adults alike whether you're participating or spectating.

Hope to see you out there next week.

--Kory

Day At The Races

2009-04-16T15:13:00.010-06:00

I've never been the racer type...well, that is until I moved to Fort Collins. And although I didn't race this past Tuesday, I have a few on the calendar for this season. But enough about me.
(BTW: That's Charlie on the left and Bill on the right after beating themselves into the ground for 30 minutes. Dont' they look like they had fun? Nice work boys.)

The First Race of the Short Track Mountain Bike Series out back behind New Belgium Brewery was a perfect example of what is great about this town. On a Tuesday night, well over 100 people showed up to race. Little kids, big kids, and women and men of all ages. On top of that, a bunch of people showed up to spectate, take pictures, and volunteer to make sure the evening went smoothly. The atmosphere was positive, focused on fun and it seemed like everyone from the race director to the racers to the people hanging out on the hill watching, had a great time.

Weather permitting, we'll be back out there next Tuesday. First race begins at 4:30. Hope to see you out there. (Another BTW: For those of you who have kids, it's a family friendly event. When they weren't watching the races, the playground equipment and a huge sandbox kept my kids busy.)

Get Greasy. Maintain Your Ride.

2009-04-06T15:19:00.002-06:00

I've been tinkering on bikes since my dad first introduced me to his tools. He was always fixing something. Since then, I have no idea how many bikes I've wrenched on. I enjoy looking after my bikes, my family's bikes, and my friend's bikes. It's therapy for me. There's something satisfying about getting a bike in running condition and knowing someone will enjoy their bike again.

That being said, the Overland Mountain Bike Club, in partnership with the Fort Collins Bike Co-op, recently offered an evening of bike maintenance that was well received by the attendees. Check out what Doug and Mary had to say:

On Thursday, March 26, 2009, Six Overland Mountain Bike Club members (3 men and 3 women) participated in a bike repair workshop at the Bike Co-op. The Overland Mountain Bike Club sponsors this repair program for it's members by donating to the Co-op. Doug Cutter was our host and there were six certified bike mechanics to work one on one with us. We were excited to learn how to repair and replace shifter and brake cables as well as adjust derrailleurs and brakesets. The women were especially stoked to now have the confidence to make repairs while on trail. What an awesome program! Our thanks to the Overland Mountain Bike Club and the Co-op!

We hope to continue these evenings once a month. If you're afraid of tinkering on your bike, have questions you'd like to have answered, would like to have the confidence to do your own tinkering, sign up for one. Keep an eye out for the next one. Hope you can make it.

--Kory

Curt Gowdy hits the national news

2009-04-02T07:56:00.000-06:00

One of the new favorite riding locations in the Front Range recently got another dose of national respect. Curt Gowdy State Park and club member Todd Thibideau were the focus of a news article in USA Today.

Club members have played a significant role in creating sustainable, singletrack trail system with many volunteer hours of trail building.

Rumor has it that the Wyoming winter has not been that harsh and the trails should be drying out very soon.

Overland Mountain Bike Club and You

2009-03-30T10:30:00.000-06:00

We live in a hotspot for mountain biking. You know it. I know it. Overland Mountain Bike Club knows it. World-class trails take you up, down, all around. Riders stitch together epic rides from the City of Fort Collins on a regular basis. It’s no big thing. Or we hop in the car, drive 60 miles north towards Cheyenne and feast on IMBA designed trails that stretch smiles across faces all spring, summer and fall. Or we head up the Poudre Canyon and ride Dadd Gulch, Young Gulch, and Hewlett Gulch in one day. Then we stick our feet in the cool river and enjoy a refreshing beverage.

Life for a mountain biker in our region doesn’t suck. In fact, all you have to do is pick up one of the regular mountain bike rags to know that we’re lucky. Let’s say that again. We are L-U-C-K-Y. Riders here not only enjoy phenomenal trails and trail access, but great relationships with Land Managers and other trail users. The USFS is eager to have our help building and maintaining trails. Lory State Park hosts a Friend of Lory Trail Day each summer – directly supported by mountain bikers who have built bridges and trails and a mountain bike specific park there. Larimer County is thankful for the many mountain bike patrols and Outreach Days that help keep them informed about trail conditions and user groups. The City of Fort Collins has built and is continuing to build trails with mountain bikers in mind. And Curt Gowdy State Park up in Wyoming has brought in IMBA’s trail designers and builders to create miles of fantastic singletrack.

We are lucky. But there’s a whole lot more to all this than luck. We thrive because mountain bikers have been pro-active for 15 years, well before many of us ever threw a leg over a mountain bike. The founders of Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol – people named Ron and Ramon and Tim and others – quietly went about meeting with Land Managers to make sure mountain bikers had and continue to have a home and a voice. Due to their foresight and hard work, we – you and I and all the other knobby lovers out there – can get on our bikes and ride and ride and ride. We owe them one great big, ‘Thanks.’ But more than that, we owe them our time. They would like nothing more than to know that their hard work and countless hours laid the foundation for mountain biking in our region for years to come. And that’s what Overland Mountain Bike Club and its partner, Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol, are dedicated to doing. We will be the premier mountain bike organization in the region. We will look after our trails. We will build new trails. We will get more people interested in our great sport. We will continue to work with Land Managers and help them as they help us. We will rally when we need to rally. And, we will ride and ride and ride and ride.

If you ride a mountain bike, come ride with us. You’ll learn that we love mountain biking. You’ll learn we love to enjoy a casual ride where we take in the sights, that we love to sweat as we grind it out on a climb. That we love to race, build trails, teach other to ride, hammer all day long or jump out for a quick before or after work ride. We’re regular folks who are passionate about riding. And after you meet us, join us. Help us continue to make our region a hotspot for riding. Work with us. You’ll be able to thank those who came before us and yourself for getting involved.