Archive for the ‘Conejo Valley’ Category

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Press for a Pump Track in Thousand Oaks at February 8th Meeting

Thursday, February 2nd, 2012

If you live in the Conejo Valley or a nearby community, please attend a meeting to be held by the Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) and press for a pump track and bike park to be included in the plans for the Lang Ranch Community Park.

On Wednesday, February 8th, CRPD will have a meeting to get public input into recreational activities they would like to see included in the Lang Ranch Community Park and other parks in Zone 2, roughly north of Hillcrest Drive and east of the 23 Freeway.

Two weeks ago we learned that CRPD has scrapped their plans for baseball fields and tennis courts on the 124-acre property bordered by Westlake Blvd, Erbes Rd and Aveninda de Los Arboles. An ancient landslide at the site makes it unfeasible to economically grade the land to safely accomodate playing fields. Instead, CRPD is exploring less intensive uses that won’t require extensive grading.

This is our chance to lobby for a bike park and pump track in a semi-urban area. Our kids and the young-at-heart could use to improve their balance, coordination, upper body strength, and generally have fun! In this age of video games, “sweet/salty snacks” and increasing obesity among our youth, everyone should appreciate a healthful, outdoor activity to engage them.

CRPD has plans for four public meetings:

Meeting 1: Background and Brainstorming
Wednesday Feb 8, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Hillcrest Center Community Room
403 W. Hillcrest Drive
Thousand Oaks, CA

Meeting 2 – Walk Lang Ranch Community Park Property with District Staff
Saturday, Feb 11, 7:30 am – 9:00 am

Meeting 3 – More Brainstorming & Bubble Diagrams
Wednesday Feb 29, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Hillcrest Center Community Room

Meeting 4 – Report Back and Recommendations
Wednesday March 21, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Hillcrest Center Community Center

Directions to the Hillcrest Community Center. From the 101 Freeway in Thousand Oaks, exit at Lynn Road, turning north, then turn right onto Hillcrest Drive. After 0.3 miles, turn left onto McCloud Ave, then turn right immediately at the sign for the National Park Service and Conejo Recreation and Park District. At the stop sign at the top of the drive, turn left and drive the short distance to #403, on the left.  Google Map and Directions

Posted in Conejo Valley, Special Announcement, Youth | No Comments »

Bridge Opening in Conejo Open Space – February 11, 2012

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

COSCA Brige Opening Invitation

Please join COSCA, the City of Thousand Oaks, the Conejo Recreation and Park District, and the Conejo Open Space Foundation as we celebrate the completion of COSCA’s new trail bridge in Hill Canyon! The Co
nejo Canyons Bridge provides the long-awaited “missing link” between the trails in Wildwood Park and the Conejo Canyons Open Space.
The Opening Ceremony will be held at the new bridge at 11:00 am on Saturday, February 11th, followed by a BBQ lunch. We also welcome any interested hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians to join us at 9:30 am for a fun and easy 1-hour hike/bike ride/horseback ride across the bridge and along the Hill Canyon Trail. All ages are welcome!
The official invitation is attached; RSVP is requested so that we can get a head count for the BBQ. Please RSVP by February 9th by email to saustin@toaks.org or by calling COSCA’s Associate Planner, Shelly Austin, at (805) 449-2505.

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Fundraiser Event at Newbury Park Bicycle Shop 2/24/12

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

CORBA’s first in a series of in-store fundraisers takes place Friday night February 24 at Newbury Park Bicycle Shop in Newbury Park (Thousand Oaks). On this weekend there will also be a trail work day at Guadalasca Trail in Pt. Mugu State Park on Saturday, and group rides led by North Ranch Mountain Bikers in Pt. Mugu State Park on Sunday (see ride details below).

 

FUN RIDES FEBRUARY 26

Sunday, February 26: CORBA Intermediate Ride.   This is our regular Space Mountain – Rosewood ride except we start in the middle. It’s a fun loop ride with lots of singletrack and switchbacks for your biking enjoyment. We start with a brief road ride from the bike shop to the trail by the house with the model train in the front yard. After the whoop-de-doo trail, we’ll loop back around through the normal starting point for a singletrack climb up Space Mountain. Then we’ll continue along the Los Robles Trail to the “Lookout” and take a break at the picnic table. Then it’s time to catch some thrills as we make our way down the Rosewood Singletrack to Lynn Road. After a short jaunt on pavement we are back to the bike shop where we started.

Total distance is 9.3 miles with 1600′ of climbing, rated at E3 – T3. Time: 7:45 am. Organizer: Randy

Directions:   The ride starts at Newbury Bike Shop, 1560 Newbury Rd # 6, Newbury Park, CA 91320. Exit the 101 Freeway at Ventu Park Rd in Newbury Park, turning south. Take the first right onto Newbury Road, following it around 0.3 miles. Turn left into the strip mall; the bike shop is behind In ‘n Out Burgers.

Sunday, February 26: CORBA Advanced Ride.   This is one of our regular and favorite rides, plus a few road and trail miles to get from the bike shop to the normal start point. From the bike shop, we ride 2.4 miles on the road to the Felton Street access to the Los Robles Trail, which we ride to the regular start point at Wendy and Potrero. From here we’re on the regular ride, starting off on the connector trail that leads to Big Sycamore Canyon Road. We’ll descend down into the canyon and take Sin Nombre over to Sage and make the climb up to the water tower. From here it’s a fast and fun decent down Wood Canyon. Then it’s another climb up to the top via Guadalasca. We’ll ride the fireroad over to Backbone and enjoy another great descent. After a short jaunt on Two Foxes we’ll head up the main fireroad and climb up the dreaded asphalt hill. From the top it’s back to Los Robles Trail, then a road ride from Felton Street to the bike shop.

Total distance is 28 miles with 4000′ of climbing, rated at E4 – T3.5. Time: 7:45 am. Organizer: Jonathan

Directions:   The ride starts at Newbury Bike Shop, 1560 Newbury Rd # 6, Newbury Park, CA 91320. Exit the 101 Freeway at Ventu Park Rd in Newbury Park, turning south. Take the first right onto Newbury Road, following it around 0.3 miles. Turn left into the strip mall; the bike shop is behind In ‘n Out Burgers.

Posted in Charity, Conejo Valley, CORBA News, Rides and Events, Special Announcement | No Comments »

Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery Pays Cyclists to Lose Weight

Tuesday, January 3rd, 2012

It’s the time of year again when many people make resolutions to improve their health and fitness. This year, the Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery (SMMC) aims to make it just a bit easier. When a resolute customer buys a bike from SMMC before January 22nd, he or she will have the opportunity to earn $0.10 per mile for every mile ridden on that bike in 2012.

“We know that many people out there want to improve their fitness and maybe lose a few pounds, and we just want to give them a little nudge in the right direction,” says David Kooi, owner of SMMC. “Cycling is one of the easiest ways to exercise. It’s a low-impact sport that eats up calories and builds strength, stamina, and cardiovascular fitness.”

Under the program, participants will log their miles at Strava.com, a social training website, using GPS devices. Twice during the year, SMMC will reward participants with gift cards for the miles they have ridden. “A simple training plan that consists of 3 rides per week averaging 20 miles per ride will reward the customer with more than $300 for the year. When you can buy a quality fitness bike for $750 these days, that’s significant savings for the consumer,” says Kooi. Participants can earn up to 50% of the original bicycle purchase price.

About Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery: The Santa Monica Mountains Cyclery is located at 21526 Ventura Blvd in Woodland Hills, California, and serves residents of the San Fernando Valley, including Woodland Hills, Calabasas, Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks, West Hills, Agoura Hills, Topanga, Malibu and others. SMMC presents a selection of the finest road and mountain bikes available, as well as quality bikes for getting around town and to and from work. SMMC has an extensive selection of clothing, parts, and accessories – everything you will need to get riding safely, quickly, and stylishly down the road or trail. SMMC also performs bike repair, tune-ups, and maintenance and has a full bicycle fitting studio. More information at http://www.smmcyclery.com or call 818-453-3204.

From PRWeb.com

Posted in Conejo Valley, Health, Los Angeles, Santa Monica Mountains | No Comments »

My First Trail Building Experience During the COSCA Trail Work Day

Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

Contributed by Jesse Ettinger, North Ranch Mountain Bikers

I ride mountain bike trails for free. By “free” I mean “not withstanding any of my tax dollars that may be used for park & trail maintenance.” (In the Conejo Open Spaces, most of the trail construction and maintenance is done by volunteers, the exception being large-scale removal of chaparral and weed overgrowth.) So, with all the riding I do, it really was a no-brainer to me that giving back is something I can and should do.

Polaski

I feel such joy when I ride my mountain bike on a great trail, and wanted to experience the joy of building or repairing one so other bikers, hikers and equestrians can do the same. I had my first opportunity to do this on October 15th, and it was as rewarding as I could have hoped.

Roughly seven or eight of us from North Ranch Mountain Bikers showed up for the Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency’s (COSCA) Trail Work Day. We were a small fraction of nearly 170 people  who felt compelled to turn out for the same reasons I described. Some of us had done this type of stuff before, many, like me, had not.

After checking-in around 7:30 am and receiving free sack snacks, we were shuttled in two buses from the Conejo Community Center to a trailhead off Erbes road, north of Sunset Hills Boulevard. We split into groups of fifteen, and were shown how to use the two main tools with which we’d become intimately familiar over the next few hours: The McLeod and the Polaski. (more…)

Posted in Conejo Valley, Trail Crew | No Comments »

COSCA Annual Trailwork Day to Be October 15th

Tuesday, September 20th, 2011

Join CORBA, SMMTC, COSCA and other volunteer groups to work on the Conejo Open Space trails in Thousand Oaks. There will be a thank you lunch and prize drawings after the work. This is a great event with many volunteers. This year we will be revitalizing a trail in Sunset Hills that had become completely overgrown. If you hike or ride the trails in Thousand Oaks, come out and help maintain these trails! No prior experience is necessary.

This annual Conejo Valley event draws a large crowd and as always helps to put some very sweet trails back into good shape. Be sure to stay afterwards for the free lunch and raffle. Meet at the Conejo Community Center in Thousand Oaks (Botanical Garden Entrance off Gainsborough Road). Registration and board busses: 7:00-8:00 a.m. Things to bring:
• work gloves
• long pants and long sleeved shirt
• water, snack
• sunglasses and sunblock
Tools and instructions on how to use them safely will be provided. There will be a free thank-you lunch and free raffle afterwards from noon until 2:00 pm.

Directions:  Meet at Conejo Community Center Park in Thousand Oaks. Exit 101 Freeway on Lynn Rd. north, right on Gainsborough Rd., right at the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden sign (just past the 7th Day Adventist Church). Breakfast snack is also provided.

Check the COSCA Trailwork Volunteers web page for more information.

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COSCA Strategic Plan Public Workshop Sep 20

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

The Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency will host a public workshop to solicit your comments as a basis for developing a strategic plan for the open space and trail system of the Conejo Valley. The public is invited to provide their opinions and thoughts about the mission of COSCA, as well as their vision of how the open space and trail system should develop in the future. Click here to visit COSCA’s website.

DATE: Tuesday, September 20 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

WHERE: Conejo Recreation and Park District Headquarters, Board Room 403 West Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360

CONTACT: Shelly Austin, COSCA Associate Planner, saustin@toaks.org or (805) 449-2339.

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Posted in Advocacy, Conejo Valley, Trail Access | No Comments »

Thousand Oaks Needs a Bike Park

Sunday, April 24th, 2011

By Mark Langton

If a demonstrated need in the community is the main criteria for building a bike park (pump track, jumps, skills area), then the City of Thousand Oaks should be at the top of the list. Jumps and mini-pump tracks are all over the place, yet they keep getting bulldozed because the community has not supported the youth who are putting in the effort to do something constructive. THE TIME IS NOW!

Unidentified jumps in Newbury Park

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is of course my local perspective because I see kids every day on mountain bikes and BMX bikes riding around our neighborhoods, trails, and yes, unauthorized dirt jumps. And I know a lot of parents who’s teenage kids go riding with them. I bet you know people just like that in your neighborhood.

The Socal High School Cycling League built a pump track in Riverside recently with CORBA’s help. The city of Glendale is considering a bike park and pump track in their trails master plan. There are parks and tracks all over the state. IMBA has had success in several cities including New York, Seattle, and Golden, Colorado. We’re not reinventing the wheel. Click here for the the Bring the Riding To the People project.

A bike park can be as simple as a pump track (rollers, bermed turns, table top and gap jumps), but can also include skill test features similar to what might be found on a trail. A supervised environment similar to a skate park, the Conejo Recreation and Park District (CRPD) already has an infrastructure to deal with this kind of  facility. Bike parks encourage volunteerism and stewardship. They provide an area for adult mountain bikers wanting to improve their skills and also help their kids learn, and an athletic/exercise outlet for youth who do not participate in team sports. And they’re just plain fun! Not only that, they do not require the same kind of space, materials, or costs associated with ball fields or other conventional recreational facilities.

Watch a video of the Stowe Bike Park pump track in action.

Representatives from CORBA have discussed the possibility of a bike park with the CRPD. CRPD managers are amenable to the idea, but stress that the only way something can be done is through community support and commitment. This would require attendance at CRPD board meetings by kids as well as parents and other interested parties to provide testimony and petitions, and other community support (such as bike shops, YMCA, teen centers, schools, etc); not to mention supporting testimony from such organizations as CORBA citing the success of tracks and parks in other cities. This process typically takes 3-5 years, so strong parental involvement is key. Again, CRPD is open to the idea and there are several possible locations, we just need community involvement! We could also use people with expertise in landscape architecture.

The author circa 1972.

If you are interested in becoming part of a team to bring a pump track to Thousand Oaks, please get in touch with us at volunteer@corbamtb.com .

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Posted in Advocacy, Conejo Valley, Health, Uncategorized, Youth | No Comments »

MRT Begins Mustard Eradication on the New Millennium Trail

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011
New Millenium Trail in 2008, without eradication efforts

New Millenium Trail in April 2008, without eradication efforts

Today, March 28, the Mountains Restoration Trust will begin eradication of the invasive Mustard plants along the New Millennium Trail. Each year by early summer the mustard can choke off the trail and render it near-impassable. This is especially true after above-average rainfall seasons like we’ve experienced this year.

This picture from April 2008 shows how the New Millennium Trail will likely look again if no eradication effort is undertaken.

CORBA has provided funds to the MRT to help support their efforts. This will save many days of brush-clearing trailwork in the early summer, allowing us to concentrate on other trailwork efforts.

We thank the MRT for helping keep this much-loved trail rideable for all.

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Posted in Conejo Valley, Trail Crew, Trail Hazards, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Potrero Ridge Trail Completed During the COSCA Spring Trailwork Day

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

View of the new trail (green) from the north-west. Other trails in Newbury Park are yellow, Dos Vientos Trails are blue, and the Los Robles West and Rosewood Trails are magenta.

On Saturday March 26, about 55 Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency (COSCA) volunteers, including a dozen from CORBA and a half dozen from the Santa Monica Mountains Trail Council (SMMTC) trail crew, gathered to complete the eastern end of the Potrero Ridge Trail. This completes the multiuse trail that connects Newbury Park to Dos Vientos by dirt. Now when makling a loop of the trails in Newbury Park, Dos Vientos and Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa, the section between Wendy Drive and Reino Road can be done on dirt. Before, we needed to use 1.35 miles of road/sidewalk.

Construction on this 1000 feet of trail began in the fall of 2009. Originally, there were plans to work on this trail during the 2009 COSCA fall trailwork day, so the brush was cut out along the path of the future trail. However, all the volunteers worked on the nearby Mountain Creek Trail instead, and it was mostly completed, with only one or two rocky or otherwise difficult sections still needing work. (That trail was finished during the 2010 Spring trailwork day.)

The fallback plan was for the COSCA rangers to rough the trail in with a sweco during the winter of 2009/2010, but the weather did not cooperate. The large amount of rain we had that winter kept the rangers busy fixing up other trails that were damaged by rain runoff. The rest of the year was too dry to effectively use the sweco.

During the 2010 COSCA fall trailwork day, the connector trail between the Santa Rosa Trail and the Lower Santa Rosa Trail (AKA Baseline Trail) in the Santa Rosa Valley was constructed.

Finally this trail’s time had come! Volunteers worked for three hours on Saturday morning with near-perfect weather. It was cloudy and cool, and it had rained a couple of days before so the soil was moist, making it easy to dig and pack without making any dust.

Some of the hillside that the trail traversed was quite steep, so the trail had to be dug deep into the hillside to reach the desired width of three to four feet. And parts of the hillside were very rocky, requiring the liberal use of rock bars in some places. But the volunteers worked hard, taking breaks as they liked, to complete the work in less than three hours. On average, each volunteer was responsible for building 25 feet of trail!

See photos of the work in our 2011 COSCA Spring Trailwork Day photo gallery.

After the work was completed, volunteers gathered at the top of the hill for grilled hamburgers, hot dogs and veggie burgers. CORBA gave out 15%-off coupons from REI to all attendees. After lunch, those who signed up through CORBA gathered for a drawing of prizes, ranging in value from $2 to $20. Everyone won a prize, and everyone who wanted one got a patch kit, tire levers, and a bell.

Thanks to all the volunteers and COSCA staff who helped get this new section of trail on the map and on the ground!

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