Posts Tagged ‘imba’

Membership Renewals: Choose CORBA as your Chapter!

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Many of our members have or will be receiving renewal notices for their combined CORBA/IMBA membership. Since CORBA became a chapter of IMBA in April 2011, you no longer need to join two separate organizations (local and national). Your individual and family membership dollars support advocacy, outreach and other efforts at both the National and local levels (Corporate and Retailer memberships are presently available only for IMBA).

However, to ensure you remain a member of CORBA, there’s one extra step. Be sure to choose CORBA as your local chapter so that your dollars will more directly impact local projects and advocacy. Of course, you’re free to choose a different chapter if there is another that is more appropriate, such as our neighbors and partners at the Mount Wilson Bicycling Association, IMBA’s newest California chapter.

Renewal reminders from IMBA will link you to a page where you will need to select your local chapter, pictured below, so Remember to Choose your Chapter:

 

 

 

You can also avoid the extra step by going to CORBA’s membership page directly. Donations to CORBA, over and above your membership, stay local and are also tax-deductible. You can make a donation at http://corbamtb.com/join/donate.shtml.

CORBA is proud to be an IMBA chapter, working together to strengthen the collective voice of the mountain biking community. We thank you for your ongoing support. 

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Posted in CORBA News, Special Announcement | No Comments »

IMBA Trail Care Crew in Tehachapi Nov 18 and 19

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Our friends at the Tehachapi Mountain Trails Association will be hosting the IMBA Trail Care Crew in November. They are a group of non motorized trail users from the greater Tehachapi California area trying to make life better by providing more trails to more people in our own back yard. On Friday Nov 18th at 4:00 PM the Trail Care Crew will be presenting “Better Living Through Trails” in the Golden Hills Community Services District meeting room. The address is 21415 Reeves Street, Tehachapi, CA 93561. After IMBA’s Better Living Through Trails presentation they plan to begin the discussion of creating a cohesive greater Tehachapi area trails plan. They have confirmation from Kern County supervisor Scrivner’s office, Kern County Parks, possibly Kern County Roads, Golden Hills CSD, Stallion Springs CSD, Alpine Forest Board, City of Tehachapi, Tehachapi Parks Dept, and the National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program.

The IMBA trail skills college is scheduled to start the next day Nov 19th in the same meeting room at 9:00 AM with the hands on portion to take place in Tehachapi Mountain Park that afternoon.

The sign up page is on IMBA’s web site at  https://www.imba.com/

CORBA members, supporters and other concerned trail users, land managers are invited and encouraged to attend.

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Posted in California, Trail Crew | No Comments »

Hikers, Bikers and Equestrians Share Trails

Monday, April 11th, 2011

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Today, Sunday April 10, about one hundred trail users descended upon Sunol Regional Wilderness Park in the Bay Area’s East Bay Regional Parks district. But this was no ordinary group of trail users. Among the multi-use advocates were about 40 mountain bikers, 30 hikers and 30 equestrians, all riding together as a diverse group.

This was a kick-off event for the 2011 California Trails and Greenways Conference, a California State Parks hosted event bringing land managers, planners, trail advocates and trail users together. The theme of this year’s conference is “Engaging Youth and Diversity.”

Today’s ride was a clear demonstration that multi-use principles can work. Cyclists, Hikers and Equestrians can share trails successfully when there is mutual respect from each group. One of the cyclists, a CORBA friend in a CORBA jersey, even swapped “vehicles” with an equestrian (pictured). Events like this bring the trail user community together and everyone wins.

The day started with a fire-road climb to Camp Ohlene, where lunch was served. For the return trip the trail chosen was a very narrow singletrack with some exposure, that is normally closed to bikes and equestrians. It was about six-miles each way, with 1400′ of elevation change. Even on narrow singletrack trails like this, everyone can peacefully co-exist no matter how they choose to experience our open spaces.

CORBA board members Danusia Bennet-Taber and Steve Messer, and CORBA Advisor and founding Director Jim Hasenauer are among the conference attendees, along with representatives from mountain bike advocacy groups from as far away as San Diego and Arcata. It’s a great opportunity to network with trail advocates and land managers and learn from each other, working towards our common goals.

Over the coming days there will be multiple presentaitons on best-practices for trail design, trail maintenance and management. Among the presenters are CORBA founder Kurt Loheit, a nationally-recognized trailbuilding guru, Nat and Rachel Lopes of Hilride, representatives from California State Parks, California Department of Transportation, the Alliance for Biking and Walking, and numerous land managers, trailbuilding experts, advocates and volunteer program coordinators from around the state.

The conference gets underway on Monday, April 11 with a series of day-long concurrent workshops. Over the following days there are over 80 concurrent sessions covering topics as broad and diverse as California’s trails.

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Posted in Advocacy, California, Youth | 1 Comment »

IMBA Professional Trail Care Crew Coming to SANTA BARBARA

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

March 3rd, Presentation “Club Care – Reinvigorating Your Organization”:
5:30pm – 7:30pm, WheelHouse – 528 Anacapa Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101.
This presentation focuses on techniques that advocacy groups across the country have used to reach goals, overcome, challenges, and build up their community.  Any trails, outdoor, environmental, or green based organization/non-profit will benefit from this workshop.  Included will be ideas on sustaining boards of directors, recruiting members, and making sure that everyone has a great time participating in their organization.  No cost and open to the public.

March 4th, Land Manager Trails Management Workshop:
9am – 12 noon
The purpose of the presentation is to acquaint Land Managers, agency staff and committees, and private land owners with the language, terminology, contemporary trail design, sustainability, and system planning for successful trails.  The presentation is a catalyst for an open discussion on sustaining multi-use trails, user management strategies, and trail user education (both mountain bikers and other users). Also discussed will be the effective use of volunteers for trail maintenance.
RSVP required with chris.orr@sbmtv.org

March 5th, IMBA Trail Building School for Crew Leaders and Volunteers*:
8:30am – 5:00pm, Casa De La Raza Library,  601 East Montecito Street Santa Barbara, CA 93103:

This workshop instructs cyclist, hiker, and equestrian volunteers sustainable trail building/maintenance techniques and trains volunteers and land managers to use these skills on their trails and in their community.   The workshop will include a half day (8:30am -12:30pm) in class instruction and then a half day on a trail applying and refining skills.   Topics will include trail building methodologies, water erosion control structures, trail bed armoring, user control points, technical features, signage, and more. (Location of the trail will be announced in the workshop.  Carpooling to work site will be strongly encouraged. )
* The Trail Building School is offered at no cost, but participants and potential crew leaders are asked to commit to three trail work events in 2011.

Pre-registration is required.  Register on IMBA website or register by email tochris.orr@sbmtv.org.

Sunday March 6th, IMBA/SBMTV Social Ride.
10:00am. Trail to be announced

Contact me at chris.orr@sbmtv.org or 805.451.0459 for more information.

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Posted in Trail Access, Trail Crew | No Comments »

Outside Mag: The Ban on Bicycles in Wilderness is Dead Wrong

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Outside Online, the online companion site to Outside Magazine,  recently published online an excellent article about the ban on Bikes in Wilderness areas. The article originally appeared in print in March. Echoing the arguments put forth by IMBA, CORBA and mountain bike groups across the country, the article lays out the reasons that lifting the ban could lead to more land being protected. If wilderness did not exclude bicycles, millions of mountain biking Americans would join with environmentalists to support new wilderness designations.

IMBA is working with agencies at the Federal and local level to incorporate alternate designations that allow mountain biking while still offering similar environmental protection.

You can read the article on Outside Online, or see the full text of the article is after the break.

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Posted in Advocacy, Environment, National, Trail Access | No Comments »