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#864 From: "veljkoj" <veljko@...>
Date: Mon Oct 2, 2006 2:49 pm
Subject: Special Notice: Final GHORBA announcement via Yahoo; GHORBA Elections veljkoj
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1. Here's your last chance to continue receiving short email updates with Houston mountain biking news:

After today, GHORBA will no longer send updates via Yahoo. Click on this link for our new subscription system:

2. Want to increase the number of off-road bicycling opportunities in Houston? Come join the team and help us do just that! GHORBA is looking for nominees to the Board of Directors and regional coordinators for 2007.

Source: http://ghorba.org/announcements/elections-2006

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#863 From: "Veljko Roskar" <veljko@...>
Date: Tue Sep 26, 2006 7:17 pm
Subject: National Public Lands Day This Saturday Sept 30. - Multiple Work Party Opportunities veljkoj
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Join GHORBA volunteers, Trail Stewards Jimm Schroeder at Hunstville SP, Brandon Moss at Cypresswood Trails, or REI Galleria at Ant Hills for the National Public Lands Day work parties!

Source: http://ghorba.org/announcements/national-public-lands-day-2006

Note:

If you've already received the above message directly from rssfwd.com, please unsubscribe from this Yahoo Group!

We've moved to a new system and will soon discontinue posting updates on Yahoo Groups!

Click on the graphics to re-subscribe via our new system:

GHORBA Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association

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#861 From: "veljkoj" <veljko@...>
Date: Thu Sep 14, 2006 5:07 am
Subject: Special Notice -- Migrating to a new Mailing List veljkoj
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Dear Houston Off-Road Bicyclist,

You are receiving this special one-time notice because your email address is on the Yahoo! Group GHORBA, used for announcements about upcoming area mountain biking events, rides, skills clinics and trail work parties.

What is changing:
Since GHORBA comprises volunteers with limited free time, we wanted to get away from having to post articles twice--once on our website, and again on the Yahoo group. We decided to migrate our announcements list to an automated and advertising-free system, utilizing the RSSFWD service.

How are you affected:
We will no longer use Yahoo Groups for our announcement emails. The volume of emails you receive will remain 3-5 per month. The messages will however be advertising-free.

Privacy:
As before, GHORBA will not sell or make available our mailing lists to any advertisers.

What you have to do:

Within the next 24 hours you will receive a separate email to confirm your new subscription.
Please confirm your subscription to GHORBA announcements via the link in the confirmation email.
If you do not wish to subscribe, ignore the confirmation and you'll never get another email from us!
If you wish to receive GHORBA announcements at a different email address, ignore the confirmation email above and visit the GHORBA website; then click on the Get Our Newsletter link.
If you have spam filtering on your email account, please add rssfwd@... or the domain rssfwd.com to your approved or authorized senders' list.

Thanks very much.

Sincerely,

Veljko ("vel-co")
secretary@...

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#860 From: "GHORBA - Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association" <veljko@...>
Date: Wed Sep 13, 2006 6:43 pm
Subject: TMBRA Fall Series Race Course Pre-rides veljkoj
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Get ahead of the competition, or get around your own fears - come and pre-ride with GHORBA and NWCC the local TMBRA fall race courses at Rocky Hill, Lake Bryan and Huntsville.

Source: http://ghorba.org/rides-events/tmbra-06-pre-rides

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#859 From: "Veljko Roskar" <veljko@...>
Date: Mon Sep 11, 2006 9:25 pm
Subject: Ride and Social MOVED to Wednesday veljkoj
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Ride and Social MOVED to Wednesday

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#858 From: "Veljko Roskar" <veljko@...>
Date: Fri Sep 8, 2006 10:41 pm
Subject: Muchos Trail Work Parties - Saturday Sept 9 and 16 (MP, Huntsville, Jack Brooks) veljkoj
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Need to get out of the house? We've got a bunch of trail work to do this Saturday and next, from Jack Brooks and Memorial Parks, to Huntsville State Park. Take your pick:

GHORBA Calendar

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#857 From: "GHORBA - Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association" <veljko@...>
Date: Thu Sep 7, 2006 9:24 pm
Subject: Ride and Social this Monday, Sept. 11 veljkoj
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The best way to meet fellow mountain bike riders is to join one of our group rides—and here’s an opportunity to socialize over a cool beverage afterwards.

Source: http://ghorba.org/announcements/ride-and-social-this-monday-sept-11

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#855 From: "Veljko Roskar" <veljko@...>
Date: Tue Aug 29, 2006 2:48 am
Subject: Work Parties at Huntsville State Park -- Sept. 2 and 9, 8AM to 1PM veljkoj
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Work Parties at Huntsville State Park -- Sept. 2 and 9, 8AM to 1PM

Join GHORBA members and Trail Steward Jimm Schroeder to build some new trail extensions at Hunstsville State Park and get Paydirt points!

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#854 From: "veljkoj" <veljko@...>
Date: Fri Aug 18, 2006 2:42 pm
Subject: BCO Birthday Bash @ Sun & Ski Tonight! veljkoj
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BCO Birthday Bash @ Sun & Ski

Fri, Aug 18 6pm - 8:30pm

Sun & Ski, 6100 Westheimer, Houston, TX (map)

Everyone is invited, there's no charge -- RSVP to avoid the line at the door.

Get rockin' with tunes from Chrisma; enjoy free beer, free sodas!!!

All the while you're mixing and mingling with fun, friendly, active Houstonians in a cool sports store with gear galore.

More info:
BCO BB

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#853 From: "Veljko Roskar" <veljko@...>
Date: Thu Aug 17, 2006 7:58 pm
Subject: Cypress Creek Preserve Scouting trip veljkoj
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Cypress Creek Preserve Scouting trip

Help check out some old trails to see if they can be reopened Sunday Aug. 20th…

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#852 From: "Veljko Roskar" <veljko@...>
Date: Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:19 pm
Subject: Member meeting this Monday @ REI -- Trail News, Epic Trail possibly. veljkoj
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Our next meeting is on Monday, August 12, 7 PM at REI - Willowbrook.

We want to hear from you! Refreshments will be provided! All members and friends of GHORBA are welcome .

We will also discuss our efforts to upgrade the Lone Star Trail--120 miles in the Sam Houston National Forest, to the first Epic mountain bike trail in Southeast Texas.

Reading our trail updates, you may think that we are over-extended! You would be right if we continued to rely on the "regular" band of volunteers. But, with so many opportunities available, none of which we want to miss, we feel that this is the time to make a clarion call to the entire cycling community to turn out and muck-in. If you have not volunteered before, please make the effort – the reward is a feeling that one cannot adequately describe, unless you have been a volunteer. We think that the "I am holier than thou" feeling is the best – shame your friends into helping out as well. You will also find that you will make a whole new bunch of friends if you volunteer, as well as a new appreciation for our trails. We are faced with many challenges, as well as opportunities, this is a great time to join us.

Since we continue to build "multi-use" trails, we’re also making a new effort to contact other groups to help with trail work. We’ve already mentioned the Sierra Club and the Lone Star Trail Hiking Club. We’re also inviting the Houston Adventure Racing Team and Houston Area Runners Association, amongst others.

We also need more of you – newbies or old-hands – to get involved with the club to help out with all this activity. We need several people in particular to help with volunteer coordination, event organization, or act as group ride leaders.

The best way to offer your help is to meet us... so, come to our member and friends meeting!!!

Veljko Roskar
Secretary,
GHORBA.org

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#851 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Fri Aug 11, 2006 12:57 pm
Subject: TRAIL WORK PARTIES - 12-13 AUGUST 2006 - LAST MINUTE REMINDER - PAYDIRT FORM LINK AT THE BOTTOM kchighfield
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TRAIL WORK PARTIES - WEEKEND OF 12 & 13 AUGUST

Here's details of next weekend's work parties at Huntsville SP, Memorial Park and Carl Barton Jr. Park (Conroe). All work parties qualify for Paydirt points. Paydirt is open to all volunteers and enters you into yearly drawings worth thousands of dollars. Paydirt points are earned towards TMBRA Spring Championship Series overall points - if you race, you need to earn at least 10 hours of Paydirt time for 60 points. Don't procrastinate - get your paydirt hours in early! Volunteer hours also accrue valuable grant equivalency funds, which can be used to provide matching funds for Federal trail grant awards. Unlike the racers, who have to do some trail work, the rest of you will volunteer simply because it feels good! See y'all out there.

HUNTSVILLE STATE PARK:

Saturday August 12, 2006

Huntsville State Park, Huntsville Texas

Begin hiking/riding to work site at 08:00 AM

Recommended Tools for volunteers to bring: Spade Shovel, Metal Rake (not leaf rake), Long Handle and hand clippers, gloves, sunscreen, Bug Repellant with DEET, hat, and good attitude. I would also recommend bringing camel backs. We will have fluids for you to fill them with but it keeps the hydration handy.

Meet at Nature center just inside the front gate at 8:00AM. There is a new parking lot. I suggest using it as the park law enforcement group will write tickets for parking on the grass. We will have to ride our bikes or hike in to the work sites. I will plan to have the park's four wheeler to get fluids in.

Work time will not exceed 5 hours.

Lunch will be provided at the end of the work time by GHORBA and Bike Lane Houston.

Please RSVP your attendance to Jimm Schroeder , Schroeder_jimm@... to that we can better accommodate you for lunch.

MEMORIAL PARK:

Want a chance to help make the Memorial Park mountain bike trails better? A work party is scheduled for the Memorial Park bike trails on Saturday, August 12th from 9 AM to 2 PM. Your trail work experience level does not matter for this work party; we will teach you what you need to know.

We will be meeting at the rugby field parking lot. You are encouraged to bring gloves, safety glasses, a full camelback, trimming tools, sunglasses or safety glasses, shovels, rakes, and mosquito repellent. GHORBA will provide drinks and snacks, and lunch will be provided at the conclusion of the work party.

Please send a message to clayfenton@aol.com to RSVP your intent to participate (and join us for lunch).

If the work party is in jeopardy of being canceled due to wet conditions, please call Clay at (713) 826 � 5307 or Brian at (713) 569 � 2994, but please don�t call us before 8 AM that morning.

CARL BARTON JR. PARK:

Sunday, 13 August, 0800 - 1200 (or later if we still have some willing help).

We will hold a work party to help cut the brand new trail at Carl Barton Jr. Park in Conroe. This work party will support the group attending the Trail Clinic. We will have some tools, but if you have trimmers, rakes or shovels - bring them along. Just as for the other work parties, don't forget your bug spray, stout work shoes and suitable clothing. We will be providing hydration, but a camel-bak is a useful tool to keep you going as we dig into the woods.

The park is located south of Conroe on East Loop 336, 2.75 miles east of I-45. Meet at the main park building. If you are late, need more info, or if the weather looks bad, call or e-mail Kevin Highfield at 281 546 7164, khighfield@...

PAYDIRT

Racers: get your paydirt points, print a few paydirt forms and keep them in your car...... http://www.tmbra.org/paydirt/paydirt%20form.pdf

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#850 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Tue Aug 8, 2006 6:35 pm
Subject: GHORBA Trail News August 2006 kchighfield
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TRAIL NEWS - AUGUST 2006

Well, we said that this summer was going to be busy. It turned out to be even busier than we expected due to new opportunities and developments. Here's a summary of activities - there's a lot of stuff, but we think you'll find it worth reading!

LONE STAR TRAIL

The big news, which we can now announce, is the work we have been doing to make the Lone Star Hiking Trail multi-use; in other words, there's about 129 miles of singletrack trail in the Sam Houston National Forest which will become available for off-road cycling. Its still a way from being a done deal, but the conditions for making it a reality have never been better. GHORBA, its predecessors and other cycling advocates have dreamed of this for many years, but previous attempts and hopes have been dashed by opposition from other groups.

Here's why this is now a realistic opportunity. In April, we attended a volunteer appreciation meeting at the US Forest Service (USF) headquarters and met with other Sam Houston National Forest (SHNF) user groups. GHORBA attended since we have been stewards of the trails at Double Lake, which is part of the SHNF. In particular, we met with members of the Lone Star Trail Hiking Club (LSTHC), who's current president, Jeff Stull, is also a cyclist and supports conversion of the trails from hiking only to multi-use. Multi-use means all non-motorized transport, and may include equestrians. At the moment, the state of the trails in the SHNF is pretty unfair to us: there are 129 miles of hiking trails, 85 miles of motorbike trails and quite a few miles of equestrian trails. There are 7 miles of bike trails - Double Lake! A meeting was convened in early July at which the Texas Trail Docs (Ryan Spates and Susan Stormer) gave a presentation on multi-use trails. The USF also explained that substantial portions of the LSHT are in very poor condition due to lack of use and maintenance and unless usage and volunteer work can be expanded, they would have to close them. This is the reason that the timing is good - we have explained to the other groups how we can provide a lot of resources and it will only improve the trail. Even with cycling use, the trail usage will still be very light compared to many other local trails. The USF have told us that if we can obtain letters of support from local user groups, particulary ourselves, the LSTHC and the Sierra Club, then they can re-designate the trail without having to undertake environmental impact studies or other lengthy beaureaucratic measures.

Many will know that in previous years, the Houston Sierra Club has opposed multi-use and has proposed establishing dedicated single-use trails. However, efforts to build new trails have failed and the goal now is to save existing trails. So, we have been on a campaign to educate non-cycling groups about who we are, what we do and what is our impact on the trails. We have developed a good working relationship with the Houston Sierra Club (HSC). HSC will be sending members to the Conroe Trail Building Clinic and we are also inviting them (amongst others) to attend and help with trail work parties.

There has never been a better opportunity, and when opportunity knocks, we are doing are best to exploit it - we have no other choice.

CONROE - CARL BARTON JR. TRAIL

The Trail Docs Trail Building Clinic is next weekend - 12-13 August. The course is now fully subscribed with a tremendous response from the off-road cycling community. We now have some names on the "stand-by" list. We will also have a separate work party on the Sunday of this weekend so we can try to get as much as possible completed of the inaugural 3 mile section.

We'll send a separate notice on the Sunday work party. If you are on the trail clinic, you'll be getting a separate notice with complete instructions. A special word of thanks here to Bike Barn, who are sponsoring the Conroe clinic, providing all the meals and drinks for the weekend, as well as giving Gary Rogers, who will be trail steward, time-off from his duties at Bike Barn Champions to attend.

We're excited about this completely new project, and pretty soon we'll be riding it!

SPRING CREEK GREENWAY

The Trail Building Clinic was given by Ryan and Susan on the weekend of 22-23 July at Montgomery County Preserve (on Spring Creek, near the Woodlands). This was a very successful weekend, which was more about building relationships than new trails. The biggest group attending were the Texas Master Naturalists, but we also had Robert Collins, who is the project director for the Spring Creek Greenway and Evelyn Merz (Chairman of the Houston Sierra Club) and her husband John. We also had a smattering of well behaved cyclists, particularly Jim Davis and David Ritchey, of Woodlands Cycling Club. The idea here was to demonstrate to the Spring Creek Greenway how we could provide resources to build single-track trails. A short (500 yard) trail was built in the preserve. Interestingly, last week I was speaking with the director of the Legacy Land Trust, Jennifer Lorenz, and she remarked that she would not let just anybody go and build a trail in "her" preserve (LLT and Jennifer are proud of the preserve, with some justification) and she knew that the work was in very capable and environmentally sensitive hands with Ryan, Susan and GHORBA.

Jim Davis has been leaping into advocacy work with great skill and enthusiasm and is using the new relationships we've forged with the Spring Creek Greenway project team to explore new trail opportunities. There's a lot of real estate available and we are hopeful that we'll be able to announce new trail plans soon.

CYPRESSWOOD

Another reason life got busier recently was the crisis at Cypresswood Trail. 2 weeks ago, we received reports that the bulldozers were working at the trail removing trees. The landowners of the section of private land have elected to harvest the pine trees on their 76 acre tract, which forms the center portion (about 60% of the total area). We had a very intensive 2 days, working the phones and pulling in every resource available to see what we could do. In the end, some good news was developed from the situation: within 30 hours of the work starting, we had managed to get Harris County Infrastructure Department, Harris County Flood Control District, Precinct 4 Parks and the Trust for Public Land to convene a meeting the following week to pool their resources and make a realistic offer for the land. It looks like the long term plan will be for about 8 acres to remain with the landowners for later commercial development (at the corner of T.C.Jester and Cypresswood) and the county will purchase the remainder, which is an acceptable and viable plan, preserving the majority of the trails we have.

Unfortunately, the center portion of the trail is lost for the moment. The foresters are removing 60% of the pines, leaving the remainder (mostly younger trees) and all of the hardwoods, leaving the forest very different, but still viable. If you are interested in learning more details or helping at Cypresswood Trail, please join the Yahoo! group - http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/cypresswoodtrailgroup/

HUNTSVILLE

Trail steward Jimm Schroeder has been quietly working with the new park manager, Chris Holm, to work on some major re-routes at Huntsville State Park. They now have 15 major re-routes approved and ready for construction. These re-routes will address some major erosion problems on this trail and are long overdue. If you want to ride "rooty climb", you'd better ride it this week, because that 's the first re-route which will be done next weekend. Many of you will miss some of the technical climbing provided by the conditions, but we're sure that all will agree that the erosion that provides this feature is unacceptable. Interestingly, the erosion of some of the Huntsville trails is a reason cited by opponents of multi-use trails; people see the erosion and the cyclists and immediately link the two. Better informed people will know that water is the biggest eroder of trails and if a trail goes straight down a fall line, particularly with sandy soil, then massive erosion will follow - no matter who uses the trail. We have invited the Sierra Club and other groups to attend the next work party at Huntsville to show the work that we can do. Don't worry, the hills at Huntsville will still be there - we'll just have a different type of experience as we go up and down them. Jimm has planned a work party next weekend, which we know is something of a conflict with other events, but Jimm is anxious to get started, since the re-routes need to be done will in advance of the TMBRA race. He will be working with park personnel on Friday 11 August, then have a group work party on Saturday 12 August. Details of this and other trail work parties will follow in a separate message.

JACK BROOKS PARK

Steve Booker and some of his excellent Jack Brooks team will be meeting with Galveston County Parks this week to discuss expansion of the trails into additional areas of the park. Those of you who have ridden JB will know that there are substantial areas of woodland around the developed area of the park that are just waiting to provide additional singletrack. We look forward to more news from Steve after the meeting.

GREENS BAYOU

First a public apology to Phil Niccum, who is the prime mover for the new Greens Bayou trail: sorry Phil, we have been distracted from your project lately. However, we have spoken with the Precinct 1 parks director, as a follow up to the introductory letter we wrote in June, and we have scheduled a meeting with P1 Parks next week to give them a trails presentation.

MEMORIAL PARK

We don't seem to talk about dear old MP much these days. But the team of stewards - Clay Fenton, Brian Thigpen and Larry Pruitt continue to work hard, though quietly, to keep the trails open and work to open up more trails. The regular trail work party is scheduled for Saturday 12 August, so if you are an MP regular, go and lend them a hand.

LAKE HOUSTON STATE PARK

The official handover of the park is now scheduled for 25 August and GHORBA plans to attend the ceremony. This was originally planned for March 2006, but its taken a little longer than expected to work out the details. City of Houston parks department have great plans for the park and they have already requested input from GHORBA for developing new trails. We'll use the handover ceremony as an opportunity to speak to COH and see where we go from here.

ALL HANDS ON DECK!

Reading all this, you may think that we are over-extended! You would be right if we continued to rely on the "regular" band of volunteers. But, with so many opportunities available, none of which we want to miss, we feel that this is the time to make a clarion call to the entire cycling community to turn out and muck-in. If you have not volunteered before, please make the effort - the reward is a feeling that one cannot adequately describe, unless you have been a volunteer. We think that the "I am holier than thou" feeling is the best - shame your friends into helping out as well. You will also find that you will make a whole new bunch of friends if you volunteer, as well as a new appreciation for our trails. We are faced with many challenges, as well as opportunities, this is a great time to join us.

Since we continue to build "multi-use" trails, we're also making a new effort to contact other groups to help with trail work. We've already mentioned the Sierra Club and the Lone Star Trail Hiking Club. We're also inviting the Houston Adventure Racing Team and Houston Area Runners Association, amongst others.

We also need more of you - newbies or old-hands - to get involved with the club to help out with all this activity. We need several people in particular to help with volunteer coordination, event organization, group ride leaders. The best way to offer your help is to meet us......

AUGUST CLUB MEETING - REI WILLOWBROOK, MONDAY 14 AUGUST, 7PM

We promised a long time ago to hold a meeting on the north side of town. Since a lot of our recent activity has been on the north side, it seems like now's the time to do it. REI Willowbrook have kindly offered to host our next meeting and the store is located at the SW corner of SH249 (Tomball Parkway) and FM1960. REI have been a great supporter of GHORBA and our local trails, awarding grants to GHORBA and most recently a $10,000 grant to the Cypress Creek Greenway Project. The meeting will concentrate on all the trail news and this will be your opportunity to learn more about all the projects discussed above. We look forward to seeing you there.

Happy Trails!

GHORBA

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#849 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Tue Aug 8, 2006 7:06 pm
Subject: TRAIL WORK PARTIES - 12-13 AUGUST 2006 kchighfield
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TRAIL WORK PARTIES - WEEKEND OF 12 & 13 AUGUST

HUNTSVILLE STATE PARK:

Saturday August 12, 2006

Huntsville State Park, Huntsville Texas

Begin hiking/riding to work site at 08:00 AM

Lunch will be provided at the end of the work time by GHORBA and Bike Lane Houston.

Please RSVP your attendance to Jimm Schroeder , Schroeder_jimm@... to that we can better accommodate you for lunch.

MEMORIAL PARK:

Please send a message to clayfenton@aol.com to RSVP your intent to participate (and join us for lunch).

If the work party is in jeopardy of being canceled due to wet conditions, please call Clay at (713) 826 � 5307 or Brian at (713) 569 � 2994, but please don�t call us before 8 AM that morning.

CARL BARTON JR. PARK:

Sunday, 13 August, 0800 - 1200 (or later if we still have some willing help).

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#847 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Thu Jul 20, 2006 8:05 pm
Subject: TRAIL CLINIC - THIS WEEKEND kchighfield
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Some places have opened up for the Texas Trail Docs trail building clinic this weekend at Montgomery County Preserve (just south of the Woodlands). If you're interested, drop me a line or better, to Jim Davis - jimandkimdavis@... . This will be full day Saturday and Sunday this weekend, no doubt you won't work too late on Sunday. this is an ideal opportunity for those who won't be able to make the clinic on 12-13 August at Conroe (still some space available on that one).

Let us know

Kevin Highfield

VP-Trails, Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association

www.ghorba.org

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#846 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:23 am
Subject: TRAIL DOCS CLINIC - CARL BARTON JR. PARK 12 & 13 AUGUST 2006 kchighfield
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August is approaching fast, please sign up for the trail building clinic at Carl Barton Jr. Park, Conroe 12 & 13 August 2006. During this clinic, we will be cutting sections of the first three mile section of trail, which was marked in June by the Texas Trail Docs.

Bike Barn have kindly offered to sponsor the clinic, providing breakfast, lunch, drinks and snacks on both days of the clinic.

Please drop a line to myself or trail steward Gary Rogers (of Champions Bike Barn) and sign up. Space on the clinic is limited to a maximum of 30 people. We hope to have a few old hands come and help out and help with cutting the trail separate from the clinic, so we can get as much of the first section completed as soon as possible.

Send your request to enroll to:

Gary Rogers: gmrogers@... Me: khighfield@...

There is another clinic being held at Montgomery County Preserve on 22 & 23 July, but this is now fully subscribed, mostly with Texas Master Naturalists, Spring Creek Greenway project people and a couple of WCC cyclists who are working on the Spring Creek Greenway. They will work on a short demonstration trail in the preserve, which we hope will show the Spring Creek Greenway developers what we can do with natural surface, single-track, sustainable multi-use trails.

Happy Trails,

Kevin Highfield

VP-Trails, GHORBA

www.ghorba.org

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#845 From: Kevin Highfield <khighfield@...>
Date: Sun Jul 9, 2006 9:30 pm
Subject: Trail Work Party @ Cypresswood Trails - Sat July 15, 8.30AM kchighfield
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Now that the monsoon season is behind us the trail is needing some
serious TLC. Next Saturday, the 15th, we'll be meeting at the
trailhead (Cypresswood & TC Jester) to do some minor brush clearing
and focus on other portions of the trail that need some work due to
the heavy rains. Plan on bringing trimmers, shears, saws or whatever
you have available. Water and mosquito repellent are a must. Hope to
see a lot of you out there.

Brandon

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#844 From: Kevin Highfield <khighfield@...>
Date: Sun Jul 9, 2006 9:39 pm
Subject: Katy Flatland Century - Sun July 16 kchighfield
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Hey you fat tire riders - try something different next Sunday - come and get a few miles in on the annual Katy Flatland Century ride. All tire sizes are welcome, but if you really want to annoy the roadies in a pace line - leave your knobbies on the bike and draft behind them. (But please be safe). I'll be there - hope to see some of my gruff off-road type friends as well.

Kevin

Here's all the details......

Sunday July 16, 2006

ALL NEW 100 MILE ROUTE
Click here for map

Sunday, July 16 at 7:00AM
Katy Mills Mall– Katy, Texas

$ 25.00 pre-reg or
$ 30.00 day of ride.
The first 2,200 riders registered are guaranteed an event T-shirt and water bottle. For information call 713-466-1240

Helmets are required. Radios and Headphones are prohibited on the ride.
click here for our safety rules

Click here to download and print a PDF registration form to be mailed in.
OR register on line with

http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?eventid=3345

http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1315723

Registration & Packet Pickup:
At Northwest Cyclery (US 290 @ Jones Rd.) :
Friday, July 14 from 10:00 to 7:00 PM
Saturday, July 15 from 10:00 to 5:00 PM
At Start :
Sunday, July 16 from 5:30 AM to 8:00 AM

The Katy Flatland Century will celebrate their 18th Annual on July 16, 2006. This ride is one of the largest rides in Texas run completely with volunteers.

As the ride has grown form several hundred riders starting at Katy High School, to several thousand starting at Rhodes Stadium, to this year's staring point of the Katy Mills Mall, we have tried to be sure the rider enjoys their ride in a safe manner. We provide plenty of rest stops with food and fluids and numerous SAG vehicles for your use.

We offer routes of 30, 45, 62 and 100 miles. This year, the 100 mile route has been revised. We hope that these riders will enjoy the new routes and scenery that this route will offer. To avoid a new traffic hazard, the finishing part of the 30 mile route has also been changed.

The ride offers riders a chance to experience the flat part of Texas. Our routes are designed to be fast and safe.

For those of you who will be participating in the Hotter-than-Hell in August, we are a perfect training ride.

We hope that you enjoy our ride and will return again next year.

Chuck Martin
Director
2002 - 2006

Directions to the Start:
Take Interstate 10 to Katy, Texas. Exit Katy-Ft. Bend Road (Exit 742). Proceed south. Follow the signs to Katy Mills Mall. You will enter the parking area from the East side. The starting area, registration and packet pickup will be near entrance #8.
Start time:
7:00 AM 100 mile and tandem start, followed by 62, 50 and 30 mile groups. Be aware that riders will be started in groups of approximately 200 to 300 to accommodate your safety.

Hotels Approximate Distance
Springhill Suites by Marriott 281-644-4445 0.3 Miles (Special Rate)
Best Western - Houston West 281-392-9800 1.5 Miles
Hampton Suites 281-392-1000 1.5 Miles
Comfort Inn 281-392-8700 2.0 Miles
Super 8 281-646-7800 2.0 miles
Holiday Inn Select 281-395-4800 2.0 Miles
Red Roof Inn 281-579-7200 3.5 Miles
Fairfield Inn 281-646-0056 10.0 Miles
Motel 6 281-497-5000 12.0 Miles
Drury Inn 281-558-7007 15.0 Miles
La Quinta 281-646-9200 15.0 Miles

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#843 From: Kevin Highfield <khighfield@...>
Date: Fri Jul 7, 2006 6:49 pm
Subject: IMBA Singletrack News, July 2006 kchighfield
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IMBA Singletrack News, July 2006

In this eNewsletter:

2006 IMBA Summit Draws Huge Turnout

Study Offers Statistics on Mountain Biking Participation

Vancouver’s James Brown Selected as FOX/IMBA Hero

Great Divide Mountain Bike Race Underway

Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew Visits Québéc [French language resource]

Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew Visits Bend, Oregon

Support the IMBA Legal Defense Fund

New IMBA Woolie Socks and Girle T Now Available

IMBA Summit Draws Huge Turnout

The 2006 IMBA Summit/World Mountain Bike Conference, held June 20-23 in Whistler, BC, was an enormous success. The event drew an international field of land managers, bike advocates and industry representatives to discuss risk management, sustainable trailbuilding and a host of other topics. Here’s a by-the-numbers breakdown:

Fourth IMBA Summit
Second World Mountain Bike Conference
First combined edition
17 Nations
412 delegates
31 State IMBA Reps
23 Seminars
350+ riders in the World's Largest Looney Race, sponsored by the Whistler Off-Road Cycling Association (WORCA)

The complete conference program is available online.

Study Offers Statistics on Mountain Biking Participation

The Outdoor Industry Foundation has released its 2006 Outdoor Recreation Participation Study, one of the few sources available for statistics on the number of people who ride mountain bikes. While the new study shows that recreation is down across the board, and that participation in mountain biking is declining, it also says that bicycling remains the largest category in outdoor recreation, with 3.1 billion outings in 2005. You can dowload the section of the report that specifically addresses cycling, but you'll have to fill out a form first.

Vancouver’s James Brown Selected as FOX/IMBA Hero

James Brown, a dedicated bike advocate and the president of the South Island Mountain Bike Society (SIMBS), received a Fox/IMBA Hero award at the Whistler Summit. Brown's remarkable record of volunteerism includes countless hours editing the SIMBS bi-monthly newsletter, planning and building the innovative South Ridge Skinny project, and obtaining more than $15,000 in donations for SIMBS. "I’m honored to receive this award," said Brown, who happily received a FOX shock onstage. Brown told the crowd, "The FOX/IMBA Heroes program adds credibility to the hard work of those who are out on the frontlines creating better mountain bicycling recreation." He also commented on the "positive environment and opportunities for sharing knowledge" at the Summit, and wrapped it up by saying, "I'm having a blast in Whistler."

Great Divide Mountain Bike Race Underway

Following the Adventure Cycling Association’s Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, racers in the Great Divide Race are pedaling a stupendous 2,490 miles of remote, mountainous terrain along the spine of the continent to the New Mexico/Mexico border. Making the ride even more impressive is the fact that all riders are entirely self-supported no outside assistance or SAG support of any kind is allowed. The racers' blog entries reveal the full extent of their suffering.

Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew Visits Québéc [French language resource]

Nat and Rachael Lopes visited the Province of Québéc and helped direct some impressive rock amoring of a trail. While the story is in French, you don't have to be a Francophone to enjoy the photos of their handiwork.

Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew Visits Bend, Oregon

Ryan Schutz and Kristin Butcher recently joined the Central Oregon Trail Alliance for a Spring Fling workday, dedicated to sprucing up a section of the COD trail. A full report reveals that 70 volunteers showed up to rework a hairpin turn and improve trail drainage.

Support the IMBA Legal Defense Fund

Our goal is simple: Use the clarity of the law and the power of IMBA’s 35,000 members to defend mountain bikers’ rights. The Legal Fund helps support three crucial areas of IMBA’s work:

Spearhead the development of risk management resources
Defend against daily attacks on local trail systems
Influence legislation that determines access for mountain bikers

Your donation will help expand and improve our role as mountain biking’s guardian. We’re confident you’ll feel your tax-deductible donation is a savvy investment in the future of our sport, please contribute today. Or you can learn more about the Legal Fund online.

New IMBA Woolie Socks and Girlie T Now Available

Support your trails by purchasing IMBA logo gear. All sales proceeds benefit IMBA, and all fashion-related compliments benefit you. IMBA members receive 10% off.(you must be logged in to get the discount)

The IMBA Girlie T is back. 100% cotton and 100% cute.

Like 'em tall and woolie? The IMBA All-Mountain sock is 5" of acryllic wool goodness from Sock Guy.

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#842 From: "Kevin Highfield" <veljko@...>
Date: Sat Jul 8, 2006 12:46 am
Subject: IMBA Club eNews: July 2006 veljkoj
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IMBA Club and Rep eNews: July 2006

* Georgia Mountain Bikers Get Politically Active to Save Trails
* Start Planning for Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day - Oct. 7
* Make the Grade in Your 2006 IMBA State Report Card
* RTCA Benefits from Your Efforts
* Mountain Bikers Should Apply to Serve on Forest Service Committees

Georgia Mountain Bikers Get Politically Active to Save Trails
Savvy advocacy solved yet another trail issue and made the front page of Georgia's Gwinnett Daily Post to boot. After years of easy access in Yellow River Park, riders were caught by surprise when a county parks plan recommended eliminating several great singletrack routes. In response, local riders formed the Gwinnett Area Trail Riders (GATR), a chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycling Association, and their political advocacy paid off. Trail restoration will now be performed to maintain the narrow width and flow of Yellow River Park singletrack. As an additional bonus, GATR has established relationships with land managers and elected officials that will aid them in future access issues.

Start Planning for Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day - Oct. 7
Now is the time to start planning your club's event for Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day (TKMBD). Scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 7, the third annual TKMBD is an excellent way to cultivate the next generation of mountain bikers. Last year, more than 100 events attracted thousands of kids nationwide. Perhaps 2006 is the year to take your event to the next level and join the IMBA clubs who are members of Trips For Kids, a non-profit dedicated to teaching mountain biking to kids who otherwise wouldn't be exposed to the activity. Visit IMBA's 10 Tips for Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day to plan your event.

Make the Grade in Your 2006 IMBA State Report Card
Knee-high by the Fourth of July, as the old agricultural adage goes. Farmers know that a good early season is key to the harvest. Why not treat your IMBA state report card the same way? Start designing a strategy to assimilate information and prepare your case for a good letter grade or lobby for a bad one that will bolster your advocacy efforts. Take a page from the Michigan Mountain Biking Association by giving grades to different regions in your state and asking state tourism officials to issue press releases that challenge your riders to up the ante. IMBA has also compiled five easy strategies for leveraging your state's grade for better access.

RTCA Benefits from Your Efforts
A big thank you goes out to the IMBA Reps and club leaders who took time to call and meet with their members of Congress in the campaign to save the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program (RTCA), part of the National Park Service. As a result, the Senate voted to maintain funding and rejected the $500,000 cut proposed by the president and approved by the House of Representatives. Final negotiations with the House are scheduled for later this summer. The outlook for RTCA is much brighter and IMBA will let you know how things turn out.Visit IMBA's RTCA website to learn more about our partnership.

Mountain Bikers Should Apply to Serve on Forest Service Committees
Want to take a role in deciding how recreation fees are used in your neck of the Forest Service woods? The process of soliciting nominations for members to serve on Recreation Resource Advisory Committees (Recreation RACs) will begin soon and spots are reserved for non-motorized representation. Recreation RACs will provide recommendations on certain kinds of recreation fees for both the Forest Service and, as appropriate, the Bureau of Land Management. The agency is currently looking for members to fill committees in California, Oregon, Washington and the Southern and Eastern regions. You can visit the Recreation RAC website for more information.

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#841 From: "Veljko Roskar" <veljko@...>
Date: Sun Jul 2, 2006 3:59 pm
Subject: Summer Mountain Biking Events -- Two Trail Building Clinics veljkoj
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Although GHORBA is not holding a regular member meeting in July, don't forget that we still have two trail-building clinics that will start the building of new trails near Conroe and the Woodlands:

Summer Trail Update

If you are eager to learn how to properly create trails, signup with VPTrails@..., Kevin Highfield.

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#840 From: Kevin Highfield <khighfield@...>
Date: Sun Jul 2, 2006 2:33 pm
Subject: Big Ring Challenge in the Racing Post kchighfield
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The July edition of The Racing Post is now available on-line, which is always a good read for Texas cyclists of all types.

The July edition has a great report on our very own race - The BHP-Billiton Big Ring Challenge - by Elite Rider Billy Kurtz.

You can read it on-line here:
Racing Post July 2006

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#838 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Sun Jun 18, 2006 2:40 am
Subject: New Trails & Trail-Building Clinics kchighfield
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Summer's usually a quiet time around Houston, but not for GHORBA. We've got
several new projects in the works and although we'd like to just kick back and
relax while its hot, we're hard at work to exploit the new opportunities we've
been working on. Two projects in particular are in full swing:

Spring Creek Greenway Project
Carl Barton Jr. Park, Conroe

To read more, and sign-up to attend upcoming trail-building clinics, visit
http://GHORBA.org

We have several other projects in the pipeline, which are pretty exciting, so
watch our website for more information.

And, if you're not already a member of GHORBA, please join us. All you need to
know can be found at http://GHORBA.org

Happy Trails!

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#837 From: "veljkoj" <veljko@...>
Date: Fri Jun 9, 2006 9:54 pm
Subject: Work Party at Memorial Park -- 9 AM Saturday June 10 veljkoj
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Work Party at Memorial Park -- 9 AM Saturday June 10

Memorial Park Work Party

Meet @ the Rugby Field Parking Lot (click for map & directions)

Come help us maintain the trails you use!

Your trail work experience level does not matter for this work party; we will teach you what you need to know.

You are encouraged to bring gloves, safety glasses, a full camelback, trimming tools, sunglasses or safety glasses, shovels, rakes, and mosquito repellent.

GHORBA will provide drinks and snacks. Lunch will be provided for the volunteers at the conclusion of the work party.

If the work party is in jeopardy of being canceled due to wet conditions, please check our calendar before heading out!

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#835 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Mon Jun 5, 2006 7:45 pm
Subject: IMBA Rep eNews: June 2006 - See the mention of Carl Barton! kchighfield
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IMBA Club and Rep eNews: June 2006

* Do You Ride in Forest Service Recommended Wilderness?
* Bikes Belong Funds Mountain Biking Projects
* New Trails Coming to Houston Area
* Mountain Bike Trails Make Front Page News in Sawyer County, Wisconsin
* Help Expand Mountain Biking at the New River Gorge National River
* NPS Rivers and Trails Update
* National Park Service Study Examines Trail Impacts and Solutions

Do You Ride in Forest Service Recommended Wilderness?
IMBA needs your help to identify "Recommended Wilderness" areas where riding currently occurs. Recommended Wilderness is a zone of Forest Service land that has the potential to become congressionally designated Wilderness. In many cases, the Forest Service allows existing uses to continue and mountain bikers have been riding trails in many of these areas for years. Several national forests, though, are now considering banning bikes in Recommended Wilderness. If this becomes a national policy, we could lose access to hundreds of thousands of acres. Contact Drew Vankat if your national forest allows or prohibits riding in Forest Service Recommended Wilderness zones.

Bikes Belong Funds Mountain Biking Projects
Bikes Belong, the national coalition of retailers and suppliers, handed out $42,000 in grants in May, including $17,000 to three mountain bike-related projects. Mountain bikers in New York, Utah and Vermont are looking forward to better trails and facilities thanks to these generous grants. Visit the Bikes Belong website if your club is interested in applying for a quarterly grant.

New Trails Coming to Houston Area
Two hundred acres of pine forest in Carl Barton Jr. Park outside of Conroe, Texas, will soon be home to three miles of shared-use singletrack, with the possibility for seven more. The Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association (GHORBA) and Texas Trail Doctors will celebrate the groundbreaking with a volunteer workday later this summer. Approval for the project took only six months, thanks to dedicated local advocates and an enthusiastic parks department and city council.

Mountain Bike Trails Make Front Page News in Sawyer County, Wisconsin
The Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association (CAMBA) knocked Brett Favre off the front page with its latest trail project. This accomplished club has built and opened miles of trails throughout its northern Wisconsin stomping grounds in the last seven years, but had yet to reach Sawyer County. On May 3, the County Forestry Commission approved a new eight-mile shared-use trail through the forests of Hatchery Creek Park. A true four-season community resource, CAMBA also expects the trail to be a popular snowshoe route.

Help Expand Mountain Biking at the New River Gorge National River
Known primarily as a world-class climbing and paddling area, West Virginia's New River Gorge National River also permits some mountain biking. As this National Park Service unit revises its General Management Plan, local cyclists are asking for nationwide support in their quest for greater trail access. Park management has recognized the lack of adequate shared-use trails as a major issue and your comments could open the door for terrific new mountain biking opportunities in the Mountain State.

NPS Rivers and Trails Update
IMBA received a tremendous amount of help from reps, clubs and riders last month in the campaign to protect the National Park Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance (RTCA) program. We sincerely thank everyone who called their senators! It is great to know our network mobilizes quickly and we appreciate the willingness of so many riders who stepped up and got involved. In all, 20 senators signed a "Dear Colleague" petition to show support for RTCA. We'll keep you posted as the Senate subcommittee reviews next year's budget.

Senators who signed the Dear Colleague letter include: Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Lincoln Chaffee (R-RI), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), James Jeffords (I-VT), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Paul Sarbanes (D-MD), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ron Wyden (D-OR).

National Park Service Study Examines Trail Impacts and Solutions
All mountain bikers should be familiar with a newly completed study, "Assessing and Understanding Trail Degradation: Results from Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area," by Dr. Jeffrey L. Marion of Virginia Tech University. The research was conducted on 78 miles of shared-use and single-use trails at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, located in Kentucky and Tennessee, to assist the park with their Road Trails Management Plan. Dr. Marion's research quantifies the trail impacts of different user groups and offers objective guidance on sustainable trail design, construction, maintenance and management. The study also provides state-of-the-art trail assessment and monitoring procedures.

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#834 From: "Veljko Roskar" <veljko@...>
Date: Sat Jun 3, 2006 3:19 am
Subject: RE: Meeting - 12 June 7pm - Otto's BBQ veljkoj
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During our meeting, we will show select photos from last week's GHORBA journey to Monterrey, Mexico, where Mike Lutomski, Veljko Roskar and Brad White combined unique offroad rides with a bit of canyoneering.

We will also discuss options for future GHORBA trips to this epic mountain bicycling area.

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#833 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Fri Jun 2, 2006 10:31 pm
Subject: GHORBA - members meeting - 12 June 7pm - Otto's BBQ kchighfield
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Come and join us for our next monthly meeting at Otto's BBQ Monday 12 June, 7pm. We'll have a slide show from the race last month and you can catch up with us and all the great stuff that's going on with our trails. Have a beer, some great bbq and great company.

Our meetings are an important part of being a club. We need to hear from YOU the members and trail users. Lots of people have lots of things to say about our trails - come along and let us know.

See ya there

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#831 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Fri Jun 2, 2006 3:02 am
Subject: GHORBA - June Events kchighfield
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Hard to believe, but its June already. Here's a reminder about some June events:

National Trails Day - Saturday June 3 - Two Events in Houston

June 3 is "National Trails Day" and REI are sponsoring two events:

REI - Meyer Park - 8am - 2pm Join REI and Cypresswood Trail groupies as they work on the connecting trail between Meyer and Collins Park - this will become a part of the Cypress Creek Greenway and connect to Cypresswood Trail. More details here... http://www.rei.com/stores/store_event_detail.jsp?pid=FC56E6E4FC57414E91C5669A270D8971&template_id=14&template_family=webDetail&ignore_cache=1

REI TREE PLANTING - Terry Hershey Park - 7am - 12pm

Working with Harris County Precinct 3 Parks REI are planting trees at Terry Hershey Park. We ask cyclists to go along and offer up your help - show P3 Parks what great guys we are! More details here... http://www.rei.com/stores/store_event_detail.jsp?pid=6DF8670016DF3E0ECEEA5D4B86937CBA&template_id=14&template_family=webDetail&ignore_cache=1

MTB Skills Clinic - Sunday June 4 @ Terry Hershey Park

MTB Skills Clinic @ Terry Hershey Park - (9:00 AM - 12:00 PM). GHORBA Skills Clinic sponsored by Bicycle World and Fitness. Free for members of GHORBA, NWCC and Bayou City Outdoors. Limited first come, first served spots are available for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced riders. Sign up has passed, but you can still check with us to see if we can find space ..... clinic@...
Location: Terry Hershey Park Spillway - Hwy 6

Outdoor Skills Day - Saturday June 17 - @ Lake Houston State Park

If you missed the June 4 skills clinic - don't worry, GHORBA are helping REI and Texas Parks & Wildlife with MTB skills at their outdoor skills day. This is fee based and you must sign up with REI -- here.. http://www.rei.com/stores/store_event_detail.jsp?pid=6DF8670016DF3E0EA1C7C6E419D27C4A&template_id=14&template_family=webDetail&ignore_cache=1

Keep in touch, and Happy Trails!

Trails conditions? ---> http://GHORBA.org/trails

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#830 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Wed May 31, 2006 12:26 pm
Subject: ITS WET!! kchighfield
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YUK! The rain keeps coming, but of course the Houston area does need this as do our trails, which have been very dry lately. The trails will dry out quickly once the rain stops. Your fellow riders will be feeling the need to get back on the trails as soon as possible, so please keep your favorite trail condition updated on the ghorba trail condition page - http://www.ghorba.org/trails/. With localized thunderstorm conditions, some trails will be rideable, whereas others will get hit - that's where our shared knowledge through the website can help keep us riding. At the moment, I guess they are all quagmires, but they all dry differently.

Please discourage your fellow riders from riding the trails before they have dried sufficiently - once the rain stops, the trails will dry fast and there's nothing worse than having nasty deep ruts that stay with us all summer because someone hit the trails too soon.

Patience, fellow riders, we'll be back in the woods before you know it!

Kevin

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#829 From: "Kevin Highfield" <khighfield@...>
Date: Fri May 26, 2006 2:34 am
Subject: NEW TRAIL - CARL BARTON JR. PARK, CONROE kchighfield
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GHORBA is pleased to announce the establishment of a new trail system at Carl Barton Jr. Park in Conroe, following signing of an agreement with the City of Conroe. Construction of the first three (3) mile section is planned for Summer 2006. The trails will be laid out in over 200 acres of pine forest surrounding the developed areas of the park. There is scope for construction of up to 10 miles of trail when completed. Unlike many Houston area trails, the land has contour. Professional trail builders Ryan Spates and Susan Stormer, a.k.a. the �Texas Trail Docs�, will design the first three (3) mile section. The trails will be designated as �multi-use�, but they will be built to IMBA standards from a clean slate, and we expect that Ryan and Susan will deliver some sweet single-track.

The establishment of the agreement between GHORBA and the City of Conroe is a text-book example of how new trails can be built in the Greater Houston area. The project started in November 2005 when Gary Rogers, a wrench at Bike Barn (Champions) said to regular customer, and VP-Trails of GHORBA, Kevin Highfield, �Hey Kev, I know a place where we could build some great trails�. �Tell me more�, says Kevin. Gary explained about the extensive area of woodland surrounding Carl Barton Jr. park. Gary had �inside� knowledge, since he used to work for Conroe Parks department, and knew the park managers. So, Kevin supplied sample agreements and told Gary to chat with his former employers about what we could do. Gary did and quickly reported back that the park managers were interested. So, Kevin arranged a meeting with the park manager Mike Riggens and his colleagues, the Texas Trail Docs, GHORBA President Mike Lutomski and Gary. Together, they walked the property and left the meeting with a clear objective to develop a trail construction and maintenance agreement.

Kevin drafted an agreement, which was a simplified version of earlier drafts prepared for Memorial Park and other venues. The City reviewed and responded with suggested changes. A couple more drafts, and both sides were happy with an agreement which is both simple and effective.

In order to construct the first section of trail, GHORBA are arranging for the Trail Docs to hold a trail building clinic at the park. As the practical part of the course, volunteers will construct the first section of trail. GHORBA will invite a diverse group of people to the trail building clinic � local park employees, members of other interest groups (hikers, runners, adventure racers, environmental groups and local citizens).

Gary first came to us with his idea in November 2005. The agreement was approved by Conroe City Council today, May 25^th; Ryan and Susan will mark the first section June 5 � 7, construction will begin as soon as we arrange the trail building clinic. Construction of the second phase, beyond the first three miles, will be subject to the success of the first section - we'll be working to get that done just as soon as we can.

Thanks are due to Gary for the idea in the first place and Bike Barn for giving him time off to attend meetings. We hope there are more park managers around like Mike Riggens, who quickly and enthusiastically supported the project.

Watch for news of progress on this, and other projects we have in the works.

Happy Trails!

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IMBA Singletrack News, July 2006

In this eNewsletter:

IMBA Singletrack News, July 2006

IMBA Club and Rep eNews: July 2006

Work Party at Memorial Park -- 9 AM Saturday June 10

IMBA Club and Rep eNews: June 2006

National Trails Day - Saturday June 3 - Two Events in Houston

MTB Skills Clinic - Sunday June 4 @ Terry Hershey Park

Outdoor Skills Day - Saturday June 17 - @ Lake Houston State Park

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IMBA Singletrack News, July 2006 In this eNewsletter:

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Work Party at Memorial Park -- 9 AM Saturday June 10

IMBA Club and Rep eNews: June 2006

National Trails Day - Saturday June 3 - Two Events in Houston

MTB Skills Clinic - Sunday June 4 @ Terry Hershey Park

Outdoor Skills Day - Saturday June 17 - @ Lake Houston State Park

IMBA Singletrack News, July 2006

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