Here are some fun videos!

NEXT!

'Cross Peeps-

Training starts earlier this year!! Why? For starters, deep down we are all cross freaks at heart and suffer through the monotonous, predictable, and unfulfillingly long road season in anticipation of the real fun to begin. And let's face it, we want to hit the ground running (no pun intended) when the cross season starts so we don't get lapped by Mark Noble (God bless him).

So, with our easily quantified and pansy a$$ goals in mind, we are going to hit up the training over a month before the season starts! We will start with sessions for the first two weeks on Tuesday nights at 5:15PM (Ellwood parking lot) and will then kick it up to two sessions per week in mid August.

The plan is to start off easy for the first two weeks with a focus on basic leg work (how does this monkey motion barrier hopping thing work again?) and bike handling (what is this pesky two wheel drift action in the corners?). We will then kick in the hot laps and Ferren Road suffervals. I will be the drill sergeant and Chief PIA and Steve Bertrand will be my trusted back up when I am in Greece for two weeks working out my wimpy biceps while recollecting the art of excessive beer drinking.

First session: Next Tuesday August 11th at 5:15pm in the Ellwood parking lot. Invite your friends, enemies, frenemies, despised competitors, next door neighbors, girlfriends, boyfriends, heckling spectators, etc.. Most importantly recruit others ASAP. Suffering as much as we are going to suffer together is no fun alone....or without beer.

Pass on the word.

Yours Truly, Gary

Aprils Fools Retro Ride!

Hey All,
Good weather, good riding and baaad clothing...this is what the retro ride is all about.



Thanks to all who didn't take themselves too serious and managed to find some old stuff at the very bottom of the drawer.

Smiles all around today...Gene taking Bates by storm and Letteri getting the sprint at the Polo fields.

Again, Thanks for making the Peleton colorful

Best, Aaron

p.s. I have a new found respect for Carlos' 30 mph photography skills

Are You Handy With A Shovel?

I, like many of you may have received this email. I wanted to make sure everyone saw it. Thanks to everyone who helps maintain our trails!

We are emailing you because you are an important member of the trail using community. As you may have heard in our previous emails we are going to be starting up a trail work crew. We have set November 15th as the date to do our first trail project. This project will be in cooperation/preparation for the 9 Trails Race whose organizers have informed us what they need. No experience in trail maintenance is required and no tools are required, both will be provided to you. Some more specifics about this event:


Date: Sat, November 15th
Approximate time commitment: 3-4 hours (probably 9am - noonish)

Location: Rattlesnake Trail. Tunnel- Rattlesnake Connector, meet @ Rattlesnake Trail Head shuttle to top of trail?

Attire: Sturdy shoes, pants, long sleeve shirt, gloves, and glasses - sun or other. Helmets are required, bicycle will work fine, we will provide you if needed.

Supplies: It is recommended that you wear sunscreen/lip balm. Bring at least a liter+ of water and a snack and have a small backpack/camelbak if possible.

Project Specifics: De-Brush and repair tread of the Tunnel-RS Connector Trail. Use of mcleods, loppers, and hand saws will accomplish this. This section of trail is approximately 1 mile in length, 4-5 miles of hiking total are expected.

Following the work we will hike back down to our cars at the trail head and call it a day. Everyone who participates will receive a T-shirt so let us know you size. Person to contact about this event is Dave Everett, (805) 729-0028, feel free to contact him for more information.

Thank you,
The Multiuse Trails Coalition,
http://www.multiusetc.org/

Wednesday Night Ride

Santa Barbara Mountain Bike trail Volunteers will be hosting our Wednesday evening ride this Wed.

We leave Rocky Nook Park at 5:30 pm, for an easy/ moderate 1 1/2 hour ride. Lights may not be required, but bring something just in case.

Be Careful, Mountain Lion Seen Locally

If you didn't see it, below is information from an email that went out a couple days ago. Spread the word.

FYI: There have been two reported sightings of mountain lions in the last week on Romero and San Ysidro Trails.

The following website has useful information when traveling in mountain lion country: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/keepmewild/docs/lionbrochure.pdf

Thank you,
The Multiuse Trails Coalition,
http://www.multiusetc.org/

Bike To Work Week!

The tenth annual Bike Week is coming this May!
Since 1999, we have brought everybody an increasingly robust Bike Week of great bicycling events. This year many of our activities are returning —Bike to School Day, Bike to Work Day, a Ride of Silence, Bike Week Celebration, and two presentations at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Check out details below and mark your calendars. New 2008 events will be added, and they will appear here as they are finalized.

http://www.sbbike.org/BW/bw.html

Get Out And Enjoy The Ride!

May 13th City Council Meeting, BE THERE!

Dear Trail Users.

Some of questions we have been hearing are; what is the status of our trails and what effect will the recommendations have. The rec's, in a nutshell will help establish a trail management program that includes: at least one trail management position, establish better trail conditions, more education and signage, and very importantly no restriction of trail use for cyclists or others unless future surveys and studies prove necessary.

How to make the rec's a reality- Staff tells us that the City Council and Board of Supervisors will only fund this if they feel there is support from the community. That is why you need to attend and let them know that you are willing to make the rec's a reality. With a small budget they know that it is going to be the trail users themselves that bring this to life.

The Santa Barbara City Council will hold a special hearing to hear a presentation from the Task Force next Tuesday, May 13th at 6pm. There will be public comment at the beginning of this meeting and following the presentation- probably 1/2 hour long. What we are afraid of is if this fails, aside from loss of a good management plan is these same hearings about eliminating cyclists taking place in another 5 years or so.

*Although there has been a date set for the Board of Supervisors to act on these recommendations, because of the format, comment from the public may have little or no effect on the outcome. We have sent a letter of support for the Rec's to the Supervisors, more about the BOS as that time approaches.


Pass the word- Pass the attached flyer,

The Multiuse Trails Coalition Board,

Dave Everett, Dorothy Littlejohn, Cort Flinchbaugh

www.multiusetc.org

Elings Is A Blast Right Now!

I thought I would get this off my chest before the race reports start coming in. If you have a mountain bike get over to Elings and have more fun than you deserve! I have been there the last couple of days on my new Frankenbike (I'll explain that one later, B-rad you know what I mean.) and somebody over there has been doing tons of work. There are new trails, especially on the Cliff Dr, and Las Positas side of the park. The switchbacks at the end of the parking lot are in terrific shape and the technical section which is to the left after you get to the top of those climbs is fast and fun. If you need a quick tour, let me know and I'll let you know when I'm headed over there next. For now, Enjoy The Ride!


View Larger Map

OnTheBTeam.Com

Ladies and Gentlemen, I caught a sneak peak at the kits yesterday and low and behold our teams website is on it. I felt the pressure to at least clean up the site a little bit and give it a little different look. Believe me I'm not done yet. I have to update all the riders and of course we are going to have to find nicknames for as many of the riders as is humanly possible. Keep the photos coming and if you have some ideas for nicknames, don't be shy. Ciao!

Mothballs By Blingerman! Photos by Carson!

Great job everyone. Fun day with a lot of team support.

As far as the 3's, I'm sorry for what happened. The team did great work. Barney, Luis, and Larsen rode the front a lot. Aaron had a break that Chicken and I thought might stick. Ben was a Trojan war-horse riding out there with his bibs torn open and still smiling.

As for the sprint, Dave was the captain on the rode and kept us organized with Chicken on the front, then me, and then Dave sweeping.

We went into the last turn and Chicken was doing a lot of work but then we caught a couple of guys on the inside who slowed down and I just made a bunch of mistakes. So instead of winning, we got 3rd. We learned a lot and I think we will do better next time.

As for the 35+, holy s__t! That was fast!

See you at Piru.
Blinger.


Here are some pics of the first few races, I had another shoot that afternoon, sorry all you who raced after noon. If the link above doesn't work, then here it is. http://tinyurl.com/3xf68b

Thank you,
Carson Blume Photography
888.680.2276

Mothballs

The race reports from this weekend haven't shown up in my inbox yet. Ken Doyle was nice enough to send me this photo that one Mr. Marco Fanelli took of him during the 35+ race. Ken "Coach" Doyle, you get top billing for now. Marco, nice shot!

Romero & Good Samaritans, Task Force Update

The Multi Use Trails Coalition sent out this email this morning regarding the progress on the Task Forces recommendations and attached some photos showing how a small group of Mountain Bikers helped clear a tree from Romero Trail or as us B Teamers call it Kenny's Trail. Special thanks to the unknown Mountain Bikers, that cleared the trail.

Finally after a year of meeting the Task Force is ready to move forward with recommendations to the City Council and Board of Supervisors. The meeting this Weds, Feb 6th at 5:30 PM, 735 Anacapa St. will outline the TF plan of action. According to the agenda this meeting will address the MOU and what is needed to get all agencies working together and the management recommendations. The recommendations they are considering and will discuss this Weds are:
I Administrative
1. Develop Interagency MOU for management, funding, maintenance...
2. Develop a multi agency FCT strategy
3. Develop a funding plan for the FCT
4. Establish a FCT coordinator position
5. Develop a relationship with a community non-profit group to help with
management

II Community Outreach
1. Education efforts including signage, hosts....
2. Interim voluntary use guidelines: dogs on leash, bike bells, don't cut
switchbacks...
3. Community support by working with trail groups for trail work days

III Maintenance and Management
1. Assess and classify the trails
2. Develop classifications that are appropriate for our FCT system
3. Explore developing consistent standards for planning, permits, policy, and
regulations
4. Explore pilot program with trail use designation (possibly June 2009?)

Only after the TF has the latest trail info from surveys, assessments, and MORE PUBLIC INPUT the TF will consider options such as:
Odd/even trail use for hikers, bikers, and equestrians; designate single use trails; widen trails to make room for all users; new trails
to meet wider, multiuse standards of other areas. They did not single out any particular group here but instead left this
category open for discussion.

(The complete agenda can be found on the SB City government page found from a link on our homepage)

As you would expect this will take some time to implement these recommendations. We appreciate the time and effort that the TF has put into the trails and will be putting into them. If you haven't spoken at one of these meetings yet this may be an opportune time to thank the TF for what they are trying to do and the BS that they have had to sort through at these meetings. Public comment as always begins at 5:30 sharp!

Following this meeting the TF will meet "as needed" or when management issues arise. They tentatively have 3 more meetings set for this year.


Good samaritan of the week.....This past weekend on Romero single track we came across a downed tree completely blocking the trail with bad poison oak on both sides of the trail and intertwined in the tree itself. Three mtn bikers got neck deep in the poison stuff to clear a path for everyone. Thanks to the unknown riders! (see photos)--

Before

After




Thank you,The Multiuse Trails Coalition Board,Dave Everett, Dorothy Littlejohn, Cort Flinchbaughshttp://www.multiusetc.org/

Way To Go Jed!

Jed, and the rest of the SB Mountain Bike Trail Volunteers Organization were recognized by Parks and Rec for their terrific service to the community. Check out the story on Edhat. There is a good photo of our man Jed with the rest of the group. If you don't know Jed, he is one of our B Team Downhillers, maybe the only one. Downhillers Rock!

NO WIMPS!

I had another on the spot reporter send me some photos of one of our very own studs who had the @$#@%#@$ to climb the Gib on Thursday.

Chicken Ranch's own Aaron Long going up Gibraltar on Thursday. Either he thinks he's Lance or he's insane!

Divide Peak

hey Gang, I'm catching up a bit, Here is that famous Divide Peak ride report.

Hello,

To those of you who missed this mornings MTB ride.....I'm sorry....it was AWESOME! The views from Divide Peak Fire Road were amazing.....we climbed for 2.5 hours straight to see them, but it was well worth the effort. We could see all of the Channel Islands clearly and Catalina Island as well! It was truely spectacular. Unfortunately my lousy pictures don't do it justice but that's all I've got. Dan Rudd made it out on his first Sunday MTB ride and Houston Harte who we haven't seen for awhile made it out also. We had no flat tires and no crashes......well, except for me. I fell over going about 1 mph.............uphill.........not very
graceful.....but kinda funny.....at least to the other guys.



We'll definitely have to do that ride again and go even further. Our round trip was only 25 miles but we did 4,000ft of climbing....actually we did 4,000ft of climbing in 12.5 miles....the next 12.5 miles was all downhill! Hope to see you out there next time....'till then, keep the rubber side down.


Matt

Saturday the 19th.

Here is a late report from one of our own. Thanks Rick!

Here's The C-team Ranchers make it home after a sweet, crispy Saturday ride to the Ranger Station ... B-Teamers went out to Ojai and we saw all the A-teamers all storming up 150 Hill number one in hot pursuit, Druber, Aaron, Dave ... had to be over hundred riders all along the way in several groups.

pic one - Eric and Brian keepin it at 20mph the whole way home!

pic two - Eric creating some drag.

pic three - Brian smoooth.

pic four cheering - you know, our fans! :)

Rick Martz

Multiuse Trails Update

From: Multiuse Trails Coalition [mailto: multiusetc@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, January 10, 2008 2:15 PMTo: Multiuse Trails Coalition
Subject: 1/9/08 MEETING RECAP - YES THERE WAS A MEETING THIS WEEK

If you are thinking that you didn't remember getting an emailpublicizing this meeting, you are correct. The meeting held 1/9/08 wasbetween stakeholder groups involved in the hearings over the last year.
This event was not televised. The purpose of this meeting was to review recommendations given tothe Task Force and review the process that will occur in most likely at the Feb '08 meeting. This stakeholder meeting was held at City Parks Offices and City, County, and USFS were all in attendance. Groups inattendance were: Ourselves, SBMTV, Los Padres Trail Riders(equine), Trails Council, Sierra Club, and the Los Padres Forest Association.
Just as a reminder, the TF is not able to enact, but instead onlyable to recommend actions to the City Council, and Board of Supervisors.They reviewed at this meeting what they may be recommending at the upcoming Feb meeting. They hope to establish a framework and vision forour trails. The following are parts of that framework they are readyto recommend: Ask to create a memorandum of agreement(MOA) between The City, County, and USFS. This would enable the three groups to act on trailissues without having just an advisory role. Subjects such as jurisdiction will not be as much of an issue when the MOA is established. They hope to have this sometime in the next year. Create a management plan. This would be an outline of what they hope to accomplish on the our Front Country Trails. Hire/Create a Front Country Trail Coordinator Position . A fulltime person would be hired for this position which up until now didn't exist and all trail related issues were done in the spare time by staff. Create a non-profit community organization . Because the agencieswould not be able to care for the trails alone, volunteer work is essential to accomplish this. This group which has yet to be defined, wouldalso help in planning and management of the trails. Lastly....Access . At this time the TF is unable to recommend anyaccess plans for user groups. They realize that there is a lot ofinformation needed before any decision is made. Among the information needed in this area are: classifying trails, surveying, and finding trail standards for multiuse groups. This was hotly debated by members of theSierra Club in attendance who were very much for a decision on accessimmediately. The Sierra Club members felt that our trails are not multiuse based on standards from other trail locations. Look for more on this debate at future City Council meetings and the Board of Supervisors. We felt happy with the decisions that the staff will be giving to the TF at the Feb meeting. The staff realizes that many steps need to be taken before more controversial topics are tackled. When given achance to address the TF, we felt that the assessment of applyingtrail standards from another areas to our own is far more complex than it sounds. Because our trails are governed by different agencies and theterrain is so different, a "cookie cutter " cannot be applied here. Wealso felt the continuing meetings between "stakeholder" groups to talk about planning and management of trails is essential. We feel keepingthe trail users themselves informed about upcoming decisions is the most important. Because the stakeholder groups only accounts for 20 or so people, we feel passing this info on to the trail user population has tobe done. Although there was some disagreement from certain user groups about some of the issues on the table, there seemed to be a sense that we all
need to start working together if anything is to be accomplished.
Hopefully this leads to future pleasant work sessions between groups.


Next meeting February 6th, see our website for details....-- Thank you,The Multiuse Trails Coalition Board,Dave Everett, Dorothy Littlejohn, Cort Flinchbaughswww.multiusetc.org

Steve Otero Update

Hey Gang, I just learned that Steve Otero, one of our b teamers had a nasty accident on one of the road rides on Dec. 23rd. Steve has emailed me and told me he is feeling a lot better right now. He has to get some dental work done and is looking forward to a good nights sleep. If you get grossed out easily I apologize for the photos, but as Steve said in one of his emails, maybe this will help our fellow riders understand the importance of pointing out obstacles that are in the road. I hope we see you soon Steve, and heal quickly.

More Sunday Stories

Well, we had a nice MTB ride this morning and a good group showed up. Kim's friend John Nygren made his first appearance on a Sunday ride and rode great! Hope to see ya next Sunday John. He picked a tough day to come out with lots of technical climbing and descending on Jesusita, Tunnel Connector, and Tucker's Grove. Brad Jellison was on fire today! Clearing everything....uphill and down....impressive.

It's so cool to ride above the clouds in the morning, and then to ride right on the edge of the water on the bluffs of More Mesa. Not to many places in the world you can do that......especially in December!

Our ride was going great until, towards the end of the More Mesa Bluffs Trail Dave picked up a small bush-like stick and ripped his rear derailleur off. We even got a picture of the bush responsible for the destruction.........no worries, we just converted Dave's bike into a single speed and rode the flats the rest of the way.



Remember next Sunday we're gonna ride Divide Peak. It's a great ride for those of you that don't Mountain Bike much because it's all fire road...nothing too technical, lots of climbing. We'll start at the base of Romero and when we get to the top we turn right and ride along the ridge until we get tired and then turn around and come back the same way. The views of the coast and the back range behind Carpinteria are spectacular. Hope to see you out there.

Matt