Chapter Meeting Minutes 8-20-07

Meeting Date - 08/20/2007
Meeting Location - Blankets Creek Trailhead
Attendees - 19
Food Provider - Free Flite Bikes

Trek's Commitment to IMBA - Dan Thornton, owner of Free Flite, talked to the chapter about Trek's commitment to support IMBA in the future. Trek will give a proceed of every Trek bike and helmet sold to support IMBA in their ongoing needs of trail advocacy. Trek's new commitment has set a new bar for the bike industry to support the grassroots efforts that SORBA and IMBA provide for the future of the sport.

IMBA/SORBA partnership - IMBA and SORBA have committed to a 3 year partnership. IMBA needs SORBA for its strong grassroots effort of advocacy at the ground level. IMBA will in turn handle all the administration duties of SORBA so they can concentrate on more advocacy and chapter development. SORBA members will automatically become an IMBA member at their next renewal. SORBA will end up with 1500 new members as a result to the combined membership. Expect 6-8 months for this partnership to eventually be integrated.

Bike Patrol - Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day is on Oct 6th. Bike Patrollers are needed for assistance. All are welcome to help out. Contact Tim Feltner for more info. Bike Patrollers were reminded to log their hours.

Area 51 Fundraising - We recently received four $500 contributions from personal riders at Blankets Creek. Thank you for your contributions! Expect the fundraising tent to be set up at Blankets Creek Trailhead once we get a break in the hot weather.

Area 51 Trail Construction - A groundbreaking construction ceremony will be held at the next Chapter Meeting on Sept 10th. Stay tuned for more details. SORBA Pro-Trails will be doing the machine work for the new advanced loop. Volunteers will be needed for the finishing work. A Work party schedule will be available at the upcoming groundbreaking ceremony. We plan to have a work party every other weekend for the next several months until completion. The plan is to cut/finish half a mile of trail a month. Look for the Trail Work Party banner at the Blankets Trailhead or contact Jay Wilkes to be put on the volunteer distribution list. Construction will start mid September.

Chapter Meeting Minutes 6-11-07

Wednesday, 13 June 2007 14:00

Meeting Date: 06/11/2007 @ 7pm Meeting Location : Blankets Creek Trailhead Number of Attendees: 14 Food Provider: Free Flite Bicycles Area 51 Update: The COE has informed us that we need to submit an Implementation Plan for approval. This will require a 60-90 review cycle once it is submitted. This Implementation Plan will require engineered drawings for all bridges on the new trail as well as a Professional Engineering stamp for those bridge drawings. Scott Gordon has volunteered to lead up/complete the bridge designs. Big thanks to Scott. Hopefully the Implementation Plan will be submitted within the next couple of weeks. Trail Construction for Area 51 is slated to start this fall (pending COE Implementation Plan approval). Trail Work Party this Saturday At 8am (June 16). We will be working on a problem area on the Dwelling Loop. Bike Patrol - We have tubes and powerlinks courtesy of Free-Flite Bicycles. Patrol members please log your hours. Fundraising - Ellis explained our fundraising strategy plan and is now targeting corporations for gift donations. If you know of any local businesses or work for corporations that have charity donation programs, please contact Ellis Alexander with information. Women's Clinic - Lisa Randall will be hosting a women's ride clinic this August. More details to follow.

Chapter Meeting Minutes 5-14-07

 

Monday, 14 May 2007 14:00

 

Meeting Date - 05/14/2007
Meeting Location - Blankets Creek Trailhead
Attendees - 27
Food Provider - Outspokin Bikes

SORBA Wide Work Party @ Tsali - SORBA Main is having a weekend work party on June 2nd and 3rd for Tsali. SORBA Woodstock would like to send a team up to help. If you have ridden Tsali, you know how much fun it is. Some trail spots are in bad shape and need of repair. Camping is free if you sign up through IMBA. Dinner will be provided as well. Goto www.Sorba.org for more details.

Bike Patrol - No new news. Tim will resume his bike patrol meetings now that Pedalpalooza is over.

Area 51 update - Members of the BOD meet with the USACOE and CRPA on 5/14 to have a walk through of the new Area 51 trail system. The COE informed us that the approval process to start construction is not completed as we thought. While the Master Plan has been approved and stamped from the main office in Mobile, AL, we now need to submit an Implementation Plan for review. This Implementation Plan will include more details on the actual trail itself along with the Who, What, how and Why of the building plan. All Creek Crossings that will require bridges will have to included PE stamped engineering drawings of the bridge. Once this Implementation Plan is created, the COE will review the plan after we submit a $5000 check to pay for their review expenses. The Implementation Plan review will have to go through Cartersville COE and then through 5 different departments at the COE Main office in Mobile, AL. We are told the review process will take from 60-90 days for review.

Bottom line... we have been held up on new trail construction until at least Fall 2007. SORBA Woodstock BOD and members are extremely saddened by this news, but at least the trail approval process is moving forward. If you or someone you know has any ability to create engineering drawings of bridges for the chapter please let John Hicks know. The sooner we can create the drawings, the sooner we can submit the Implementation Plan to get Area 51 going.

Potential Adventure Race at Blankets Creek - Lisa Randall brought up a fund-raising opportunity of having a 12 hours or 24 hours of Blankets. Participants would raise money via pledges per lap or mile. The event would be very limited (15-20 people) to see how it will work out. Dates are tentatively this Aug. Members at the meeting where very positive about the idea. More details to follow.

Chapter Meeting Minutes 4-16-07

 

Sunday, 15 April 2007 14:00

 

Meeting Date - 04/16/07 @ 7pm
Meeting Location - Blankets Creek Trailhead
Meeting Attendees - ~20
Food Provider - Free Flite Bikes

Meeting - Tim Feltner conducted the meeting in absence of John and Derek.

Bike Patrol - First Aid/CPR cards are here. Collect them from Tim Feltner.

Pedalpalooza 2007 - Chris talked about having volunteers show up at 8am to help out. Booths will be set up with various local bike shops and local business. We will be having games, food, group rides and clinics. Festival starts at 10 am. Please park at the church next door to make room for attendees.

Beginner Clinic with Lisa Randall - Was a success! 5 students showed up despite the freezing temps.

SORBA Woodstock Forum - Jeff talked about our options of using PHP as our SORBA Woodstock Forum. The new PHP 3.0 will allow us to better accommodate our needs. The problem is it's still a beta code with bugs and the official release date is unknown. Jeff is still working on the pro's and con's and will recommend a solution.

Area 51 Trail Update - Tim discussed the three areas where we need everyone's help. The BOD can't do this alone and we need significant help to pull this off.

1. Major Donor Fundraising committee - Ellis will head up this committee. He is looking for people who have community contacts or experience in fundraising to help out and join the committee.
2. Trail Ambassador Committee - We need a committee that will help coordinate folks to help man the tent on the weekends. Those at the tent will educate the public about the upcoming trail construction. We will have a display map, project timeline, work party schedule, membership applications and donation envelopes. Contact John Hicks if you are interested in volunteering to man the tent on weekends or serve on the committee.
3. Trail Crew Leaders - SORBA Woodstock has 4 members that have graduated from Trail School that will be assisting Charlie as Trail Crew Coordinators to manage the physical building of the trails in Area 51. We are looking for volunteers to not only help with the trail construction itself, but also support for the work party. Tasks include: Communication with volunteers about work party time and dates, Making sure food/drink/tools are at each work party, assistance with volunteer registration for each work party, coordinating SWAG giveaways at each work party, solicitation for lunch sponsors, and run errands as needed for the crews on the trail. Work Parties will be held on Saturdays and Wednesday nights. Stay tuned to the website for upcoming work parties. The work party banner will now be hung the Monday prior to trail work parties.

Chapter Meeting Minutes 3-12-07

 

Sunday, 11 March 2007 14:00

 

Chapter Meeting - 03/12/07
Location - Williamson Bros BBQ in Canton
Number of Attendees - 20

SORBA Main Meeting - John discussed the topics from the SORBA Main meeting this past weekend. Details are: IMBA is sponsoring a Work Party on April, 12th with SORBA Chattanooga at Raccoon Mtn. SORBA Woodstock is going to help. IMBA should be finalizing their partnership with SORBA regarding taking over the admin duties from SORBA by the end of the year. All SORBA members will become IMBA members automatically. Two chapters were added: Paulding County and Southern Crescent (South Atl). SORBA Main Work party scheduled for Tsali on June 2nd. Lunches/Dinner and free camping provided. NWGA Chapter is having an event on April 19th to support the Tour de GA athletes that will be in Dalton that day.

Bike Patrol - We had 12 members renew and 3 more added to the existing Bike Patrol. The class was on Feb 24th. Tim will be having Bike Patrol meetings/rides every other weekend. Contact Tim for more details.

Gold Rush 24 Hour Adventure race - Thanks to all 13 SORBA Woodstock members that volunteered to work the adventure race. Big Congrats to Lisa Randall, one of our members, for winning the race! Good Job!

Beginner Clinic - Lisa Randall is teaching a beginner clinic at Blankets Creek for men and women on April 7th. Class is free and starts at 9:30am. She is offering expert bike fitting help at 9am prior to the class. A kid's ride is also scheduled for that morning at 10am.

Rope Mill Park - Word is that Woodstock City Council is finally starting to get serious about the Rope Mill Park project. SORBA Woodstock is going to build singletrack once the initial infrastructure is in place.

Blankets Creek Master Plan Approval - Raise your glasses for a toast! The Master Plan has finally been approved via the COE Main office in Mobile, AL. This will initiate a signing of the MOU between SORBA Woodstock and Cherokee County Parks and Recreation to start building the new trail network over in Area 51. First stop is to build out an additional 1.5 miles of Mosquito Flats. Once the Mosquito Flats extension is complete, work will start on the new 4.5 mile advanced loop.

Trail Ambassador Program - We will start having members on site at the trail head on Saturday and Sunday to educate the public about the upcoming trail construction. We will have a display map, project timeline, work party schedule, membership applications and donation envelopes. We need to raise at least $30,000 and recruit a substantial amount of volunteers to help us construct Area 51. Contact John Hicks if you are interested in volunteering to man the tent on weekends.

Major Donor Fundraising team - We are looking for 8 individuals who have a variety of relationships in the biking and business community. This group will build a list of potential donors and make personal calls to ask for contributions. Contact John Hicks if you are interested.

Trail Construction support - We are looking for volunteers to not only help with the trail construction itself, but also support for the work party itself. Tasks include: Communication with volunteers about work party time and dates. Making sure food, drink, tools, etc are at each work party. Volunteer registration for each work party, Coordinating SWAG give aways at each work party, Solicitation donations for lunch sponsors. Run errands as needed for the crews on the trail

Chapter Meeting Minutes 02/12/07

 

Sunday, 11 February 2007 14:00

 

Meeting Date - 02/12/07 @ 7pm
Meeting Location - Williamson Brothers BBQ - Canton
Number of Attendees - 27

Revised Entrance to Blankets Creek- The Board of Commissioners meeting for Cherokee County on Feb 6th had an item of the consent agenda for CW Matthews to add a deceleration lane and widen the entrance to Blankets Creek parking lot. Cost for the county is $34,023.19. It's highly likely that this was approved.

USACOE/CRPA Meeting on 2/8/07 - SORBA Woodstock meet with Doug Evans and Amy Cobb from the Cartersville USACOE and Mike Brantley and Steve Ralston of the CRPA to discuss an incident around Lemon Street. The COE received 6 phone calls and a written letter from residents on Lemon Street that a mountain biker had told them it is illegal to hike in the COE land between Lemon Street and the proposed western park boundary. The COE said residents claimed this person said they were part of the Bike Patrol. After interviewing bike patrollers, it appears this person had falsely claimed their credentials and acted stand alone with the wrong knowledge of the land use rules under the COE. Residents are allowed on this COE land via foot travel. Horses and ATVs are prohibited. The COE gained a better understanding of our Bike Patrol and that they are established to Educate, Assist and Inform. They are not there to "enforce" any regulations and would re-communicate this to the Bike Patrol as well as Chapter Members. The meeting also gave us information that the COE is hoping the Master Plan will be approved in 30 days. Keep your fingers crossed!

Bike Patrol Training - CPR/First Aid/ Bike Patrol training will be held on February 24th. 15 members are scheduled. For those already scheduled to attend, please contact Tim at to verify that you will attend. We have to prepay for the classes, so "no shows" are a waste of chapter money. Non SORBA Woodstock members are allowed to attend, but must pay for the classes. Contact Tim for details.

Gold Rush Adventure Race - SORBA Woodstock will again be providing volunteers to assist in the 2nd Annual Gold Rush 24 Hour Adventure Race. The race is scheduled for March 2-3, 2007. Please contact Tim if interested. We need volunteers for daytime and midnight shifts.

Reinhardt Work Party - SORBA Woodstock is waiting to sign a MOU with Reinhardt College for support of their ongoing trail system. Work Parties for the Reinhardt Trail System are being held the 2nd Saturday of every month. Goto http://reinhardtcollegetrails.blogspot.com/ for more info.

Boling Park - City of Canton is looking into building multi-use trails at Boling Park. They are currently applying for a $100,000 RTP grant from the government and will match $25,000 to funds if approved. SORBA Woodstock has approached Bill Werner, City Manager, for volunteer help and expertise in helping develop this system. While the project is at least a year away, SORBA will continue to keep tabs on this upcoming project.

"Area 51" new trail status - The Cartersville COE is hoping the Master Plan will be approved from COE Main in Mobile, AL in 30 days. The lease between the USACOE and CRPA has been signed. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between SORBA Woodstock and CRPA has been reviewed and agreed upon locally. SORBA Main and the USACOE is reviewing for any additional comments. Upon Master Plan approval, Mosquito Flats extension will have to be constructed first to get to Area 51. This will add 1.5-2 miles to Mosquito Flats beginner trail. Stay tuned for more details as we receive them!

Chapter Meeting Minutes 12-18-06

 

Sunday, 17 December 2006 14:00

 

Meeting Date - 12/18/06 @ 7pm
Meeting Location - Right Wing Cafe
Number of Attendees - 25

Elections - The chapter voted on officers for the 2007 year . Here is the list of officers for 2007:

President: John Hicks
Vice Pres : Derek Boyd
Secretary: Jay Wilkes
Treasurer: Chris Griffin
Bike Patrol: Tim Feltner
Trail Director: Charles Schultz
Web Master: Jeff Murchison

Blankets Creek Phone Line - The chapter is looking into getting a new phone line since the old SORBA phone line was disconnected. Trail status will still be available on the website.

Bike Patrol Training - CPR/First Aid/ Bike Patrol training will be held on February 28th. Contact Tim Feltner if interested in joining the Bike Patrol.

Gold Rush Adventure Race - SORBA woodstock will again be providing volunteers to assist in the 2nd Annual Gold Rush 24 Hour Adventure Race. The race is scheduled for March 2-3, 2007.

Reinhardt Work Party - Work Parties for the Reinhardt Trail System are being held the 2nd Saturday of every month. Goto http://reinhardtcollegetrails.blogspot.com/ for more info.

"Area 51" new trail status - We are waiting on the US Army COE to approve the Master Plan. Once this has been completed, Cherokee Recreation and Park Authority (CRPA) will enter a long term lease with the COE. SORBA Woodstock will also complete a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CRPA to document and agree on each parties responsibilities and commitments. Once this is all completed, trail construction can start. Tentative construction start dates are February-March 2007.

Upcoming SORBA Main Meeting - John will be attending the SORBA main meeting on behalf of SORBA Woodstock. He will bring the chapter back information from the meeting. Items that will be discussed include how IMBA will be helping consolidate duties into their organization to free up SORBA with more time to trail building, advocacy, and maintenance.

Chapter Meeting Minutes 11-13-06

 

Sunday, 12 November 2006 14:00

 

Meeting Date - 11/13/06 @ 7pm
Meeting Location - Williamsbros BBQ
Number of Attendees - 30

Elections - Jeff Murchison is in charge of taking 2007 Officers nominations. Contact Jeff if you are interested in nominating someone or yourself for any position. We will have elections next month. You can vote in person at the December meeting or on the website.

Current nominations:

President: John Hicks (incumbent)
Vice Pres : Derek Boyd (incumbent)
Secretary: Jay Wilkes (incumbent)
Treasurer: Chris Griffin (incumbent)
Bike Patrol: Tim Feltner (incumbent)
Trail Director: Charles Schultz (incumbent)
Web Master: Jeff Murchison (incumbent)

Trail Maintenance - Work Party Saturday, Nov 18th at 9am. We will be clearing the trail of leaves. Bring gas powered blowers and racks if you have them. Lunch will be provided.

Communications - Please register at SORBA.org if you haven't. This will allow you to receive updates and information from SORBA Woodstock

We will be mailing out a physical newsletter twice a year to all members.

Bike Patrol - Tim will have a Bike Patrol training event in January. Current Bike Patrol members need to attend to recertify CPR training/First Aid.

2007 Goals - Here are the goals SORBA Woodstock has for the following year:

1) Derek Boyd will continue the success as Ride coordinator and set up a ride calendar full of various club group rides.

2) Josh Boggs with be Events Coordinator and help out with Pedalpalooza and a possible fall festival at Reinhardt

3) Acquire approval of the Blankets Creek Master Plan. The MP is currently at COE in Mobile under review. Tentative approval is end of year/beginning of next year.

4) Complete a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Cherokee County Recreation and Parks (CRPA). Looking to complete the MOU ar the same time as MP signoff.

5) Build more trails! January time frame to start new construction (pending MP signoff and completion of CRPA MOU). We will build out the Mosquito Flats extension, then the northern loop. Tentative completion date for both trails is Fall 2007 if the club can raise enough money for professional trail builder to complete the machine work and have volunteers do the finishing work.

Reinhardt update - Steve from Reinhardt attended the meeting. They are building a beginner warm up and need our help for armoring a creek crossing. Work party is scheduled on Dec 9th to help out. Scott informed us that the school VP is very interested in creating a MOU. Scott is looking into possible events/racing.

Cherokee High School Bike Club -Stephanie asked members if anyone had any trainers they would like to donate to the club for winter training. It would be extremely helpful