News and Events 2003

The Utica Trip was a lot of fun. Beer and tequila for the adults. Mud and lizards for the infant.

Utica Reservoir is around 9 miles from Bear Valley, and has some excellent Sierra Slickrock, not to mention lakeside camping on a granite-ringed lake with a dozen or so islands. There are some great singletrack trails over to and around Bear Valley, and = numerous granite domes with excellent skills sections. The entire lakeside is dispersed camping.

A great weekend of camping, biking, kayaking and hanging out with good friends. Good times. For more works and pictures see: http://www.markneve.org/2003/10/utica/index.html

I am pleased to announce that effective September 1, 2003, Mark Davidson will be the new MBOSC President. Mark has been involved with MBOSC for some time now, and also has been involved with Team Wrong Way for years. Mark is married to Eve, who rides and has been involved with the club; they have a baby who also rides (albeit in a carrier). Mark’s vision for the future of MBOSC and mountain biking in Santa Cruz County is to provide a place where all of us, our families, and generations to come, will have a great place to ride with a diverse and expanding trail system. With Mark’s leadership, I am confident that the club will effectively represent our membership and pursue our mission locally as one of the best IMBA affiliated clubs.

I would like to thank all the Board members and other club members for their support during my caretaker presidency, all of whom are staying on the Board to provide support to Mark and service to the cycling community. Keith Kelsen, club founder, continues as Vice President; Doug Landauer continues as Secretary; and Geoffrey Smith, immediate past president and Trail Work leader have been especially helpful. David Gittelman of Another Bike Shop, as the Santa Cruz Bike Industry Coalition’s Mountain Biking representative, has made a valuable contribution to our meetings as ex-officio member of the Board. A special thank you to Dan Nall and Bell Sports, who have been contributing schwag that we distribute to trail workers at our monthly Wilder/Gray Whale trail work days, and which we auctioned off at the Tour de Fat. Also a thank you to all the volunteers who worked the Tour de Fat, to the folks at ABS for coordinating the mountain bike ride, and to the folks at Spokesman for coordinating the road ride. We continue to appreciate the support of the local shops, who provide discounts to our members (check them out at www.mbosc.org ).

I would also like to thank those in the community whose courtesy and coordination of efforts with us has helped to make our presence in the community more effective. David Vincent, Ralph Fairfield, Bob Culbertson and Kirk Lingenfelter at State Parks, Maggie Fusari and Dean Raven at UCSC, and the folks at the SC City Parks & Recreation Department, participated in our State of the Trail North Coast Meeting and communicate with us regularly about trails related issues. Other groups in the community work with us too; the Santa Cruz County Horseman’s Association, the Nisene Advocates, www.trailworkers.com , the Stewards of Soquel Demonstration Forest – all are doing their part, and will, no doubt, continue to do so during Mark’s presidency.

I promised when I became the “acting” president that I would tell you why I was not willing to continue in the position. It’s pretty simple actually. While young of heart and spirit, on my birthday in 2004 I will qualify for the senior discount. I know that there are a lot of older riders, and plan to continue my participation as a rider, as club treasurer and in our trail advocacy efforts, but I believe that the future of our club, and our sport, rests rightfully in the hands of younger riders. To that end, Mark fits the bill perfectly, and I hope that his leadership will encourage other younger riders and their families to get more involved in MBOSC and our efforts. It is only through their participation that mountain biking in Santa Cruz will remain a vibrant activity for years to come.

Finally, I would like to say “you’re welcome” to the many out there who have responded to my e-mail updates with thank you’s for keeping you informed about our efforts and the status of the various parks, general plans, etc., that we are dealing with. It’s nice to know that there are live folks out there who read this stuff and care about it. I encourage you all to be more vocal about things, to participate in the on line discussions, etc., and to come to meetings. We ride because we love it; we all benefit from MBOSC’s activities on our behalf. I assure you, you will feel good, as I do, knowing that you give a little back to the riding community by supporting and participating in MBOSC’s efforts and activities. It is no less a labor of love than the time spent in the saddle. There is a sense of satisfaction every time you ride that comes from knowing that you do your part to get and keep trails open. For a side benefit, you can meet some nice folks and make some good friends, too.

Happy Trails…

David Green Baskin, MBOSC Treasurer

Nice wholesome family entertainment!

Wow what an awesome Saturday! An event for the history books!

The first Santa Cruz TdF was a great success. A great family event where you could listen to music, ride wacky bikes and meet others in the cycling community. MBOSC, the Hub and others had booths set up.

It was definitely interesting to see the bike rodeo come to town in the guise of Cyclecide. Cyclecide bikes are kinetic sculptures created by some mad genius with a blow torch and a lot of bike parts. These objects de bike art were all over the place and people could ride and admire them. The clowns of cyclecide were parading/performing with the bikes while the band belted out their psychobilly tunes.

Lucky winner!

MBOSC raffled off a sweet handbuilt steel bike frame, a Schwinn cruiser and lots of bike pumps, lights and helmets.

It was a beer free (not free beer) event but many gathered afterwards at El Palomar for $3 pints of Fat Tire Amber. We were joined by many folks from the New Belgium brewing company from Fort Collins, Colorado. The party moved to 99 Bottles where we drank 1554 - a very dark ale. Mmmmmm! Delicious!

Good beer and good times!

The party crowd included a lot of visitors from out of town so we had to show them a Santa Cruz good time. We headed en mass to the Catalyst for an evening of tequila and Superbooty - the official party band for MBOSC. We got down with our bad selves and danced the night away to funk and disco covers done with a real live 15 piece band. Lots of sweaty poly-esther and satin tube tops.

Thanks to the New Belgium brewing company for the great beer and putting on this event. Cyclecide and Warsaw for the great tunes and antics.

Thanks to Superbooty for bringing the sleaziest and cheeziest in Santa Cruz into one place for a miasmic orgy of terpsichorean ejectamenta.

The guys who made it happen!

Thanks to Another Bike Shop for some great stuff including helmets, hydration packs and lights. Family Cycling Center for the Schwinn Cruiser, Scott's Valley Cycle Sport for the excellent MTB Chromoly frame, The Spokesman for $100 in gift certificates, Cycle Works for the helmets, and Gyro/Bell Sports for all the pumps, helmets, and lights that we raffled off.

A special thanks to the volunteers for helping to staff the MBOSC tent and keep the event running smoothly.

And a final, final special thanks to Keith Kelsen and Rick Graves of the Hub for working with New Belgium to bring this event to Santa Cruz. You guys worked hard to make this event a success.

Next year the Tour de Fat will be at Harvey West Park.... and there will be beer!