Philadelphia Mountain Biking Association - Forums

Hi all.  Anyone interested in instructional rides?  Beginner rides natch but Jumping, intermediate etc. 

How about occaisional group rides in other places?  French Creek, JT trip, other NE PA places etc.  Come out to Adobe Cafe this thurs after Jess's thurs night ride - I guess we'll be there by 9 or so.  Bring any ideas or better yet, if you want to help craft the club experience - be there.

Karl

Yeah Karl,

It would be great to have a group-ride of
all beginner riders interested in
trying out Mt. Biking, and give people an
opportunity to learn the great outdoor
activity of riding the Wissahickon.

Rob Krotee

There are a few beginners coming out on Thursdays, however I wouldn't call them total beginners. Karl, are you still planning on going to the Adobe tonight? and is 9 the earliest you get there? Regular ride goes off at 5:30 and I could be there a little after 8. 

Quick question.  Where is Adobe? 

Depending on what time I get out of my dinner tonight, I may stop by.  But, I have no clue where it is. 

Adobe is at 4550 Mitchell st. The duck burrito is no joke.

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/4550+Mitchell+St+Philadelphia+PA+19128-3319/ (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/4550+Mitchell+St+Philadelphia+PA+19128-3319/)

[pricks up ears] Duck burrito you say? [/pricks up ears]

I'll be in northeast , and will head over after riding pennypack.

Rob

I was extreamly impressed with the turnout last night at Adobe, 11 People in
such short notice is great, thanks for attending and adding input, (cobbo pitcher! $$  :o )
For those who didnt attend, our goal is to increase the accessbility of all riders
to all types of riding, and help riders of all levels improve their skill at whatever type of style of
riding they would like to try.  Jon Peirce wants to hit some jumps!! I love that, I want to try a
29. In addition we want to gain new members to PMBA, who may not be experienced riders, and
give them a safe platform to start to learn how to ride trails, and improve their skill.

We are planning to have a scheduled ride for beginners around mid June.
A camping trip, most likely French Creek, for riders of all levels, in July.

I will also be recruiting people who will help go out and find
new members.

If you have at ideas or suggestions, don't wait ....
Rob Krotee

Kman- I've been doing some of those instructional rides with another group from Meetup.com called Singletrack Attack. There's a good bit of recreational riders there & would love an opportunity to do a camp & ride or more instructional rides. There's also another group called Philadelphia Mountain Bike from the Meetup site that's an annex from the original SA group. There are some PMBA members in both groups too (such as Boaty & Fightnut) that I've been turning on to PMBA to join us. If I can get a heads up on when an intro ride would be set up I'll toss the event on the calendars to draw people out. Generally the turnouts I've gotten from doing intro rides ranges from about 10-18ppl at a time. It's pretty cool to teach a total beginner how to ride mtb. Plus if the group's really big we'll space experienced ppl in between new ppl so newbies can still get instruction.

Rob.

Awesome Rob. Some great ideas!

Include me in that as well!!!!

Rob,

Now thats the type of F'n Shit I'm talking about!
I am inspired an disapponted at the same time about there being
another Mountain Bike Group win the name Philadelphia in it, ( also forgive me for typo's Which
occur) I cannot fathom why there is another group of Bikers that don't join PMBA, but it is great that
there are other riders uniting in the Mt. Bike community,( ok I can fathom why, but we need to unite)

I know may sound cliché-ic, but there are opportunities, that are opening to US, on every direction, and we must grab the bike by the bars and ride this mother for all she has because the stronger we are the greater our place in the history for the BETTER of the city and mountain biking will be, and this Charter which we belong to gives each of us the abillity to accomplish our goals as individuals, and a group, with IMBA, FOW, and the FPC as supporters. Ok enough of my preaching, I'm sure you've heard it before.

Thanks for stepping up! Its positive info

Rob (Krotee),

I joined the meetup groups that Bonkers is in as well to try to cross promote the groups.

Rico

Just to let you know about the camping trip in FC....there is no alcohol allowed in any PA state site. Apparently they are pretty annoying about it too.  ??? Which makes no sense. Who wants to sit in the woods sober.....

Thats great Rico, tanker ships dont turn on a dime,but they do come about, not as fast as my 300zx,...


keep in mind its against the law to drive over the speed limit...
 
 ;)

Has anyone been there and gotten away from it? I grew up literally in French Creek, and I have been gone from the area for a while. I attempted to camp there last summer and when I was making the reservation the guy on the phone said the cops are annoying about it. If it can be done....well then I am game!

Wha??   ???

Lay off the glass pipe.......crack is whack!   :D

 :P

Just to let you know about the camping trip in FC....there is no alcohol allowed in any PA state site. Apparently they are pretty annoying about it too.  ??? Which makes no sense. Who wants to sit in the woods sober.....
[/quote]

I usually camp there once a year w/fam & friends. We bring booze but it's usually just bottles of wine hidden in the tents or a couple big bottles of cranberry juice & vodka premixed. One trick to do is to book the dog sites. Rangers can't walk up on you & catch you off guard if there's a dog on your site. Just a thought.. 

thanks Kman- I just keep pushing more ppl towards PMBA each chance I get. One reason that some are hesitant to join is that the members from the other groups are scattered between NJ, DE, and PA so not everyone's in Philly area. I keep telling them location's no issue when it brings us all together with a common interest. I have noticed though that there are some of the PMBA events (such as the TMDs or the weekly rides) that have appeared on the group calendars so word is spreading nicely!

Every little bit helps, getting people on the weekly rides and TMD's is the way to go. Frankly I would rather have a person hand me a rock at a Trail Maintanence Day than have a check online, part of the money 35% goes to IMBA too, which is a huge plus
for PMBA, but having people on the trails are what we are about, either riding or building, it is really fun too!--and you don't even need to be a member to come out to the TMD, plus if you put in 20 hours of Trail Work, you become a PMBA member.

I will be getting some flyers out there at are next general meeting and TMD for people if they want to have them to distribute when chances occur.

Getting back to Karl's original idea - we should start planning these sessions if we're really going to do them.  Karl mentioned three types of training - beginner, intermediate and jumps.  There are specific techniques that could be taught in each session - they shouldn't just be "rides".  There may be some curricula already available somewhere, although I have a couple of books that could be starting points.  It would probably be useful to organize a meeting (somewhere other than Adobe, where the side conversations eclipsed the topic discussion) to work out the training agendas, find riders who are qualified to instruct, and to set up a calendar.  Does someone want to "own" this and get it going?

Jon you make a great point, I would like to have a begginer-intermediate ride on June 14 at the Wiss, to get the ball rolling on this, we can put together ride leaders along the way, so let's get the word out. If anyone wants to help let me know, I'm thinking ride should depart at 11am from either pavillion.

Karl can you make it on that day?

I hate to be the one to bring this up, but in light of recent events, has anyone considered waivers for the new riders to sign? 

I hate to have to answer, Karl brought that up before, we may have to have riders sign a waiver if we have to, thanks for bringing that up, if its to much B.S., we may have to pull the plug. 

I'll sign a waiver and come along for a ride. God knows I need to learn some skills.

No B.S. at all and it should be fairly simple. The club I use to ride with made all newbies sign waivers when you participated in clinics. Basically they just state that the club is not liable for injury and that the rider should never push beyond their limits. Most riders (new and old) have common sense to not go too far beyond thier limits, but that may need to be a sticking point to educating them. The more likely they're to push a situation, the more likely it is to become a "situation". You gotta crawl before you can walk..........

I'm up for the 14th- if this is a definite someone let me know & I'll post a meetup to my other group too to draw more people out. I just need to know definitely what the skill level will be for that day.

Looks like I'm booked for that day although I may be able to get out of it.  Are we teaching specific skills that day (like stopping at logs to teach log-jumping, etc.) or just riding together?  Is there a plan for the route and stops?

I think I am open that day as well.

In response to what Bonkers said, there was a post on the Philly Meetup group about a skills day to teach log riding etc.  May want to combine or join in on that day.

http://mountainbikes.meetup.com/137/messages/boards/thread/4830953 (http://mountainbikes.meetup.com/137/messages/boards/thread/4830953)

Cool
thanks for the info

K

Yes, class will be in session!  There will be logs, pulling wheelies ( I suck) and Manualling, in addition to trail etiquitte and perhaps pressbooking flowers.

Karl

what? no frolicking around a may pole??!!

Lets get a camping trip going at Fairhill for next month, let's pick a date that doesnt overlap any major Mt. Bike events people would want to attend....Mid July or late July??

Good idea K.

I didn't know you could camp at Fairhill. If we're gonna camp maybe we should go farther? Just sayin...

I'm in for a camping deal. I'm being a little selfish here but, let's do it on a 1st or 3rd weekend of a month because I generally work on the 2nd and 4ths.

I'd be up for a camping trip! Mid or late July would work too!

I'm going to schedule a overnight camping trip, the weekend of the 19th in July at Fair Hill.  I am throwing this up today,
will confirm with the board tonight, let me know your ideas now.

Rob Krotee

That weekend is perfect for me. Count me in.