SORBA Board of Directors Meeting Summary - November 6, 2023

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Board Members Present:

  • President: Nikki Adams

  • Vice President: Bob Liggett

  • Secretary: Tom Meany

  • Treasurer: Jay Wilkes

  • Trail Director: Mark Bolding

  • Bike Patrol Director: Rick Miller

  • Trail Ambassador: Jack Rutherford

Meeting Agenda:

  1. Treasury Report: $2,442.57 in donations.

  2. Membership Database: Update on new online system.

  3. Trail Projects:

    • Various updates on trail maintenance and development, including VMT Rework, South Loop, Dwelling Erosion Repair, and new developments at Parking Lot Jumps.

    • Continued efforts on signage maintenance and new installations.

    • Plans for new equipment, including the potential purchase of an excavator.

  4. Rope Mill Projects: Updates on new trail connections and bridge safety improvements.

  5. Bike Patrol: Introduction of new patrollers, first aid training, and equipment updates.

  6. 2023 Event Calendar:

    • Upcoming events including Rope Mill Dirty Duathlon, social rides, and the SORBA Christmas party.

  7. Miscellaneous:

    • Wildlife Management updates, ongoing board nominations, community collaborations, and website and social media improvements.

  8. Next Meeting: Topics to be discussed include grant updates and storage solutions for Rope Mill.

  9. 2024 Preliminary Calendar: Preview of events planned for the upcoming year.

  10. 2024 Goals: Announcement of goals and review of 2023 accomplishments to be presented at the Christmas party.

Rock and Roll trail by the numbers

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Rock and Roll trail has seen a bit of an update. The upper half used to be home to about 5 roller jumps. I use that phrase because the jumps were all between 1-2 feet tall and maybe 3-5 feet long, with rounded off lips.

Well they are no more.

They’ve been replaced with 3 new tabletops, one of which is mostly similar to what was there before. In addition, there’s a new tabletop at the half-way point of the run that replaces the step up. All in all we’ve got four new tabletops. Oh, and a refreshed berm near the end of the run with a much improved radius.

The lengths of the tabletops are as follows, with a rough estimate of their height:

  1. First one is 12 feet long and about 2.5 feet tall

  2. Second one is 11 feet long and just a foot or two high

  3. Third one, my personal favorite, is about 13 feet long and maybe 4 feet high

  4. Fourth one is 15-17 feet long depending on which side you land on, and about 3 feet tall

The longest jump on Rock and Roll is and was the “rock jump”, the next jump after the fourth new tabletop. That one is a whopping 19 feet long. It’s a skimmer, though. Even taking the rock lip you won’t get more than a couple feet off the ground, I reckon.

A few folks have asked about the shape of the lips. We actually don’t use circular radii for our jumps, which is evident if you stand right next to the take off and look at it side-on. Generally speaking there is a circular transition on the bottom half of the jump and a straight segment on the top half that is roughly a bike length long (or less, if the jump’s small) with no curvature. We’re not the first people to build jumps like this. You can hear mountain biking legends like Sam Reynolds talk about the benefits of this kind of design, and they use it to build some of the biggest hits in the sport.

For long wheelbase, full suspension bikes, this is the best way to control “bucking” during take off. The downside is that you don’t get the full pop of a circular radius take off, but you don’t want that unless you’re riding a short wheelbase hard tail or just really know what you’re doing.

These new jumps will probably feel a lot “kickier” than before, but that’s mostly because they’re real jumps now and not rollers. We hope you all take the time to build your skills and work up on these. It starts with rolling, then casing, then clearing, and one day leads to boosting. At least that’s the plan. Happy riding!