Gwinnett Area Trail Riders: G.A.T.R. | A Chapter of S.O.R.B.A

Apalachee Cycle, Sponsored Work Party at Tribble Mill

Cheryl — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:57 +0000

As well as making some nice improvements to the mountain bike trails at Tribble Mill, GATR has a commitment to getting the trails at Tribble Mill in good shape and ready for the first race of the year, the Dirty Spokes Duathlon on Saturday, April 17th.

Upcoming work parties:

Saturday, March 13th — 10 am-3 pm (Lunch provided by sponsor Apalachee Cycles)
Sunday, March — 10 am-3 pm

Click here for more information on the work plans

Please bring a good strong pair of boots, gloves, wear long sleeves and sunglasses/eye protection, food and plenty of water to stay hydrated.

If you would like to come help out on the trails, please do so during the times posted above. Any questions can be directed to our President, James Carrington via the contacts page on this website.

NOT ON MONDAY! – March Chapter Meeting

Cheryl — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:20:57 +0000

Dear fellow mountain bikers, the upcoming GATR Chapter Meeting in March has been moved to Tuesday, March 16th @ Bikeways of Tucker.

In the spirit of keeping things fresh this year, in partnership with Bikeways of Tucker we’ve decided to do something a little different with our March chapter meeting and couple it with demo bikes from the Fuji demo trailer.

Beginning in the early afternoon, you will be able to stop by the shop, take a bike of your choice out for a test ride along with one of our local ride leaders. Then it’s back to the shop at 7 pm for food and beer. We will then start the official chapter meeting and roll off any special announcements that need to be made before finally enjoying the last of the food and beer while hanging out with your fellow cyclists.

Here’s the outline agenda for the evening:

10:00am : (all day) – Fuji demo fleet – road, mountain and cruiser
7:00pm : Meeting begins with food and beverage
7:30pm : Chapter announcements and discussion
8:30pm : Hang out, talk about riding bikes and drink a cold one!

Please bring your own beverage of choice to the meeting, we will provide pizza for a small donation. Might be an idea to bring a chair if sitting down is your thing.

Tribble Mill Trail Work 2010

James Carrington — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:58:12 +0000

The main goal of our proposal is to improve the existing trail system around the area known as Taco Stand, using a number of small reroutes, some pieces of hand built new trail, and full rehabilitation of any old, unused trail.

What we are ultimately aiming for here is better use of the natural contours of the land, with diversion away from the major water and erosion problem areas – resulting in a more safe, sustainable, and easily maintained trail system.

We are also proposing a more linear trail system here that provides easier navigation for beginners and less conflict with the existing ‘runner specific’ trail. And to top all of this off, we’re aiming for a moderate increase to the bike trail mileage, and a trail that has a much better flow and fun factor!

We are currently working through the approval process with Gwinnett County. As soon as everything is approved we will announce work party volunteer days here on the website.

Please see below here for a visual guide to the proposal.

Download a PDF of the proposed trail work

Apalachee Cycle Jersey’s

James Carrington — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:08:21 +0000

Click here for the Apalachee Cycle Website

GATR Night Ride Program

James Carrington — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:34:12 +0000

In partnership with GCPR, GATR has formalized a night riding program in the following Gwinnett County Parks: Yellow River Park, and Tribble Mill Park.

Some key things to note about this new program is that it is a trial between GCPR and GATR. It’s up to us to show the county that there is in fact a demand from the Gwinnett community for night riding in Gwinnett County Parks. Therefore it is up to us to make sure we have a big turn out of people for these rides. So please go ahead and register for all 4 rides with Activity Code: LPGY14003 today! Or choose specific rides from the links below. If all goes well with this trial program, we stand a good chance of negotiating a more frequent night riding program next season.

Night riding is currently not allowed in Gwinnett County Parks. Only through these official sanctioned events will you be able to legally ride your bicycle at night in the park.

GATR has official ride leaders who are registered with the county – these ride leaders will carry cell phones, keep the groups together and help to ensure the safety of all riders.
This event is covered under our IMBA-SORBA insurance
Extra instructors and ride leaders will be provided for 1st time or ‘newbie’ night riders
Please arrive 1/2 hour early for gear check and quick info session and assigning of guides
Ready to Ride (RTR) at 6pm, and 7pm for second wave of riders (latecomers)
Anyone NOT pre-registered will not be able to take part in this event (this will be enforced by the parks representative present at the event)
70% of all revenue from fees comes back to our club, the remaining 30% goes to the park – so it’s a win for everyone!

All participants MUST pre-register for the rides. The cost is $4 per ride, or $12 for all 4 rides.

Don’t forget to check the “Enroll?” box before “Add to Cart” (if you do not check the box, it will not add to the Shopping cart).

To register for all four rides as a DISCOUNTED package (Activity Code: LPGY14003)
To register for FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26th at Tribble Mill Park (Activity Code: GCAA14001)
To register for FRIDAY, MARCH 12th at Yellow River Park (Activity Code: LPGY14001)
To register for FRIDAY, APRIL 2nd at Tribble Mill Park (Activity Code: GCAA14002)
To register for FRIDAY, APRIL 30th at Yellow River (Activity Code: LPGY14002)

Click Here to register, then either login or create an account with the website, then use the activity codes listed above to find the events you wish to register for.

We seem to still be having issues with the Gwinnett County website, so if you still need to register for the upcoming night rides (the first
being this Friday at Tribble Mill), then you can actually call Rhodes
Jordan Park and register over the phone. The number is 770.822.5414

Also, if you live outside of Gwinnett County, the price of all 4 rides
is actually $18, not $12. If you think the website is charging you the
wrong amount, then i would advise you to use the telephone
registration instead and speak to a human.

Mountain bike night ride-SORBA night ride rules apply-rider must have head and tail lights attached to person. Ride is for beginner to experienced.

A note from our President:

Hi everyone, I just wanted to chime in here and point out a few things about these rides.

Some of you may be asking yourself, why do i now have to pay for these rides?, and why are half of the rides in April, when it is now that we need them, not when the clocks go forward and the nights get lighter?

Well, let me first say that this new night ride ‘program’ is a trial setup between GATR and Gwinnett County. Traditionally night riding in Gwinnett County parks has been strictly forbidden, except for a small handful of sanctioned GATR rides like we’ve had in the past. In the future we want you guys to be able to have more night rides than just a handful each year. We want you to be able to night ride every week during the winter months – wouldn’t that be great?!

As part of our efforts towards making night riding more widely accepted by the county (and with a little inspiration from our good neighbors over at RAMBO) we’ve come up with a new way of having the night rides setup that better meets the needs of the county, AND fosters a more collaborative and formal relationship between the bike club and the local government.

Right now we have four rides lined up, one in February, one in March, AND two in April. Now we know that when the April rides come around the nights will be starting to get lighter, and this doesn’t really do us a whole lot of good in the immediate short term when we really need it. All i can say is that for now, these are the cards we have been dealt, and we intend on playing the best game we can!

The ball is in our court now guys, if we can collectively as a group, prove to the parks people that there is in fact a high demand for night riding in Gwinnett County, then we stand a much better chance of getting more regular night rides on the calendar when the 2010/2011 night riding season begins.

In more basic terms, the more of us that register for these rides, the better chance we have of establishing night riding in Gwinnett County Parks as a more regular activity.

Please help us to make this happen and register today for all 4 rides – it’s only $12!

All the rides will also be followed by an after ride social at a local bar/restaurant.

Thank you for your continued support,

James Carrington
President, GATR

Tribble Mill Work Party Saturday February 13 (11am)

kristacombs — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:40:43 +0000

Meet at 11a in the parking lot next to the playground. Inside of Tribble Mill Park turn right at the first stop sign, parking is on the left at the bottom of the hill. If you are looking at this map http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/departments/parks_rec/pdf/tribble_mill_trail_map.pdf it is the parking next to Ozora Meadow.

The plan is to quickly break up into small teams of 2-4. Each group will be assigned a section of trail to de-berm and cut back any growth encroaching on the trail. No major work this time. I am smoking a pork butt tonight and plan on bringing out some to enjoy after the work party.

February Group Ride @ Oconee Heritage Park

Cheryl — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:35:15 +0000

GATR February Ride Information

Who: Everyone
When: Sunday, Feburary 14th at 1 p.m.
Where: Oconee Heritage Park,
After: La Parrilla (Mexican)

Info link: http://www.sorbaathens.org/trails/oconee-heritage-park
Trail map: http://www.ocprd.com/Heritage%20Park%20Trail%20Map.pdf

Trail Directions from SORBA Athens website
From Athens, take the Macon Highway (old 441) toward Monroe about 13 miles until you see a pet cemetary on the right.
Park is 1/2 mile past here on right with a large pavilion set in a field about 100 yards from
the road (used for horse shows). Park near the pavilion and ride the singletrack in a clockwise direction.

Here’s some other information I found that maybe more helpful for a GPS owner or if you want to print a map. A street address doesn’t seem to be readily available. The map says Farmington on the website, the LAT/Long comes up with Bishop, while we have Watkinsville.

Latitude: 33.754031498216385
Longitude: -83.43704223632812

Google Satellite Map Link

Google Map Link

IMBA/SORBA Festival/Board meeting at NOC/Tsali

James Carrington — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:35:28 +0000

We’re trying something a little different this year. We’re turning the typical SORBA Board of Directors Meeting into a festival weekend at the Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, NC! The Board of Directors, the Regional Leadership Advisory Council, the Subaru-IMBA Trail Care Crew, and mountain bikers of all stripes will converge for a weekend of mountain biking, including trail education, riding, a party, and more riding!

Here are the details:

All are invited to join the IMBA-SORBA Regional Leadership Advisory Committee (RLAC), Board of Directors, staff, and the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew for a weekend of learning, digging, riding, and fun at the Nantahala Outdoor Center March 19-21, 2010.

Join your friends, and immerse yourself in the beauty of Western North Carolina’s Nantahala River gorge while learning about advocacy and trail building from the Southeast’s most experienced advocates and the Trail Care Crew. Put your trail-building know-how to work at a hands-on workshop at the Tsali trail system. After the diggin’ is done, we’ll put away our tools and ride our bikes, topping it all off with a party and more riding!

Registration for the weekend is $25, and includes admission to the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew events, lunch and dinner on Saturday, group rides, on-site transportation, and the Saturday night party.

Online registration is open, so don’t delay!

If you have questions about the event, email Tom Sauret, tom@sorba.org.

The Nantahala Outdoor Center is the site host for this mountain biking weekend. NOC offers quiet mountain cabins, simple motel rooms and even “Basecamp,” their version of a bunkhouse.

Reserve your space now by calling the NOC at 800-232-7238 option 4. You can call Monday through Friday from 9am-5pm EST.

Itinerary

Friday, March 19

5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Registration
8:00 p.m. IMBA-SORBA Executive Board and staff meeting

Saturday, March 20

Saturday morning features two activity tracks for participants: Track One is for all attendees, and Track Two is for SORBA Board members and IMBA Regional Advisory Leadership Council members (RLAC) only.

Breakfast—You’re on your own for breakfast, but all are invited to dine at NOC’s River’s Edge.

Track One:

9:00 a.m. Subaru-IMBA Trail Care Crew presentation in Klienrath Hall

Track Two:

8:30 a.m. IMBA-SORBA Board of Directors meeting with IMBA RLAC, location TBA

Everyone

11:30 a.m. Lunch
12:30 p.m. Transportation to Tsali for TCC afternoon trail class
1:00 p.m. TCC afternoon trail class at Tsali
4:00 p.m. Return to NOC
4:30 p.m. Bike ride at NOC
6:30 p.m. Dinner
8:00 p.m. TCC Club Care presentation and party with fabulous swag.

Sunday March 21

Breakfast on your own at the River’s Edge.
8:00 a.m. IMBA-SORBA Board meeting
9:00 a.m. Bike rides at Tsali or Jack Rabbit Mountain

GATR Racing Survey

Cheryl — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 03:13:07 +0000

Based on the results here I’m hoping we can plan some next steps as our team develops this year. We will try to have the results tabulated prior to our next chapter meeting.

Complete the Survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/27SHVLN

Discount for GATR’s at the 2010 Dirty Spokes race @ Tribble Mill

James Carrington — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:36:14 +0000

Dirty Spokes Off Road Duathlon Series – Tribble Mill (Race #1)

When: April 17th, 2010

Race will be a “sprint distance” in the format of run 2.75mi / bike 7.75mi / run 2.75mi

Complete details: www.dirtyspokes.com

As an added bonus Tim from Dirty Spokes is offering a discounted entry fee to all GATR members.

GATR member discount: $10 on an individual entry, $15 on a team entry.

To take advantage of this deal just fill out the form below and Dirty Spokes will mail you an application and waiver form that will include the discount:

GATR Discount sign up form:

[contact-form]