Chapter News Chapter News

Clinton River Park Trail (CRPT) Trailday - March 31

Want to be invovled in building new trail at CRPT / Clinton River Park Trail ?  We have received approval from the prak to build a two new segments of trail.  The new segments are being built to alleivate problem areas in the trail.  We need your help to get this done!Please join us at 10am on Saturday, March 31st, 2012 Petros Ct.   Petros Ct is located off of Clinton River Road, west of the Edison Ct trail head about 1/2 mile on the left.  It is a subdivision that was never developed but the road was put in; it's a court / cul de sac.  It is in front of the old DPW building. We will have a CRAMBA sign at the entrance.Things to bring / wear:

  • Work gloves
  • Boots long pants, long sleeved shirt, hat
  • Bug spray
  • Water / Hydration pack

We will have the CRAMBA chapter trailer on site so tools will be available, but if you have a personal favorites feel free to bring them.  Since we will be clearing new trail tools needed for this day are as follows:

  • Rakes
  • Loppers
  • Pulaskis

Thanks everone! If you can attend please let me know via PM on the MMBA forums or email.  And if there are any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.Thank You!

Paul McAllisterCo-Trail Coordinator, Clinton River Park Trail

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River Bends Trail Coordinator Jeremy Verbeke

CRAMBA would like to welcome Jeremy Verbeke in joining Steve Vigneau as a Trail Coordinator at Shelby Township's River Bends Park.Featuring a total of 6.9 miles of trail, River Bends hosts some of the newest CRAMBA-built mountain bike trails in the area. A regular volunteer and instrumental person in completing the more recent trail projects we look forward to Jeremy's experience helping maintain and improve these widely-used trails located in the heart of Shelby Township.

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Volunteer Time Self-Reporting Goes Live

To make volunteer time reporting and tracking easier CRAMBA has introduced a new tool which allows individuals to report time spent working on trails:Record Volunteer Hours ToolComplete tracking of the time we put in allows us to effectively communicate to land managers the amount of support provided by their relationship with CRAMBA. Whether it's a long, official trail day bench cutting, meeting with a Land Manager to review a new proposal, fifteen minutes spent moving some fallen brush, or even six minutes trimming back a few face slappers please submit a record of your time. All of this work is important to keeping our trails pristine and we need to be sure that it is recognized.Please click here to access the Volunteer Hour Recording Tool.If you have any questions about this tool or anything CRAMBA-related contact us at info@cramba.org.

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Addison Oaks Mountain Bike Route Map

We are happy to announce that, after collaborative work between CRAMBA and Oakland County Parks and Recreation,  Addison Oaks now has an official Mountain Bike Route Map! After recording routes and markers then drawing an initial map we worked with the tremendously helpful folks at Oakland County Parks and Recreation to finish it off. This extra work brought the map up to such a level that it has found a home on the Addison Oaks Park Maps page itself on Oakgov.If you'd like to download your own copy of the map you can find it on the Addison Oaks Park Maps page of Oakgov.com, with all of the Oakland County Park Maps, or in the MMBA Trail Guide.

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CRAMBA Gets a Storage Unit

This year we bought some flag stakes and other large items to help make the 2011 Addison Oaks Fall XC race run smoother.  In addition to things like our PA system (graciously donated by Rob Ritzenhein a few years back), and folding tables, our chapter has outgrown its trailer for storage needs.With the trailer now becoming difficult to navigate and the overflow finding its way to my garage and basement, we looked for other options. 

CRAMBA Board Member, Aaron Burgess, found a storage company in Sterling Heights who is extremely supportive of his community and local organizations.  They offered us a great space and a very generous price and CRAMBA now has a new space!Thanks also to Lakeside Budget Storage - they are great folks and I know we'll be happy there.  The entire facility is clean and secure and we are very glad to have their support!

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Addison Oaks and Independence Oaks - Closures due to Controlled Deer Hunts

PLEASE NOTE: Addison Oaks and Independence Oaks will be closed to the public on dates designated for controlled deer hunts.Addison Oaks: Tuesday-Nov. 15Thursday-Nov. 17Tuesday -Nov. 22Tuesday-Nov. 29Tuesday-Dec. 6Thursday-Dec. 8Independence Oaks:Wednesday-Nov. 16Monday-Nov. 21Wednesday-Nov. 23Monday-Nov. 28Monday-Dec. 5Wednesday-Dec. 7For more information:  http://www.destinationoakland.com/thingstodo/hunt/Pages/ManagedHunts.aspx

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Stony Creek Trailday: Fixing the Snake

The winding, switchbacking singletrack leading to the top of Mount Sheldon is also known as "The Snake" (#15 - #25 on this map).The last section of this bit of singltrack is notorious for getting trenched out due to water runoff.  At a trailday a few years ago, broken chunks of concrete were buried for armoring and the problem was subdued.But, over the years, the buried concrete became exposed.So, Pete decided to hold a trailday to cover the concrete back up.And then, after discussion, the project got a little bigger.  Soon, we were removing the old concrete ..Digging a trench ..Replacing the concrete .. more strategically this time ..And covering it back up.The end result is an IMBA recommended drainage technique called grade reversal, or change in trail pitch.  On bench-cut trails, grade reversals help facilitate drainage and avoid channelling.  As water runs off, even if it does start to channel down the trail it will collect and drain at the lowest point, the point of grade reversal.  With the fully aromored section a bit lower than the rest of the trail, the water will follow the low line and run across the trail.Everything was covered up with a gravel/sand/quikrete mix that Pete and Mark have found to work very well for keeping trail from being washed away.  Additionally, any unwanted low spots were filled in and smoothed out.   And while we were digging trenches, Mark was busy filling in and cleaning up the very last bit of the climb.As if that weren't enough ... the crew rounded out the day by hauling dirt into some low and muddy areas in The Pines.A lot of work was done in a pretty short amount of time.  By 1:30, we were back at the parking lot, eating pizza as it was just starting to rain.  The rain should help the quikcrete set in nicely.Huge thanks to everyone who came out to help today:  Pete, Mark, Roy, Bob, Mike, Dave, Phil, Nick and Marty.

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How To Manage Your CRAMBA/IMBA Membership

Now that CRAMBA (formally the Metro North Chapter of the MMBA) has become an IMBA Chapter, your membership, renewals and communication preferences will be managed on the IMBA.com website.  All you need to manage your membership online is an IMBA.com account.Your membership information was migrated from the MMBA.org website to IMBA.com.  If you already have an account on IMBA.com, they will be linked together via your email address (assuming that both accounts used the same email address.  If you aren't sure if you have an account, a quick way is to try to recover your password.  If you do not have an account, it will give you an error telling you that your email address was not found.To create your IMBA.com account, you can visit the Create New Account page.If you have any problems or questions, you can email IMBA Membership @ membership@imba.com, or CRAMBA Membership @ membership@cramba.org.You can also join or renew via mail, using the IMBA Mail-in Form.  A CRAMBA membership form will be coming soon.

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CRAMBA Chapter Meeting - Tuesday October 18th

Our fall chapter meeting is coming up on October 18th, please join us at the Rochester Mills Beer Co. We'll start the meeting around 7:00, if you'd like to order food, please arrive a bit earlier to get your order in.The agenda is below; if you have anything you'd like added to the agenda, please send me an email at info@cramba.org no later than Monday, October 17th.Agenda (subject to change):** IMBA Chapter ProgramBylaws VoteChapter Elections - Discussion and possible election** Addison Oaks / Massive Fallout** Trail Project UpdatesBloomer (Derek / Dustin) : New trail and signing projectBald Mountain (Steve K / Dennis) : Marking projectColumbus Park (Nick) : Ditch WitchStony Creek Skills Area (Pete) : Jump line plans and progressRiverbends (Steve V) : Trail expansion** Other Trail UpdatesAddison Oaks (Bob)Clinton River Park Trail (Aaron)Pontiac Lake Rec Area (Dave)Stony Creek (Pete)Lake Orion HS (Steve K)** Financial Report** Other items / Public Comment!!!!!!!! Remember, $6 Growler Fills on Tuesdays !!!!!!!!Rochester Mills Beer Co (www.beercos.com)400 Water StreetDowntown Rochester, MIMap LinkHope to see you there!

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Welcome!

It's been a busy summer, and we haven't quite been able to setup the new website yet.  With the 2011 Addison Oaks Fall Classic XC just wrapping up, the Massive Fallout about a month away, and the nutes and bolts of moving into the IMBA Chapter program, we just haven't been able to get the new site up and running.But, that's now on our short list of things to do.  As we write this, we're getting ready to flip the final switches becoming the Clinton River Mountain Bike Association, an IMBA Chapter.  We'll find something other then a basic default theme, and we'll get all of the important information onto the new site.We'll be having a chapter meeting in Rochester in the month of October.  The scheduled date conflicts with another event, but we're working on getting it moved, and will post the information when it's finalized.So, for now, keep your eyes open here, but also keep up with us the MMBA Metro North chapter website, and the Metro North forum on the MMBA website.

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