Announcements

2006 Dec 31

GHORBA in the News

Reprinted from the Houston Chronicle Cycling Notebook, Dec 21, 2006

They came in 2006, so the Greater Houston Area Off-Road Biking Association (GHORBA) will spend 2007 building it.

The mountain-biking advocacy group had a banner year in 2006, adding nearly 300 new members and initiating several trail-building projects designed to give members more room to roam.

Credit for increasing the membership base goes in large part to five GHORBA-sponsored skills clinics that gave more than 250 participants an opportunity to meet club members and gain more confidence in off-road riding.

There’s a huge demand for skills clinics. Most of the demand is from beginners, but there’s also interest among intermediate and advanced riders. Mountain bikes still sell more than road bikes, but many people buy them and don’t learn how to ride safely, or they have an accident and don’t ride again. —Mike Lutomski, GHORBA President

GHORBA also spent much of the year working to meet the increasing demand for new riding areas. Work began in August on a three-mile section of a new trail at Carl Barton Jr. Park in Conroe. An agreement with the city will allow for a total of 10 miles of trails in the 200-acre park.

We’re also real involved in the Spring Creek Greenway Project that will ultimately one day be a trail extending from Tomball all the way to Kingwood, Lutomski said. It will incorporate parts of Cypress Creek and encompass about 15,000 acres of land.

GHORBA also is working to build eight to 10 miles of single track in Burroughs Park in Tomball. A preliminary plan is in place, with construction expected to begin next year. In addition, discussions are under way with Houston city officials on construction of trails at Lake Houston Park.

As Lutomski looks ahead to 2007, trail-building will continue to be a major focus for GHORBA, which will receive guidance on several projects from trail-building experts in a February visit from the International Mountain Bicycling Association.

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