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In 1998, the revised Forest Plan for the red rock area first identified a "trail access hub" to access a robust non-motorized trail system in the Western Gateway area. On November 8, 2018 ground broke on this trail access hub now commonly referred to as the Western Gateway - a 29 mile non-motorized trail system in West Sedona.

Approximately 30 volunteers and Forest Service trail crew members attended the first of 12 Western Gateway volunteer workdays.

These workdays are sponsored by the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund "SRRTF" through a generous grant by REI. Justin Ingles of REI Flagstaff was on hand with raffle prizes for the volunteers. On January 9th, two four person American Conservation Experience "ACE" crews from Flagstaff will begin 8 weeks of construction of the Western Gateway. The ACE crews are funded by a National Forest Foundation grant awarded to the SRRTF with the matching funds provided by the VVCC.

The work day goal was to construct a re-route of a portion of the Girdner Trail to eliminate a fall line section and have the trail hug the hillside above the Dry Creek flood plain.

When the volunteers returned to the trail head after the work day concluded, they were greeted with delicious pizza courtesy of Famous Pizza, cold water/gatorade, and a cooler stocked with an an assortment of beers from Lagunitas Brewery provided by the VVCC. One lucky volunteer won a back pack and water bottle courtesy of REI.

The next Western Gateway volunteer work day is November 17th at 8:30AM. Volunteers will meet at the Girdner Trailhead just off Cultural Park way in West Sedona.

 

VERDE VALLEY BICYCLE COMPANY GRAND OPENING!!

EVERYTHING 20% OFF INCLUDING CUSTOM ORDERS AND BIKES!

Raffles, prizes and gear! Good times with local cyclists and the bike shop crew!

FESTIVITIES BEGIN FRIDAY NOVEMBER 16TH WITH THE VERDE VALLEY CYCLISTS COALITION AND THE FRIDAY FUNDRAISER RIDE @ 11:15 FOLLOWED BY BEER AND THEN APPETIZERS AT 4 PM PROVIDED BY 3 KINGS KASBAR.

JOIN US SATURDAY NOVEMBER 17TH FOR A ROAD AND MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE @ 2 PM, FOLLOWED BY BARBECUE PROVIDED BY HOG WILD AND A BEER OR BEVERAGE OF YOUR CHOICE.

All items in shop, including custom order and bicycles are 20% off standard prices! Come in and take advantage of this incredible deal as a thank you to your customer loyalty. 20% discount takes place November 16th - 24th.

743 N. Main St. Cottonwood, AZ 86326

Store Phone - 928.202.4941

On November 1st, VVCC members Rich Leever, Kevin Adams, Randy Young and Mark Evans delivered 28 Trek Roscoe 24s and Bontrager helmets to four Verde Valley Elementary School Bikes4Kids Program participants.

The Trek Roscoe 24s are equipped with disc brakes for excellent stopping power and simple 1X drivetrains with multiple rear gears which make shifting simpler. Rolling on 24x2.8" wide tires, the bikes are super stable and provide an incredible introduction to mountain biking. All bikes are proved at no charge to the schools.

Over 65% of the students in Verde Valley elementary schools receive either free or reduced price lunches under the National School Lunch Program and do not have access to a bicycle. We're working to change that!

Each of these four schools have a mountain bike club of students in grades 5-8 coached by VVCC members. We teach the students bike safety, basic maintenance, and more importantly, we ride with them after school several times a week.

The Verde Valley Bicycle Company (VVBC) in Cottonwood, AZ provided the bikes/helmet/tubes to our program at their cost and donated the time required to assemble the bikes. Trek gave them special pricing for these bikes which further stretched the Program's dollars.

Participating Schools

Oak Creek Elementary School in Cornville, AZ  received 8 bikes

Beaver Creek Elementary School in Rimrock, AZ received 9 bikes

Cottonwood Community School in Cottonwood, AZ received 7 bikes

Dr. Daniel Bright Elementary School in Cottonwood, AZ received 7 bikes

Generous grants from the Arizona Community Foundation Yavapai County and the Sports Fund of Arizona made Thursday's deliveries possible.

Help Support the Verde Valley Cyclists by using Amazon Smile. This is a program where Amazon donates a percentage of your purchases to the charity of your choice, at no cost to you.

Today and Tomorrow, Amazon will donate 5% of Amazon Black Friday purchases to charity, supporting great VVCC programs such as “Western Gateway Trail Project” and “Bikes for Kids”

You can also use Amazon Smile for your regular Amazon purchases and Amazon will donate 0.5% of your purchase to the charity of your choice

Using Amazon Smile is very easy (specify VVCC as your selected charity). Instructions here.

The Amazon Black Friday 5% to charity specials listed here.

When notified by IMBA that the VVCC and its partners were named as winning the ‘Power of Partnership Award’ for 2018 and that the award ceremony was scheduled during IMBA’s 30th anniversary party in Bentonville, AR during Outerbike, VVCC President Marty Glinsky was adamant that the VVCC travel to Northwest Arkansas (NWA), the land of Oz Trails, to formally receive the award.

VVCC receiving a national award was like a sign from...

Marty, and I departed Sedona early in the morning of October 24th for the 1,160 mile drive to Outerbike. First stop, the east trailhead of the High Desert Trail System in Gallup, NM for a ride.

The High Desert Trail System in Gallup, NM has over 22 miles of unique singletrack

After an overnight stay in Amarillo, we arrived at Hobbs State Park in Rogers, AR where we were met by unofficial NWA Mayor Steve Schneider, Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts President Ernie Rodriguez and Bruce Alt (joined the next day) for a tour of some newly constructed trails. Although it rained all day, the trails were in perfect condition as the soil is pourous and quickly drains.

Hobbs State Park has incredible flow and we were the AARP Riding Team

We then swung by the Outerbike venue to pick up our packets. Outerbike is a bike demo maniac’s dream. Held in several locations west of the Mississippi during the year, Outerbike lets riders test ride as many of the latest and greatest mountain bikes as possible over three days. The Bentonville locale was well organized with numerous high-end mountain bikes, from over a dozen manufacturers, to demo at one’s leisure. Marty and I brought our own bikes and since we had the NWA Mayor leading us on rides, we only partook of the Outerbike lunches and beer.

All rides began and ended at the lighted BuckeyBall

During the trip, Marty was hobnobbing with all types of celebrities...even if he didn’t know it.

Marty posing with Nat Ross, Fred Flintstone and Dave Wiens

But it was the riding that kept us focused. Three rides in two days on what NWA "Mayor" Schneider constantly defined as "mellow" trails that all MTBer skill levels could appreciate with jumps, berms/banks, a Back 40, tunnels, trail features (both man-made and natural technical sections) and plenty of opportunity for air.

Unfortunately, all good things must end as we picked up our hardware and were off to Oklahoma City.

Somehow the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund received top billing!

The Lake Stanley Draper Trail System, maintained by the Oklahoma Earth-Bike Fellowship, packs over 11 miles of trail into a postage size tract of land.

Lake Stanley Draper Trail System has its own changing rooms!

As we were riding in the spaghetti at Lake Stanley Draper, we hear "rider up" and pulled over. That's when two little old - emphasis on "old" - ladies followed by a guy wearing a set of football shoulder pads over his kit passed us. "This stays with us" Marty immediately said after the trio passed. It's just a shame no pictures of this survived but our pace sure did pick up. We later passed this cohort. We finished this day back in Amarillo, TX.

The last day of our bike trip found us back at the High Desert Trail System in Gallup, but this time at the Western Trailhead.

After seven rides in six days totaling 80+ miles, 2,500 miles on Marty's Jeep, our trip to Oz ended just like Dorothy's as there's "no place like home!"

Our inaugural Friday FUNdraiser Ride today attracted 20 mountain bikers from Cottonwood, the VOC and as far away as Flagstaff participating in a nice 11+ mile ride on the trails at Dead Horse State Park and the adjacent Coconino National Forest. The State Park Ranger waived the entry fee for everyone! Après ride we had cold Lagunitas beer/soft drinks available for all riders at the VVBC and raised $53.29 for Western Gateway. Ground breaking for Western Gateway begins on November 8th.

For those who attended, thank you! For those who didn't, our next MTB MeetUp is on November 2nd.

The Red Rock Mountain Bike Patrol (RRMBP) is looking for new volunteer patrolers to assist in Coconino Forest trail patrols throughout the Verde Valley. Marty Glinsky, Patrol Leader and VVCC President, explains that, “we represent a group of local mountain bikers, from all demographics, which assist all trail users. We provide directions, trail suggestions, safety counseling, first aid and the occasional bottle of water to those in need”. 

The Red Rock Ranger District of the Coconino Forest, the local land managers sanctioning our group, recognizes the importance of the Patrol. “The RRMBP provides help to local residents and visitors alike. Their volunteer work helps us manage the forest by providing trail conditions and information on user densities on the trails”, according to Forrest Saville, OHV & Trails Coordinator for the Red Rock Ranger District.

Patrollers receive training in all aspects of volunteering on the forest, including CPR and First Aid. Our most common interaction is with trail users (hikers, bikers and equestrians) asking for directions and/or trail suggestions. “We do not have enforcement responsibility”, explains Glinsky, “we are here to help, not act as the police on the trails”. 

The requirements for being a certified patroller includes, a 5 hour CPR/First Aid course (which we arrange at no cost to the volunteers), a 3-4 hour course on Forest Service volunteering, a group ride orientation and an annual mountain bike skills work-shop. Required uniforms and membership to the VVCC, are supplied by the RRMBP. 

The current team of 20 patrollers donated over 3,000 hours of volunteer service so far in 2018. If you enjoy riding you bike on the trails, interacting with a variety of trail users and appreciating the camaraderie of other mountain bikers, then you should join our patrol group. Our next volunteer training course will take place in early November. Please contact Marty Glinsky at sedonanmbp@yahoo.com for more information. 

VVCC Board Member Pam Milavec

We recently had the following email exchange with Pam:

1.        Pam, what are some of the challenges the VVCC has faced during your board tenure?

We had a couple challenges facing us when I first became involved with the board. ADOT was threatening to remove the Rt. 179 bike lanes because VVCC no longer had funds to maintain them as per a 2009 agreement. Road riders, who had left the VVCC over the years because they were concerned about the club’s direction, were asking for our assistance due to the unsafe condition of the bike lanes.  Convincing road riders that there was a place for them in the VVCC and getting the bike lanes maintained quickly became top priorities for the board.

2.        What are some of the successes?

Over the past couple years, the club has gone from 65 members to 258 members, including many road riders who have joined both the club and the board of directors. After some political wrangling, ADOT has agreed to take over maintenance of the Rt. 179 bike lanes. New trails are being built and some great existing trails are being added to the Forest Service trail system.  The Posse Ground bike park has added to the growth of this area as a cycling destination. We’ve got the Bikes for Kids program and close relationships with local schools.  These successes occurred due to an influx of new board members combined with experienced longtime board members who already had great relationships with local partners and the Forest Service.

3.        What are your favorite local trails?

The ones I can ride to from my house: Turkey Creek (love the get away from it all feel of that area), Slim Shady, Easy Breezy, Llama, Templeton, etc.  And, I’m really looking forward to Transcept becoming part of the local trail system!

4.        What have you been up to this summer?

We’ve been back in western PA, as we are still part-timers here in Sedona. We got to see our daughter graduate from college and help her move so she could start her first job as an RN.  We did some great road riding, including at Shenandoah National Park and near the Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately, we had one of the wettest summers ever, so I didn’t spend much time on the mountain bike.  I’m really looking forward to shredding the red under the AZ sun as soon as I return!

5.        What parting words would you like to convey to VVCC Members?

I think the future of the Verde Valley cycling community is very bright.  We now have great relationships with ADOT and Yavapai County, as well as many of the local communities and schools.  And, our relationship with the Forest Service is better than ever.  There is strength in numbers and a growing, vibrant club will benefit all area cyclists.

5 Minutes With is always looking for VVCC Members to profile. If you'd like to be profiled in a future article, please contact Kevin at moretrailboss@gmail.com.

July 1st began the VVCC's 16th year as a bicycle advocacy organization. In recognition of 15 years of improving the bicycling environment and quality of life in the region, we have been scouring the archives - thank you Daniel Paduchowski - to bring our past to the present. The below articles appeared in the November 2, 2005 edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra and November 9, 2005 Very Independent and are reprinted below...

The world's only women's mountain bike festival is coming to Sedona October 26-28. Roam Bike Fest is a three day gathering (aka party) of female riders, influencers, and play makers all here for one purpose: to have a ridiculously fun weekend exploring, learning, and shredding trail in a world-class riding destination. Over 250 women will be participating.

On Festival Saturday, ROAM is conducting a raffle with a Women's Stumpjumper Comp Carbon 27.5 as the grand prize. Raffle proceeds will be donated to the Verde Valley Cycling Coalition and Check-In Foundation