News

Hollywood Racks started in 1973 making trunk-mounted racks in the back of a bike shop in Hollywood, California. Today, Hollywood Racks' products are available in all 50 states and in over 25 countries worldwide.

In additional to the sponsorship, VVCC members receive 20% off all items at www.hollywoodracks.com. A coupon code is required and members just need to send an email to moretrailboss@gmail.com to receive it.

Thank you Hollywood Racks for the support!

Yavapai County District 3 Supervisor Randy Garrison and VVCC President Marty Glinsky

Long time cyclist and early bike advocacy pioneer, County District 3 Supervisor Randy Garrison met with the VVCC today to discuss the VVCC's advocacy work. Supervisor Garrison has been instrumental in securing the 3' striped shoulders on the upcoming Dry Creek Rd repaving and working with the Forest Service to remove the cattle guard in the Dry Creek area which should happen in the next few weeks.

July 1st begins 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 article appeared in the May 18, 2005 edition of the Red Rock News and is reprinted below...

Verde Valley Bikes for Kids™ was selected to receive a $3,000 competitively awarded grant from the Arizona Community Foundation, Sedona. 

In 2017, the VVCC Board approved the Verde Valley Bikes-for-Kids™ Program as part of a comprehensive response to a grant received by the Singletrack Futures Foundation that challenged the VVCC, among other things, to create actionable programs or plans focused on kids. Verde Valley Bikes-for-Kids™  focuses on giving kids residing in our local communities, especially those participating in the National School Lunch Program, access to bicycles, helmets, and active lifestyle encouragement. 

In the 2017-2018 school year, the Verde Valley Bikes-for-Kids™  

• helped create a mountain bike club at Cottonwood Elementary School, 

• provided funds in support of West Sedona Elementary School's existing mountain bike club, 

• distributed 12 new bikes to Cottonwood & Sedona students who exceeded standards for grades, attendance, comportment and citizenship, 

• distributed 40 kids helmets at the Sedona Celebration of Spring, and

• provided a grant to the Sedona High School Mountain Bike Club's National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) Team to defray coaches and students out-of-pocket expenditures at scheduled races. . 
  

The ACF Sedona grant will be used to support the West Sedona Elementary School Bike Club and new bike awards at the Sedona annual Spring 2019 Bike Rodeo

We recently caught up with VVCC member Ron Rusk at Firecreek Coffee in the VOC.

Hi Ron, thanks for meeting with me how are you doing?

Couldn’t be better, good to be here.

How long have you called Sedona home? Where’d you move here from?

More than 10 years! We moved here from San Diego. My aunt and uncle used to winter in Cottonwood and we would come to visit. One year we ventured to Sedona and that was it. My wife said “we could live here, let’s look.” Within about a year we bought a house. We were part time residents and finally asked ourselves “why are we doing this for?” and went home that weekend, retired and moved here full time. Never looked back.

What is something nobody knows about you?

I don’t know. You’d have to ask Pat (VVCC member Pat Roberts) or my wife.

Why do you ride and how often do you ride?

I ride usually every other day with Pat, my coach. First because I need it as I’m addicted. If I don’t get out and ride, my wife will tell me to get out. Fortunately, I have the perfect coach. Pat constantly makes me ride better.  

How long have you been a patroller? 

I was the one who told Marty about mountain bike patrol. We had begun to ride together some and I said “Marty, I heard about this IMBA patrolling thing and think we ought to do this.  Of course, Marty just took it and ran with it. I’ve been a patroller since it began here. 

What’s the most interesting thing that happened to you while patrolling?

Long pause…the only thing I can think of is the time Marty and I came up on the llama. Marty had to get off and take pictures.

Rumor is you have two wives. 

True.

Would you like to comment about that?

I am in the enviable position to have a wife who understands and knows I need to get out and ride. And, I have a female riding partner who constantly coaches and encourages me to get out and be a better rider. Life does not get any better.

What would you like to leave us with?

I am in the best place in my life I’ve ever been. Both with my family, the friends I have here, the ability to get out and ride and the beauty of the area. I’ve died and gone to heaven. That’s where I’m at.

The VVCC Ride For Five Drive recently concluded. The Drive raised $10,181.12 with $7,726.12 of the proceeds supporting the Western Gateway Trail Building Fund and the balance supporting the Verde Valley Bikes for Kids Program. Over 75% of the entrants were from outside the Verde Valley but Verde Valley supporters gobbled up about 50% of the tickets. The Drive attracted 385 entrants who purchased 3,056 tickets. Prize winners were...

Jim Tulin of Scottsdale, AZ won the grand prize and chose the Tarmac SL5 road bike provided through Absolute Bikes.

A happy Jim Tulin with his new Tarmac SL5

Andrew Stravers of Gallup, NM won the Carbon 41W 27.5 Wheel Set generously provided by QBP founder Steve Flagg.

Mike Coyne of Sedona by way of Massachusetts won the complete Rockford-Fosgate 600W Car Audio System donated by our good friends at Rockford-Fosgate.

Austin Riba of Santa Barbara, CA won the trip for (2) on any AZT Expeditions MTB Trip provided by Matt McFee of Hermosa Tours.

VVCC's own, Marty Glinsky, who purchased a gazillion raffle entries, was not denied and won the Trek 8.2 Hybrid Bike donated by the Verde Valley Bicycle Company.

Louise Brinton, who also purchased a bunch of entries, won the HP250 Notebook PC provided by CDW-Government of Vernon Hills, IL (thanks Ben!)

Pat Roberts of the Village of Oak Creek, EJ Hornick of Parkville, MD, and Keene Turner of St Charles, MO won Kali Interceptor helmets from Kali Protectives (thanks Jon!). Marila Alvares also won a Kali Interceptor but she asked, and Kali agreed, to provide a kid's Interceptor for the Verde Valley Bikes for Kids program.

Rounding out the prize winners were Richard Mahoney of the Village of Oak Creek and Paul Hallinan of Sedona who won the Camelbaks.

Thank you all for making the Ride For Five Drive a success.

The Verde Valley Bikes for Kids™ was competitively awarded a $5,000 Grant from the Yavapai County Chapter of the Arizona Community Foundation. This grant will be used to create a mountain bike club at the second Cottonwood Elementary School, award bikes to deserving students at the spring 2019 bike rodeo in Cottonwood and to support Frank Marsten's Tool Time course.

June 1, 2018 Villager article.

On May 31, 2018, Red Rock Ranger District Ranger, Nicole Brinton, issued a Decision Memo adding approximately 34 miles of trail to the National Forest system in four areas of the Red Rock Ranger District:

1. Western Gateway Trails with Girdner Trailhead (see map below)

2. Village of Oak Creek Trails - including the adoption of Transept Trail, connecting HiLine Trail to Verde Valley School Rd and reconstruction and re-alignment of Dairy Spring and Pine Valley trails east of Big Park Loop Trail and north of Jacks Canyon Rd.

3. Camp Verde Trails - construction of non-motorized trails to be accessed from the Town of Camp Verde's future sports complex park on Hwy 260 and McCracken Lane, adjacent to the town's water treatment facility.

4. Thunder Mountain - naturalize user-created routes in the upper headwaters of Carol Canyon south of Capitol Butte.

Today's decision memo is the culmination of efforts that begin in October 2013 and will result in 17 miles of new trail construction, 17.1 miles of user-created adoption, 6.9 miles of system reroutes, 13.5 miles of user-created naturalization and 4.8 miles of system trail naturalization. The trails will be added to the Forest Service trail system and managed as Class 3 trails per the Forest Service National Trails Classification System. This means that traffic flow will be single lane managed to maintain "a narrow tread with a rugged character, with plants brushed narrow to reduce speeds of bikers." Phased implementation is planned to occur over a three year period.

All trails will be closed to motorized use and open to foot, bike and horse traffic with the exception of the Transept Trail will be closed to equestrian use to prevent user conflicts and to improve safety in areas of slick rock and cliff.

For full details to include maps, please click on the below Decision Memo Link.

Red-Rock-Trails-Enhancement-DM-w-Maps-20180531.pdf

The Verde Valley Bikes for Kids was awarded a $5,000 Sports Fund of Arizona Grant. The Sports Fund of Arizona is a Colangelo Center fund established in 2016 to fund youth sports programs and organizations throughout the state with grants of up to $5,000.

The grant will help fund the program's expansion to two elementary schools in Cottonwood and Rimrock beginning next fall. The program currently supports bike clubs and spring rodeos at West Sedona and Cottonwood Elementary schools.