***IMPORTANT!*** This year is the 10th anniversary of TORCA’s inception. After a decade of working and reopening trails, volunteering with the Coronado National Forest Service, coordinating events, educating, fundraising, being AZT stewards, and advocating for the mountain we all know and love, we are on the cusp of achieving something we've sought to do since the very beginning: Bring new trails to the mountain.  This trails plan is a huge step forward toward supporting an outdoor community that has grown exponentially in recent years and is guaranteed to only continue its growth. We realize that it may not be as full and all-encompassing as many would hope for nor does it include everything we have proposed over the years. Nevertheless, it is ambitious, inclusive, and desperately needed, as nothing substantial has happened in the Santa Catalinas in at least 20 years. However, many projects and suggestions we've submitted have been included in one variation or another, and it is our hope that they will help set up the mountain for future successes. Included are our thoughts on the plan as it sits and what we agree with (or hope to change) to streamline the process and to improve the overall plan for all users. The Coronado National Forest office has been very open to working with TORCA as a partner during this comment period. They have been committed to listening to and helping with implementing our suggestions on this draft, so we can refine it before the final version is submitted. We HIGHLY encourage you to offer your opinions during this comment period, whether good or bad, as this will possibly be the last time for public input into this plan. The squeakiest wheels get the grease, and mountain bikers were overwhelmingly the loudest voices of the previous comment period. Please pass this forward to everyone you know who uses the mountain or may use it in the future as this will affect everyone.  Feedback can be submitted by email to sm.fs.scrd@usda.gov. Thank you all, and we can't wait to get digging!

TORCA's Stance on the 2022 CNF Trails Plan.docx

The Draft Santa Catalina Trail Plan is now available and accepting public feedback. You can access the plan here: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/coronado/home/?cid=FSEPRD974570&fbclid=IwAR3bL-fg7Iu9T0Bx_5Wrs0JYX1QygS3ZFjiyz7Y9vVjfva7pNGXEI9jtdOQ.

Our organization has concerns about what is being proposed. If you participated in the initial sensing period, we highly encourage you to read what the Forest Service is proposing make your voices heard. TORCA’s next board meeting is this Wednesday, November 9^th at 6:30 pm at Tucson Hop Shop. We will be discussing the draft and want your feedback. Please join us as we work to shape the future of mountain biking on Mount Lemmon.

Later this week, TORCA will be posting an official statement regarding our stance on the trails plan.

TORCA is grateful for this aide to be able to restore our trails. Thank you Athletic Brewing for your support in our community.

The great outdoors is Athletic Brewing's favorite place to be with an ice-cold brew. They created their Two For The Trails program to make an impact - Athletic Brewing donates 2% of all sales to protecting and restoring trails worldwide.

We’re proud to be one of the recipients this year to help our project. They've exceeded their $1,000,000 donation commitment through this grant program and will award funds to over 100 organizations across the globe.

Spring feels like it's here and we are excited to keep the ball rolling with more work days on the books! Thus far we banged out a bunch of days on Green Mountain and Fantasy Island and we're now focused on some other gems. Please check out our events page for details or visit our events page on Facebook. Remember, you can't spell "community" without the "U"!

 

Feb 19th Red Ridge 4X4/Productive Hike

March 26th and 27th. Red Ridge Overnighter

April 24th AZT Bellota

 

Dates and Trails subject to change so please check back!

TORCA has been at work for the better part of 10 years establishing a relationship with Forest Service in the hopes of one day developing new trail opportunities. Well that day has come!! The first step in that process is a public comment period. This comment period is now OPEN! This is where you get an opportunity to speak up and clearly define what you would like to see on Mt. Lemmon.

While we appreciate the "New Mtb trails" comments, we'd like to encourage people to think less broadly and instead, think specifically about what you'd like in the way of "experiences". Do you like Red Ridge and CDO trails? Then state that you'd like to see more Back country trails like CDO and Red Ridge. How bout an Alpine XC loop around Rose Canyon for those hot summer days. On that note, maybe you think Mt. Lemmon trails are too hard and not beginner friendly. Then let them know that. Perhaps you'd like a place where kids can progress at a Duthie Hill style Bike Park? Or maybe another super rowdy Milagrosa style trail is what you'd like to see? On that note, want to legitimize unsanctioned trails like Milagrosa and 50yr Trails and bring them into the "system" of trails? Tell them!! The more comments we submit, the harder it is to deny the need for more mtb opportunities.

The FS has developed a nifty interactive system that allows you to drop a comment exactly where you want to see your desired "experience". A quick tutorial (2 minute read) will explain how the system works and then you can start submitting as many comments as you'd like. Please go on make your voice heard! Comment period ends Jan 31st so don't wait! Remember, this is the first step. But it is a VERY big step! Please share! Link Below.

https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/c9e7536a1d4b41989427f6e9071f13bb

RECOMMENDED TO USE GOOGLE CHROME INSTEAD OF SAFARI.

We've been waiting for this one for a long time! Come check out a movie about the life and legacy of a mtb icon, Stevie Smith! #chainsaw This is a full length feature film and we have partnered with Anthill Films to screen this before anyone can purchase it. So come on down to Risky Business on Tanque Verde on Dec 2nd. Show will start at 630pm. We'll have @Motosonora Brewing on tap and all pints of their delicious beer that evening will go to help restoration of trails affected key the Big Horn Fire! If you have attended a TORCA work day in 2021, you're in FREE! Member priding is $15 and non-members is $25. Space will be limited to 100 people so you may want to get there early!

September 19th marked the first day of Green Mountain Trail's rebirth. Mother Nature was not kind to this trail and not only burnt it to a crisp, but also walloped it with rain this past monsoon season. To quote TORCA co-founder Art Alcantara "I've never seen a trail in this bad of shape". Upon the scouting hike, TORCA boardies found the trails completely washed out in areas with some eroded areas virtually impassable. In true TORCA fashion, we didn't see obstacles, we saw opportunities. Sunday saw a outpouring of support from locals and ushered in 26 workers. The focus of the work day was benching, reconstruction of tread, Erosion control and brushing. We got a bout 3/4 of a mile rehabbed looking quite good. We still have a ton of work to do but we have more work days scheduled (October 9th and November 6th) as well as a conservation crew that will be helping out for a  week. Your donations and grants went to fund this conservation crew and much needed tools to accommodate all the workers. An executive decision was made on game day to offer workers an extra raffle ticket for their efforts on Sunday making it a 3 raffle ticket day! Someone is going to be rocking a sweet set of Crank Brothers E Synthesis11 Carbon wheel set at the end of the year! Thanks to everyone who came out to support us and thanks to MotoSonora Brewing for the post work Belly Tank Blondes! 

2021 marked the beginning of a new initiative to educate trail users on the responsibility that we have to our trails and how we can impact our trails and community in a positive way. With the influx of new users and the slow learning curve about our responsibilities, we thought it was imperative to be more visible and discuss our responsibilities and what's at stake. In that vane, we are currently producing a hang tag that bike shops can hang from new bikes or hand out at the point of sale in the hopes to educate them on what to carry on them while riding and how to be good stewards of the trails. Those pamphlets will be out shortly. Another avenue that we thought we could engage the public is through a podcast. We put together a Facebook live event and brought on Adam Milnor, Forest Service Recreation Line Officer to discuss what we are doing on the Forest, long term plans and the role that we play in getting new trail opportunities. It was a smashing success!! Actually, we made some good impressions with listeners but let's just say we are way better at digging then we are being media personalities. That said, we're going to stay the course and continue to do our best to educate folks, even if it means boring people to tears. The boys at Motosonora Brewing opened up the "cold box" VIP room for us to tape and while it may have been a failed attempt at Interweb stardom, the beer was DELICIOUS! So there's that... @ episodes have been filmed thus far, but we have plans for many more. Next up, we'll have the ladies of Tucson Mtbing on the show and it'll be electric! So tune in and look for the FB live event details soon! The link below is for Episode 2 with Industry Veteran and Highway 2 Rep Moe Hutchison. We had a lot of fun! Check it out. Next show is in October!

August 31st is right around the corner. Why is this date significant? The Owls will be exhausted from all the romance and we'll be clear to work in the Owl PAC's! We're excited to get back to work! We'll have the event info updated shortly but int he meantime, mark your calendars for September 19th, October 9th and November 6th. We'll in all likelihood, add more days to the calendar as well and as work gets completed. In conjunction with the Santa Catalina Ranger District, we'll be throwing a ton of resources at getting Green Mountain opened as well as working on drainage issues from all the rain we've been getting.

All participants in our work days will get two raffle tickets for everyday they volunteer towards our giveaway for a mean set of CrankBrothers E-Synthesis11 Carbon Wheelset. That's a $2500 wheel set for throwing some dirt! These wheels have SR51 Carbon Hoops, and Industry 9 Hydra Hubs! You can also buy more tickets online and will get a free ticket for becoming a member or renewing a membership. So sign up today!

Look forward to seeing everyone very soon. Please forward any questions to suvlako@gmail.com.

Cheers!

Hey y'all! We haven't taken our temperature in a while and thought we'd check in with the community. Please use this survey (10 questions. Short and sweet)) this as an opportunity to let us know how we're doing and where we can improve. Please be a specific as you can on the questions that ask for it. The info will be used/considered for the Master Trails Plan. Thanks everyone!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SXBLNK3