Click on the banner above to see the June 2018 newsletter

Videographer Chris Miracle got some awesome footage and edited a fun video of last years' Pachanga. He really captures the vibe of the event and showcases lots of bikes and happy participants. Mark your calendars for October 19th -21st 2018 for this years' event. We already have as many manufacturers committed as last year and we expect even more as the preparations continue for this amazing event. We have lots of cool things in the works! join us for Southern Arizona's growing shred fest!

The ONLY mountain biking festival in Southern Arizona, the TORCA Pachanga has grown into a full-scale event of epic proportions. Participants and Vendors agree that this event is the best deal around on some of the best trails around. This year, TORCA hosted over 200 participants and 8 bike manufacturers, in addition to a “chill lounge” hosted by REI, a mechanic station with Rage Cycles, and demo shoes by Five Ten.

 This 3 day camping and riding event includes shuttles, great food donated by Risky Business Restaurant, adult beverages compliments of Tucson Hop Shop, an Enduro race (the “Funduro”), a fireside Cornhole Tournament, bike demos, a Welcome Dinner (including the famous TORCA burro piñata), and a special Ladies Only Skills Clinic with the one and only Lindsey Richter from Ladies Allride. Can it get any better? Actually, it does… all proceeds from this event go directly towards maintaining the trails we love to shred!

 This event takes place the third weekend of October. Put it on your calendar for 2018, you don’t want to miss the next one!

Tucson's most under-rated mountain bike trail, CDO, got a serious makeover this weekend. The TORCA Trail Medics crew spent the entire weekend hiking in, removing fallen trees, pruning, and doing light tread work to get this neglected trail back in fighting shape. This back-country trail is on the backside of Mt Lemmon and rarely sees humans. Starting at nearly 10,000 feet on the top of Mt Lemmon and finishing in the valley on the 50 Year Trail, this ride features a serious descent followed by a legit climb.  TORCA's partnership with the Coronado National Forest through their Adopt-a-Trail program has led to much needed work on this trail. Over 61 fallen trees were removed from the trail this weekend! A HUGE thank you to the 11 hearty folks who gave up their weekend, comfy bed, and access to clean water to get dirty in the woods. Its this kind of effort that allows TORCA to do what it does best... putting in serious work to make Tucson's trails shine. A special thanks to Strunk Excavating and Home Grown MTB Tours for the transportation, not an easy task for this event! Next work weekend is May 13/14, contact Vernie at vernieaikins@gmail.com if you think you have what it takes. Cheers!

Over 80 guys and gals showed up for TORCA's premier of "Sisterhood of Shred",a film about women in mountain biking by Liv rider Meg Valliant Patillo. Our hosts at Tucson Hop Shop were amazing and the outdoor venue was super special, with beautiful sunsets, beer, and food trucks! Bell Joy Ride ladies even hosted a pre-movie ride on Urban Assault trail! 

This fundraiser was sponsored by Liv Cycling, with special thanks to Old Pueblo Gymnastics Academy, Bicycle Ranch, Club Ride Apparel, Summit Hut, Sambazon, Bike Magazine, and Ladies Allride Mountain Bike Skills. There were so many prizes we literally couldn't give them all away! All proceeds went directly to trail work in Tucson. Thanks for supporting mountain biking in Tucson, and women who shred!

 

http://www.thesisterhoodofshred.com/about
"building community one jump at a time"

ABOUT THE FILM
The Sisterhood of Shred is a community of women riders that motivate each other in their daily lives and push their personal limits while supporting each other emotionally, physically, and socially. Finding women who are free riders, dirt jumpers, and skate park riders can be hard; however, these women use various methods to establish connections and build community through outreach by using social media, videos, as well as hosting their own women’s events. Doing this allows these women a place to go where they feel accepted while simultaneously building skills, confidence, and lasting friendships which spread to these women’s other social networks. This has led to a dramatic increase in the amount of women riders who are seeking out more female oriented events and people who share these commonalities. From all walks of life and different points around the globe, each woman has different reasons for taking part in the Sisterhood but ultimately seemed to find what they never knew they were looking for; a supportive woman oriented community.

CHECK US OUT!

Great to see Tucson mountain biking getting some national recognition. Our trails (specifically Mt Lemmon's all-mountain trails") are world class and these riders rode them all! Great information about the newest bikes and feedback about our backyard. Happy Reading!

http://www.vitalmtb.com/features/2017-Vital-MTB-Trail-Bike-Test-Sessions-Introduction,1540

Dear TORCA Member,

Happy New Year!

I’m looking forward to a productive 2017 as your new TORCA President.

As a founding Officer of TORCA, I am and have always been personally invested in the success of this organization. TORCA was created out of a strong need for trail maintenance and “active” advocacy. Formed by a group of dedicated mountain bikers determined to make Tucson an epic place to ride, TORCA has evolved into a community of over 200 active members! And while those of us involved are proud of our accomplishments and hard work, there is still much to be done. Some of the things we will be working on in 2017 include:

• Monthly Trail Work Days – Improving attendance and engagement, “One Day Per Year Pledge”
• Forest Service “Adopt a Trail” Agreements – Currently hold agreements for maintaining Aspen Draw and CDO, proposing the addition Bug Springs
• Arizona Trail Association Stewardship – TORCA has been awarded stewardship and is responsible for working on several segments of the AZT, including Prison Camp and Bellota
• CDO Trail Reroutes / Maintenance – This special trail requires more love than any other, and if you have ridden it, you will agree it is worth the effort! Several overnight trail work days will be scheduled this year for fallen tree removal and possible re-routes for parts of the trail that are unsalvageable due to erosion.
• Add Board of Directors – “It Takes a Village”, and we’re going to need new talent!
• New Trails – Redington Pass addition of system trails to alleviate bike traffic on the road, Nogales area OHV/MTB trails in partnership with Trail Riders of Southern Arizona.
• Increased Fundraising – Dedicated grant writer, continued support from generous donors, use to purchase UTV (necessary to access CDO and Bellota).
• 5^th Annual Pachanga – If you’ve been to the first 5, you know how this one is going down! Better than ever.

TORCA holds elections of its Officers annually, as required by our bylaws as a 501c3 Non-Profit Organization. In 2017, TORCA will be represented by the following Officers:

            Tara Alcantara – President

            Vern Aikins – Vice President

            Kimberly Aikins – Treasurer

            Jeremy Sunshine - Secretary

Your membership contributes greatly to our ability to maintain trails and present a unified front to land managers, as well as put on events like TORCA’s fundraiser, the annual Pachanga. Consider getting involved… attend a Board Meeting or Trail Work Day. There are lots of opportunities to give your time and skills. And in addition to working hard, we always have a good time!

If you have questions, feedback, comments, or concerns, please feel free to contact me directly at 520.237.0129 or at tara@homegrownmtb.com. TORCA is going to make great things happen in 2017.

Thanks for your support, and Cheers!

Sincerely,

Tara Alcantara

TORCA President

Happy New Year from TORCA!

We are super pumped to be ringing in the New Year and wanted to touch base with you all to share all that we have been up to in 2016 and what to expect from us in 2017. We had a super productive year of trail work and doing our best to bring the mtb community together. The Board of directors spent countless hours in board meetings scheduling trail days that yielded over 800 trail hours of maintenance work on your trails. We exceeded our commitments to the USFS on our adopt a trail agreements on both CDO and Aspen Draw trails and we also completed over 200 hours of work on our trail Stewardship with the Arizona Trail Association on Segment 10A(Prison Camp and Bellota section od AZT). Volunteers and boardies also put our US Forest Service Sawyer certifications go to good use and we removed over 50 downed trees on Mt. Lemmon’s upper trails.

TORCA has been opening up communications with other user groups and working collaboratively with the Friends of Redington, another Non-Profit who works with user groups in the Redington area to better manage that historic recreation area. We spent countless hours in working groups to put together their Recreational Management Plan that would open up more trail opportunities in the area as well as legitimize trails like Scorpion and La Milagrosa. In similar fashion, we also continue to work with the city to develop a bike park potentially at Fantasy Island trails.

Amongst other things, we pride ourselves on our integrity. In case you were wondering “where do my membership dues go?”, we thought we’d share some info around what assets we have purchased with funds that we’ve raised. In 2016 we invested in more trail capital and purchased 4 more gas weed whackers, two gas powered brush cutters, two debarking Axes, and numerous other instruments of trail “tuneage”. We appreciate your membership dues as they help us do what we do and by that, we mean putting smiles on peoples’ faces!

Speaking of smiling faces, we saw a lot of them at the 2016 TORCA Pachanga! If you missed it this year, you won’t want to do that again! TORCA Boardies and volunteers, nailed it again this year and put together another “banger” event. We eclipsed 200 participants this year and next year promises to be even bigger and better. A few highlights include the 4th Annual Poker Ride seeing the best attendance to date and TONS of prizes from our awesome sponsors! The 2nd Annual Funduro presented by GIANT Bikes was a blast on a world class course that had been tuned by trail volunteers weeks before the event. Local shredder Timmy Evans and part time local Krista Rust put down the fastest times and won the open class. The “Average Joe’s” class was well attended and brought a super fun and “strategic” group of riders. Freeride Friday presented by Rocky Mountain Cycles and Guerilla Gravity was magical. We had a day of demos on a rippin fun DH(ish) trail with some trail gobbling bikes! Arguably the most fun part of the event outside of the handful of others was the FIVE TEN Fireside Corn Hole Contest. This event saw over 80 campers and attendees alike battling it out for Corn Hole distance supremacy with Britt Linde and Chris Argue rounding out the winners. They both went home with a pair of 5.10 Freeride shoes of their choosing! We want to thank our sponsors for their participation. Thanks to Arizona Cyclist, Probike, Broadway Bikes, Troy Lee Designs, Old Pueblo Gymnastics, Deconcini Realty and last but certainly not least, Risky Business Restaurants for all the awesome food! They are mtber owned and we could not have had as successful of an event without their help!

With us now in 2017 mode, we just held elections and are super excited of some new blood being injected into the executive ranks. Long time President and co-founder Art Alcantara had presided as President since inception of TORCA and was proud to hand over the reins to Tara Alcantara. Tara has a mountain of experience in leadership and advocacy as both a long standing board member and former Secretary and in the corporate world/owner of Home Grown Mtb Tours LLC. We are lucky to have her vision, work ethic and good vibes spirit at the helm! In more changes, Jeremy Sunshine AKA J-Shine is TORCA’s newly elected Secretary and will fill the large shoes left by the incoming President. Jeremy has been an active member and board members for the last four years and has been “clutch” in meeting with city officials, trail work leader on countless trail days, and model advocate. He is the kind of guy that always raises his hand when we need something and exemplifies the “doer” spirit. Vern and Kimmeh Aikins will remain as Vice President and Treasurer respectively. Vernie, TORCA’s co-founder, will continue to lead as Trails Director and bring his humor and enthusiasm to the group. Kimmeh Aikins will continue to fight the good fight and manage our books with her biggest fight being the constant onslaught of recommendations from the former President to buy a TORCA drone. Believe me, this is no small feat as I have tried a million times!!

I have never been prouder of anything than to be associated with such a hard working group. All the folks at TORCA including members at large and the rest of the MTB community, continue to be the examples of MTB advocacy and stepping up to make things happen. While I hand over the responsibilities of the President, I will still be an active participant in TORCA’s efforts. My focuses will be primarily business development, grant writing and I will continue to pull that crosscut saw as long as there are trees down. Please check out our Facebook page at facebook.com/tucsontorca and Instagram at @torcamtb for trail days, rides and special events and make sure you take the #oneday challenge to do at least one day of trail work in 2017! Thank you in advance for your continued support of TORCA and our efforts.

Let’s get dirty!

Art Alcantara
Outgoing President

The camping/riding festival that put TORCA on the map, The Pachanga, continues to evolve and this year was no exception. Just like last year, this event included three days of camping and riding. This event was previously open to TORCA members only, but this year’s events were open to EVERYONE. All proceeds benefit mountain bike advocacy and trail maintenance in Southern Arizona. TORCA is a 100% volunteer staffed, 501c3 non-profit that is supported solely on its membership dues, and this annual event is a culmination of its efforts and a celebration of the incredible riding Tucson has to offer!

Freeride Friday, TORCA's on-going weekly shuttle ride, turned into a full on shred fest. Guerrilla Gravity and Rocky Mountain Bicycles sponsored the event, and brought their awesome fleet of new long travel bikes to test out on Tucson's beloved all-mountain trail, Aspen Draw. Shuttles were provided, courtesy of Homegrown Mountain Biking Tours.  Afterward, a Welcome Dinner at the group campground offered a delicious Spaghetti Dinner donated by Risky Business restaurant. Oh, and a little fun was had taking some swings at the TORCA burro!

Saturday's events included the original ride that started the Pachanga, The Poker Ride. Riders were shuttled to the top of epic Bug Spring trail, where riders had 5 stops along the way where "Dealers" handed out poker cards. At the end, riders with the best hands chose from a deep pool of prizes donated by some our sport's best companies. Simultaneously, demo bikes were available to all participants from Specialized, Niner, Ibis, Guerrilla Gravity, Trek, Giant, Liv, and Rocky Mountain. Shuttles continued all day long, up and down the mountain, giving riders ample opportunity to ride Mt Lemmon's finest trails and demo the latest and greatest in mountain bikes. As always, our partner Risky Business served up famous Korean Pork Tacos to hungry participants. Saturday's events culminated in an evening game of Corn Hole, sponsored by Five Ten and Ryders Eyewear. This new addition to the festival offered campers and participants an opportunity to make new friends and get a little rowdy. Winners were awarded a free pair of Five Ten shoes.

Several options for Sunday's rides... many chose to take part in the second annual TORCA FUNduro, sponsored by Giant/Liv. This 3 segment, timed stage event took place on the PinkBike "Trailforks Trail of the Month", La Milagrosa. Arguably one of Tucson's most challenging and fun trails, this "race" awards the rider with the most average time, aka the rider who had the most fun. Also acknowledged were the fastest man and fastest woman, Timmy Evens aka "Full Factory" and TORCA supporter Krista Rust. For those who preferred a different scene, demo's continued at the event's main stage as well as a free skills clinic, offered by world famous coach Lindsey Voreis of Ladies AllRide.

The TORCA Pachanga is an exclusive event that happens every fall on Mt Lemmon. If you haven't attended, you're missing one of the finest opportunities in mountain biking to experience new bikes, a supportive and fun atmosphere, camping, great food, prizes, and a rare opportunity to have a fun weekend on the bike while giving back to those who keep our trails running fast and flowy! Thanks to the Sponsors who made this event possible and to the Board of Directors and TORCA Volunteers, this doesn't happen without you. See everyone next year... Cheers!