GROC Genesee Regional Off-Road Cyclists

Recap of the Annual Members meeting

We had a small turnout last night but some great enthusiasm for what has been accomplished and some great ideas to help grow our core volunteer group. All that has been accomplished over  the last 5 years is 100% done by volunteers and the commitment of our board, local bike shops, and all of the volunteers and local mountain biking enthusiasts.

Link to Presentation from Annual Meeting

We will see this year the first legal mountain biking in Monroe County. This is a huge accomplishment as it took the changing of a law and more than 2 years of effort during the Ellison Parks Master Plan process. Now the work begins with building brand new trails in West Bay Park and some much needed care and repair of existing trails at Tryon Park. Check the web site and sign up for volunteer list for trail work days for both parks.

There is much more to do and GROC now will have 4 parks, Dryer Road, Ontario County Park, Tryon and West Bay in which it actively designs, builds and maintains trails as well as patrols (our branch of National Mountain Bike Patrol).  We also assist in several others. This is a significant amount of work and our core team is in need of help to manage and maintain all of these wonderful parks.

As our legal shared-use trails expand so must our organization. We have 4 open board positions and positions on several committees that need committed volunteers. We are also in the middle of forming a non-for-profit entity for various reasons including the ability to apply for and administer grants to provide community service.  We need people who have had some experience in NFP applications and administration and/or in grant writing.

Please consider becoming more involved.  We would really like new ideas and perspective to help continue our mission.

Available positions and things we need help on:

• Trail management - become certified to manage, build and maintain trails
• National Mountain Bike Patrol patrolers and ambassadors
• Events - Help put on recurring annual events such as the Fat Tire Festival and Burning Bike Festival, and come up with new events and work with other groups to participate in related events
• NFP - we need help on managing the NFP and writing grants
• Board members and committee members
• Cool people who love mountain biking

Please contact me if you have any interest, Jonathan Brown This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Our Current Board Members:

President - Jon Brown
Vice-President - Lou Eichel
Secretary - Mike Norton
Treasurer - Mary Lee Rosenzweig
Trail Committee Chair - Victor Gaspar / Rick Williams
Volunteer Committee Chair - Mary Lee Rosenzweig
Advocacy Committee Co-Chairs – Mark Rosenzweig, Frank Steiner
Education Committee Chair - Adam Reitz
Event Committee Chair - Brian Emelson
Members at Large - Scott Likly, Fritz Seager, Bruce Hayward, Russ Wait, Frank Steiner, Eric Metzler

Thanks to everyone who came out to the 3rd annual Burning Bike Festival. We had great weather and the food, music and burning of the bike were all spectacular. Thanks to those who helped put this together, Heidi Jenson and Rick Williams. Also, thanks to Wheeler Station for some killer live music.

 GROC thanks HardCore 24 and WNMCG for their continued support of shared-use trails.

The donation of $500 was presented to GROC for its outstanding mountain bike advocacy in the region. Park Avenue Bike has donated money to a number of local organizations in past years raised at its Hard Core 24 Mountain Bike race. Park Avenue Bike and the Wednesday Night Men's Craft Guild are active in local biking advocacy and as a group of individuals has volunteered countless hours working on local shared-use trails.

Thank You, Don Lyons
The Ontario County Park is just an amazing place to camp and ride and the man who was responsible for managing and maintaining the Park, Don Lyons will be retiring this year. GROC sends a special thank you to Don Lyons who was our partner and friend in building the trails at OCP. Thanks. Don and we will miss you.

See More Photos

The first work day at Bay Park West accomplished more than we had planned.

About 40 volunteers showed up to the first day of clean up and trail building. The trail head off Norton street seems to be a dumping ground and really needed some attention. As we look to bring a beautiful experience to all trail users we needed to clean up before we could start on the trails.

Everyone who came to volunteer really went above and beyond in the clean up as well as clearing and helping build new trails.

This new trail system will be a model for  sustainable shared-use trails in our area. I have no doubt that when the park officially opens, people will be blown away at the trails and the scenery of this great park overlooking the Bay.

Stay tuned for more work day postings, and thanks again for all the volunteer effort.

Thanks to Monroe County Parks for the dumpster which we filled to the top; it's hard to believe what was dumped in this park.

Also See a video from our VP, Lou Eichel.  It was a good day for shared-use trails!

See Some Photos from the day by Eric Metzler.

No matter what side of the fence you are on on the topic of shared-use trails, it is great to see so many people taking interest in our parks. The county has taken a park that was abandoned and really a place where a lot of not-so-great activity was going on and started to transform it into a park that people will feel safe to come out and enjoy. The best part is that the park is walking distance for so many city residents and I am sure they will enjoy it as well as take care of it. The parking lot is just beautiful and the new sign that marks the entrance makes you feel Tryon Park has been revitalized.

On Tuesday July 27th, the new parking lot was the meeting point for the first workshop scheduled by the county to review plans for shared-use trails in Tryon and West Bay Park. Tom Robinson, Larry Staub, Dave Rindaldo from the country parks department were on hand to talk about the plans for the parks and the trial period for shared-use trails. GROC board members Rick Williams and Russ Wait were there to lend a hand to talk about sustainable trail building practices including the tools and best practices when constructing trails.

The workshop had a huge turnout filling the new parking lot and overflowing into Tryon street for parking; by our count there were at least 42 hikers, bikers, and trail enthusiasts in one of the groups that were walking the trails talking about trail building techniques and some of the plans for improving and maintaining the trails to support shared-use.

If you missed the Tryon Work Shop please join in on the Irondequoit Bay Park West Field Workshop -- August 5, 2010 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Meet at the parking area on Bay Front South, west of the Irondequoit Bay Fish and Game Club.)

GROC submitted proposals for Tryon and Bay Park West during the input sessions. The plans where then reviewed by the Monroe County Parks Advisory Committee (PAC) on THURSDAY, July 15.

The plans GROC submitted covered 3 elements:

1. Trail Development: Process & Standards- PDF

2. Proposal for Irondequoit Bay Park West and Tryon Park- PDF

3. GROC Proposed Trail Maps: