Good Dirt Ride Update Newsletter

The 19th Annual Good Dirt Ride planned for today didn't quite work out like we had hoped.  The GDR planning committee had to advise that for your safety and the protection of our trails, we would need to reschedule this highly anticipated event.  Rest assured, on top of the months of preparation for the ride, the early morning hours on the day before represented an amazing effort by the core volunteer team - managing all the incoming resources, determing an appropriate reschedule solution and making sure that all of you were communicated to in a timely manner.

Thank you registered riders for being supportive of this outcome, thank you volunteers for being flexible and agreeing to contribute on the new day, thank you sponsors and vendors for your fast reactions and willingness to pivot with us.  We're committed to leveraging this unplanned deferral to provide you with an even bigger and better event - we all look very much forward to seeing you there!

Post from Good Dirt Ride Friday morning

This one hurts. 💔

We wanted so badly to ride with all of you tomorrow.

All week, the Good Dirt Ride team and OC Parks have been watching the weather and working together to find a way to make the 19th Annual Good Dirt Ride happen.

We held out hope until the very last minute. OC Parks rangers were even out walking the trails early this morning with the intent of giving us the green light.

But Mother Nature had other plans.

The additional rain overnight, combined with more rain expected this evening, left the trails in a condition OC Parks and GDR determined was unsafe for riders — and riding them could cause damage to the trails we all love.

So, with very heavy hearts, we are rescheduling.

🧡 NEW DATE: APRIL 24, 2027 🧡

We looked at every possibility for holding the ride before the end of the year, but weather uncertainty, trail conditions, permitting, vendor availability and other logistics simply made that impossible.

Your registration will automatically move to April 24, along with any merchandise you ordered.

Because we are just one day from the event, our vendors and event expenses have already been paid. Thankfully, our vendors have graciously agreed to move with us to April. For that reason, we cannot offer refunds. If you can't make the new date, you CAN transfer your registration to another rider, and we will waive the transfer fee.

We know many of you trained for this. You made plans. You volunteered. You fundraised. You traveled. And you were excited to spend the day together.

We were too.

Thank you for understanding that sometimes the hardest decision is also the right one — for our riders and for our trails.

April 24, 2027. We’ll be ready. And we hope you’ll be there with us. 🧡

Where your donations go - Trail Organizations

Had the event proceeded, we intended to recognize several key association trail organizations, the groups that take care of the trails you love. Laguna Canyon Foundation, who manages Aliso Woods Canyon and Laguna Coast Wilderness. So Cal Trail Alliance who takes care of the Luge and is integral in the major action for resurrection and addition of eleven trails supported by their own internally developed volunteer management application.  And there's OCMB whom has been able to manage volunteer activities at Chino Hills State Park and Crystal Cove State Park, exampled by their extensive work on the BFI connector in Crystal Cove.  We would have asked Warriors of Santa Ana to bring you up to date on not only the aforementioned trail submissions, but also their authored BOLT Act Route and most specifically how you can help by joining them on the growing opportunities to work the Cleveland National Forest trails.  And we would have heard Ramblas San Juan Trail Crew discuss the critical importance of respecting that zone, which has become a major focus following the recent Norte Fire. They would have urged us to remain patient while next steps are coordinated with the appropriate agencies.

These are the point groups on these trail areas and we encourage you to connect with them and offer your volunteer support.  

Where does your financial donation go? All of them are promoted by OCMTBA with donations, tools, cash, food/beverage support for trail teams - whatever it takes. We have a couple of checks for groups covering the most recent fire affects areas.

Where your donations go - Projects

In the next presentaton at the GDR, we would have also brought you up to speed on projects.  Believe it or not, the second asphalt OC pump track is currently under construction in Buena Park right now.  The crew goes from there to San Clemente to perform a complete track refresh and enhancement.  We recently signed and donated the concept design engagement for the third track that has site and budget allocated in Aliso Viejo.  And the Craig Park Bike Facility, the one our legacy organization donated the original plan for in 2014, has promised by OC Parks to go in to construction during 2027.  Mulitple facilities, multiple five figures donations to kick these projects into motion - another example of where your donations go.

And don't forget friends, the fourth in recent times opening of a new natural surface trail system, is slated fornext year as well - The Gateway Preserve in Irvine, with somewhere in the area of eleven miles of new trails, multiple bridges and the ability to connect the mountains to the sea without ever hitting pavement!.  

And one more...

By now you have seen the social media regarding the next bike facility on Orange County, the Saddleback BMX at Irvine Lake.  This has been a few years in the making and is key to our strategy of building out places to ride across the County.  Association organization SoCalBMX is doing a phenomenal job of approaching this "grassroots" with materials already arriving...they didn't know it yet, but we were gonna let them know at GDR that we're shouldering in here with another major donation.  It will help move toward the target Winter opening, and you can too...