[DRAFT – page under construction!]

2005

Local mountain bike clubs join forces to organize TORC. They are:

CORE: Clayton Off Road Enthusiasts
NCFats: North Carolina Fat Tire Club
NRMBA: North Raleigh Mountain Bike Association
DOMBO: Durham Orange Mountain Bike Organization

“TORC, already more than 100 members strong, is dedicated to unifying the region’s smaller clubs into a stronger voice for local mountain bikers. The organization has begun action in several facets of its mission.”

We have 8 Riding Areas:

  • Little River Regional Park
  • Lake Crabtree Park
  • Beaverdam State Park
  • New Light
  • Harris Lake Park
  • Garner Recreation Park
  • Legend Park
  • San-Lee Park

2006

  • TORC put on the 1st annual TORC Fat Tire Fest
  • We’ve received new membership counts from SORBA. TORC now has 142 active memberships!
  • TORC is sponsoring and assisting the Umstead Coalition with the 2006 Walk/Run/Bike for Umstead
  • More than 100 mountain bikers attended the public hearing for the Forest Ridge Park We outnumbered all the other groups combined.

2007

  • Forest Ridge – We have approval to develop as much as 20 miles of trail in this new park in Raleigh.
  • Briar Chapel – We have approval to develop as much as 15 miles of new trail in this new residential development just south of Chapel Hill.
  • North Wake Landfill – We have approval to develop 4-5 miles of new trail in this Wake County Park project.
  • Chapel Hill Trails Announcement (posted on 9/13/2007) – At the last TORC general meeting Stewart Bryan announced that TORC had secured an MOU with UNC, the land manager of the Chapel Hill trails. The site should be secured for 35-50 years! Early plans will include new trail construction.

2008

  • 129 Members
  • The Summer of Fun 2008 Triangle MTB XC Race Series:
    • Little River, Big Race at Little River in May
    • The Tarwheel at CNF in June
    • Huck-A-Buck at Lake Crabtree in July
    • Race at the Reactor at Harris Lake in August
    • Leave it to Beaver Dam at Beaver Dam in September
    • Curse at the Crab(?)
    • Heel of a Race(?)

2009

  • TORC Meetup Group is launched
  • 2 miles of trail is added to Briar Chapel for $5,000
  • ½ mile of trail and a pump track is added to Solite Park for $8,000

2010

“Building off of the strong foundation of those that came before TORC, we strengthened relationships with Park and Recreation Departments in Wake, Durham, and Orange counties. We also have working relationships with the City of Garner, the City of Raleigh, the City of Durham and private land owners. Efforts are underway to establish similar associations with state agencies. These partnerships provide local mountain bikers with opportunities for trail access while protecting the future of existing trails.”

  • 1 mile of trail is added to Lake Crabtree for $3,000
  • Green Hills (former wake landfill) has its grand opening
  • 3.5 miles is added to RTP trails

2011

  • We spend over $55,000 at Lake Crabtree
    • Skills Area
    • Loop 6 Gap Jump
    • 1 mile of trail added
    • Dirt Jumps Built
  • We spend $1,000 on the Harris Lake Skills Area
  • Sig Hutchinson steps down as TORC President in May, will become Wake County Commissioner.
  • Tuesday Evenings It’s Time To ‘Ride Like a Girl’ at Lake Crabtree
  • More than 120 riders showed up for the TORC sponsored, first ever, Briar Patch XC race at Briar Chapel on Sunday, June 19, 2011.

2012

  • Briar Chapel Bennett Mountain Trail Added
  • Harris Lake Skills Area Opens
  • Famous Bridge at RTP Built

2013

  • Rock armor added at Green Hills
  • More Briar Chapel Trail added
  • RTP Phase 2 / expansion trail opens

2014

  • Lake Crabtree pump track built
  • Harris Lake drainage fixes
  • The (inaugural?) Beaver Dam & New Light Challenge race
  • Work begins towards winning a NICA bid for youth MTB development.
  • The inaugural Umstead Gravel Grinder race.

2015

  • More Briar Chapel Trail Added
  • Wendell Falls trail built
  • Little River Skills Area built
  • TORC is excited to announce that we have contracted with Native Trails and Elevated Trail Design to fulfill the RTP grant project at LCCP. TORC has specifically arranged the grant to use portions of the money towards ‘fun factor’.

2016

  • Solite Pump Track built
  • Brumley Trail built
  • We create a petition to call attention to the RDU Airport’s recently unveiled land use plan. Trails and forested lands near Old Reedy Creek are threatened from business development and a rock quarry.

2017

  • Little River Skills Area additions
  • We fund a conceptual design for MTB trail at the future Deep River State Park

2018

  • Tetractus Challenge is announced

2019

  • TORC has signed on to an injunction, joining Umstead Coalition in their legal case against Wake Stone and RDUAA, to stop what they are doing on the OddFellows tract
  • Active committees in 2019: Advocacy, Races, Marketing, Rides
  • Races: Moar Stage Race, Curse at the Crab, first race at Brumley,
    Beaverdam/New Light, 6BC at Briar Chapel, Buddhapalooza at RTP
  • Rock Quarry Park in Durham mentioned as potential trail location
  • We had around 400 people show up to Briar Chapel for TORCFest in October
  • Trail projects coming on-line: Pickard Mtn, UNC OEC
  • December membership: 840

2020

  • Trail project work / potential: Solite Park, Snow Hill Rd Park, Sugg Farm, Mills Park, Cates Creek Park
  • RDU Forest Court Case – moving forward with TORC on the appeal, no financial obligation from TORC
  • Williamson Preserve opens to the public
  • Covid shutdown
  • December membership: 739

2021

  • Magnolia Trail at Williamson opens
  • Potential projects:
    • US Army Corps of Engineers park near the dam at Jordan Lake
    • Future Person County park just north of the Durham County line.
  • We decide that Sugg Farm at Holly Springs is too small to be a TORC project
  • Sanford riders establish a new SORBA chapter: Back to Dirt Conservancy
  • We submit a conceptual design for the Lake Jordan project, around 5 miles.
  • Trail Bandit race at Briar Chapel, hosted by the Crank Army.
  • Donors contribute $24,610 towards Pickards Mtn fundraiser. 
  • Back to Dirt Conservancy hosts a grand opening for San Lee Gravity Park 
  • We host a Time Trial at Crabtree on Dec 18th
  • Membership peaks at 871!

2022

  • We move trail status control to Trailforks.
  • The proposed development of the Greene Tract in Chapel Hill becomes an issue
  • Trail projects:
    • Jordan Lake Dam: US Army Corps of Engineers wants a professional design. We get a quote for ~$1K per mile.
    • Deep River State Park
    • Pickards Mountain
    • Cates Creek Park (very low mileage potential)
    • Apex shares plans to build a bike skills area at Hunter Street Park
  • Races are still a challenge for us, post-pandemic. We help Crank Army host another Trail Bandit in Chapel Hill. And continue collaborating with Roadless Races.
  • We meet (online) with land managers etc. to discuss Little River Skills Area
  • Discord server is launched
  • We start collaborating with NC Adaptive Sports
  • The 10 year lease is signed for part of the parcel known as 286. This was arranged without any input from TORC. Cost: more than $8.8 million over 10 years.
  • Membership is down to 663

2023

  • More mileage and fun at UNC OEC
  • Spring camping trip to Brevard, Davidson River Campground
  • We consider helping locals with a tiny project at Scottish Hills neighborhood in Cary
  • We have a table at Carrboro Open Streets
  • We help First Flight Devo host MTB races at UNC OEC and Brumley
  • Pickards Mountain project: the trail work is complete but the landowner has ongoing problems with neighbors, permitting, and insurance. Decides to cancel the project, offers to reimburse us for the work.
  • Little River Skills Area work gets started
  • More mileage is planned at Forest Ridge Park
  • We host a scaled back version of TORCFest at Briar Chapel. Estimated 100 people show up.
  • TORC is now working with the Triangle Trails Initiative, similar to the way that Pisgah Area Sorba supports Asheville Unpaved.
  • We supported the Crank Army, who organized the Trail Bandit MTB race at Briar Chapel. We had 180 racers registered.

2024

 

2025

  • We hire a law firm to review FAA regulations, to confirm RDU AA’s argument that they have to get fair market value for the Lake Crabtree property. Our lawyer disagrees with RDU AA’s interpretation. We share this information but the public loses access to the trails in June.
  • We begin working with Wake County on the 252 acres of Umstead State Park, expected to be leased for MTB trails.
  • SORBA is no longer officially affiliated with IMBA. We now manage our membership and chapter through SORBA, and an app.
  • The bridge at Brumley is washed away by Tropical Storm Chantal. We start a fundraiser to help TLC pay for replacement.
  • TORC is invited on a trip to Bentonville with 7 Wake County area representatives to tour the greenway and trails there.
  • The completely redesigned Skills Area / Jump Line opens at Little River.
  • The former bandit trails on the property at Old Creedmoor, purchased by TLC, are now legally ridable. Hoping to get permission from NC WRC for the remaining (bandit) trail.
  • We currently have 5 miles of trail built by volunteers at the new Rotary Club of Roxboro Centennial Park
  • We begin exploring the idea of helping locals build trails on smaller pieces of land
  • Membership has fallen to around 450 and we are no longer the largest chapter in SORBA.

2026

  • We hire our first paid staff member and Executive Director: Shaun King.

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