Mitsubishi Cement Corporation

Thank You, Riders, Sponsors and Volunteers! 

We had the most incredible day! Everyone present agreed that the Mitsubishi Educational Foundation’s first annual Ride in the Rocks fundraising event was a huge success. The weather couldn’t have been better, clear skies, no wind, temperatures in the eighties, and volunteers and riders alike all seemed to have a good time.
“Well organized, good food, great day, had a ball,” said Karin Parks rider from Big Bear, California.

Save the Date! - 2nd Annual Ride In The Rocks Fundraiser - October 17, 2009

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Close to 100 mountain bike riders showed up for the day.  They came from as far away as Murrieta and San Dimas. Some took us up on our free RV and tent sites and showed up the night before to enjoy the Eagles Tribute concert presented by the Lucerne Valley’s CSA 29 Park and Recreation Department. We also had many riders from Big Bear and the High Desert, with quite a few Lucerne Valley riders who came out to support us. It should be noted that while there were some expert riders in attendance, most were in the novice to intermediate levels. Because this event was not a competition, everybody was able to ride at their own pace. Some hammered it hard, but many were out there just to see if they could make it. We only had two come in with broken bikes, one had tires go flat just after the start, the other rider bent a rim after hitting a rock and had to walk it into the last rest stop. Many riders mentioned that the 22-mile-Challenge course was definitely a challenge, but that didn’t faze13-year-old Aaron Sutherland, who riding for team OMYA, crossed the finish line with just a small scuff on his elbow.

View Rider Times Here.
(if your time is not listed please email Millie Rader with your time)

We also designed a five and ten mile course for families to enjoy. The ten mile course was ridden by many young riders, but the youngest ones on the course were Robert and Heather Otwell's daughters. Elissa-3 who rode in a bike trailer behind her mom, and the other two, Krystian-6 and Juliana-8, rode their bikes through some pretty tricky sand to finish in just 120 minutes.

Mountain bike celebrity David Turner came to try out our Challenge course. David grew up riding both motorcycles and mountain bikes all over the foothills of his hometown Lucerne Valley. After high school he moved away and raced mountain bikes professionally for five years and then began to design his own line of bikes. David’s company Turner Bikes is now based in Murrieta, California. It was good to have David and his wife Christina spend the day with us.

The Ride in the Rocks Event was created by the Mitsubishi Cement Corporation Educational Foundation for two reasons. The first was to raise money that will go to enhance the educational experience of Lucerne Valley students by funding college scholarships, and field trips. This year it will also help to purchase welders for the Lucerne Valley High School Ag Science department. The second was to create an event that would provide an opportunity for community involvement in the support of our schools.

“It seemed like the entire town came out in support of this event,” said H.O. Bud Biggs, MCC Educational Foundation president. “We had representatives from just about every organization in town, and many sponsors from the Victor Valley as well.”

Ride-day volunteers included the Explorer Scouts, Lucerne Valley Community Church, CERT, COPs, Sergeant Blaine Chambers from the Sheriff’s Department, the Lion’s club, and Roadrunners, the Lucerne Valley High School ASB Leadership and Ag Science classes, Mitsubishi Cement Corporation, OMYA and many, many individuals, with over 40 volunteers involved.

Local sponsors included, the Lucerne Valley Leader who came on early as our Main Event Sponsor, Mitsubishi Cement was a co-sponsor, Lucerne Valley Market baked 500 cookies for the rider’s rest stops, Specialty Minerals Inc. and OMYA were t-shirt sponsors, and First Mountain Bank sold tickets for our Mountain Bike raffle. Lucerne Valley Realty, Otwell Racing, Lucerne Valley Storage and Riddle Construction all sponsored teams to ride in the rocks.

The winning ticket for the bike raffle was sold to Apple Valley Fire Chief Art Bishop’s grandson Jacob Painter. The fourteen year-old was so excited when he got the winning call from Lucerne Valley High School Principal Mike Murphy, that he talked his mom into driving him over the school the day of the event. The only problem was that they drove from Apple Valley to the Victorville High School and could not find Dr. Murphy. Jacob’s mom finally called back, got the correct location and came out to the Lucerne Valley High School with Jacob to collect his winnings.

We plan to organize this event every year, and because we want to improve it as we go, we asked the riders to each fill out a critique form. Most riders wrote that their favorite part was the downhill single track and the barbecue lunch sponsored and served by Out of This World BBQ. Many also praised our friendly helpful volunteers.

Send us your comments & suggestions.

We had such a great crew of volunteers that helped both before and during the event. The bike committee began planning meetings back in April. They were such a great group with expertise in all the right areas. MCC Foundation Vice President, and Ride in the Rocks Committee Chair Teresa Reyes with her exceptional organizational skills was able to figure out the rider sign-ins and make them run very smoothly. Teresa recruited Vickie Perry, who is both a Lucerne Valley High School teacher and a pro mountain bike racer, brought a wealth of bike event expertise and contacts. Vickie was also a great liaison with the high school where the event was held. Vickie then recruited Lucerne Valley High School/Middle School Principal Dr. Michael Murphy, who handled all of our media contacts, and did an incredible job of getting the word out. Robert Otwell is with the CSA 29 Park Department and a triathlete who does much of his training on his mountain bike in the foothills of Lucerne Valley. As stated before, Robert laid out our very extreme 22 Mile Challenge Course that had all 53 riders who chose that particular ride telling us “not to change a thing,” and that they will be back again next year. David Rader, Mitsubishi Cement employee and local mountain biker also brought his knowledge of the valley into play as he organized the course rest stations, check points and chase vehicles. David also designed and laid out the Tame 10 and Family 5 routes. Steven Peterson, a four-wheel drive enthusiast, brought many good ideas to the table. Darrel Courtney from HBT Events offered his experience and was a great adviser. Millie Rader got to take the results of other committee member’s hard work, put it together, and voila it was a “Ride in the Rocks!”!