People use Internet to Get Outdoors

Lolita Harper

Rocky Comberiati likes to roller blade, bike, back pack and hike,

but he doesn’t always like to do it alone.

With a click of the mouse, the Costa Mesa resident can invite

thousands of people to join him for a beachside activity, thanks to

the Internet-based Outdoors Club.

The Outdoors Club started about five years ago when founder Tim

Bui formed an e-mail list for a bunch of his friends. The list

blossomed, and soon the group created a Web-based posting site to

continue it. After two years of tripling members, Bui decided to

create a Web site devoted entirely to outdoor activities, he said.

“It really just snowballed,” Bui said. “It started with 10 people,

and now we reach close to 9,000 people overall.”

The Web site is available nationwide, but started and revolves

heavily around the Newport-Mesa area, Comberiati said. With such

beautiful weather, the beach nearby and a naturally active community,

Costa Mesa and Newport Beach residents make up a large part of the

membership and invite others to visit the coastal cities.

“Most of the people are on the coast,” Comberiati said. “It’s a

good way to have a nice afternoon at the beach with some friendly

people.”

Newport Beach has hosted numerous coastal bike rides,

roller-blading events and beach events. A massive indoor rock

climbing excursion is being planned for today at Rockreation in Costa

Mesa.

Staycie Sena organized the recent Beach ride, which had dozens of

Web site members cycling from Sunset Beach to Balboa Pier. The group

rode down in an hour, had lunch at the Shorehouse Cafe and caught an

extremely strong headwind on the way back, she said. Sena also

organized the upcoming rock climbing trip as a birthday party for

herself.

“I hope it helps draw the misery away from this decade that I am

entering,” Sena joked.

It is not hard to plan an event, Sena said, you just post it on

the site. There is no red tape or charge. It simply serves as a way

to get people with similar interests in touch with each other.

Sena, a Huntington Beach resident, said she is busy every weekend

with a different club activity.

“It’s so great because every event that you go to you are

guaranteed to see someone you know and meet someone you don’t,” she

said.

Member Thomas Ryan agreed, saying the Outdoor Club is a “great

medium where all sorts of people come together to meet other great

new people.”

Newport Beach resident Ryan said he enjoys camping, kayaking and

hiking and enjoys meeting new people who like the same thing. Make no

mistake, though: it is not a singles club. It is merely an

organization designed to bring active people together for various

activities.

Bui said the club has no target market or age group. Members range

from 18 to 65 and are single and married, he said.

“The biggest target market is anyone who wants to do stuff

outdoors,” Bui said.