River Valley Cycling

Supporting Cycling In and Around Fredericton

Join RVC in 2021

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It’s time to support your local trails. Join RVC!

As of today we are opening our registration for the 2021 season and launching our membership drive. To celebrate this, RVC is releasing a video that introduces the club, describes our mission, and features our riders. (Huge thanks to Joel at East Lens Media for such a great product)

We are hoping for our largest ridership yet as the summer of 2021 is going to be the season that we stay close to home – rediscover what we have in our own back yard – and support local!

As always, we’re making it affordable to join RVC with an individual membership costing only $30. Check out our membership structure to find out ways you can scale your support and/or add the whole family at a discount.

Where does your membership money go? Answer – into shaping beautiful trails and creating opportunities for riders to access them.

So what are you waiting for? Join RVC

2021 Annual General Meeting Highlights

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On March 2, 2021 RVC held its first ever virtual AGM using the MS Teams platform. The club exec was set up at the Signature Sound studio allowing us to have great sound and light, the ability to physically distance, and the appearance of being a pro-outfit! So before we get to the news – huge thanks to Max Guerette for securing this donation and for providing tech support. Also thanks to NB Power… because this whole thing was a minute away from being cancelled before their crews restored the juice to the studio on a stormy night.

The Signature Sound studio.

No on to business:

  • Membership in 2020 was stable despite the pandemic. RVC grew steadily over the last decade and has 550 current members. We also note that many of you supported the club by upgrading to ‘bronze’ and ‘gold’ status in 2020.
  • Money in 2020 was lean but RVC is financially stable. Not being able to host large races and other events had its challenges but RVC benefitted from 2 sizeable grants: $6,600 from the NB Trail Infrastructure Fund and $5,000 from Velo NB.
  • Winterbike in 2021 continues with 150 members as of the meeting. The Tour de Beer (Bubble Edition) was a success bringing nearly $1,000 to the club. We now groom 2 trail systems through the winterbike program: MVP and Woolastook and this would not be possible without the heroic volunteer efforts of our grooming team! Thank you guys!
  • 2020 had its successes and challenges. While we saw a variety of great new trails built and improvements made at Penniac, MVP, and Woolastook; we also had significant closures occur at the request of landowners. It is a good reminder that a ridership of our size requires organization for success and ongoing land access.
  • 2021 Priorities:
    • Woolastook – build several km of new trail east of the existing network through our agreement with the Province.
    • Mactaquac – build several km of new trail in partnership with the Provincial Park management.
    • Islandview – work with the MCFT to reroute small sections of 2 existing trails in order to avoid private lands.
    • Odell & Killarney Lake – approach the City of Fredericton with a willingness to begin implementing park master plans.
    • Grant Harvey Bike Park – host a trail day to improve and revitalize the RVC perimeter trail and make better use of the space for kids.
    • Penniac – establish a landowner outreach approach to build relationships along the ridge. Host big opening of 2 new trails!
    • Brookside – grow the north-side trail network by working with a willing landowner who’s contacted RVC.
       
  • Elections – your new 2021 executive is:
    • President – Chris Norfolk
    • Past-president – Nick Russon
    • Vice-president – Mike Hutchinson
    • Treasurer – Ian Groen
    • Secretary – Norm Siebrasse
    • Risk Manager – Chris Furlotte
    • Trail Manager – Bev Bunker
    • Sponsorship Manager – Melissa Bordage
    • Director-at-large – Adam Hadley

Meeting presentation available here.

Full meeting minutes available here.

Winterbike Plans 2021 – Woolastook

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More good news from RVC Winterbike. The snow is starting to fall and Woolastook is going to the focus of some serious grooming effort this winter. Get your membership now eh!

With almost 11 km of trail in the grooming plan for 2021 in a stacked-loop configuration there will be a lot of options for stitching together routes that will lead all the way up to the scenic lookout above Mountain Road. Beyond this guaranteed network there’s talk of some more distance being added in the park and beyond the lookout if snow conditions cooperate and everything comes together. We’ll see.

Woolastook mountain biking trails

Mike Hutchinson and Dave McFarlane have really put the sweat equity into getting Woolastook in shape for Winterbike and they plan to put in the grooming hours in the freezing cold so huge thanks to them!

There’s more good news coming with RVC Winterbike for 2021. Stay connected for more plans and announcements. Join RVC Winterbike and get pumped for smooth snowy flow.

Winterbike Plans 2021 – MVP!

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WINTERBIKE!!!!!!

Grab your pogies, plug in your lights, and get your Winterbike 2021 membership!

This year our RVC grooming artists, Dan Breau & Todd Trask, have planned out their masterpiece for MVP and guess what – these painters only work in snowy brilliant white!

The action will center around the main parking lot with all of your winter favorites there. Dan reports that the Panthers will be ready to keep the enduro area open all winter long this year so we may see how well fatbikes can fly. Also, to add some new adventure into the mix there’s the addition of ‘the Back 40‘ which will allow a route into the ‘Greg’s Way’ area once again. the Back 40 is going to be a winter-only trail for now so enjoy it while it’s in.

MVP mountain biking trails

The plan includes more than 22 km of trail that will be sled-groomed. From time-to-time there may even be a few bonus trials that come into play through snowshoe grooming.

Fredericton will continue to be a major winterbike force this year with MVP being the recognized global undisputed winterbike grooming standard for snow perfection. Don’t miss out!

… and stay connected for more winterbike 2021 plans! Coming soon!

Upgrades Coming at Woolastook

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This weekend there’s some exciting work getting started at Woolastook. The popularity of this place took a big step up this year and it’s getting some new bells and whistles as a result.

We’re excited to say that RVC was recently awarded a $6,500 grant through the Province’s Trail Infrastructure Fund. That grant, coupled with some remarkable equipment and time donations from JIL Engineering ,Treecologic, and incredible local volunteer trail builders, are leading to some nice upgrades.

  • The parking lot beside the highway is getting expanded to create some more spots.
  • A short gravel approach to Shorline West (a.k.a. Turbowolf) is being installed (no gravel is being put on the trail).
  • A few holes are being dug for a proper trailhead kiosk which will be built over the winter and installed next spring .

This is going to make for a much nicer trailhead experience at Woolastook and should be appreciated by locals and travelling riders alike. We’ll be working on a map and signage over the winter.

That’s not all! There’s going to be some more exciting announcements coming up regarding the trails at Woolastook too. We’re working on a plan to make the start of the Woolastook loop a little more strait-forward and less reliant on trails that are shared with motorized vehicles – but more on that later.

Over the weekend please be prepared to plan your route around the construction. Remember – freshly built trails are extremely sensitive to freeze-and-thaw cycles this time of year. If you find something that is fresh and you haven’t heard that it’s been opened for riding you shouldn’t be on it.

Thanks for your cooperation!

Proud Members of: Velo New Brunswick

Canadian Cycling Association

International Mountain Biking Association