River Valley Cycling

Supporting Cycling In and Around Fredericton

Opening Up Woolastook For the ’23 Season

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Thank you for your patience through the soft, spring conditions. We know it’s tough to wait but riding too early during freeze-thaw cycles can really damage all the work volunteers put into our singletrack. Despite a bit of rain this week, we are happy to say that Woolastook is adequately dried up and ready to ride!

There’s more good news. You’ll now be able to ride the new alignment of Shoreline West that avoids what used to be a muddy, flow-killing section. The new alignment stays high and dry and looks beautiful. Check out Norm’s walk-through video and tell us that this doesn’t make you want to go ride right now!

Since this is the first singletrack trail network in the Fredericton area that we think is ready to go (aside from our good friends at Mountain Bike Minto) we’re expecting a good crowd out there this weekend. You may see some volunteers out there doing trail work this weekend removing blow-downs and fine tuning things. In fact, we’re looking for a few volunteers to do some leaf/debris blowing. We’ll have our fleet of blowers all on-site at 10:00 Saturday morning and if you’re willing to volunteer for an hour or two please send us a message (via FB or email) – we’d love to set you up!

Stay connected for more trail updates as other networks dry out and remember to get your 2023 RVC Membership!

RVC is Hiring a Summer Youth Trail Crew

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Do you want to get paid over your summer holidays to improve our singletrack trail network? Send us your resume!

Earlier this week we received some exciting news. Our application to the Canada Summer Jobs program was successful, and we’ve been awarded a grant that will let us hire two students for the summer. So, we’re looking for 2 young students (high school, college, or university) who love trails, have a solid work ethic, and want to help RVC make riding better in the Fredericton area. The job will cover 8 weeks from late June to mid August and we are offering pay that’s better than minimum wage. Fredericton locals have gone on to make careers out of trail building so this may be your start!

There’s nothing more satisfying that riding a trail you buffed out by hand.

We are really excited to have a youth trail crew this year in addition to the hundreds of volunteer hours that get poured into our local trails. We want to get them to focus on maintenance and upkeep across the entire riding network. We will have new build projects going on this year (especially at Woolastook) but we want to not lose sight of the upkeep for some of the awesome trails we already have. We heard lots of support for this idea in our membership survey last year.

If you see someone this summer wearing this out on a trail – stop and say thanks!!!

By the way… did you see our amazing new RVC Trail Crew Logo? We love it. Huge thanks to Christina T. for the design. You might see some long-time trail builders and maintainers showing this off on a trail dig sometime this summer.

So – please share this (it’s our version of a job ad) and if you think you are the right person – please send us your resume!

Fine print – While we’d love to open this opportunity up to anyone our funding agreement limits us to people between the ages of 15 and 30 who can legally work in Canada (international students are not eligible unfortunately).

Getting Ready to Ride Series – 2023

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Hey riders!

This four-week series is aimed at adults interested in building cardio and conditioning so when the single track trails dry up, we are not suffering every climb. Our rides will start with gradual climbs and slowly advance to longer, steeper climbs. The ride loop each week will select great trails to introduce beginners to mountain biking.

Every Sunday morning for 4 weeks beginning April 30th the group will tour a new trailhead beginning with Killarney Lake. Meeting spots and ride starts will be shared via RVC’s Facebook profile. Expect a good introduction to climbs and descents, cornering, and navigating trail features (rocks, roots, bridges, ruts, sand, gravel).

This early season series will be hosted by volunteers Heather and Michel who will share their excitement for singletrack.

Here’s what you need to join the ride:

  • A mountain bike (knobby tires) that’s in good working shape.
  • Your RVC Membership. Join here!
  • A pump, tire levers, and spare tube so you can fix a flat.
  • Clothes appropriate for the cool spring conditions, a bottle of water, and a good attitude!

Youth riders are welcome to join but we’d ask that they be accompanied by a responsible adult on trail.

Here’s what a few riders who just went through the program had to say about it:

Jo Sto: “This group has helped me climb higher, go farther, descent faster and go on adventures I never dreamt possible.“
Noortje Kunnen: “I always thought mountain biking would not be something I would enjoy. When RVC announced a beginner group, my husband convinced me to give it a try. Under the leadership, encouragement and patience of Heather and Michel, I have come to love the sport. They gradually introduced us to various trails, building our confidence and skills and making new friends along the way!“

Carole Ouellette Volpe: “Joining the RVC Getting Ready to Ride group challenged me and helped me get comfortable with Mountain biking. Each week, we explored beautiful new trails and learned new skills. This group is welcoming, dynamic and encouraging!“
Debbie McCluskey: “This beginner group has been such a great way to get into the MTB scene. I am in absolute awe of the Trails we have available to us.. definitely something for EVERYONE with a cherry on top! After riding with this group, pushing ourselves a bit with each ride, I feel very proud to add another way of describing myself… I AM A MOUNTAINBIKER !“

Join the conversation and get the details for this ride series each week by following RVC on Facebook.

River Valley Cycling’s 2023 Membership Launch

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If you’re like us, you’ve been staring at your mountain bike for weeks now, just itching for the word that the trails are dried up and ready to ride. The big spring thaw can feel like it takes forever even though this year we were lucky enough to have excellent winter conditions right into the first week of April. We’ve been taking the last few weeks to get ready to launch RVC’s 2023 season… and this post is about what we’ve got in mind.

If you don’t feel like reading you can just skip right to our registration page:

Join RVC Now!

Trails

  • We’re hoping for a big year of trail building. We shared some exciting plans for Woolastook at our AGM and we’re looking forward to getting Dig-In back to finish a new trail early this spring.
  • We have a lot of trail maintenance/improvement projects in mind all over the network including Odell and Penniac. Volunteer trail days posted through our social channels. Get involved!
  • RVC will continue to advocate for access with landowners. We’ll champion responsible trail use, etiquette, and we’ll work hard to maintain relationships we’ve built.

Riding & Events

RVC Membership

  • Club membership is important. Your support keeps our singletrack in top shape.
  • For 2023 we’re offering a simplified structure
    • Individual membership – $45 / person
    • Gold membership – $125
    • Platinum supporters / sponsors – $200+
  • All youth riders under 18 years are free with a guardian/parent membership of any level.
  • We’ve built a slick new check-out with an option to auto-renew your membership!
  • For 2023 we’ll make it easy to show you support RVC with bike tags. Show ’em off proudly!
  • The price is up… but consider the value. For <$7/month you access 5 supported trail networks!
  • Gold and Platinum options are there to offer ways for individuals, families, and businesses to really give back and invest in our cycling community! These options allow you to add all the riders in your household. Last year we had dozens of riders choose these options. Incredible support!
Join RVC Now!

2023 Annual Members Meeting

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Mark your calendars and plan to join us at the Grimross Tap Room on March 27th for our annual meeting. This is your opportunity as a club member to learn about RVC’s plan for the upcoming year, and to engage in the conversation. We’ll plan to share some exciting news. Hope to see you there!

Proud Members of: Velo New Brunswick

Canadian Cycling Association

International Mountain Biking Association