River Valley Cycling

Supporting Cycling In and Around Fredericton

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!

Trailbuilding update – Penniac

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Hey Riders,

We wanted to give you an update on all of the trail building in Penniac this fall. RVC volunteers made some incredible progress towards two new trails that will be a big addition to the network out there. The first is going to be a 1,400 m long (mix of machine & hand-built) climb-descend trail and the other is a 860 m long machine-built flow trail that is designed for riding down only.

Both trails will appeal to riders of all ages and skill levels.

This project wouldn’t be where it is today without such a huge lift from our local riders. Thanks to the ‘Freddy Tacos Who Shred‘ club for their trail days this fall. Thanks to Yves, Chris, Bev, and the entire machine crew who spent hundreds of hours on the job. Thanks to all the families who showed up to dig on our RVC trail day. Thanks to Remsoft for a generous donation towards the costs associated with the build. Most of all thanks to the landowners for having the vision to do this with RVC!

Now this is important – the trails are not open yet!

The build still isn’t complete – dirt is still being shaped and signage still needs to go up. Most importantly – early winter and early spring freeze-thaw cycles are the enemy of new trails and when the soil is soft there’s huge potential for damage. Please do not go out exploring with the aim of ‘just one lap’. We’ve seen how that’s happened with new builds at MVP and Rockwood in Saint John and it often sets the trail builders back by weeks if the damage is even repairable at all.


Let’s all avoid this outcome ok?

When the time is right in the spring of 2021 RVC will have a grand opening. Looking forward to it!

Riding Responsibly – Aggressive Wildlife

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Hey Riders,

Many of you would have heard by now about a scary situation which took place yesterday in Woolastook Park involving a small pack of coyotes aggressively approaching a woman walking her dog. We can’t imagine what this may have been like and RVC is relieved to hear that she made it out safely.

Clearly, whatever she did to react was right.

Since then we’ve received some questions about riding safety. This incident in Woolastook involving coyotes was rare, but there are wildlife present in many of our riding areas, and in addition to coyotes there are risks posed by black bears, white tail deer, and moose (we don’t have cougars – we don’t care what you’ve seen online). We thought we’d highlight some of the strategies that you can take to increase your safety in the woods.

This excellent illustration was proudly lifted from www.bicycling.com. We could not have done any better.

First – RVC isn’t an organization that is the authority on human/wildlife encounters. What we are providing here for ideas are picked from reputable Fish & Wildlife Agencies across North America, with a little bit of focus for riders in our local neck of the woods (we expect most of you don’t carry pistols or bear-spray cannisters on the average ride). These are tips you will probably never need to rely on.

  1. Ride in a group. If you must ride alone make sure you have a cellphone that works and that someone knows where you are. Better yet though… ride in a group! Animals are skilled at math and most will run when outnumbered.

  2. Be loud. Carry a whistle. Models which weigh only a few grams can produce a blast which can frighten and startle an aggressive animal. A whistle buckle on the chest-strap of your riding pack is right where you need it. If you don’t have a whistle you can yell firmly. Everyone has lungs.

  3. Remain calm. If you encounter an animal that advances on you keep eye contact, and do not turn your back on it to run. Dismount the bike and lift it up to make yourself look big. Start to put distance between yourself and the animal by walking back carefully (to not loose footing) and identify an escape route such as a climbable tree if you need it. You cannot outpace any animal on a single-track trail. Make sure the animal also has an escape route.

  4. If the animal charges – fight. Your bike can be used as an effective shield so put it in front of you. Be loud and aggressive and you will win.

Animal attacks such as the one that occurred yesterday are exceptionally rare, but they do happen. Knowing how to respond may just save your life.

More info:

https://www.bicycling.com/news/a20034489/animal-attack-bike/

https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/nr-rn/pdf/en/Wildlife/Coyotes.pdf

https://www2.gnb.ca/content/dam/gnb/Departments/nr-rn/pdf/en/Wildlife/BewareBlackBears.pdf

Slash n’ Berm

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New trail open (temporarily) at MVP!

Slash n’ berm is a new intermediate flow trail at MVP. The top section is a machine built, hand-finished series of berms, small jumps and rollers. There are no gaps – everything is rollable – but if you are riding fast your tires may leave the ground. The bottom section is still in progress – it is hand-built singletrack – and adding features and flow to this section will be a project for next year.

The trail is still fresh and quite sensitive so choose when to ride it carefully. Ride the trail while the weather is good and the dirt is relatively dry. Traffic in those conditions is a good thing and it will help compact the surface. Don’t ride it right after it’s rained or when frozen dirt is thawing. Don’t be that person who leaves a gaping rut down the trail! The trail will be closed again within the next few weeks when we get into frequent freeze thaw cycles. Ride it now while you can!

Slash n’ Berm has been an entire season project starting back in April when Bev, Norm and Alex scouted the area. Since then, many hours were spent cutting the line, then re-cutting the line and then re-re-cutting the line. Tons of clear-cut slash (hence the name) was moved, stump were chopped, and a mountain of dirt & rocks were shaped. A mountain bike flow trail is a significant effort! Major kudos to Chris F., Norm S., Anthony W., Max G., Justin L, Bev B., Kelly M., and volunteers on the trail day, and to people who stopped while riding to do a few buckets. However, the builder here with the vision and the most time is Alex F – so thank you sir!

Big tune-up at MVP

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Fall is here and it’s an incredible time to be riding around Fredericton. Just in time for the season, RVC’s small but growing enduro-zone at MVP just got a nice tune-up.

A build crew spent the weekend improving and revamping many of the features on two of the city’s most popular progressive trails: Monkey Business and #BlazingDestruction.

In both cases it’s going to be important for riders to get familiar with the layout again – the features have changed. Pre-ride, Re-Ride, Free-Ride! These remain black-diamond trails but there are no mandatory jumps. Everything small can be rolled and the big stuff can be safely avoided. However, when you’re ready we’ve seen some of the new features and they look pretty dialed!

Here’s the report from the crew:

Blazing Destruction:
-Landing of the drop was redone and smoothened.
-Jump out of that drop area was redone and the landing was built up.
-The roller jump before the box was redone.
-The jump to the step up box was reshaped and moved back a foot.

-The landing off the box was push back a foot and steepened/lengthened.
-The hip after the box was touched up and there is an optional side line jump that has a gap.


Monkey Business:
-The second table on the trail was redone.
-The 1 foot drop was removed on one side to allow an easy option to roll down.
-The optional wedge gap jump was roughed up beside the 1 foot drop.
-The take off to the step down was reshaped.
-The area after the step down got a major revamp. This is a totally different section and riders should look first. They are tables but there is a side lip on the second jump that should not be rolled .

Now it’s shout-out time.

Some of you may have noticed that this was no small amount of work. We are lucky to have a crew of builders who invest their time volunteering to make something that we can all enjoy – either today, or when we feel our skills are ready.

So let’s give a big thanks to:
-Chris Furlotte
-Max Guerette
-Justin Leblanc
-Mike Barnhill
-Jase Fitzpatrick, &
-Alex Mctiernan

Oh and one last thing. Do you see that mini-excavator that’s hiding in some of the pictures and video? Yeah – that thing was DONATED to RVC for the weekend free-of-charge by local businessman and owner of JIL Engineering & Construction, Jeff Lenehan. He even dropped it off for the weekend ready to go! We are very lucky to have supporters like this so thank you Mr. Lenehan for helping make this work happen.

Proud Members of: Velo New Brunswick

Canadian Cycling Association

International Mountain Biking Association