River Valley Cycling

Supporting Cycling In and Around Fredericton

The Mid-Winter Thaw

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In the Maritimes we get a few mid-winter thaws each year. Today is the first. These are killers when it comes to winterbike trails. The rain last night saturated the trail surface and the mild weather today has lots of trail users thinking about getting out.

Don’t do it!

  • Not nice.
  • Not nice at all!

In warm and wet conditions it doesn’t matter how wide your tires are or how ridiculously low you can drop the air pressure – the trails are just too sensitive. Today is one of those days we should be thinking about what else we can do.

Ruts and footprints put into the trails today will freeze with the rapidly falling temperatures tonight and will be there until we get a big snowfall – and that’s not in the 14-day forecast – we checked!

Please wait until temperatures are well below freezing before you head out for a ride. It only takes a single person to leave an impact over an entire trail system. We’d even be cautious about well-intentioned snowshoe grooming efforts today while the snow is soaking wet.

For more info – here’s a helpful article.

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!

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!

Proud Members of: Velo New Brunswick

Canadian Cycling Association

International Mountain Biking Association