FVMBA news archives

Archive for the category: 'Bear Mountain'

Bear Mountain Challenge 2010

Bear Mountain Challenge XC & DH races is back for the 14th straight year!!!

The DH course is looking good, and the XC has been improved yet again.

The race organizers are kindly donating part of the proceeds to the FVMBA this year  - most of which will funnel directly back o Fraser Valley trails, so let’s get out there and race!!!!

Volunteers are also needed, so please offer some help.

Register here

Bear Mountain Challenge Web site

Face book Page

Discussion: 13 responses


April Ride & BBQ

Red Mtn. / Bear Mtn.

Ride and BBQ

Sunday April 18, 2010

Pick your poison! Join us for a fun ride on either Red Mountain or Bear Mountain in Mission followed by a post-ride BBQ. We’ll be riding starting at noon with a BBQ at Mill Pond at 3 pm.

BBQ Burger and drink Free with new 2010 membership purchase!!
$3.00 for members and $5.00 for nonmembers

Check the website at www.fvmba.com or the FVMBA Facebook page for more info!

 

*please note the gates will be locked as usual and therefore no shuttles will be provided

Discussion: 4 responses


Letter from Mission

The FVMBA recently received a letter from the City of Mission regarding unauthorized trail construction on Bear and Red mountains in Mission.  We support authorized trail construction and is more than willing to assist trail builders when there is a desire to create new, legitimate trails.

The author of the letter has given permission to present the letter in it’s entirety.

Dear Mountain Bike riders

 

Re: Unauthorized Trail Construction in Mission Municipal Forest

 

Over the past few decades, we have had the opportunity to meet with several of you and talk about improvements to recreation infrastructure in the Municipal Forest.  We also acknowledge the efforts you all make in keeping trails open for use.

 

And while you enjoy using the Crown and Private land that make up the Municipal Forest area, we asked for only one thing in return – that no new trails be constructed without first speaking to us.  There are several benefits to discussing your recreation ideas with us:

 

  1. We have long term forest management plans and objectives that we can communicate with you.  Some areas have been set aside as long term reserves – which may be able accommodate permanent recreation infrastructure.  Other areas have had several silviculture treatments and management activities and are scheduled for harvesting in the short term.  Should you build a recreation trail without approval, you may find that several months of your efforts will be wasted as harvesting has been planned to take place soon after you are completed.

 

  1. We have ideas on logical trail and road linkages and would appreciate any volunteer services that you would like to contribute to making these connections possible.  If trails are located where we are in agreement, we can incorporate them into having some kind of semi-permanent protection either for the short or long term.

 

  1. It is against the law to construct a recreation trail without authority from the Crown - http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/tasb/legsregs/frpa/frpa/part5.htm#section57 and fines up to $100,000 can be levied by the Crown to the builders.

 

  1. As some of you might know, we are currently working on a large integrated recreation plan for the west side of Stave Lake. This will be an exciting opportunity to plan and construct a variety of recreation trails including Mtn bike trails. However, we need to demonstrate to the approving agencies (MOF and MOTCA) that we have a “handle bar” on our current recreation development on the east side (ie. Bear Mtn and Red Mtn).

 

Note: Here are some examples of the issues that we have on Bear and Red Mtn:

 

-There have been some conflicts with our forestry planning and unauthorized trails. Someone has removed our operational flagging boundaries thereby wasting thousands of dollars that could have gone towards recreation development.

-Several trails and structures that were built in the past have not been maintained by those builders – resulting in unsafe situations for recreation users.

-Trails built through planned management areas cannot be accommodated.  We will not change harvesting plans, nor will we put trails back in place after harvesting in unauthorized areas.

-Some trails have been built on private property, causing severe disruption to those property owners.  Imagine someone coming to your residence and building something in your backyard without permission?

-The current network of trails is not well organized, marked or mapped properly. We have had people getting lost and we have had inexperienced riders getting on trails that were beyond their riding capabilities

 

Here is an example of a recent unauthorized trail construction, that we now have to take some action on:

 

-We are aware of a trail that has been built on Bear Mountain from the microwave tower road, without our permission or permission granted from the Crown, through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts.

-We had the intention of ignoring this construction, until an extremely long superstructure leaving the gravel road surface was built. This draws complete attention to this unauthorized trail.  This become apparent during an agency audit and unfortunately, we cannot have attention drawn to a feature which we did not authorize and have no intention of maintaining for the safe use by the public.

-If the builder had consulted with us prior to the construction of the trail, they would have found out that we had hand fertilized the Douglas-fir in this area in 2005, for a scheduled harvest by 2010-2011.  This is information that we could have easily given before someone dedicated an enormous amount of work into the building in this location.

-We want to let the builder know that this structure has to be removed before the end of February, otherwise the District of Mission will be obligated to remove it.

-This is just one example of what happens when the proper consultation and planning does not take place.

 

Therefore we request that you respect the Municipal Forest and we ask for your full cooperation in not developing trails without consultation and approval from our department and the agencies.  From  this point forward, failure to do so will result in such trails and structures in the Municipal Forest being dismantled. We are very fortunate here in Mission to have an amazing recreation area in our backyard. We want to work with you guys to establish a first class recreation area for all users.

 

We welcome your comments, ideas and cooperation.

 

Bob O’Neal, RPF

Forestry Manager

District of Mission

(604) 820-3763 (direct office number)

(604) 826-8633 (fax)

(604) 302-4083 (cel)

boneal@mission.ca

www.mission.ca

Discussion: 6 responses


Bear & Red- Current Conditions

Please place comments about conditions for Bear or Red here.

Discussion: 35 responses


Bear Mountain Challenge 2008

Bear Mountain challenge!!

Race results:

DH:
Bear DH 2008 Results

XC:
Bear XC 2008 Results

Bear poster

Discussion: 15 responses


2007 Bear Mountain Challenge a success!

The race weekend went off quite well. Almost 200 racers turned out on Sunday for some very fast racing. I believe we shattered the course record, due primarily to the excellent work the course builders put in, and of course the near-perfect conditions leading up to and on the day of the race.

Although there were a few areas for improvement, the race went off quite smoothly, with everyone getting to race on time, and in some cases, even early. There’s always room for improvement with the shuttling, but from reports, this was better than last year. If we run it again, we’ll try to improve where possible. One big lesson: If you want to practice come the day before. Some riders on Saturday got in 9 laps. And, posting results there was a hiccup, but our backup plan kicked in and while delayed we got the results posted.

Loads of smiling faces around the place.

Results: 2007 Bear Mountain Challenge

Results are here: 2007 Bear Mountain Challenge Results

Thanks go out to…

There are too many people/organizations to mention them all, but a few thanks out to:

  • Wentings Cycle. If Bruce hadn’t gotten the ball rolling, I’m not sure the race this year would have gone. He eventually let FVMBA lead in the planning, but he was still a big supporter, but in providing ALL the cash prizes, some of the swag, and an injection of cash to the organizers to assist with expenses. Thanks Bruce!! (Next time, we’ll wear YOUR shirts).
  • Course Builders. Tireless fiends. Trail building geniuses. Mosquito-bait.
  • Racers. Tree-hitting, jump-casing, rock-smacking, sweaty fools. Without you, there’d be no race.
  • Race-weekend volunteers. Thanks, Thanks, Thanks. And a special hello to Paul, who manned the gate alone for WAY too many hours.
  • St John Ambulance. Luckily, these guys / gals didntt have to work too hard.
  • CyclingBC race officals. These guys knew what they were doing.
  • CyclingBC as a whole. Tremendous support, and financial assistance. Tanya ‘Wow’ work a work-horse.
  • RCMP: For not having a car there to catch the couple of instances where drivers could have been heavily fined for no-seatbelts on riders in the back of the trucks. (Don’t do that!)
  • Huckwagon. Ah shuttling in luxury. Nice. Those poor CV joints, though. I’m not sure Martin was expecting that road to be as rough.
  • Sponsors. Too many to mention, but please look them over below. They all contributed greatly.

Sponsors for the 2007 Bear Mountain Challenge

Thanks.

Discussion: No responses yet


Bear Mountain Challenge this weekend!

Finally!!! Race weekend is here. Make sure you sign up before sunday, and preferably before Saturday if you’re signing up onlne.

I rode the course last night, and it’s in primo shape. I suspect we’ll see some records being broken.

Signup link is on the the homepage, or visit www.bearmountainchallenge.com for all the details.

Keep an eye also on NSMB forums for last minute updates.

Discussion: No responses yet


2007 Bear Mountain Challenge

Mark your calendars, because the Bear Mountain racing weekend is now happening July 7th/8th in Mission. This racing weekend will feature the XC Provincial Championships as well as a Downhill Race.

The XC Provincial Championships will be held Saturday, July 7th and are organized by Cycling BC. Registration will be available on Karelo and all event information will be posted on the Cycling BC website.

The Downhill race, organized and hosted by the Fraser Valley Mountain Bikers Association (FVMBA) will take place Sunday, July 8th. Event information will be available from the FVMBA website.

Both events will be sanctioned through Cycling BC. More information soon to come!

Note: this event was originally schedule to run in May, but the July dates have been chosen as a better fit.

Also note the original website “Bearmountainchallenge.com” is alive, but obsolete for the time being. Be patient - all will be worked out.

Discussion: No responses yet


The future of racing at Bear / Red Mountain

After 10 great years, race promoter Cory Adsit has decided to move on, but there are many who would like to see the race live on as more of a fun, local event.

If you would like to have some input into the future of the Bear Mountain DH and Red Mountain XC races, please come out to a meeting at Wenting’s Cycle in Mission, Wednesday March 7 at 6:00 PM. Wenting’s is located at 33245 N. Railway Ave.

Discussion: No responses yet


The future of downhill racing on Bear Mountain?

Will there be another Bear Mountain Challenge? Will there be a Bear Mountian race at all?

Come help decide and organize such an event.

Meet:
6:00pm January 17, 2006 (Wednesday)
33245 N. Railway Ave. Mission

Bruce (of Wentings) is quite keen on getting this rolling, and there’s alot to do, so come on out to discuss the future of MTB racing on Bear Mountain.

Please bring along any event ideas and any friends, enemies or relations who would like to be involved. Bruce would like to divide up the responsibilities surrounding the event, and decide on a date.

We should be able to rip through a reasonable agenda in an hour.

Thanks for your support - Don’t let racing on Bear Mountain die!!

Discussion: No responses yet