It isn’t too late to join in the fun for this year. Practice nights are every Tuesday and Thursday until February 19. Races are Tuesday evenings and start at 8pm. This is a BC Cup race series so jerseys will be awarded at the February 14 finals. There is only a couple weeks left so come out and race, practice or just watch.

In addition to jerseys there is a Norco Rampage frame with wheelset (that showed up this week) and we are giving it away. Plenty of other prizes will be given away from other sponsors including Kona, Chromag and Race Face. You won’t win prizes for sitting at home on the couch watching reality TV.

Check out some of Colin Cameron’s photos from this weeks event.

Trail markers should be mounted on posts or attached to trees by safer methods. If a marker absolutely must be mounted on a tree Aluminum spikes are the least dangerous. No steel spikes…ever, please.

While this may not be the easiest way of marking your trail, it does provide a way for you to get creative. Ropes? Rocks? What creative markers have you seen or used. Please feel free to let us know in the forum.

Thanks for all the hard work you put into our trails. We love you for it.

This Thursday, Jan 26 there will be a gear swap so bring your old bike, bars, brother or whatever else you are looking to get rid of.

Got something to say, say it in our forum’s 4X thread.

An old favorite was initially going to just be patched but ended up in a complete rebuild.

This section is amazing when you can make the gap, strong cornering ability is required here and the ones that can do it: love it. The patched berm should help with the effort.

The uphill split skinny had seen better days on Mongolloyd. Many riders had endo’d into the face and this section was seriously lacking. Watch for the bridge beyond to be replaced soon as well.

And now fixed.

Happy Holidays to the Vedder Trails!

A trail day will be held Sunday, Dec 18th to hopefully address these issues. This is a great opportunity to give back to the trails, meet other trail enthusiasts, and help to improve your local trail network for yourself and others to enjoy. We hope to see you there, and if not have a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.

When: Sunday, December 18th @ 9:30 am

Where: Meeting in the mountain bike parking lot on parmenter road

What to Bring: Shovels, rakes, buckets, picks, pulaski’s, and various other trail tools.

Bring some water and something to snack on.
Note: It will likely be quite cold, so please dress warm. I recommend wearing layers, a toque, warm boots and a pair of gloves.

The results are in for the First two FVMBA 4X races. The race on Tuesday was the last event for 2011, but join for the final four races on Jan. 24, 31, Feb. 7 & 14. Refer to our earlier post for details on your chance to escape the winter rain and race indoors.

Head over to our Facebook page to see photos from Tuesday’s race. If you have something to say about 4X racing you can post on our wall while you are there or feel free to leave comments on the 4X race thread in our forum.

2011 FVMBA AGM. Photo by Ian Harker

The AGM was the perfect chance to reflect on the successes of the past year while looking forward to opportunities on the horizon. Outgoing President, Collin Burke, did an amazing job of leading the FVMBA this year. Under his guidance, the association accomplished a lot, including trail days, toonie races, group rides, and a lot of trail upgrades and additions. The only consolation to seeing Collin step down is knowing that he will still serve as Vice President and that another competent leader, Kevin Koopmans, has filled his shoes. Kevin’s vision and love for the sport is why the FVMBA unanimously chose him as our new President.

Speech! Speech! Speech! 2012 FVMBA President Kevin Koopmans. Photo by Ian Harker.

2011 Trail Updates

Sumas

The FVMBA has established a partnership with Trails BC and the BC Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (MNRO) to develop a first-rate mountain biking destination on Sumas Mountain. The area has been formally recognized as the Sumas Mountain Bike Recreation Site and has seen enormous progress, including new trail signage and maps created in partnership with Gutsploder.net. These maps are now available at local bike shops.  Look to the near future for parking/staging areas at the top and bottom of the trails including picnic areas, toilets and information kiosks.

Work has begun on the upper staging area at Sumas. Photo by Kevin Koopmans.

The trails on Sumas continue to progress thanks to the dedication of our local volunteers. Knob Gobbler, Noah Fear and World Cup have seen a lot of trail work while Time Killer continues to be a Fraser Valley DH destination. Earlier this year, we saw Time Out decommissioned due to an adjacent development, however the new exit, known as No Time Out, is now complete and gets riders back to the main road along a wavy-gravy line with two impressive cedar bridges.

2011 FVMBA President Collin Burke on Sumas. Photo by Dave Mackie.

The FVMBA is also keenly aware of the importance of having trails for novice and young riders.  As a result, we have engaged an experienced trail building company to construct a 6km beginner-friendly trail on the XC side of Sumas, adding to the outstanding and flowy XC/AM trail network already in place.

Bear Mtn

Across the river in Mission, last winter’s logging on Bear had a significant impact on the trail system. A new road replaced most of Backdoor and leads directly to the new trailheads for Bigguns and Wasp, which also has an amazing new viewpoint. Backdoor will not be lost, however, as a reroute is being cut and will include a connecting trail down to Corduroy. This new section of trail will be a solid up/down XC trail, making it possible to ride to the top of Bear without the use of any roads. Combine this trail with Cranks, a new trail accessed from Doyle Road, and Bear Mountain has some amazing XC opportunities. If you haven’t parked at Doyle and ridden up Cranks to Corduroy yet, you are missing out!

Eugene’s Bridge on Corduroy. Photo by Ian Harker.

We have also built a brand new trail on Bear designed just for kids. Rock n’ Roll is an easily-accessible 200m loop adjacent to the Saunders Loop hiking trail. It was designed so parents can watch their kids as they ride the whole loop. Rock n’ Roll even has a small, ground-level wooden feature that the little ones can cut their teeth on!

Events

Toonie Races

The FVMBA Toonie Race Series was an incredible success this year.  The Mission XC at Heritage Park, the Sumas Super D, the Vedder Super D, the Red XC and Bear Super D Races saw great riders come out to compete.  Arthur Gaillot proved himself as our All Mountain master of the Super D and XC courses by taking the win! You can look ahead to more races next spring as the FVMBA kicks off yet another race season.

The mad dash starting the first race of the Toonie Series. Photo by Matt Scott.

Many thanks go out to the supporters of this world class event, including Pinkbike, Kintec Footwear, Life Cycles, Cranky’s Bike Shop, Velocity Cycles, Jack’s Cycle, Wenting’s Cycle, Pedal Sport, SuspensionWerx, Urge Bike Products and Avenue Body Shop.

Heritage Park Toonie Race winners Karen Rodgers, Jean Ann Berkenpas and Julie Kozier. Photo by Matt Scott.

Support the next FVMBA Race Series by joining us for the Indoor 4X Races licensed by Cycling BC! This is a BC Cup Series race, so jerseys will be awarded. More details on the 4X races can be found at www.fvmba.com.

Bear Mountain Challenge

The FVMBA is stoked to have again worked with the Bear Mountain Challenge in hosting one of the best DH and XC races in the 2011 BC Cup Series and we will be involved again next year in putting on this world class event.

Group Rides and Trail Days

The FVMBA has hosted a number of group rides throughout 2011 and our goal is to hold even more in the coming year.  Our annual Halloween Ride at Vedder Mountain was a huge success with many showing up in hilarious costumes, despite the downpour.

Trail work. Photo by Ian Harker.

Also, countless hours of volunteer work went into trail days this past year, including lots of love to Dilemma on Vedder Mountain. Thank you to all those who come out and earn good karma while giving back to the trails!

Look to next year when the FVMBA is planning to organize Gear Swaps at local events!

FVMBA Forum

The new FVMBA forum, accessed from the www.fvmba.com website, is now the place to go to find out about Fraser Valley trail conditions, to look for riding partners or to voice your concerns.

Strategic Partnerships with Local Governments and Trail Users

The FVMBA has recently forged a key relationship with Trails and Recreation Sites BC to legitimize trails in the Fraser Valley.  We are also maintaining relationships with the Vedder Mountain Trails Society, the City of Abbotsford, the City of Chilliwack and the District of Mission. All of these affiliations help gain support for the development and promotion of local trails.

The best part about the AGM is the opportunity to look back at recent success stories while forming a vision for what the new year has to offer. Although this year was a huge success, the FVMBA is only just warming up! The general plan for the new year is to continually build new trails, plan more events and develop new partnerships to help progress mountain biking in the Fraser Valley.

If you would like to get involved with the FVMBA you can email us or find us in the forums.

If have any comments, feel free to say something on our AGM thread in the forum.