Author: Matt Jones

CAMBC and UVA

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date February 22, 2015

O-Hill. It’s rocky, it’s steep, and it is as “in-town” as Charlottesville mountain biking gets. And now CAMBC can help maintain the trail network on O-Hill as well as some other UVA properties.

After 5 years of negotiating we’ve finally signed an MOU with UVA that allows us to build and maintain trails on undeveloped UVA property. This is significant for several reasons. First, UVA is the largest land owner in the City of Charlottesville and has the largest undeveloped land holdings in the City. This leads to the second significance… there are existing primitive trails (single track) on much of UVA’s undeveloped land, including portions of the Rivanna Trail and the trails at Observatory Hill (a.k.a. Ohill). These trails represent the bulk of single track available in the City of Charlottesville, and thus are very popular. Many of the trails on Ohill have gone neglected for 5+ years, plus many were not originally created with sustainable design, so there has been considerable erosion on those trails. This MOU will allow our club to take initiatives to re-route, restore, or otherwise improve the trail system on Ohill in the coming years. Our first trail work day is slated for February 28 where we intend to do a minor re-route to correct an eroded and poorly designed section of the Rivanna Trail on Ohill. This work day will be a joint effort between CAMBC and the Rivanna Trail Foundation.

Community

Bluegrass, Beer, and Bikes!!! March 28th

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date February 13, 2015

[cryout-button-color url=”http://www.evite.com/event/039E7XZMGCMDGEQ3KEPEYKKINSGJFY” color=”#47AFFF”]Camping RSVP[/cryout-button-color]

Mark your calendars for the CAMBC spring meeting and FUNdraiser:

March 28, 2PM.

Travis Book, local singlespeeder hardman of the Infamous Stringdusters will be playing for us; at Devils Backbone Brewery down in Nelson County. The Devils Backbone Trails will be open all day, we’ll have DBB beer; and food of course. Stay tuned for some earlier guided ride options way up high in the National Forest, the morning of. All beer sale proceeds go directly to CAMBC, to support our efforts on our local trails; like tool purchases and equipment rental for Ragged Mountain (see above ^). This is going to be a great event. Kids of all ages, fabulous LOCAL music, food, beer, and trails. Oh yeah, it’s in the heart of springtime too! More details as we get them, but plan on attending with the whole family.

Here’s the plan!

Saturday:

Beginner Ride: 12 noon. Meet at Devils Backbone Brewery parking lot, here: DBB location. Sean Denham and Matt Mcclleland are the ride leaders. This will be a 1 ish hour ride on the flat trails on the Devils Backbone campus. After the show, Travis Book will also be leading a ride, 6 pm. Travis lives on site and built most of these trails!

Intermediate Ride: 9 am. Meet at the entrance to Sherando Lake, here: Sherando Lake Entrance location. Ride leaders are David Stackhouse and Derek Glass. This ride will include significant but low grade climbing, lots of excellent single track, and some fun challenging rock gardens. The route: up White Rock Trail to the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Slacks Overlook, Back down Slacks to Sherando Lake. 2-3 hrs. If you have fun on the Rivanna trail, Ohill, and/or Walnut Creek, this ride is for you! Self supported: bring tubes, food, water, repair equipment, etc.

Advanced Ride: 9 am. Meet at the Turkey Pen trailhead on the Coal Road, Sherando, here; Coal Road meeting location Ride leaders are Todd Neimier and Kyle Rodland. This ride will be a classic Sherando suffer fest. Expect loads of climbing and some very challenging downhill. ROCKS. Possibilities include Torry’s Ridge, Kennedy’s Ridge, etc. If you have been craving a big mountain ride but don’t know the good routes, this ride is for you. Please bring plenty of food and water, at least two tubes, spare hanger, patch kit, etc.

Music!: Travis Book of the Infamous Stringdusters will begin at about 2pm, and play until 5ish at Devils Backbone Brewery. Kleen Canteen Stainless pint cups are $20 which includes beer. Admission is free otherwise. Food and such will be available via the DBB restaurant. Raffle tickets, swag, and other fun stuff is to be had! Join us!!

Camping: Set up will be available anytime on Saturday. Camping will be in a nice grassy flat area, next to your vehicle, right on the campus. Car camping works. PLEASE rsvp here: Free camping and breakfast RSVP If we don’t know you are coming, we won’t have the proper porta-johns and the right amount of food. Do me a solid favor and hit the link, add your name. Deadline for camping/breakfast RSVP is Thursday night. Camping/after party will likely include: campfires, night laps on the trails, and good times for everyone. Breakfast will be provided by CAMBC on Sunday morning. If you don’t like pancakes, eggs, bacon, juice, coffee, etc. you’re out of luck!

Sunday:

Breakfast starting who knows when…, but probably 7, 8 am or so..

Beginner Ride: 10ish, possibly earlier, meet at DBB: Ride Leaders are Joe Hoskins and Sean Denham. This will be a variation on the same rides as Saturday.

Intermediate Ride: departing DBB at 10ish: Ride Leaders are David Stackhouse, Geoff Keenan, Matt Mcclelland, Bobby Casteen, and John Maine. This ride will be a bigger ride than Saturday’s intermediate ride, but similar in terms of difficulty, at Sherando. We will sample some of the classic routes!

Advance Ride: Ride leaders are John Lewis and Chris Hoy, departs DBB at 10ish for Whetstone Ridge. This ride is one of the more difficult but spectacular rides in the Blue Ridge. Plan on some hike a bikes, rocky chutes, a long flowing downhill, capped with a pavement/gravel climb back to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Plan for mechanicals!! This is a 4-5 hr adventure.

Don’t forget to RSVP (Free camping and breakfast RSVP) for the camping by Thursday.

Ride Reports: SERS

SVBC/CAMBC Superbowl Sunday Ride

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date February 10, 2015

A group of CAMBC members, Josh Wall, Greg Bruen, David Stackhouse and Drew Duke met up with other riders from the greater Shenandoah area on Feb 1st for the annual Superbowl Sunday Ride. The ride started at the Briery Branch Community Center not far from Stokesville, VA. We had been watching the weather all week, and the forecast changed from an unpleasant freezing rain to a clear sunny day good for a ride. The temperature was around 32 degrees when we headed out at 9:45.

The first 11 miles is all SR 257 carving up into the snow covered mountains. It’s starts off as a slow incline becoming steeper as the road serpentines higher and higher. After 11 miles of road riding, you finally arrive at the forest service road that leads to Flagpole Knob, the highest point in Rockingham County. The service road was completely snow covered several inches. The views here were great and made up for the road riding. The service road was another 3 miles for a total of 14 miles and 2800 feet of climbing to Flagpole Knob.

Once on top, there were 42 other riders, two guys trying to build a fire and one properly inflated football. Everyone mingled, re-evaluated their layers, ate a lunch, snapped some pictures, got a group shot and then everyone got back on their bikes for the descent. The CAMBC crew returned to the service road and headed to Meadow Knob . This was a fun section where you could get up speed in the slippery snow, riding right on the threshold of losing control.

At Meadow knob we searched around and found the single track decent that veered off the open plateau into the deep woods. Not sure of the trail name here; Stackhouse thought it was Pine knob. Whatever the name, it was a blast in the snow, so I can’t wait to ride it when it is dry. It’s a quick steep straight descent, but lots of fun with plenty of obstacles to launch off. Other than a couple of large trees across the trail, it’s all fast fast fast, then braking really hard to make a sharp turn once you get to the bottom. From there we headed back on a service road, making our way to the asphalt and then finally back to the community center for a total of 25 miles and 3000 feet.

Writeup Courtesy of Drew Duke

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Community

Toy Lift Build a Success! Thank You!

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date December 6, 2014

From Shawn:

Just finished putting the finishing touches on the last big wheels and safety checked the final bikes from the drop off sites for the night.

Looking around this room, all I can say is thank you to everyone for helping making the 2014 Toy Lift bike build such a huge success!

It looks like we managed to get a toy to every kid and thanks to the generous outpouring from all of you, we built, donated, polished and prepared over 400 bikes!

Thanks everyone for all you did!

Shawn

Community

Toy Lift Bike Build!!!

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date December 2, 2014

CAMBC has taken delivery of 190 26″ bicycles, and another 100 20″ kids bikes. We will be over in the Earlysville Business Park assembling all of these bikes in time for pickup this weekend. What kid would not want a bike for Christmas. CAMBC and all of the bicycle donors want to bring joy to kids in need this holiday season.

Thanks to those who have donated! We are still in need of more bikes. If you have a kids’ bike cluttering your bike stable, bring it to the Earlysville Business Park this week.

Wednesday’s build team almost completed the 190 26″ bikes. The remaining 100 20″ bikes will arrive tomorrow. Come on out and help get bikes to these kids. It is a great time.

Thursday’s bike build team finished the 100 20″ kids bikes, and tuned up a few leftover bikes from the previous year. So far, 320 bikes are ready for homes. Shawn is sourcing another 150 bikes to try to get as many bikes as possible into the hands of the 500+ kids that asked for them. Stay tuned!

Advocacy

CALL TO ACTION: Ragged Mountain Reservoir Area

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date November 10, 2014

CAMBC crew;

[cryout-button-color url=”https://cambc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Public-Meeting.docx” color=”#47AFFF”]see attached flyer[/cryout-button-color]

You’ve heard us talking about the huge opportunity that is the Ragged Mountain Reservoir property. This is the land out reservoir road from Ohill, formally managed by the Ivy Creek Foundation. Ivy Creek Foundation is no longer managing this property as of the completion of the new dam and reservoir. The City of Charlottesville Parks and Recreation Department are hosting a public meeting this Wednesday, November 12, 6 pm at City Space on the downtown mall. They are considering rule changes at Ragged Mountain, which could include, among other things, access for cycling. As many of you already know, this property (and adjacent properties on the other side of interstate (linkable via existing tunnels)) represents one of the biggest forested and big mountain public land essentially IN TOWN. Put simply, if we can advocate for and help build a system of shared use trails out there, it could easily result in many, many additional miles of singletrack, including big mountain riding, accessible right from town. Heck, you can link to it from Ohill! It’s easily the biggest terrain this side of the blue ridge mountains.

This is a call to action. Please plan to attend the meeting. The future uses of this property hinge on this and upcoming planning meetings. CAMBC will play a major role here. It is easily our top trail advocacy project. YOU ARE CAMBC! Come out and support additional trail access at Ragged Mountain.

I’m currently editing a letter that will go out, together, from the Rivanna Trails Foundation, Charlottesville Area Trail Runners, and CAMBC. When we get it completed, I’ll send it out. It has our current talking points, tips on what you might consider saying at the meeting, etc.

If you have any questions about this exciting development, don’t hesitate to email or call me.

Thanks!

Sam Lindblom

CAMBC Board President

Advocacy Archive Community

Oct 25th. Take a Kid Mountain Biking!!!

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date October 9, 2014

Come out and support the next generation of ripper-snappers at Preddy Creek. We need club members there to lead rides, cheer the kids on, and show them real trail riding! This event is FREE!

If you have a moment to help up spread the word, please print this flyer and post publicly. We really hope for a big turnout this year! Take a Kid Mountain Biking Flyer

Ride Reports: Beginners

Great Turnout for Beginner Rides

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date August 23, 2014

Once again, I am very proud of this club. Especially our newest riders and our newly certified IMBA Level 1 ride guide, Rob Eastman. Rob has been diligently leading our beginner rides each week. Last week we had a turnout of 20 riders! Their skills ranged from those who have never been offroad before, to having some experience riding trails and needing some coaching to make them better riders. Often more experienced riders join in on the fun to cruise along with everyone to show their support.

The beginner rides are offered each week, rotating between the trails at Preddy Creek, Pleasant Grove, and Walnut Creek. The trails chosen are generally smooth, with occasional technical features enabling the group to work on specific riding skills. The rides are directed at those who are just getting started, and kids are welcome as well. To get involved, please email beginners@cambc.org for details, and watch the mailing list for weekly ride announcements

Advocacy Community

Tool Donation to RTF

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date August 13, 2014

The Rivanna Trail Foundation is an important CAMBC partner, whose volunteers keep the RTF trail beautifully maintained. Recently, they had some tools stolen from their shed, severely limiting their ability to remove overgrowth from the trails, and keep the trail corridor open. Because of their dedication to local trails, and our ongoing partnership, CAMBC has donated $500 to the RTF to replace their stolen tools. Blue Ridge Cyclery has also provided a matching $500 donation as well.

Speaking on behalf of the CAMBC board, I am proud of our club and its members. It is your membership dollars, and volunteer hours that help us give back to the trails. Thank you for coming out to volunteer at club events like pouring beer at the Pavillion, Better World Betty Clips Festival, SM100 aid stations, and the XTerra. The club gets paid for it’s volunteers at these events, which lets us reinvest that money into making Charlottesville an awesome place to ride.

Ride Reports: SERS

SERS: Douthat

Post author By Matt Jones
Post date August 10, 2014

Rain…Lots of rain. As we climbed into the clouds, the rain got worse. To everyone on the ride, it was well worth it, though. The rain served to knock the dust down on the trail a bit, and made climbs tacky with very little wheel spin. Downhills were tricky over slick roots, but the smooth trails of Douthat kept us mostly on course.

If you have not visited Douthat State Park yet, you should. 20+ miles of big mountain riding. For this ride, we followed the course of the Middle Mountain Mama, an annual race held in the park. The trail takes you up a relentless climb on middle mountain, followed by a ridge ride and downhill run back to the valley. The ride then continues up a series of steeper climbs on the other side of the valley. These climbs are broken up with stretches of ridge riding. On a clear day, the views are spectacular. Downhill on either side of the valley is fast, smooth, off camber, and narrow. You can quickly get yourself into trouble if you allow yourself too much speed. There are a lot of switchbacks that seem to appear out of nowhere.

The crew in attendance, Jay, Josh, Greg, and myself had a great time. Stay tuned for a possible fall camping trip at Douthat.

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