As the United Riders of Cumberland roll into their tenth year of existence, they have grown in their function from a riding and racing club to a trail management organization. Recently renewing the 2 year initial land access agreement with the local private forest landowners, it shows their hard work has been viewed positively by the powers that be. To help in this ongoing project, there are a few great ways you can support the United Riders of Cumberland and the associated trails.
The future looks bright for mountain biking in Cumberland and the United Riders of Cumberland are doing great work to bring the trail network into the next phases.
The Village of Cumberland and the United Riders of Cumberland (UROC) mountain biking association, in cooperation with the Department of Recreation & Tourism at Vancouver Island University, is conducting a survey to describe the characteristics of trails users (both local and tourists) and their opinions on trail management in Cumberland. The results will be used to support the further development and management of the trails network in the Cumberland area. The results will be published in a report for the Cumberland community.
Tell us about your Trails experiences in Cumberland and Enter to WIN a uniquely Cumberland prize package worth over $450!
Great news coming from the hill! It’s great to see some of our local builders working to bring some new trails and flow.
By mid-July we expect to have 4-6 trails open with something for every riding level and type. We will have flowy, technical and cross-country. Crews will be working all-season long to expand.
Below are photos of a Bike Park trail walk from last week. The lower half of the mountain is drying up nicely and crews have been busy shaping Green Line and Back-in-Black. The snow has begun to melt on the upper mountain, things are still wet but have been drying up fast.
Rocky Mountain Bicycles have been chosen for our rental fleet. The two bikes we will have available are the Maiden Park, a fully carbon DH bike and the Altitude 730, a great bike for our new flowy trails! There is a small repair and rental shop set up in the Alpine Lodge to deal with minor repairs such as flats and brake tuning. For larger repairs we encourage you to support your local bike shop.
Maybe it’s something in the water, the trees or the sea air, but Vancouver Island has brought forth a long list of cycling talents. Most of us will agree, a giant has fallen with the loss of Stevie Smith, but his legend will live on with mountain bikers across this island and around the world.
Devinci Cycles – May 10, 2016
Canadian Downhill Legend Steve Smith Dies at 26
Rider’s drive, determination, and love for living will be remembered by all those whose paths he crossed
World Cup sensation Steve Smith passed away this afternoon after suffering a massive brain injury resulting from an enduro motorcycle accident in his hometown of Nanaimo, British Columbia. He was 26 years old.
“Today we lost a great person, who taught me about myself and influenced many,” says Devinci Global Racing Team Manager, Gabe Fox. “Stevie was a fierce competitor, an honest friend and a rider who made me proud on countless occasions. I am honoured to consider him my friend for so long.”
At UCI MTB World Cup, MT ST ANNE, Quebec canada
Smith hailed from Vancouver Island, where he sharpened his mountain biking skills on the rainforest trails of Mt. Prevost. A force on the Canadian downhill racing scene for years, he became an international household name in 2013 after pocketing World Cup wins at Leogang, Hafjell, and Mont-Sainte-Anne, Que. Those efforts culminated in the World Cup overall title the same year—downhill racing’s ultimate achievement.
Smith is revered by fellow competitors and loved by friends, family and fans, who’ve been following what had been an explosive start to the 2016 season. Pushing past injuries that led to consecutive sidelined seasons, The Canadian Chainsaw was back in podium form this past April for the UCI WC Mountain Bike opener in Lourdes, France, where he finished in second place.
A driven athlete and fierce competitor, Smith was humble and grounded off the track. He was a notable influence on all young and aspiring Canadian gravity racers and others around the world. He was also a key mentor to friend and DGR teammate, Mark Wallace.
“I would not be anywhere on the bike without Steve,” Wallace says. “Most importantly he taught me to be confident in my abilities, race my bike properly and take risks. As training partners, we pushed each other to the limit.”
Downhill at the 2013 Leogang UCI MTB World Cup Finals, Austria.
At home, in his close-knit Vancouver Island community, Smith was known as a consummate outdoorsman. This is where he spent time fishing, camping, and sinking birdie putts on the golf course. His spirit was infectious and inspirational. He passed away peacefully surrounded by his close family and those he positively affected. Steve Smith is survived by his devoted mother, Tiann, sister, Kara, his uncle, Eric, niece and nephew, Myla and Luke, grandmother, Judi, and girlfriend, Caily Schenkeveld.
His family remembers him as a great warrior.
“Steve was the most successful Canadian Gravity Racer of all time,” Fox says. “His passing leaves a huge hole in our hearts here at Devinci.”
, during the 2016 UCI MTB World Cup, round two Cairns, Australia.
A Celebration of Life will be held on May 21 at 1 p.m. at the Vancouver Island Convention Centre in Nanaimo, B.C. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the “Stevie Smith Legacy Fund” atwww.gofundme.com/23k7fus. Funds will be earmarked for a Tiann Smith initiative, assisting talented young athletes.
UROC has been asked to communicate the following harvesting information from TimberWest. Although this area falls outside of the URoC – TW land use agreement area we will work with TW to minimize impact to trails where operationally possible and remove debris for trail reconstruction.
“We are planning to start road construction tomorrow (March 24th) in block CW001 near Forbidden Plateau, see attached map. Initially only the feller buncher will be operating in the block and road construction crews will follow within the next 2-3 weeks.”
Affected trails to include:
Upper Cabin Fever, Cabin Fever, Gecko, Two Sheiks, Screamin Deamon, Iron Horse.
Please follow any signage and please respect the boundaries of the logging and possible blasting activities.
Trails are open! Please read the attached notification regarding the re-opening of the trail network and active hauling operations. Drought codes remain high and fire risk remains elevated, please be diligent and respect current conditions. PLEASE SHARE THE TRAIL LOVE!! Happy Trails!
Come join UROC and Trail Bicycles in Cumberland to give back to the trails. We will have the UROC tent set up and the BBQ going with smokies and fixings. So come on out and move some dirt, eat some food and win some draw prizes sponsored by Trail Bicycles.
Make sure you bring lots of water, a good pair of gloves and maybe a snack. UROC will supply all the tools but if you have a favorite tool please feel free to bring it.
We will be working in the recent clear cut near the chlorine shack. UROC has flagged a climbing trail to the top of President’s Choice and Hancock has kept the existing Presidents Choice climb and a bit of Matt’s trail. This is a great opportunity to build some new trail as well as fix up some old existing ones. No experience necessary. Looking forward to seeing you out there!
Logging operations in the woodlot on Forbidden will be starting June 30th for approx 1 month.
The “No Entry zone” includes trails north of Black Dog including sections of Gecko, Dirty Jane, Puntledge Plunge and White Rabbit. Please use Black Dog & drop down to Transmission for access to Nymph Falls when riding Gecko. Signs and tape will be in place.
The operation is relatively small with 2 to 3 employees, so activity may not be apparent, but please respect the signs in good faith to the landowner.
Trees may be down across trail without notice.
Please respect the woodlot license holder’s request for no access 7 days a week during this work process.
No Entry on red trails within purple shaded woodlot area. Yellow line is road and harvesting location within woodlot