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- 2010 (August) - Columbia Valley Cycling Society Seeks Trail Labourers
- 2010 (June) - The CVCS’s Stance on Trail Maps
- 2010 (June) - Brian Johnson Poker Rally Memorial
- 2010 (May) - The Johnson Trail Maintenance Day
- 2010 (May) - CVCS 3rd Annual Bike & Gear Swap
- 2010 (May) - Swansea Trail Maintenance Day
- 2010 (March) - CVCS Annual General Meeting
- 2010 (March) - Cyclists Rally Against HST
- 2009 (October) - International Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day
- 2009 (September) - Thanks from Cub-Scoots
- 2008 (October) - East Kootenay on the world map!
- 2008 (July) - Near Marvel Pass
- 2008 (June) - New bridge at "Along the Schlong" trail
- 2008 (April) - First-ever bike swap was a runaway success
- 2007 (September) - Brewer Creek / CVCS Epic ride
- 2007 (August) - Keystone Basin, Revelstoke
- 2007 (July) - Club BBQ at Lake Lillian
- 2007 (June) - Mad Trapper Race at Panorama
- 2007 (June) - Kids Bike Rodeo
Columbia Valley Cycling Society Seeks Trail Labourers
August 31, 2010
The CVCS is taking applications for trail crew labourers.
Labourers are responsible for seasonal trail work on CVCS-maintained cross counrty and downhill mountain bike trails from September to November in the Invermere area.
This work will include working with a chainsaw, ground working, and hand tools to repair and re-route damaged sections of trail.
The successful person will need to have the following:
- Previous trail building experience and understand IMBA trail building standards
- A driver’s license and vehicle
- Chainsaw operator certificate
- First aid certificate
Please email applications with references to cvcyclingsociety@hotmail.com
Deadline to apply is September 15th.
Thanks to all who apply but only those considered for the position will be contacted.
The Columbia Valley Cycling Society’s Stance on Trail Maps
June 25, 2010
The Columbia Valley Cycling Society will soon release trail maps for the “Along the Johnson” trail and the downhill trails at Mt. Swansea.
The Columbia Valley Cycling Society believes in responsible, sustainable mountain bike advocacy and promotion. To that end, the club has signed agreements with the B.C. provincial Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and the Arts to maintain and develop the sanctioned mountain bike trails at Swansea and Along the Johnson.
Land use issues in B.C. are complicated. Today it is common for private landholders, parks, municipalities, First Nations, and other stakeholders to be addressed and accommodated in order to have a trail approved. This can be a lengthy process, but the Columbia Valley Cycling Society believes the long-term benefits are worth it.
Once trails are mapped, the number of riders visiting those spots will increase dramatically. Non-sanctioned trails do not get the necessary maintenance to withstand a great deal of use, and sending more riders to trails that are on sensitive land, for example private land or land sensitive to First Nations, could realistically lead to those entire areas being shut down and being made off-limits for mountain bikers.
The trails at Mt. Swansea and Along the Johnson are maintained and signed by the CVCS. The club believes that only maintained and signed trails should be distributed on a map as it is extremely easy (even for locals) to get lost on valley trails and because we want newcomers to the Valley to have a truly enjoyable experience, not a bummer, bushwhack ride.
The CVCS wants to build the local mountain biking scene in a responsible and sustainable manner. Those of us that live here or visit often know that the Columbia Valley is a world-class biking destination. It is our belief that mapping well-maintained, and sanctioned trails will show off some of our better trails and build enthusiasm at home and beyond for riding in the Valley. As support for the club grows, we will continue to work with stakeholders in the valley toward increasing the number of sanctioned, mapped bike trails.
The Columbia Valley Cycling Society (since 2006)
For more information on the subject please visit IMBA ressources web page
Brian Johnson Poker Rally Memorial
June 19, 2010
It was a nice sunny day, finally warm! More than 20 people came to play poker, ride the Johnson trail and enjoy the BBQ. The best hand winner was Don Miller and everyone present went home with a prize.
This was a great time to play and remember Brian.
The Johnson Trail Maintenance Day
May 15, 2010
Wow! So much accomplished in such a short period!
A great crew of 12 people came to work on the trail. Some people were at the Swansea trail day as well. WOW! That is some commitment to the local trails!
The trail was groomed, maintenance and improvment was done on the side hills and post were put in place for signage. Plus, All the signs are now in place for everyone to enjoy the trail without getting lost!
After the long day working on the trail, everbody enjoyed the A & W sirloin burgers and drinks!
Thanks everyone, we are really greateful to have you on board!!
CVCS 3rd Annual Bike & Gear Swap
May 2nd, 2010
Thanks to Darcy Martin, the Bike & Gear Swap came alive again this year! This was short, but so worth it.
We got over 60 bikes. Any type of bike, name it we had it: kids, tag-a-long, tricycle, hybrid, road, DH, XC, freeride, .... from $20 to $2500. We had all kinds of bike gear and parts: helmets, bike protection gear, bike racks, wheels, tires, tubes, seats, disc brakes, bike trainers,... something for everyone. And this event was not just about bikes, we had: raquets, rollerblades, running shoes, exerciser, and even wakeboards!
There was a line up or people at the door to get first peak at the gear, and in few minutes we had a line up at the till. We sold for about $5000 in 45 minutes. A lots of good deals to be made!
We would like to thank everybody that came in with gear, to buy and to volunteer, this was a successful fundraiser for the CVCS.
Swansea Trail Maintenance Day
May 1st, 2010
More and more people wants to give back to the trails we love to ride. 20 people came to Swansea Mountain to get their hands dirty. Thanks to these hard core volunteers we rebuilt, groomed and refreshed the Mount Swansea trails. Dead falls were removed and few more signs put up. Thanks to all the volunteer we got a lot of work done!
This was a perfect day for a trail maintenance day at Swansea, not too warm, not to hot!
Thanks to A&W the whole crew got feed with sirlion burger cooked on site, with beverages and snack.
And what a better way to end the day then with a bike ride down the trails!
Happy Trails!
CVCS
CVCS Annual General Meeting
March 25, 2010
WOW! What a great turn out! More than 30 peoples showed up at the AGM. I bet it's because of the free pizza and beverage! ;-)
No joke, a lot happened, here is a summary of the evening:
Financial
- The money raised ($1611.20) through the Brian Johnson memorial fund will go to maintenance of the Along the Johnson trail.
- Last year we were 100 members, this year we are already at 50.
Trails
- Aina Cernenoks (Recreation Officer, Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts) came to talk to the crowd about some of the work the CVCS has done with the ministry, particularly at Mt. Swansea and the Along the Johnson trail. Aina says a crew of Job Action Plan workers spent some time at Mt. Swansea last fall and that most of the signs which are planned to be put up at Swansea are.
- The next trails that the CVCS will work with the ministry on are planned to be: Steamboat Mountain, Kloosifier, Bear Creek to Nipika, Brewer Lakes trail
- Swansea and The Johnson trail maintenance day are planned in May.
- Mt. Swansea trail system and the Along the Johnson trail will soon be available.
Fundraising / Events
- CVCS bike gear swap and kids bike rodeo are cancelled for this year, unless someone wants to organize it.
- Goup rides on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday all season, something for everyone!
- June 19 - Memorial poker rally ride for Brian Johnson.
- July 10 - fundraiser BBQ Interior world on 7th avenue, Invermere.
- July 10/11 - Canadian National DH Championships at Panorama.
- July 17/18 - Canada Cup DH at Panorama.
- October - IMBA take a kid mountain biking day.
Others
- CVCS has applied for a Columbia Basin Trust grant to hire a summer trail crew for Mt. Swansea and Along the Johnson – Interviews with the CBT will happen in April
- CVCS would like to see a bike park at the Mt. Nelson Athletic Park in Invermere
- CVCS is asking that mountain bikers stay away from trails in the Lake Lillian area the weekend of April 17/18 as the local rod and gun club will hold an archery event there that weekend
- Peter Holmes, a local wildlife biologist, has asked that user groups to stay clear of mountain goat lick areas near the Lake Lillian trails and pass the power line in the Canyon trail
- The website has been refreshed, online registartion will be soon available.
- Many New local retailers discounts for CVCS members.
- CVCS T-shirt are now available at both local bike shops.
Questions/comments from the audience
- Lyle Wilson proposes an endurance race partnership between the CVCS and the Nipika Resort.
- Darcy Martin proposes a swap for kids’ bikes.
- Jordi Kirk says that Sportuccino’s shop will sell items as fundraisers for the Bike club if the product is donated.
- Trails in the area are discussed and Aina Cernenoks says the Spirit Trail is a no go for mapping and signage, also Juniper Heights will not likely be mapped and signed.
- Darcy Lehr says he’d like to see trails built in one area and not spread out too far.
- The Fairmont Trail Society would like to work in partnership with the CVCS.
- Lyle Wilson suggests a trail builders’ workshop for one weekend.
Cyclists Rally Against HST
March 3, 2010
Say NO to the HST, visit: http://fighthst.com
Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day
October 3, 2009 / By Mylene Lefebvre
The day started with a rain in the morning, but the rain stopped just a bit before the ride.
Only few kids were courageous enough to come ride that day. The oldest was 10 years old and the youngest 4.5 months.
Even if it was chilly we had a great ride and the BBQ was perfect after the ride!
See you next year and hope for better weather!
Big THANK YOU from the Invermere first cub troops!
September 30, 2009 / By Lisa Lehr
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Darcy Lehr volunteer is time to create a Kids Bike Rodeo for the Invermere Cub -Scoots on September 30.
Thanks Darcy!
2008 Near Marvel Pass
July, 2008 / By Tom Hoyne
Sue and I did that last weekend with our 2 border collies, Macy and Sonny. It was sunny and hot.
The trail is a hiking trail so it is technical and there is a fair amount of carrying/pushing your bike.
It took about 6hrs, Marvel pass is close to Mount Eon, which is close to Mount Assiniboine.
It is Grizzly country but we didn′t see any signs of them. It is definitely an epic!!
New Bridge at "Along the Schlong" trail
June, 2008 / By Mylene Lefebvre
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Thanks to 4 guys (Darcy, Jonathan, Adrian and Dwane), the Schlong trail has a new bridge to cross the first river.
2007 Brewer Creek
September 8, 2007 / By Darcy Lehr
Finally it was here, the day I′d been waiting for all summer. Brewer creek trail! We had left this ride until the end of the season because there can be snow on the
trail until July. Well it was definitely the end of the season as we got our first snowfall the night before and the trail was a bit slippery up until we got to the lake.
This was my first ride on the trail and I was on a loaner bike… Great, I′m going to get damaged today I thought!
But the Giant Reign I borrowed from Aaron was a tractor on the slippery roots and all was good. I rode just about every tech section on the way to the lake except a few. Jordie showed me how it was done on the ones I missed.
We had lunch at the lake and from there it was more climbing and crossing a couple avy paths. We did pretty well with the only 1 mechanical of the day (broken derailleur) on the way to the old trapper cabin. It came at a good time because I needed a rest anyway!
From here things went from great to outstanding… After mostly climbing for 3 hrs it was time to head down, way down. For 45 minutes, with plenty of hooting and hollering the trail followed Hopeful creek right onto "Let it ride" a trail in Panorama′s bike park. I was in need of a frosty beverage, so we let off the brakes until we rolled on to the patio of the Picnic Deli in the village.
Outstanding! What a trail. I can′t wait for the next one.
2007 Keystone Basin
August 15, 2007 / By Mylene Lefebvre
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On a beautiful day in August, we left early in the morning to drive to Revelstoke and met with a few more friends from Invermere. From Revelstoke we had to drive for awhile pass the dam and climb on a windy road to make it to the trail head.
The first climb is pretty rough but once you start to see the basin you quickly forget . In the meadow we ran into a snowmobile sign, by the height of the sign we could imagine how much snow they get in that area!
We all made it to the hut and back and made a few stops on the way to relax, enjoy the view and have a snack. It was a total of about 3.5 hours of biking. Then we finished the day with a quick soak in really cold river water and had a good drink!
Everything was perfect: trail, blue sky, friends, bike, view,...! We are so lucky to live in BC. So many bike trails and scenery to see.
Annual Club BBQ at Lake Lillian
July 28, 2007 / By Mylene Lefebvre
This was the first of an annual BBQ for the CVCS members.
InJuly everyone is busy enjoying the summer. So we thought it could be fun to invite all CVCS members for a nice bike ride at Lillian Lake and finish the day with a BBQ and a swim.
It was a wonderful afternoon. Lots of people came, but for whatever reason we all took a break from biking and we all went for a long swim with the kids and the dogs. This was the first time we used our new BBQ, donated by Interior World. The food was excellent, big thanks to the cook, and we had tasteful beer from our Light House sponsor.
Great people, great fun!
2007 Mad Trapper Race at Panorama
June 24, 2007 / By Darcy Lehr
Well it′s all over, the 2007 Mad Trapper mountain bike race was a huge success. There were over 170 riders sent down the mountain on "the new race course". I say this because for the first time since Panorama started hosting the provincial sanctioned race it was run on Lookout. This is a way different trail than the old course Insanity, which is really technical and gnarly.
Lookout is rated as a blue level trail but when ridden at race speed it gave riders from every class a challenge.
The decision to change up the course was a tough one. It left me really nervous right up until I saw the first rider to come down in practice. Before he even said anything I knew by the smile on his face it was going to be a great course.
I thought to myself, ok the course is great! Now if the timing runs smooth we′re clear for a perfect weekend. Gordon Bagan and the Windermere Valley Ski Club were up to the task. They came out on Saturday to run a few test times. I was able to get a few laps in and everything went smooth. Big thanks to them!
Race day started early for a Sunday, but all the volunteers showed up on time and we were set to race. More thanks to them! 170 thanks I′m sure as without the vollies the race would not happen.
Our BBQ team of Tom, Sue, Duane and Aaron, did a great job to promote the club and feed some hungry people. Thanks to them and Mylene to allow us to use up Lusti′s deck space.
I hope to see you all out next year for Panorama′s opening weekend, if not racing or volunteering come out and watch.
Cheers!
2007 Kids Bike Rodeo
June 3, 2007 / By Mylene Lefebvre
We had so much fun! The day was perfect, sunny and warm! This was the first year that CVCS organized the Kids Bike Rodeo.
This event turned out pretty good as we doubled the number of participants from last year.
The kids loved it and learned a lot. They first had to register and then they got their helmet adjusted. Security first! At the busiest time of the day the kids had to line up to have their bike checked by professional bike mechanics from Columbia Cycle and Giant.
After that, the next step was to do the 4 riding skill tests. Not easy for everybody!
And to wrap up the adventure, the kids got home with a ruban, nice freebees from ICBC and a snack to reward all their effort!
Good job everyone! Hope to see you again next spring for the next Kids Bike Rodeo!
Happy Trails!
Thunderbird mine
August 2006 / By Darcy Lehr
Tom, Sue and myself set off around 10am to avoid the heat during the 3000′ foot climb.
The trail starts on the road to the Delphine glacier. After about 2km on the road we turned off and started to climb up an old pack horse trail. It was 6 feet wide and smoother than the jumbo road. It was a good grade for climbing in the middle ring.
After about 6 or so switch backs we made a trail change to another old horse trail. This one was steeper and we had to drop to granny ring. Tom′s dog Macy, a boarder collie, lead us all day. Tom had to keep calling her back as her pace was way to fast for us to keep up.
After about 2 hours of climbing we hit the first avalanche path. No big deal we carried the bikes through. The next one we hit was much larger, and to take the bikes down and back up the other side was going to be more work than it was worth so we decided to hike the last 2km. Even just hiking into and out of the paths was an ordeal, and we didn′t want to walk over the snow pack fearing if we fell in we′d be in trouble with no ropes.
We
arrived at the cabin in just under 3hrs. We kicked back, ate lunch and enjoyed the unreal views.
I kept thinking to myself, who the hell would come all the way back here to find nickel??? I mean really, It is 18km to Panorama, another 8km to the trailhead and 3hrs of climbing to the cabin. This is pretty easy for us with roads and vehicles, but 100 years ago this was done on horse. Not only would it have been a huge task to get there, but the miners had to get the nickel out on horseback and I′m sure the horses could not carry a lot traveling over that kind of terrain.
After signing our names on the cabin door we packed up and headed down. The hike was quick, but the descent on the bikes was fast. Crazy fast, 30 mins to the truck once we got to the bikes.
Once we got to the trucks we set up the BBQ, pulled out the coolers and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon chilling out!
TransRockies
August 9th 2006 / By Adrian Bergles
On August 9th the TransRockies mountain bike race came through the Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park and the Columbia Valley Cycling Society was there.
The race is a seven-day, 550-kilometre struggle through some of the most difficult and beautiful - terrain in the B.C. and Alberta Rocky Mountains.
On that August Afternoon CVCS members served hamburgers, hot dogs, drinks and desserts to hundreds of exhausted professional and amateur mountain bikers from around the world. The cyclists had just completed stage four of the toughest mountain bike race on earth, and they were hungry.
The day proved to be the most successful fundraising effort to date for the CVCS. All 500 burgers were sold and by 5 p.m. pretty much all the food was gone. Hamburger 
buns were in short supply - finally after the last bun had been sold, bagels replaced buns for the hungry bikers. No one seemed to mind. Exhausted cyclists who have pedalled hundreds of kilometres fuelled only by fruit and energy bars are easy to please with a greasy, meaty burger. Their faces lit up with smiles as they bit into the tasty sandwiches.
The scene at Whiteswan was amazing. An open field in the middle of the B.C. backcountry was transformed into a portable city. Hundreds of RV′s and tents, and things like portable showers and mechanic′s trailers made the place hum with activity.
Strong sales made a real difference for the CVCS. After Whiteswan the cycling group has some money in the bank to continue trail mapping and maintenance in the Columbia Valley. Whiteswan gave the CVCS momentum heading into the fall. A great time was had by all the CVCS volunteers as burgers were slung and jokes cracked with our international customers.
Thanks to Anne Riches of Hopkins Harvest Restaurant who allowed the CVCS to assume responsibility for the food sales that day.
The TransRockies is a great international mountain biking event and the CVCS directors are looking forward returning - with even more burgers - to do it all again next year.
Happy trails.
What a start!
September 2006 / By Adrian Bergles
What a start for the Columbia Valley Cycling Society.
In just a few short months the CVCS - cyclists′ voice in the Columbia Valley - has gone from a start-up organization to a group about of about 25 members. It hasn′t been easy, but it has been fun. The seven CVCS directors have met monthly to organize projects, set goals, and establish the founding principles of the new club.
With tremendous vision, money has been raised through membership sales, two successful fundraiser barbecues, and through grants from the B.C. Forest Ministry, which has provided some funds for the mapping, marking and maintenance of local trails.
But the CVCS will not rest on its initial success. With the riding season winding down the time is perfect to get on to trail maintenance and mapping projects. Some of the money raised this summer will go toward buying a high-quality GPS recording device that will allow club members and volunteers to head out and record trails in the valley. With this info a long-awaited trail map - the Columbia Valley′s first - will be created and put on sale hopefully next spring.
The map will solidify mountain biking′s place in the valley, as recognized, recorded trails will be easier to maintain and protect.
The directors of the CVCS are committed to mountain biking in the Columbia Valley. We want to see the sport grow and hope you will consider joining us - if you′re not already a member.
Numbers count. Help us - literally - put mountain biking on the map in the Columbia Valley.
Happy trails.