Harrisonburg…Now an IMBA Ride Center!

You read that right.

Now read on.

Trail Work - February 4, 2012

Great progress made at Dogwood Dell last week, but there's still a lot to do. We're happy that we had a great turnout last weekend, but we need to keep up the effort for the next couple of weeks. So what needs to be done? Lots of roots and sticks to be removed from the trail bed. Berms and grade reversal need to be fine tuned. The trail corridor needs to be cleaned up and narrowed. And the hiking trail needs to be finished. If you can come out all day, that's awesome. If you can only spare an hour, every little bit helps. We have tasks for people of all abilities from first timers to experienced trail workers. So come on out, lend a hand and help us get the trails closer to opening.

What: Dogwood Dell Trail Work

When: 9am Saturday, February 4, 2012

Where: Pumphouse Drive - across from the entrance to Pumphouse Park

Bring: Water, Snack, Gloves


Super Bowl Sunday Ride

Sunday, February 5th is Super Bowl Sunday and that means it's time for the SVBC Annual Super Bowl Sunday Ride. Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition has been hosting a ride to the top of Flagpole Knob on Superbowl Sunday for as long as anyone can remember. This year's ride will take place on Sunday, February 5th, 2012. Starting at Briery Branch Community Center, the ride climbs paved and gravel roads up to the top of Flagpole Knob. A group photo is taken, then riders are free to choose one of multiple singletrack descents off of the mountain.

For more information, contact Thomas: tj@shenandoahbicycle.com

To hitch a ride with some Richmonders heading up, check out the thread on CCVA: SuperBowl ride, 2012

Good news from New Belgium

Good news from the New Belgium Brewery in Fort Collins Colorado!

That’s right any news from New Belgium is usually good news. Our friends in PA at Dirt Rag already have this story covered so take a look.

So what’s so exciting about a Pale Lager in a can? Well friend, cans make a great container to assist in transporting your libations into the woods. Maybe you’d like a beer at the summit of your ride to celebrate having just spent the last two hours climbing in your granny ring up the side of that mountain or maybe you will decide to take your sweetheart on a nice hike that involves a picnic and beer at a romantic scenic view or maybe you just want to chug a 6 or 4 pack before you race your friends down the trail in some kind of drunken dirt crit. The choices are endless.

Speaking of New Belgium, don’t forget that Richmond will host the New Belgium Urban Assault Ride on March 25th 2012 so if you haven’t already be sure to mark your calendars. It’s going to be a blast. If you have some time to spare RaMORE is still looking for a few volunteers to help us with the event. (Please use this link to register to volunteer.

And last but certainly not least now that you are thinking about beer, bikes and the mountains please join us and many of our friends on Super Bowl Sunday for the longest running annual mountain bike ride in the state. The Super Bowl Sunday Ride. Like a fine wine it’s approaching 30 years of age and just keeps on getting better. You can take a peak here to see all of the hard work that the folks of the S.V.B.C. have been doing recently to get the S.B.S. trails in primo condition for this ride. If you make it out to Briery Branch on Super Sunday please be sure to thank those guys and offer up a beer.

Have a great weekend

Trail Work - January 28, 2012

The Dogwood Dell trails have been cut, now we need to get out there and turn them into some sweet singletrack.

The Sweco came through this week and took care of all of the back breaking bench cutting for us. Now for the fun part...

This week will be at Dogwood Dell fine turning the trails. We'll be cutting back slopes, tweaking the trail bed, closing off old trails, cutting the hiking trail and maybe even building some bridges.

We'd love to have lots of people come out the next several weekends for two big reasons. 1) We want the trails open so we can go ride and hike them and 2) we have a big project in the works on Belle Island, so we need to get Dogwood Dell finished up as soon as we can.

What: Dogwood Dell Trails

When: 9am Saturday, January 28th, 2012

Where: Park along Pumphouse Drive. We'll be meeting across the street from the entrance to Pumphouse Park.

Bring: Gloves, Water, Snack, Sturdy Shoes

Great things happening in 2012 already!

Andy Thompson of the Richmond Times Dispatch has it covered.

Bicyclists are riding high as area projects gain momentum

We hope that you can make it out for a few hours of Dogwood Dell trail work tomorrow morning.

Going on the books? Keep track?

Thanks to our friend and a great bicycle advocate in Harrisonburg Kyle Lawrence for giving us the heads up on these laws. We urge you to give them a look.

Here is a collection of bills in the current Virginia General Assembly that could impact bicycling in the state. You can learn more about each bill and track them!

VA Bicycling Federation’s Portfolio

Help our friends w/EVMA get some new trails

That's right our Eastern VA MTB friends are looking to expand some trails and everyone loves fresh single track so please scoot over there and lend them a hand in making this a reality.

Would you like more trails in Chesapeake, VA?

The New Riverfront Concept Plan video

We want to keep you up to date with whats going on...Down By the River..

Another great one

If you've been living under a rock then the awesome video advocacy powers of one Scott Wootten may not sound familiar but if you haven’t then you probably already expect another great video to be dropping soon. Well the wait is over.

Even if you’ve never heard of Scott Wootten or seen any of his videos please check this out.

DCR RTP SVBC grant announcement video on Narrowback & Wild Oak Trail from Scott Wootten on Vimeo.

Great job Scott. I hope some of the RaMORE members can find time to come out and help with the building and re-routing of this incredible trail.

Saturday 10/22/11 Trail work - Buttermilk

Good Evening Members,

Trail work season is back in full swing. This Saturday (10/22/11) Nathan and the Boys (and hopefully we will see you!) will be meeting up at the 22nd Street Parking lot (22nd St. & Riverside Dr.) at 9am to begin work on a reroute section by the 22nd St. staircase.

We hope that you enjoyed our October member meeting last night at Legends. Remember a little Saturday morning trail work will burn off those extra carbs/calories that you “may” have consumed.

We suggest stopping by Crossroads Coffee & Ice cream on your way to trail work to pick up a nice hot cup of Saturday morning motivation.

See you guys & girls there.

The RaMORE Board

Join RaMORE, REI & The JRPS crew for National Public Lands Day

I wanted to take a second to pass along some info about our partnership with REI & the James River Park System for National Public Lands Day this Saturday.

Please join Richmond-MORE and REI on Saturday September 24th at 9am in the Reedy Creek parking lot. Last year we rerouted a section of the Buttermilk trail. This involved cutting in about 300 feet of new trail and reclaiming about 250 feet of trail. This year we'll be doing some lighter duty work that includes the staining and painting of some bridges along the Buttermilk Trail as well as a small repair along a set of stone steps on Buttermilk as well.

VORS series racers don't forget that you can earn series points for trail work!

REI asks that you please register for this event via their website located here. It only takes a second to sign up.

We hope to see you there in support of National Public Lands Day.

Thank You,
Richmond MORE

PS. In case of rain or unforeseen events, please check for cancellations on our website. Any cancellation notice will be posted by 8:00am on Saturday in our News section. Our website is at:www.richmond-more.org.

Here are the quick and dirty details:

Where: Meet in the Reedy Creek parking lot just off Riverside Drive near 42nd street.

When: Saturday, September 24th 2011 – From 9:00am to 1:00pm

Bring: Water, work gloves, and sturdy shoes, and a small snack. Lunch will be provided for you.

News to peruse

Hey Richmond MORE members here are some things that may interest you.

The Bike Code via Blue Ridge Outdoors

Dry Trails <-> Wet Trails = What you need to know

Richmond’s New Bike, Pedestrian and Trails Coordinator

Don’t forget the Anthem Moonlight ride this Saturday. We still need 5 more volunteers to help pour some tasty beer. If you can help out please email Greg “greg@proforma-gis.com” and let him know so that he can get a head count.

Also please join Cycles Ed this weekend for some Scout Camp Trail work if you can lend a hand. Sat. Aug 13th 10am. Email Cycles Ed for more info.

Have a great weekend of riding.

Mid Atlantic Regional IMBA Summit – That’s a Wrap

Several RaMORE club members and board members joined Nathan Burrell and the James River Park crew in Harrisonburg, Virginia recently to attend the IMBA Mid-Atlantic Regional Summit. Mountain bike clubs from all over the Mid-Atlantic showed up to represent their local communities of riders, trail builders and trail users.




Friday night we met up at the Court House Square and were treated to a viewing of Pedal Driven after some obligatory welcome and weekend introduction speeches. If you haven’t already seen Pedal Driven I highly recommend checking it out. It provides a very well written and entertaining insight into some of the serious problems regarding land access and relationships that we as mountain bikers are facing all over the country. Unfortunately, most riders are unaware that these problems even exist. The video does a great job of mixing trail advocacy in with some killer mountain biking footage. Think; an informative version of a New World Disorder flick and viola you have Pedal Driven.




Saturday morning Harrisonburg’s own city trails called the Hillendale Park Trails provided us a nice morning spin with adequate amounts of rocks and tight turns to wake up the senses before meeting at the Conference Center for breakfast and a day full of classroom meetings. The meetings and educational seminars covered several insightful topics that included: TCC Advocate training, Youth in Mountain Biking, a Land Manager Round Table that featured our very own Nathan Burrell



speaking as a land manager on behalf of the success of the JRPS inner city trails, Diversity Builds Strength: Women and Mountain Biking, Trail Successes and Challenges Around the Mid Atlantic, TCC Club Care, Capacity Building 101, and finally a VA State Breakout Session. All of the sessions were full of great information that we hope will help us build you a bigger better mountain bike club.




Now we all know that all work and no play just isn’t the mountain biker way. After the classroom sessions finished up we all made a beeline for the wonderful Massanutten Western Slope. The plan was a Super D race down the rocky and fast Massanutten Trails. The local mountain bike club (Shenandoah Valley Bicycle Coalition) has put in countless hours of trail work over the past few years to make the Western Slope trails some of the sweetest trails in the area. At the base of the mountain we all chamoised up, helped ourselves to a few of the tasty drinks provided by Troges then begin the climb up the side of the mountain headed to the top. The Super D would start from the mountain top but there was some awesome single track to check out on the way up. SVBC member and SBC owner Thomas Jenkins was kind enough to lead a casual paced ride up the mountain and offer insight to the trail and its construction along the way. Having Rich Edwards of IMBA Trail Solutions (who has also contributed many hours to the design and construction of the Massanutten trails) along for the ride was icing on the cake.



Atop Massanutten mountain riders nervously lined up for the start of the Super D.




Some were on hardtails while most were on full suspension bikes.



Some were wrapped in body armor while others chose lycra.


Regardless of our bike or clothing choices when the race director called you up to the line and said “GO!” the common theme heard all way down the mountain was “Man this trail is sick!”



At the finish line Troges and Qudoba awaited hungry racers.





The “social” kept on rolling well into darkness with good times and stories being shared by all.


Sunday morning hosted several organized group rides for all levels of riders. Not everyone survived the entire weekend and make it to the Sunday rides but those who did were treated to some of the George Washington National Forrest’s finest singletrack.

We at Richmond MORE would like to thank all of our members and friends who made the trip over to Harrisonburg. We would also like to thank everyone involved in making this weekend happen. Yeah Frank Maguire that’s you! Also IMBA, The IMBA Trail Care Crew, SBC, SVBC the town of Harrisonburg and everyone else involved.

2011 Anthem Moonlight Ride

Good Afternoon Richmond MORE Members,

The smoke of the fireworks has settled and most of us have returned to work from what was hopefully a nice extended weekend that included a bit of riding. Before you get too wrapped up in who wrecked who in Le Tour we wanted to take a moment to let you know that the 2011 Anthem Moonlight Ride is quickly approaching and once again this year we will have the opportunity to act as some of the most important people at the event. The folks who bring you beer!



That’s right folks it turns out that cyclists and trail runners are pretty good at pouring, serving and consuming those liquid carbs and the good folks at Sports Backers have asked us to work our magic again this year. We are looking for at least 15 people to help out as beer pourers and course marshals on Saturday August 13th from about 7pm till 11:30pm.

This is some of the most fun and easiest volunteer work that you can participate in all year that doesn’t include swinging a shovel. If you can lend a hand please send an email to Greg at greg@proforma-gis.com be sure to include your name and contact information in the email and please title the subject line "Moonlight Ride Volunteer."

Also don’t forget to tell your friends and family about the Moonlight Ride. It’s a great event that we hope you and all of your friends can be a part of. For more details on the 2011 Anthem Moonlight Ride please click here.

We hope to see you there on two wheels.

Thank You,
The Richmond MORE Board

Join Richmond-MORE and REI on National Trails Day (Saturday, June 4th) for a Trail Work Event.

Good morning RaMORE Members,

I wanted to take a second to pass along some info about our partnership with REI & the James River Park System for National Trails Day on June 4th.

Please join Richmond-MORE and REI on Saturday June 4th at 9am in the Reedy Creek parking lot. Last year we rerouted a section of the Buttermilk trail. This involved cutting in about 300 feet of new trail and reclaiming about 250 feet of trail. This year we'll be doing some work in Forest Hill Park. Lunch will be provided for all volunteers as well as a REI OXT t-shirt.***

VORS series racers don't forget that you can earn series points for trail work!

***In order to get the REI OXT shirt you will need to register to volunteer with REI at www.rei.com/stores/127 or call their customer service number 804-360-1381. You don't need to register just to come out and help out but you must register if you want a free shirt.

We hope to see you there in support of National Trails Day.

Thank You,

Richmond MORE

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In case of rain or unforeseen events, please check for cancellations on our website. Any cancellation notice will be posted by 8:00am on Saturday in our News section. Our website is at:www.richmond-more.org.

Here are the details:

Where: Meet in the Reedy Creek parking lot just off Riverside Drive near 42nd street.

When: Saturday, June 4th - 9:00am to 1:00pm

Bring: Water, work gloves, and sturdy shoes, and a small snack. Lunch will be provided for you.

Buttermilk East Trail Work 3-12-11

My apologizes for the last minute notice regarding trail work but we think you will like what Nathan has in store for us. This Saturday 3-12-11 we will be meeting at Reedy Creek at 9am again and will have one small crew head over to the board walk section of Buttermilk to finish up some small work while a much larger crew heads along Buttermilk East (that’s leaving Reedy Creek and heading down the “other” Buttermilk trail towards the Nickel Bridge/Dog park) over towards the “Red Clay Hill.” For those of you not familiar with the “Red Clay Hill” section this is the section of trail that also has the small pedestrian staircase and wooden ramp with the bricks in the center. The guys will be working on a short re-route in that are to help reduce some erosion problems. Nathan expects that the re-route will take upwards of 3-4 Saturdays’ worth of trail work. We can shorten that time frame with more volunteers and hands in the mix.

The weather is supposed to be nice and sunny so we suggest bringing your bike along for a nice loop of the park’s trails after a trail work session.

We hope to see you there tomorrow morning,
The RaMORE Board

What: Buttermilk East Re-Route work part 1.

When: Saturday 3-12-11 starting at 9am ending..? Come out for as long as you like.

Where: Park in the Reedy Creek parking lot just off of Riverside Drive and Nathan will divide up the groups in the morning. If you like to sleep in a bit then go ahead and park at Reedy and walk West along Buttermilk East (Towards the Nickel Bridge/Dog Park) and come on over to "Red Clay Hill" to catch up with the crew.

Bring: Gloves, work boots or shoes, water or coffee (if that’s your thing), a small snack to keep the blood sugar in check and an open mind.

How do you volunteer?

It’s no secret that you can do many things to help out your local park, trails or advocacy club. Donating time, labor or money seem to be the most popular ways but you can be creative. How about a trash pickup? How about taking some non cyclist or runner friends or children out for their first ride or run? Introducing anyone to a healthier lifestyle without being pushy isn’t a bad thing. Introducing people to the outdoors is a really good thing. Since we are mostly bikers and trail runners that form Richmond MORE I’d like to pass along this article about two other like minded individuals that do a lot for our trails especially if you enjoy the trails around Massanutten Mountain or in the George Washington National Forest.


DCR Virginia State Parks eNews – “Check out the Park Volunteer Highlights”

Also did you know that this week is the National Bike Summit up in DC? I hope that you are following some of the news that is coming out of the summit and hope that you are as excited as we are about bicycle advocacy in Central Virginia and in the whole state as well.

Saturday 3-5-11 Buttermilk Skinny Trail work

Good morning trail enthusiasts,

Queen knows that fat bottomed girls make the rockin’ world go round but what Freddie Mercury would have known if he rode a mountain bike is that some times fat tired fiends like a well placed skinny here and there. To that end Nathan, Mike, Will & Andrew along with the gracious help of you incredible volunteers will be installing a little TTF as an optional line on the newly reworked boardwalk this Saturday as well as doing a short re-route just past the boardwalk. If you’ve ever sat around and discussed how much cooler JRPS would be with a few more TTFs over beers with your friends this Saturday is your day to come out and help make those wishes come true. The meet up location will be at Reedy Creek again and just like last weekend the guys ask that you park at Reedy and walk or ride on the trail back towards the boardwalk to get to the work site. In case you’ve forgotten how to do that take a quick look at that info from last weeks email right here.

“If you can lend a hand to help us out please park in the Reedy Creek parking lot just off Riverside Drive and make your way East along the trail to the boardwalk. For those of us who are directionally challenged allow me to simplify; Park at Reedy Creek and walk along Buttermilk proper towards Belle Isle. That means cross Reedy Creek (up the little rock face) and head towards that climb that you still can’t make yet because it’s only February. Fear not though as you still have some training time before Xterra rolls into town.”

See you there,
The RaMORE Board

What: Buttermilk Proper boardwalk trail work part 2.

When: Saturday 3-5-11 starting at 9am ending..? Come out for as long as you like.

Where: Park in the Reedy Creek parking lot just off of Riverside Drive and head East (towards Belle Isle/22nd Street) on Buttermilk to the boardwalk.

Bring: Gloves, work boots or shoes, water or coffee (if that’s your thing), a small snack to keep the blood sugar in check and an open mind

The many faces of the James.

Recently many old photos of the Belle Isle area have surfaced and created some interest on this rainy day. While it’s no secret that Richmond is deeply rooted in history that history may be a secret to you if you’ve never stopped for a minute to take a look around on your latest run or ride.

Ever wonder what the area looked like in 1908? A lot like this!



My how things have changed huh? Yet there are still so many tell tale signs all around the James River Park and it’s trail systems.

How about another shot from the later part of the 50’s when Interstate 95 came to town?


It’s great that the James River Park System allows the area to remain as natural as possible and gives us the opportunity to get out and experience it while out for a nice trail run, dog walk, bike ride or just a walk in the park. I don’t know about all of you but I know that I sometimes take for granted all of the incredible things that we have downtown. So when the weather warms up I urge you all to get out and visit one of the many trail systems of the James River Park and keep your eyes open for some of historical artifacts.

Cycling Events Around Town

Hey guys and girls there are a few events going on in town that we think you will enjoy.

First up is the Blanchard’s Coffee Community Night on Friday March 4th from 6-9pm. The River City Cycling Collective and Tom Thorogood are teaming up with friends, family and local artists to support Richmond Area MORE and help fund their 2011 racing seasons. Come for the coffee, jam to the music, stay to win big and take something home. For more info check out the Community page at Blanchard’s Coffee. Keep up with The RtripleC here.

Sunday March 6th the trails of Camp Hilbert will come alive with the sound of knobby tires humming through the woods as Run Ride Race hosts the 1st Camp Hilbert mountain bike race of the season. This race is usually full of folks out looking to test their winter base miles but fear not as it’s also a great race to do as a beginner mountain biker. Visit the Run Ride Race website for details.

Then on Wednesday March 9th at 7pm our friends at the Richmond Cycling Corps are presenting a screening of the great film “2010 Race Across The Sky.” We hope that you had a chance to catch the original “(2009) Race Across The Sky” video and hear the racer’s stories. Now you have a chance to catch the sequel. Click on over here to get the details.

And finally on March 11th & 12th the Banff Mountain Film Festival will be rolling into town at the James River High School. This is an event not to be missed by any outdoor enthusiast. Take a look at the Banff Mountain Film Festival website or check out some info with our friends at RABA.

There you have it folks. While planning your social calendar don’t forget that a Saturday morning trail building session is a great way to prepare for a Sunday bike race.

See you around town,
The Richmond MORE Board