The week began with a trip to Deep Run Park in Henrico County. Many of our kids were not aware that Deep Run had true Mountain biking and not just paved trails. We started out the day with a couple basic rules and tips for riding. The kids caught on quickly so we hit the trails. I think the one thing everyone learned this day was Mountain Biking takes a lot of patience. There are many roots and after last weekends storms a couple more trees across the trails than we expected, but we quickly learned where they were and could jump right over them! After a morning ride and snack in between , we had lunch then packed up the van to head to the Wetlands/Pony Pasture in the James River Parks. Once we got to the park we hit the river for a little relaxation and cooling off!
On Tuesday we decided to take the kids to the Wetlands for a full day. The Wetlands again has many trails people don't know about. We split up into our groups and as soon as the bikes were off the trailer hit the trails! The main features that were the favorites at Wetlands were the boardwalk, the "big hill" and any small fallen tree they could jump over! We hit the water again in the afternoon and then rode a little more before we headed home!
Wednesday was the longest riding day yet! I think most of the kids were a little tired from the previous days, but they were troopers and pushed through as it was the most fun! We headed down to Reedy Creek where we parked and rode our bikes to Belle Isle. We hopped on the gravel road leading to Belle Isle and biked on over. Once we got the kids knew exactly where they wanted to start...."the jumps at the front of the island!" They had a blast riding back and forth over the jumps then decided they were ready to ride the real trails! Belle Isle has lots of trails with roots and trees on them so everyone had a blast maneuvering over those. Once we made a couple loops around the Island we decided to head back for lunch. While at lunch we were called by the James River Parks trail manager Nathan. We have been talking with Nathan about "giving back" to the parks and we figured this was the perfect timing. We chatted with the kids about the importance of giving back to the parks because there aren't many employees to keep up the over 600 acres of beautiful land we get to take advantage of everyday. The kids agreed that giving back would be good so we headed to the 42nd street parking lot to help spruce it up a bit! We got to paint lines for the parking spots, help repaint the gate and yellow curbs as well as paint the guard rails. It's amazing how much work can be done in an hour! After our volunteer work was over we headed down to the river to cool off before going home!
On Thursday we were a little worried about the weather as they were calling for thunderstorms. We decided to head back down to Wetlands to ride since it is closest to our shop in-case of inclement weather. The kids were excited to be back and we let them tell us where they really wanted to go. Again the boardwalk, "big hill" and any fallen trees won the vote, so we were off to explore. After the morning ride we had lunch and hopped in the water as the weather decided to turn out beautiful! At the end of the day before we loaded up the van we let the kids vote on where they wanted to go Friday and with a unanimous vote they decided Deep Run!The last day of camp was great! We headed to Deep Run in the morning and rode hard! Everyone was exhausted after the morning ride and decided they wanted to head down to Wetlands to hit the river early. Once down at the Wetlands we had a group that wanted to ride a little bit more so a couple of us hit the trails for a little more riding before lunch. We took lunch down by the river to have a picnic and do some more swimming and fishing. This was the best day yet for fishing! At the end of the day we promised the kids we would show them how to change a tire. We got out our demonstration tire and showed them so if they ever pop one remind them they know how to change it!
We had a blast on our first week of Mountain Biking Camp and look forward to many more weeks this summer. To sign up for our camps please check out our website www.virginiaoutside.com
