The Williams Lake Cycling Club (WLCC) is gearing up for the season, with a membership drive, trail maintenance, bike park machine work and the planned grand opening of the new “flow” trail on the agenda for 2022.
The mountain bike organization has already been out on Fox Mountain, repairing erosion on the very popular Fox Fire with the help of volunteers, wheelbarrows, and some gravel.
Kevin Welsh, WLCC treasurer, said the trail maintenance schedule includes a rebuff of large parts of Mitch’s Brew and structure rebuilds on upper Aflo and to watch for trail closures which will go into effect when crews are doing that work.
Bikers are out on the trails already, and trails are drying out quickly, but some are still soft, so WLCC is asking bikers to stay off soft trails to prevent erosion damage and if tires are making deep tracks, the trail is too wet for riding.
The south-facing trails on Fox Mountain are mostly snow-free, including Con un Niño y un Pero, Skyline, Free 1, and lower Dog Bone. Bearacouga, Date Night, and some others were rideable at press time. Mitch’s Brew is also open prior to trail work.
During the winter months, WLCC has been working on grant applications and was awarded a grant of over $5,400 from the Williams Lake Community Forest to support part of a $9,000 rebuild of a Westsyde network trail, Hung.
The trail will be part of an entry level line on that network.
A grant of $71,125 was recently announced as well for the club. The funds, from Northern Development Initiative Trust, will go towards parking and trail improvements on the Fox Mountain network. The entire project plan is budgeted at $106,000, and it includes a parking lot and an upgraded climbing line for one end of the network. They are now working on obtaining the necessary approvals from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to move ahead with the parking improvements.
The club is also looking for memberships, renewals and new ones, as those support the trail maintenance, cover the club’s insurance for trails on private land, allow for input into the club’s activities and direction, support the club by showing usership, which helps attain grant funding and support winter trail maintenance as well.
Membership registration and trail maintenance donations can be done online here: https://spruceregistrations.com/wlcc/register. Membership is $30 for an individual and $65 for a family.
The grand opening of the newest addition to the Fox Mountain network, a machine-built flow trail is planned for June 11, with shuttles for members, activities for all ages, and more.
A club trail maintenance day will be taking place May 7, watch the group’s Facebook page for details to come on where and when to meet up and lend a hand.
Read more: Williams Lake cycle club launches Major Fox Mountain bike trail upgrade
Read more: Williams Lake Cycling Club gets bike park donation to bolster upgrades, maintenance
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
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