Let's get riding!

Duration

Monday through Friday

• Forest Hill: 9:00am-4:00pm

Skill Level

Age 9-14 Beginner to Intermediate. Should be comfortable riding a bike on and off pavement before attending

About

For over 15 years, Virginia Outside has been running summer camps, teaching youth about the great outdoors and creating lifelong memories for both campers and staff members. Our Mountain Biking Camp was created to appeal to our adrenaline junkies looking for a faster paced week of camp! Richmond has some of the best urban mountain biking trails around and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to introduce more kids to biking on these trails. It is a great way to explore nature and allows us to cover more distance on trail than we would by foot!

For their safety, campers should know how to confidently ride their bike off pavement before attending this camp. (For example: they should be able to keep themselves upright and moving at a decent pace on a single track trail at various riding speeds without multiple stops)

Campers will develop beginner and intermediate trail riding skills including: steering at higher speeds on tight trails, shifting timing, hill climbing and descending, dodging obstacles, trail etiquette, bike maintenance, riding safety and more. Campers will start each day with warm ups and then a nice long trail ride. Throughout the week we will spend time cooling off in the James River by swimming, tubing, and exploring the rocks.

Campers are often placed in groups or their riding order is arranged from beginner to intermediate, so they are riding with campers of the same ability.

Our programs provide meaningful experiences in the outdoors where kids learn, play, and grow their confidence!

Safety is our number one priority, so all campers will wear life jackets when in the water. We maintain a 1-to-5 counselor-to-camper ratio to ensure every camper gets some one on one time throughout the week to advance his or her skills.

Virginia Outside provides all supplies and gear needed to participate in our daily activities. This includes bikes and helmets, bike pumps, and spare tubes. (Campers are still encouraged to bring personal bikes as they are typically more comfortable riding a bike they are familiar with)

Pre-Camp Emails will be sent out to parents one week prior to the start date of the camp you registered for. This email will confirm camp type, time, meeting location, what to bring/what to wear and more!

What to Wear to Camp

What should campers wear?

1.) Active Water Wear

• T shirt, Shorts or Bathing Suit, Proper Water Shoes (sandals, keens, chacos, old tennis shoes)
• PLEASE do not send your camper in flip flops!

What to Bring to Camp

Equipment Virginia Outside will provide all bikes, helmets, repair tubes/tools, etc. However, we certainly encourage those campers with their own mountain bikes to bring them along! What should campers bring with them?

1. Backpack (it is very important that they have a bag for their belongings while riding)
2. Packed lunch and 2 extra snacks (they need as much fuel as they can get)
3. REUSABLE WATER BOTTLE (it is very important they stay hydrated on the trails / Feel free to send campers with camel bak’s if they have one).
4. Helmet (if you have one, no requirement to purchase one in advance)
5. Water Wear (bathing suit, water shoes, and a towel on the day they are designated to swim - keens, chacos, old tennis shoes) (we DO NOT recommend crocs or flip flops)
6. Change of clothes
7. Weather appropriate gear (ex: rain jacket) We will bike rain or shine as long as conditions remain safe and trails stay open, so please send your camper prepared for the weather We will have plenty of sunscreen, but we do recommend campers put on sunscreen before they are dropped off (30 or higher is recommended as we will be in the sun all day). We will remind campers to re-apply sunscreen throughout the day!

NOTICE: Please do not send your child to camp with electronic equipment such as phones, i-pods, or video games unless you are sure they can handle the responsibility. We will not be responsible for any electronics that are lost or broken.