Adventure Riders

For over 20 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 the trail than we would on 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) 

This camp is designed for riders with prior experience riding trails confidently. 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 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-6 counselor-to-camper ratio to ensure every camper gets some one-on-one time throughout the week to advance his or her skills. Please keep in mind that for safety reasons, daily activities offered are dependent on safe weather and river conditions and are subject to change based on the camp director and staff discretion.

Virginia Outside provides all supplies and gear needed to participate in our daily activities, except for bikes. Upon advanced request, we may be able to provide a bike, as we have a limited supply of sizes, helmets, bike pumps, and spare tubes. (Campers are still highly encouraged to bring personal mountain bikes and helmets, as they are typically more comfortable riding a bike they are familiar with)

Pre-Camp Emails will be sent out to parents one week before 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! 

Post-Camp Emails, with links to any photos taken by staff, will be sent no later than two weeks after the end of camp.

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