This summer the Huncity Mountain Bike Club is looking to expand it’s membership to upwards of a 100 riders while building new trail systems and maintaining 100 Mile House’s current systems.
While biking and mountain biking has long been a popular Cariboo past time in recent years many Cariboo residents have come to see the trails of the area as a way to revitalize local economies. Many projects are now being undertaken to improve biking trails and make the region more attractive to tourists and residents looking to bike through the beautiful landscapes of the Cariboo.
People like Craig Davidiuk of the Huncity Mountain Bike Club are of a similar mind when it comes to developing both the trails of the area and the community of mountain bikers. Davidiuk has lived in the 100 Mile House area for the last four years since he came up from Squamish, where he was also heavily involved in the mountain biking scene managing a campground that catered to mountain bikers.
Upon arriving in 100 Mile, Davidiuk did some networking and promptly got involved with Huncity as a board member meeting with Steve Law the president of the club for the last 15 years who had been integral in developing the trail systems the club has access to, Davidiuk said. Huncity manages two main trail networks, the 108 Mile network and the 99 Mile trail network just south of town.
Last year they felt a need to start to further expand their trail building activities and received grant money from Rec Site and Trails B.C. and the District of 100 Mile House to build some new trails at the 99 Mile site, said Davidiuk. It’s exciting because that corridor is currently widely being developed into a rec area with a dirt bike track, sled track and skiing trails all already installed, he says.
“It’s kind of a cool little thing that the municipality has had the vision to do over the last few years is to start putting all of these clubs on one area that’s rec focused,” Davidiuk said.
In 2019, the club developed two new trails including a climbing trail and a machine built green trail, Davidiuk said. The trails are wider and flow gentler than the ones in the 108 Mile network and are marked in a more modern way. Since putting the trails online via the website trailforks.com he said they’ve begun to see a lot more people both from town and out of town making use of the trails and an explosion of interest in the club.
“We went from having basically our board signed up as members this year to well over 50 members right now and we have a goal of hitting a 100 members this season,” Davidiuk said. “It really helps us develop and build the trail network further.”
This year he says they’re going to build a trail designed for children which will be a good place for both children and adults to learn skills that will help them on more difficult trails. It’s modelled after a similar one built in Wiliams Lake last year and is being made by the same contractors, First Journey Trails. The construction should begin sometime this month once they’ve finished repairing damaged sections of other trails.
Also new this year is a push to make Huncity more accessible and easier to find online with a Facebook group and more active recruiting of new members. At their first ride of the year, Davidiuk said they had around 10 people most of whom were new faces which was nice.
In the interest of attracting new faces, the club will be hosting a Burger, Beer and Membership drive on Saturday, June 13 at Jackson’ Social Club and Brewhouse with a discount being offered to those who come and sign up for a membership. Davidiuk views this as a good way to both get new members while supporting a local business coming out of COVID-19 measures.
In addition to their usual weekly membership rides that take place on Wednesdays at 6 p.m., they’ll now be offering a Ladies Night ride every Monday at 6 p.m. The best way to find out more details about their activities and each event, he said, is to sign up for a membership and get put on Huncity’s mailing list. To do so simply sign up via www.huncitymtb.club to sign up for a $25 membership that will support work on future trail systems.
Davidiuk said that people who want to help maintain trails are asked to participate in Maintenance Mondays in June, July and August, more details can be found on their website or on Facebook. If they wish to contribute outside of club maintenance events, they’re asked to email pres@huncitymtb.club for instructions.
“I’m super excited (for mountain biking this year) because I’ve seen, first hand, the influence that mountain biking can have. Like in a place like Squamish, I saw the club grow from a couple of 100 members up to 2,500 now and it’s totally changed the nature of the town,” Davidiuk said, adding that it’s changed the economy of the community and that its model could be adopted here.
Personally, he thinks 100 Mile has the potential to become a biking destination like Squamish as the community has easy access to beginner tree-level riding which is flat, flowy and accessible for the whole family. This type of riding should appeal to the 100 Mile House community and bring in new people like children who will now have a place to begin.
“Come out to a club event and we can guide you in the right direction to getting the right bike for you,” Davidiuk said. “The most important thing is just to get the right bike when you start off and we can help you develop your skills along the way.”
Overall, he said it’s been really exciting to see the growth of mountain biking that’s been happening in the Cariboo over the past decade.
