Mt. Biking - Riverside Outfitters

Mountain Biking Camp

Mountain Bike camp focuses on having fun, riding bikes, and being outdoors in general. Kids will work on improving their mountain biking skills so they can maximize their enjoyment of the sport and gain confidence. Inclusion is a major part of this camp – we want to provide a space where everyone who is interested in mountain biking feels welcome, accepted, safe, and supported. This is not a competitive sports camp – it’s a goofy, fun-loving Riverside camp! Our goal is to foster a love of mountain biking, and to encourage kids to improve their skills at their own pace. The camp day will be rounded out with games, activities, and cooling off in the river!

This camp will be from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M in Forest Hill Park and the James River Park System, Monday through Friday.

This camp is designed for kids who have already been introduced to mountain biking, and are enthusiastic about learning more. They should be confident riding on gravel, uneven surfaces, and going up and down inclines. Kids should be able to shift gears comfortably while riding, and should know how to use both front and rear brakes.

Participants must provide their own mountain bike (in good working condition) and helmet. This should be the bike that they currently ride, and they should be familiar with how to operate all parts of it (front and rear brakes, gears, etc). In order to get the most from this camp and truly enjoy it, your child should have the following:

Bikes:

– gears (no single speed or bmx bikes)

– knobby mountain bike tires (no slick tires)

– a means of carrying water so that it’s easily accessible on the trail (camelback, water bottle cage installed on bike)

Helmets:

– should be a CPSC certified bike specific helmet and not intended for any other sport, the material should not be overly brittle and the pads should not show excessive wear

– should fit snugly but not cut off circulation, both on the head and the chin strap

– chin strap must be buckled while riding

Additionally, it is the responsibility of the parent(s)/guardian(s) to make sure the bike is tuned up and in good working condition, including:

– proper inflation pressure in the tires

– a clean and well-lubricated drivetrain

– fully functional front and rear brakes with plenty of brake pad material

– the shifting should be properly adjusted, meaning the shifter should be able to move the derailleur across the full range of cogs on the rear cassette / freewheel without skipping or jumping

– wheels should be trued with no wobbles or broken spokes

Please email us at riversidecamps@gmail.com with any questions about gear.

Quick Facts

Age

8-11
Camp Times

9:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Cost & Session Schedule

2023 Sessions - Monday through Friday.

Mountain Biking

The camp capacities listed below were last updated manually on 8/8/23. For real-time capacities, please click “Register Now” to enter the enrollment portal.

June 19-23

June 26-30

July 3-7

July 10-14

July 17-21

July 24-28

July 31 – Aug 4

Aug 7-11 – 4 spots left!

In order to give our staff meaningful pay increases this year without pricing out many of our campers, we are implementing a sliding scale for camp payments.

Pay what you can. ($495) – The community is supporting you to cover the full cost of camp
Pay your way. ($580) – This covers the actual cost of running camp
Pay it forward. ($665) – You are supporting those for whom the full cost of camp would be a significant hardship

If none of the sliding scale options are affordable to you, please email us at riversidecamps@gmail.com to ask about our scholarship program.

Register Now

Mountain Biking Camp (no longer offered in 2024) FAQs

My child is on the waitlist. How likely are they to get into that camp session?
- I would not count on it. While it does happen from time to time, it is generally unlikely. Please refer to our cancellation and waitlist policies at the bottom of this page.
Will my child be in the same group as his or her friends?
- If they are signed up for the same camp (Mountain Biking, Old Growth, Birch Sapling, Red Oak, etc) and the same week they will be in the same group.
Do you perform background checks on your staff?
- Yes. We perform annual checks on all of our camp staff through a third party which covers local, state, federal and sex offender registries.
My child is turning _______ years old on ________. Can you make an age exception?
- We almost never make exceptions in regards to our age groups. We have built into our camp structure a one year overlap in camps (i.e. a 9 year old could attend Sapling or Oak, and a 12 year old could attend Oak, River Shredders, or Old Growth).
I am trying to enroll my child in a camp but I’m not seeing the enrollment options for their age group.
- It’s most likely that the camper’s age was incorrectly listed upon enrollment. Please email us at riversidecamps@gmail.com if you run into this problem.
Do you offer extended day programming?
- We have built into our schedule a flexible pick-up time between 3:30PM and 4:00PM.
I’ve forgotten my password and when I try to reset it through the website I am not receiving any emails.
- Most likely, the email you used to initially register your account is no longer current. Your email address is like a user name in our system so if that changes we need to be notified to change that on our end. If you can think of what email you initially received our confirmations from, that is the account to sign in on and book for the summer.
Do you have a Counselor-In-Training (CIT) program?
- Yes! 16-17 year olds are welcome to apply as CITs for the 2023 camp season starting in January. Our CITs volunteer at our Sapling, Oak, Earth Heroes, and Mountain Biking camp for 2 weeks during the summer (preferably consecutive, Mon-Fri). They function as counselors and role models for the kids, are directly mentored by our experienced staff, and learn both technical and transferable skills in the education and outdoor recreation fields. If all goes well, they receive stellar references from us and are invited to apply to work with us as counselors once they turn 18.

Cancellation/Refund Policy: All payments are non-refundable. Exceptions made at the discretion of our staff. If we are able to fill your camper’s spot through the waitlist, we will refund you all but a $35 per instance processing fee. See our waitlist policy below.

Wait List Policy: If we are filling spaces in a camp more than 1 month out from the start of that camp week, we will call one family at a time from the wait list on a first-to-sign-up basis and give them 48 hrs to accept the spot. After 48 hrs we will call the next family on the list. If we are calling within a month of a camp session, we will call everyone on the wait list concurrently and follow a first-to-respond policy.

Mountain Biking Camp (no longer offered in 2024)