Build trails and businesses will come
Cumberland thrives as Vancouver Island’s only “mountain town”
It’s just a bump in the trail, but to Chad Hendren it’s an excuse to fly. Pedalling ahead of me down Cumberland's Found Link trail, I see him load up and then defy gravity. One second his two tires are on the flat trail and the next second he’s four feet in the air. Meanwhile, my shock barely dips as I bounce over his insignificant launch pad.
Such is the talent of gifted mountain bikers, like Hendren. They see trails in a third dimension – an avian one – that I will never understand. I console my ego with the knowledge that Hendren lives on a bike. He raced mountain bikes in the 1990s and has been working in the industry ever since. Eight years ago he and his partner CJ moved to the Comox Valley from Whistler and started Gravity MTB, a mountain bike training company based on Cumberland’s trail network. They coach and train some of the top junior mountain bikers in the country. Last year the couple expanded their operation by opening Gravity Garage. It's like a mountain bike community centre with merchandise, bike demos, a fitness facility, suspension service and event space.
Gravity is core to Cumberland’s thriving mountain bike economy. Over the last 20 years the village on Vancouver Island boomed, mostly on the back of trail-building volunteers. The 200-kilometre trail network begins a block from downtown and reaches far into the hills beyond. It attracts a growing number of mountain bikers, as well as trail runners, hikers and dog walkers – to visit and live. They in turn drive the success of trail focused businesses like Gravity, as well as all the cafes, pubs and shops they frequent before and after getting dirty.
“Cumberland wouldn’t be Cumberland without mountain bikes and trails,” Hendren says.
It wasn't always that way. Though it's hard to imagine on a sunny October weekend on Dunsmuir Avenue, the main street through the heart of Cumberland. Despite the morning chill, a steady stream of cars, bikes racked and ready, dive by. Families stroll past the heritage-buildings, built during the coal mining boom years, kids munching at Cumberland donuts or sipping a hot chocolate. The cafes are buzzing and the stores are opening.
To find out about the way it used to be I step into one of the oldest businesses in town, Dodge City Cycles, "the highest bike shop on Vancouver Island," elevation 535-feet. Sean Manara started working here in 2003, when Cumberland's main street was mostly empty buildings and there were only about 12 very technical trails.
“Back then on every ride there was a mechanical or an injury,” Manara remembers. “We were just trying not to kill ourselves.” (He had no comment on the effect of the "elevation.")
But slowly a small group of visionary locals changed the town and the riding, one shovel of dirt, one wooden bridge, at a time. More trails attracted more riders, who drank more coffee, ate more food and bought more things. A more vibrant town attracted more residents. Cumberland is one of the youngest and fastest growing communities in British Columbia.
Eating options now range from a Japanese food truck to a brewery, Mexican to big, beautiful burgers. The shops are equally varied: Moons Records sells souvenir T-shirts and hard to find vinyl; a chocolate shop serves handmade truffles and micro-roasted coffee; artisans and consignment shops line Dunsmuir.
“It’s night and day from even 10 years ago,” says Manara.
The trails have evolved too. There are still technical test pieces, but there's also everything else: jump lines, flow trails, downhill plunges, cross country rambles and an epic trail is under construction.
After saying goodbye to Manara, I meet up with Hendren and two other local business owners to go for a ride. Jeremy Grasby operates the Riding Fool Hostel, one of the only public accommodations in town. And Island Mountain Rides is Martin Ready's local guiding service.
I chase the three of them up the machine built climbing trail, Sobo no Michi, switchbacking up, up and up into the heart of the trail network, where we turn onto Gingersnaps and weave down the rock drops and rooty chutes. At one point we stop on a bluff with a view over the Comox Valley and across the ocean to the Coast Range. We can just see the streets of Cumberland, tucked against the mountain and forest.
“Cumberland is the only real mountain town on Vancouver Island,” Ready points out. “Nowhere else is as immersed in the forest and trails.”
That location is key. An economic impact study in 2016 found visiting mountain bikers spent an average of $93 per person, per day on food, accommodation, souvenirs, etc. in town. According to TrailForks, a mapping app, Cumberland is the fifth busiest mountain biking trail network in North America. Taken together, it's an ideal place to operate a mountain bike business.
In 2018, Owen Pemberton launched Forbidden Bike Co in town. Basing in Cumberland allowed him to test new bike designs and go for lunchtime rides without driving anywhere. A trail running shop is opening this year. And early last summer Western Bike Company opened its doors in a heritage building on Dunsmuir. It’s the evolution of NOBL Wheels, a high end, custom mountain bike wheel business that started in 2013 in the Fraser Valley.
Moving to Cumberland’s high street was always part of the plan, says Chris Arruda, Western Bike Co.’s operations manager. “We wanted to be based in a mountain bike town and be part of a mountain bike community,” he says.
For visitors, all the energy and new businesses add to the experience. “We take pride in having people come in and say ‘This is amazing,’” says Arruda. “They’re not just talking about Western Bikes. They’re stoked by the vibe of the whole town, the whole valley.”
Indeed, the impact is felt miles from the trailhead. There are six dedicated bike shops and three running stores in the Comox Valley, which includes Cumberland, Comox and Courtenay. The combined population is 80,000 people.
And it’s not just trail focused businesses. “It seems that the thriving mountain biking community helps businesses like ours to take a risk on a town that was not so busy a decade ago,” says Chris Moon, the owner of Moons Records in Cumberland.
No one is basking in the change more than locals like Jeremy Grasby. After our ride we coast 200 metres down the street to the bike wash at his hostel. Inside is a ladies bike group from Victoria.
“They parked their cars when they arrived on Friday night and won’t need them again until they leave on Sunday,” Grasby says. “Where else can you do that?”
Over a post-ride beer Grasby says he’s proud of the success of his business, but more he’s excited about the opportunities Cumberland’s mountain bike economy has created for the next generation.
“My two daughters work at businesses that didn’t exist when they were born,” he says. “That’s because of the trails and mountain biking. For a parent, that’s huge.”
Cumberland ride guide
Getting there: Cumberland is in the Comox Valley, just over an hour drive north of Nanaimo’s two ferry terminals. The Comox Airport has daily flights from Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver with Westjet and Air Canada.
Coffee: Laneway Coffee and Kitchen has some of the tastiest coffee around and is a wheelie away from the trail head.
Post ride bevy: Hipster or old school? Take your pick, both have good food.Cumberland Brewery Co. or The Waverly Hotel
Swimming hole: Close enough to pedal to, Comox Lake Park & Campground has an awesome beach and boat rentals.
Accommodation: The Riding Fool Hostel is nearly on the trail network, is walking distance to everything in Cumberland and has a bike wash station out back.
Support: United Riders of Cumberland
Guiding: Island Mountain Rides
Find out more: Comox Valley Tourism
Trailforks: https://www.trailforks.com/region/cumberland-trail-network/
Where else to ride: Hornby Island for a unique cross country style adventure. Mount Washington Alpine Resort for lift-accessed downhill trails.
Cumberland and the Comox Valley are on the Unceded traditional territory of the K'ómoks First Nation, the traditional keepers of this land.