A qathet region secret is slowly becoming not so secret for those in the know, such as semi-professional mountain biker Johanna Jackson.
The northern Sunshine Coast is becoming a mountain biking mecca, not only because of the plethora of trails offered here, including on Mount Mahony, but because of the generous hospitality toward those who come to visit.
Jackson is one of three finalists who made winning pitches for the Sunshine Coast Spark program. She was awarded a $3,000 seed grant to help prepare to launch Ride Mount Mahony.
"I moved here specifically for mountain biking and saw the potential Powell River has to be a mountain bike destination," said Jackson. "I'm starting Ride Mount Mahoney, which is a shuttle service, primarily to allow users to access our growing trail network."
The seed grant and mentorship offered by the Spark program is to help folks get started with new tourism ideas that could potentially increase year-round visits to the Sunshine Coast.
"Everybody in the core community of mountain bikers in BC is talking about Mount Mahony and Powell River," said Jackson. "Everyone's coming to check it out, and there's been a lot of hype."
qathet Regional Cycling Association (qRCA) has played a big part in drawing attention to mountain biking in the region and is working on a trail-building project on Mount Mahony, which broke ground last February. The gap Jackson noticed for mountain bikers who come from out of town is lack of accessibility for some to Mount Mahony.
"If riders are coming to Powell River, let's say for a weekend, if they're just peddling, it's nearly impossible to explore all of our trails without lift access," said Jackson."So for visiting users, booking the shuttle will allow them to ride all of our trails in a limited amount of time."
Jackson has partnered with Sunshine Coast Shuttles, a company that offers service to places such as the Sunshine Coast Trail.
"We have partnered with Sunshine Coast Shuttles, and we've outfitted a lifted suburban with a seven-rack bike rack," said Jackson. "Currently we have seven passenger capacity and are operating on a by appointment basis."
Jackson said she is also partnering with qRCA and acknowledges all the work that group has done to make Mount Mahony a destination.
"We encourage our guests to have a membership with [qRCA] and support them in any way that we can," said Jackson. "We're also going to be doing merch and fundraising initiatives to help support our community partners like Jordan Marciniak, who does coaching and guiding, and Ride Free Apparel, a local custom jersey company.
Jackson's winning pitch was not just about promoting her tourism idea but also to connect local businesses with each other in order to make a trip here as seamless as possible. She said her team wants to partner with local Airbnbs that have secure bike storage and are on board with hosting mountain bikers.
"The unique thing about Power River is that we don't have seasonal riding like Squamish and Whistler," said Jackson. "We have a ton of potential here to draw in tourism revenue year-round."
Even in the middle of winter Jackson said the conditions for riding are great.
"We're planning a launch party for the May long weekend, because that is typically when we see more visitor traffic," said Jackson. "That kicks off the rest of the biking season in BC, so we're going to do a free shuttle day and community barbecues."
She added that winning the Spark program helps build momentum for the launch.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to grow adventure tourism in our community,” said Jackson. "And I'm incredibly excited to launch Ride Mount Mahony and introduce mountain bike shuttle service to Powell River.”
For more information about the launch, go to ridemountmahony.com.
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