The Rochelle Mountain Bike Trail System opened Saturday, Sept. 28 on National Public Lands Day (NPLD). The grand opening commenced with a brief ceremony held at 9 a.m.
NPLD is the largest, single-day volunteer effort for public lands where volunteers collect invasive plants, build and maintain trails, plant shrubbery and donate to public lands, according to the National Public Lands Day website.
The Rochelle Bike Trail is located 1.7 miles east of Farmville on High Bridge Trail. The trail is a one-way, single track loop and is designated for bicyclists only.
The length of the trail extends to 1.5 miles. The only way to access the Rochelle Bike Trail is by biking or hiking from Farmville or from the River Road access of the High Bridge Trail State Park.
Chief Ranger of the High Bridge Trail State Park Craig Guthrie commented that having the bike trail open on NPLD was “fitting for starting a new chapter in what High Bridge Trail offers its visitors.”
The Rochelle Mountain Bike Trail System is considered a mixture between a beginner mountain bike trail and an intermediate one. Guthrie reported that the Rochelle property was acquired by the High Bridge Trail State Park two years ago.
According to Guthrie, the idea, planning and construction of the Rochelle Bike Trail was in part thanks to Bryan Burnside, a member of the National Mountain Bike Association. Guthrie stated that Burnside had experience building trails.
Burnside built the 1.5-mile bike trail by hand, along with volunteers. With the free labor, the Rochelle Bike Trail came at no cost for the High Bridge Trail State Park.
The only costs met for the bike trail was in regards to upkeep and the white stone used to bed the trunk road for the bike trail.
Guthrie said that more trails are planned to be built for the High Bridge Trail State Park.
He expects multi-use trails that are not exclusive for bicyclists, but for hikers as well as “primitive camping that will only be accessible to trail users on a hike in and hike out basis, and to horseback riders.”
These trails will not be accessible to motor vehicles.
For the future camping site, Guthrie could not comment on an estimated time as to when the construction and opening of the park would be.
Guthrie stated that the process for mapping out the future multi-use trails will begin this winter. He estimates for the completion of the trails to be fall 2014.
With the addition of the Rochelle Mountain Bike Trail System, Guthrie stated that the benefits included more tourism to the Town of Farmville.
“Any way you can attract people from the outside into your community affects the way the community in a positive way. I mean, people tha come visit our new attractions also visit Farmville, and in the process of visiting Farmville, they help the town economically by stopping and getting some chow at the restaurants or buying gasoline or renting bicycles from the bike shop. I mean, any place they stop and drop off a dollar helps the community. It helps the local economy,” Guthrie said.
Doug Chalmers, a renter of the High Bridge Rails and Trails Bicycle Rental, commented on the opening of the Rochelle Mountain Bike Trail, saying, “I wish they wouldn’t have done that.”
He added, “I don’t particularly like it on a renter’s standpoint because I bought a [sleet of Raleigh’s] from Bear Creek Lake after they shut down their mountain trails, and these bikes were crashed and trashed. It took me close to a whole year to get them all back up and reconfigured properly.”
Referring to the possibility of customers taking the rented bikes from his store and using them on the Rochelle Bike
Trail, Chalmers said, “There are just too many things that can happen on that trail.”
Despite the possibility of extra business, Chalmers stated that he believes most people who are interested on using the bike trail will have their own bikes regardless.
“As far as a renter’s standpoint, I hope they don’t rent my bikes and go on that trail because it’s a short trail, but it’s still dangerous enough that you could wrap yourself around a tree,” Chalmers said.
If a customer rents a bike from the High Bridge Rails and Trails Bicycle Rental shop and damages the bike, the customer must pay for the bike or the bike’s repairs.
High Bridge Rails and Trails Bicycle Rental is located at 318 N. Main Street. It is open from Tuesday to Sunday. Bikes may be rented at $5 per hour or $30 per day, from sun up to sun down.
For more information on the Rochelle Bike Trail, contact the Park’s office at (434) 315-0457 or email at highbridgetrail@dcr. virginia.gov.
