Fat Tire Mountain Bike Camp
Information Sheet
Greetings!
What to Bring & Wear
We are psyched for another great season and are
looking forward to working hard and playing hard
with this summer’s mountain bikers. We have added
new programs and continue to offer the most
comprehensive
instruction
possible
in
Kayaking, Rock Climbing, Mountain Biking,
Wilderness Survival and Fun!
T-shirt or rash guard, non-cotton socks are a must,
sneakers (no flip-flops, sandals or Crocs please), a
coat of sunscreen, shorts / biking shorts (ones that
dry easy), a breakfast (already in your tummy). If
rain or chilly weather is likely, please dress accordingly. Please make sure your name is on everything!
Be prepared to swim every day.
OH AND DON’T FORGET: A sweet mountain bike
(if you have your own bike please contact
[email protected] at least 2 weeks before camp for a FREE tune-up. If you do not have
your own bike please contact
[email protected] at least 2 weeks before camp for a FREE rental bike. We will have the
bike waiting for you on the 1st day of camp).
ALSO GRAB: A hydration backpack, bathing suit (if
you are not cool swimming in your shorts every
day) and a well-fitting biking helmet (one that has a
ton of sweet air vents in it).
Parent Information
Unpaid balances are due two weeks before the start
of your Camp session. For your convenience, we
will debit your Credit Card with the balance
due, unless we have received instructions
that a check is on the way. Thank you for your
prompt attention to this.
Drop-off and Pick-up
The drop-off and pickup is at the American Civil War
Center - formerly Tredegar Iron Works - next to the
Belle Isle parking lot.
OPTIONAL ITEMS: Full-finger or fingerless mtn.
bike gloves, biking elbow pads / knee pads, cycling
multi-tool, mini bike pump, extra bike tube.
Passages supplies lunch, drinks, and snacks daily.
Check-in and Check-out
Our Focus
On Monday, please arrive between 8:00-8:30am so
Fat Tire Mountain Bike Camp is the best place
for those campers who are serious about developing
their biking skills. Come to camp with your game
face on and be prepared for some hard-core coaching and funnnnnnnnnnnnnnn.
that we can make sure all paperwork is complete
and we can receive carpool info, if any.
Camp Hours
Tuesday through Friday, Fat Tire Camp hours are
8:00am to 4:45pm.
Feedback
Your comments and suggestions serve as our
compass to improving our program each year.
Please complete our on-line evaluation form that
will be emailed to you at the end of your session.
with your camper at the end of the week.
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it,
rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in.
...Rachel Carson
For answers to any other questions please call Passages at 804-897- 8283 x310
Web: www.PeakExperiences.com E-Mail: [email protected]
Preparing for Passages – Fat Tire Camp
What to Wear:
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Durable t-shirt or rash guard (Available at Peak Experiences Gear Shop)
Durable non-cotton socks are a must (Available at Peak Experiences Gear Shop)
Durable sneakers (No flip-flops, sandals or Crocs please)
Durable coat of sunscreen (Maybe one that makes you smell nice too)
Durable shorts / biking shorts (Ones that dry easy / available at Carytown Bicycle Co)
Durable breakfast (Already in your tummy)
Durable night of sleep (Already in your muscles & brain)
What to Bring:
A. A Sweet Mountain Bike (If you have your own bike please contact [email protected] at least 2 weeks
before camp for a FREE tune-up. If you do not have your own bike please contact [email protected] at
least 2 weeks before camp for a FREE rental bike. We will have the bike waiting for you on the 1st day of camp!
B. Durable hydration backpack (available at Peak Experiences Gear Shop)
C. Durable bathing suit (if you are not cool swimming in your shorts every day!)
D. Well-fitting biking helmet (one that has a ton of sweet air vents in it)
E. OPTIONAL: Full-finger or fingerless mtn. bike gloves (available at Carytown Bicycle Co)
F. OPTIONAL: Biking elbow pads / knee pads (available at Carytown Bicycle Co)
G. OPTIONAL: Cycling Multi-Tool (available at Carytown Bicycle Co)
H. OPTIONAL: Mini Bike Pump (available at Carytown Bicycle Co)
I. OPTIONAL: Extra Bike Tube (available at Carytown Bicycle Co)
•
•
•
•
Put your name on everything you bring and wear. Remember, you are gonna’ carry all this gear so BE SPARTAN!
Our Staff will make our tools / bike pumps / bike tube patch kits available to our Campers as required.
If it looks like it will be cold or rainy, bring some warm clothes and a light rain jacket in your hydration backpack.
This camp is Rain or Shine!
The James River Park System does not allow battery-operated devices such as Game Boys, cell phones or I-pods.
Please leave all other valuables at home.
Fat Tire Camper Homework:
Here are some things you can do to prepare for the adventure of a lifetime with Passages Fat Tire Camp:
- Ride a bike as much as you possibly can! Shake that rust off, get used to spending some time on that sweet seat, and
stretch-out your lungs!
- Think about your goals. What are the skills you really want to nail? What are the skills you really want to improve?
What wicked awesome stuff do you have mastered and want to share with the group?
- Carry a water bottle or hydration pack for a week prior to camp and practice drinking ALL THE TIME!
- Squeeze out 40 sit-ups every other night before bed for a month. This will help your riding posture.
-Try to stay in the plank position (like the push-up position but on your elbows, not your hands) for 3 minutes every other
night for a month. This will also help your riding posture.
- See if you can work up to the point where you can double your age with the number of push-ups you can do on your toes
or knees. Wait, that will mean I have to do 80!
- See if you can do 5 or more chin-ups every morning for a month. This will just make you even more hard-core.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator and go up 2 steps at a time. This will help those pumping legs!
- Think of food as fuel for your body. Lots of sugar and junk will slow you down at camp. Do the right thing.
- Go to bed early and get-up early. The sun never caught Thomas Jefferson (or a Passages Staff) in bed.
- Put lotion on your face every day for a week – so you don’t get stretch marks from smiling so much at camp.
- Keep a sheet that tracks your training and let us know how your training is going! [email protected]
Expectations of a Fat Tire Camper:
We’re psyched you’re here.
You will be surrounded by the most
incredibly talented group of campers
and staff we’ve ever assembled.
Don’t question for a moment whether
or not you belong to this group,
because you do.
It’s not time to try to be a better mountain biker:
It’s time to work to be the best mountain biker you can be.
It’s not time to try to be a better person:
It’s time to work towards being the best person you can be.
You will learn to be a better communicator, better listener, better leader, better follower and
develop the sense to know which one you need to be at any given time.
Your goals are our goals.
Dream-up some dreams and bring them to Fat Tire Camp.
We commit ourselves to helping you bring them to life.
Kevin Tobin
Owner / Peak Experiences Inc.
Director / Passages Adventure Camp
[email protected]
804-897-8283 ext. 306
“Surviving is important, but thriving is elegant.”
-Maya Angelou
Passages Fat Tire Camp: MANIFESTO
We’re psyched you’re here because you are an incredibly important member of this group, The Passages Fat Tire Group.
You are not a camper any more.
We are all mountain bikers.
We are all here, participants and staff alike, because we love to ride bikes. As a Member of the
Passages Fat Tire Group, we are here to learn, teach, enjoy and achieve.
Our most skilled and experienced Members in the Passages Fat Tire Group understand how important it is to share, teach and
lead the less experienced Members. Our less skilled and experienced Members understand how important it is to seek, key-into
and learn from the experienced Members.
We are responsible for ourselves and we are responsible for each other.
We think of this week as a Mountain Bike Expedition:
-where we all pedal to the top of something taller when we all do it together.
-where we all cruise to the bottom of something steeper when we all do it together.
Here, no one waits around to be told what to do. We are all developing the awareness to know what to do next in order to
reach our individual and group goals.
We are all about being supportive, fun and smart all of the time. We will each take our turn to lead and honor the leadership of
others by being active followers.
We communicate by being clear and assertive and we practice active listening.
We all have so much to learn and so much to share. There is no place we’d rather be than with this Group, at this time, in this
place.
Passages Factages
(Fat Tire Camp)
Pledge - We consider it an honor and a privilege to work with your child. We understand that we undertake an enormous
responsibility and take that responsibility very seriously. (Also: lemony-smelling spray wax for furniture and kayaks).
Check-In – Directions are in this Confirmation Packet. Look for the Passages signs, which point you towards the main
American Civil War Center gate. You’ll be able to see our check-in table on the grassy median in the middle of the
parking lot. We will give you an index card so that you can record the names of all the people authorized to pick-up your child
from camp in case of an emergency or car pool. Please consult our check-in/check-out signs every morning and
afternoon for messages and camp related info. Because there’s so much to do and so little time to do it – please do your best
to check your Fat Tire Camper in as close to 8:00am as possible so we can all hit the road!
(Also: has a beak and feathers, good with bbq sauce or as a pet).
Checkout – Your camper will be dirty, exhausted, exhilarated and back at the parking lot at 4:45pm for you to pick ‘em up.
You may pick-up as late as 5:30pm. Just pull your car through the main gate of the American Civil War Center and let our staff
person know who you are picking-up. We’ll direct your camper to your car. We recommend you put a towel on your car seat
before you allow the little critter to sit down. If your camper brought their own bike, we’d be happy to store it in our trailer
overnight. Please drive counter-clockwise around the grassy median and exit through the same gate you entered.
(Also: faster than any NASCAR pit-stop).
Just in Case - If your child cannot attend camp on a given morning, please leave a message in the voice-mail box at
804-337-7886. We ask that you try to avoid situations where your child comes late to camp or has to leave early – so that all
of our staff remain with their entire group. In case of an emergency and you need to contact the Camp Director while camp is
in session, please call Peak Experiences/Passages at 804-897-6800 and ask for Julie Appleby. She will relay the message
to us on the Isle.
(Also: cousin of Justin Time and Just B. Cause).
Nite Crawlers - Your camper is invited to join us for a short night ride on the Thursday of your camp week(s) from 7:00
to 8:30pm. Just drop him/her off with 2 headlamps and we will guide them on a short but wicked sweet night ride. We will
give you driving directions on Monday at pick-up! This event is optional!
(Also: available in the Gummy variety)
Dirt and Air Program - This program is crafted to encourage all campers to heighten and sharpen their skills in mountain
biking. Please ask your child to share their thoughts and insights about the Rock and River Master Program.
(Also: Credence Clearwater Revival definitely rock the river).
Closing Ceremony - On Friday we invite you to attend a small Ceremony. We will be presenting awards and highlighting the
achievements of our campers throughout the week. The ceremony will begin at 4:00pm. We will give you a Closing Ceremony
hand-out on Wednesday at pick-up.
(Also: slightly shorter than the Olympics!).
Interested in Your Child Becoming a Passages Staff Member? – We grow our own Passages Staff Members. The
completion of the Dirt and Air Program provides all of the hard and soft skill opportunities for a Fat Tire Camper to become a
Passages Staff member. In addition to learning hard core mountain bike handling skills, your camper will acquire an incredible
set of soft skills. These include active listening, open and assertive communication, leadership and accountability. Applications
are available at Peak Experiences and are due on November 15th.
Want More? - Please call Julie Appleby at 804-897-8283 x310 for up to the minute info.
Passages Adventure Camp
Traffic
Entering
Passages
Parent
Parking
Spots
Check-In and Check-Out :
One Week Sessions, Girl’s Rock, Advance Camp, Fat Tire Camp,
Rock Week, River Week, Primitive Skills & The Blast
Monday
Morning
CheckCheck-In
Table
Passages
Parent
Parking
Area
Traffic
Exiting
Random Kid At A
Wedding Who
Wishes They Were
At Passages
Passages
Parent
Parking
Area
Security
Gate
Staff
Show Parking
Pass Please
Main Entrance:
American Civil
War Center
American Civil War Center 490 Tredegar St. Richmond Va 23219
Check-In
– Directions to the ACWC are located in this Confirmation Packet. Please look for our
Passages signs, which point you towards the Main Entrance of the American Civil War Center.
We will give you a Passages Parking Pass to put on the dashboard of your car for the duration of your camp week
so that you may enter and exit the ACWC parking lot with ease.
Monday Only: We will ask you to park briefly so that we can make sure all of our paper work is complete for your
camper, including the names of all the people authorized to pick-up your child from camp in case of an emergency or car
pool.
Tuesday through Friday: The morning drop off will be at the stairs near the red ACWC sign at the back of the
parking lot. Counselors will be on hand to help your Camper out of your car.
Please consult our check-in/check-out signs every morning and afternoon for messages and camp related info.
Check-out
– Your camper will be dirty, exhausted, exhilarated and back at the parking lot at 4:45pm for
you to pick ‘em up. You may pick-up as late as 5:30pm.
Please pull into the Main Entrance of the American Civil War Center and display your Passages Parking Pass.
Please let our Passages Staff person know whom you are picking-up and we will direct your camper to your car. We recommend you put a towel on your car seat before you allow the little critter to sit down. The attendant will need to see
your Passages Parking Pass as you exit the security gate.
We are grateful for the use of the ACWC parking lot and appreciate your cooperation with these directions.
PeakExperiences.com 804-897-8283 ext. 301