The Fundy Adventure Rally is in need of new management.

Based on the east coast of Canada, in the province of New Brunswick, the Fundy Adventure Rally doesn’t have the numbers of the large-scale American meet-ups, with about 150 riders attending every year. But, it does have a very faithful fan base, and it’s the largest ADV event on Canada’s east coast. Ever since it started, riders have been coming from across Canada to attend, and in recent years, even US-based adventure riders have been making the trek north to participate, thanks to strong word-of-mouth recommendations.

Unlike many other rallies that tend to emphasize the social aspect of the meet-up, the Fundy event (based in the area around Fundy National Park) has always been focused on the riding. The main event is the ride on the Saturday of the rally, a 500-kilometer route with three levels of difficulty, as well as a shorter 250-km scenic route. But even before that day-long dash through the woods (the route goes on everything from secondary highways to fire roads to tight woods trails, depending on your level of difficulty), there’s a big emphasis on exploring the area on two wheels.

The rally first ran in 2014, started by Rob Harris, editor/publisher/owner of Canada Moto Guide (full disclaimer: through my work at CMG, I was heavily involved in the rally’s early days). After Rob’s death in 2016, the rally has been run by Eric and Terri Russell, former owners of A Vicious Cycle and managers of Twisted Throttle Canada for some time.

At the end of this year’s event (the rally wrapped up Sunday morning), Eric and Terri told the crowd they were unable to continue their involvement in the event, due to their young family, work commitments, and their location (they’re based in Ontario, hundreds of kilometers away from the rally’s location). That doesn’t mean the rally is done, but as Eric puts it, it will not be continuing in its present form with them at the helm.

So, who’s going to take it over? There’s no shortage of interest from riders, and attendance is going nowhere but up. However, there’s an absolute truckload of work that goes into the background of the rally; it’s not just a bunch of fun route exploration. Plus, there’s the matter of interfacing with the industry, to line up sponsorships and other agreements.

Having said that, the event already has a decent location (Adair’s Wilderness Lodge), an excellent reputation in the adventure riding community, a good route book, and has persevered through the death of its founder and through a couple of events where rain threatened to end the fun before it even started. If a local dealer, an OEM or some other business or individual is interested, this rally could grow to be even more successful in the coming years.

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