Isn’t it amazing how quickly things get behind you?
If we’re talking about corners on your favourite trail, then this is great. It means we’re riding really fast and having fun. If it’s your buddies on that same ride it’s even better, you just dropped them on a big ride and boosted your ego. Remember to act all rested when they catch up so it looks convincing when you tell them you were taking it easy.
But when it’s life, it always surprises me how quickly something that seems so important just gets pushed off and before you know it a year or two, or seven, have passed you by.
When Chenoa and I started Swicked we started our group rides and it has been a great success, but we also wanted to start some youth rides and couldn’t squeeze it in. No problem, we said, once we get settled and a bit more organized we’ll add the kids’ rides into the mix. Seven years later and it still hasn’t happened! Lack of help, lack of time, too much family stuff…blah blah blah. Something always bumped it down the list and now here we are in 2017.
We see lots of kids who love to ride, but the adult group rides don’t suit their needs. These kids want to ride with other kids, advance their skills and fitness and maybe even try racing, but this can be a little intimidating without some guidance. We also see lots of kids that are super keen, but maybe their parents don’t ride, so it’s hard to get them what they want, or where they need to be and, to be honest, sending your 10-year-old out into the trails on a solo ride is a bad idea.
So we have always had a vision of starting a Youth Mountain Bike Team. Get like-minded kids together, let them feed off each other, maybe throw in some coaching and organize some group trips to ride new areas or try out some racing on the Island. It’s not about winning or creating the next Olympian, we just want there to be a venue and a team atmosphere for these kids to do what they love, ride mountain bikes.
FINALLY OUR VISION BECOMES A REALITY! Maybe we just needed a bit of a push?
A couple of months back our friends mentioned they would love to see a youth club in Campbell River for their kids and that was it, we teamed up, split up the duties and organized a Youth Mountain Bike club. Thanks to Andy and Ang for the motivation, the great ideas and for partnering with us to make this a reality!
So if you have a kid who loves to ride, is between the ages of 9 and 14 and is just keen to advance their skills and fitness then maybe this is for you. We’ll start it small in year one, but hope to have lots of little groms ripping around our amazing single track for years to come.
I’m James Durand and I’m Goin’ Ridin’…