Columbus chapter of mountain biking program provides fun way for kids to learn skills
The local chapter of a mountain biking program is helping children get outside and onto trails and, through gameplay and mentorship, learn and improve their riding skills in a fun, safe environment.
The Georgia Cycling Association’s Trail Rangers program teaches basic mountain biking skills to students in grades 2-5. It also provides them the opportunity to participate in a series of expedition days with other riders across Georgia.
“There is nothing I love more than to see kids out here enjoying the trails and riding their bicycles and having this kind of an opportunity,” Amy Way, executive director of Standing Boy Inc. and lead coach for Georgia Trail Rangers Muscogee County Chapter, told the Ledger-Enquirer.
The local Trail Rangers program is 10 weeks long. The 12 participants practice Monday nights at Standing Boy Trails, a series of trails situated on a 1,580-acre property along Lake Oliver and accessed from Old River Road in north Columbus.
Way said they are fortunate to have Standing Boy Trails for practice sessions.
“We have over 30 miles of trail and over six miles of green beginner level trail that these kids can ride,” she said, “and they will be riding all of those trails this evening when they’re practicing.”
The season concludes in mid-May with a party.
Origin of Georgia Trail Rangers
Way said the idea for Trail Rangers developed when siblings of students participating in Georgia Cycling’s Team MTB program — the Georgia Cycling Association’s five-month-long, youth mountain bike league for students in grades 6-12 — expressed interest in riding.
“They had the idea of adding this program for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders last year, and it was a huge success,” she said. “And this year, they decided to add second grade, and the registration has more than doubled this year for Georgia cycling for the entire state.”
According to Georgia Cycling’s website, there are no tryouts to become a Trail Ranger, and children attending public school, private school, or homeschool may participate. Students of all athletic abilities are welcome, but all participants must be able to ride a bike without training wheels before joining a team.
“One of the things that we look for at Trail Rangers is not just the kids riding their bikes and having fun but smiles,” Way said. “We do lots of games in the parking lot. We do off-the-bike games, and we help them cultivate the friendships along with the riding and the skills.”
During practice sessions Way, other coaches and junior mentors help the Trail Rangers learn foundational mountain biking skills like starting and stopping, working on their pedaling cadence, changing gears over varied terrain and learning to accelerate properly while maintaining control of their bike.
At their April 6 practice, they worked on standing up over their pedals and cornering.
“We’ve got some cones as they go through their course, where they practice cornering and standing and leaning the bike and how to turn on the real terrain once they get onto an actual trail,” Way said.
They also do skills games in the parking area at Standing Boy.
Way said more programs are scheduled for later this year. Little Bellas, a program for girls ages 7-13, begins Aug. 10, and Team MTB has its first race of the season scheduled for Aug. 29-30 in Cleveland, Georgia.
“I’m a veteran teacher,” Way said, “and so to bring something that brings so much joy to me to them and to give them the opportunity is the greatest joy on earth.”
