Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Growing the Sport


Hey all,

Last Tuesday I had the opportunity to help out with an organization many of you may be familiar with, Trips for Kids. This program functions as a way for less privileged kids from the city to get out and experience mountain biking. The program was started up by Andrew Goodwillie, a fellow Haul'n Ass racer, and is run with great dedication today by Andy Brannon.

Many of the kids I rode with had never ridden a bike before. It is truly amazing how much us cyclists take for granted ridding a bike and all the skills involved. So we taught the kids the essentials of riding a bike: wearing a helmet, how to shift, brake, turn, descend/climb a hill, ect. For many of them being out on a bike their first time, they took to everything pretty fast!

The ride was a simple 30min tour of some of Bear Creek park's lucrative trails; the kids loved it! One even asked me how long we were going to ride because she was having so much fun.

The experience just made me realize how many kids haven't found something they enjoy yet, like mountain biking. Just a little step outside the box showed me how most of the world functions and reminded me of how fortunate I am to be where I am today.

Stay tuned for more exciting news...

Andrew

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