The Kids are Alright

I have been involved with youth sports for as long as my kids could kick a soccer ball or shoot a puck. It has had its ups and downs and for full disclosure my kids don't really like bikes. Syd did race 24 minutes of Great Glen that one year thanks to Michele! And Zoe has crashed in front of Resultsboy on more than one occasion. I mean don't get me wrong. I tried. We rode bikes. And they always enjoyed it. But racing was never their thing. It is barely my thing let's be real. But I love coaching and being involved with youth sports. For the last 5 years I have been very active in Girls Lacrosse coaching and being on the Board of our Town league. It was hugely rewarding. When Syd aged out I stepped down as a coach and a Board member. Being involved in NEHSCA has really changed how I look at cycling. Colin's recent data mining for the annual NEBRA promoters meeting certainly gave me some pause. What we are seeing at NEHSCA also supports what Colin found out. Basically in New England mountain biking is thriving. And NEHSCA keeps growing at about 20% a year. That is incredible.

It has been so different looking at the sport from the youth perspective. Last season we saw some amazing results from our Juniors. We saw history being made with our Junior women racing and crushing it in Europe. Lizzy Gunsalus won the Helen 100 Trophy race at Azencross! It was a great Fall for juniors and the MudFund. The MudFund was created to support juniors and it is a cause I feel strongly in. As a show of support we will be donating all the profits from the sale of a limited edition Zank t-shirt to the MudFund. The t-shirt is available in both men's and women's styles and comes in some very cool colors. To order one (or more!) and support Juniors development and the MudFund go to Endurance Threads webstore. 

Lizzy Gunsalus photo by Mark Gunsalus

As part of being a Board member of NEHSCA and a volunteer for the Wild Ones team based in Hale I am getting so stoked. It is weird how riding with kids makes you feel like a kid on a bike again. The coaches and teams and everyone involved are just so stoked and so positive. It is so refreshing after so many years racing and putting on events to just get back to that pure joy of riding a bike. I met with Matt Aumiller of BC High and Donny Green of 1PVD recently to talk about how we can grow NEHSCA and expand into CX. The Wild Ones had a really cool CX training course going last Fall. And a bunch of them raced Iced Weasels and had a blast. I would love to see this generation of mountain bikers move into CX just like we all did way back when. I know the mountain bike was my gateway into CX. It just was such a natural transition. The two disciplines really go well together. I am excited to see what this next chapter holds. I would love to hear your thoughts on how we could help these kids get into CX. Anyone who knows me knows CX is my true love. It is the bike I feel most comfortable on and the one I have the most joy on. But this mountain bike boom is sure rad and I know I am not the only one who feels like a kid all over again out in the woods smashing into rocks and hopping logs. Hopefully see you out there!