Our sessions in Hope, BC, were a follow-up camp to the summer session coached by my colleague Nigel Thompson. Recently the town of Hope has created a fantastic bicycle skills and jump park, complete with planks, log rids and jumps, suitable for a wide range of abilities from 6 year old beginners to advanced cyclists. My weekend trip with divided into two groups with a younger group (under 10yrs old) in the morning and older students (over 10yrs old). Each group enjoyed 2 long sessions of 3 hrs each, which of course is a long time for bike riding so we included a variety of skills, location and snack times! Sessions usually started in the nearby gravel field before utilizing the skate park and mountain bike park pictured in the videos below. On the final day with the older students, we ventured up the mountain to the Othello tunnels. I had never been there before but after scouting the area on Saturday afternoon I was happy to take the students out for a bit of an adventure. The town of Hope has really worked hard to create some great cycling opportunities for its youth group and I look forward to helping them continue to build in the future.
Pump track short course…just getting warmed up! @labicicletta bottles up for grabs tomorrow! #iride #hopetrack pic.twitter.com/3aOF8dGDru
— Cycling BC (@CyclingBC) October 17, 2015
Making the most of our 2nd and final day! Jumps! #iRide @CyclingBC pic.twitter.com/f9OHlZggzg — Cycling BC (@CyclingBC) October 18, 2015
What a super morning! It started with a perfect, sunny autuman Saturday morning and wrapped up with twenty ear-to-ear smiles from our Girl Guide riders. Our session was based in and around the peaceful Woodword Landing campground, with a nice mix of grass space and walking trails in the nearby Woodward Slough. Our session of course began with skill assessment in the campground using red ligh/green light and Julian’s famous warmup routine. Basic traffice communication skills, pairs riding, and dismount practice were all covered at the campground before tackling the local trails. We did a long loop in the wooded trails near the Richmond business district (for all our readers who race, this was close to the Richmond Thursday night summer series). When we returned, the girls were stoked on their session and a few were surprised at just how good a workout it was. The girls are interested in having another session, in which they would like to learn more bike skills and specifically, bike maintenance. I look forward to scheduling that event soon.
The iRide program finished up this week in the Comox Valley, with all schools participating in the “everything in” obstacle course, where students were challenged to use all their new skills. In addition, most schools celebrated the end of the program with a super fun group trail ride.
“I really like biking”, says grade 7 student Rowan, “because it gets us outside in nature and it’s challenging!”
Looking to become involved in iRide as a coach? Cycling BC is hosting two separate coaching seminars this November. You can choose from a condensed 1 day program run in Vancouver on November 8th or a full 2-day program over the weekend of November 21/22nd. To register, please contact admin@cyclingbc.net. The full calendar can be found here.
If you’re a fan of Cycling BC’s iRide program, check us out on Twitter, Instagram, or donate through Chimp to support our programs in your area. To learn more about iRide Summer Camp or book future in-school events, please contact iRide@cyclingbc.net or (604) BC-iRide.
