FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We welcome all riders age 7-18 to join us, pursue fitness and fun on bikes, and be a part of our vibrant community.
YES! Mountain biking is an inherently dangerous sport, and kids get hurt doing it. We are parents, our kids ride, and the risk scares us very much. While we cannot remove the danger altogther, we do provide huge margins compared to kids riding on their own: trained adults ride with your kid at all times, with required safety equipment, in a culture of supportive peers who discuss and assess risk in a supervised way; we teach the riders how to survey their options, we remind them that they can always come back later, and we always ride using the “pre-ride, re-ride, free-ride” sequence. Our own kids have gotten hurt, and we have cared for our friends’ kids. We don’t take risk lightly, and we do everything we can to make rides safer… but we all need to consider that it’s a dangerous sport with serious consequences.
Different teams have different levels of commitment, and we juggle a ton of conflicts and variables, but the *best estimate* for this season’s schedule is like this:
MON- Possibly, LR and Rec team rides after school; Elite has strength training in the evenings
TUE- BMX day for everyone! Little Rippers 4-5; All other teams 5-7; clean-up til 7.15. Some of these events extend into family dinner nights.
WED- Most likely, LR and Rec Team rides after school; Elite and Comp have Killer B’s training in the evenings
THU- Team rides, 4-dark (give or take)
FRI- No club events.
SAT- Rec/Comp/Elite teams ride, 9-12 (give or take); Some competitions are all weekend, some are just one-long-day.
SUN- No club events, but some kids finish competitions on Sundays.
Please notice: There are some “early days” but most activities leave kids time for other pursuits. We have lots of kids with jobs, other sports, and other hobbies. We are here to *offer* things, but there is no penalty if your rider can only make part of the schedule.
If they’re ready to race, we’ll help them. ALL our competitive riders have been humbled by bad luck, bike failure, and disappointing outcomes. Our competition teams focus on personal progression, team time, and exploring new venues. We invite every willing rider to compete, and we can promise rewarding outcomes because we do not objectify race results; instead, we focus on growing our riders and building lifetime skills and lasting personal relationships.
We offer two separate seasons for the younger kids (7-11), and a winter/spring season for older kids (11-18), at all levels from “I just got this bike” to “I’m going to Nationals!” We are all volunteers, and strive to keep costs as low as possible, but bikes are expensive and we DO have minimum safety gear requirements. Within those basic parameters, all riders are welcome.
We welcome all riders, and we have girls in our teams; we do NOT have a separate girls program because we feel that girls can shred right along with boys. That said, we need more girls, and if we find that a separate ladies’ team is appropriate, we are prepared to open it right away.
No worries. We do NOT require participation and we definitely won’t make you feel guilty if you miss some rides (we all do!). Cross-training is critical for physical fitness, and diverse interests can keep the stoke high for all of us, so go surf when it’s good, chase powder if you can, show up after water polo practice or leave early for that tennis tournament; we’ve all been burned out of other sports by coercive or pushy coaches, so you’ll get no pressure here. Some kids just ride when they can, some families shift in a few weeks late or shift out a weeks early, and some kids step up a level or drop down a level… it’s all good (as long as we have space). BUT, we won’t be broadcasting plans you if you’re not a member, and we can’t hold every practice as an open ride, so the only way to stay informed is to be registered.
We can help. We have a members’ gear exchange, and we have excellent relationships with local shops and supportive sponsors. It IS an expensive and gear-intensive sport, but we might be able to cut the entry costs.
This whole thing is like one giant play date. We are an all-volunteer parents’ coop, and everyone helps in whatever way they can. Nobody gets paid, nobody makes money, and everyone has a role to play. Our volunteer Carpool/Shuttle Coordinator helps all the other parents work together to transport our riders. We’ve always been able to work this out with incurring additional costs, and we are proud of our coordination support.
Yes. Competitions have additional site/registration fees, and often involve travel costs; bikes are expensive and maintenance can be costly for kids who ride hard; our BMX venue requires a separate membership (around $85/year); safety gear is not cheap (but we have excellent sponsors); this is a dangerous sport and potential medical costs can’t be ignored. All that being said, we have many families of humble means and we also offer financial support.
We accept registration on a rolling basis, as long as we have space, so you could sign up any time. That said, we usually start messaging our members a couple months before each season. Registration starts in August, and regular activity, communication, and preparation starts in mid-September. If you’re a member, we can keep you in the loop, but if you wait until January… you missed the Fall Film Festival, the first months of BMX, the order for jerseys, the discounted group-buys, the sign-up for campsites at the competitions… we can always refund you if something comes up before the riding starts, but we definitely recommend you sign up NOW.
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