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Trail Kids Mountain Bike Session 3

2023 Season Minneapolis, MN 55422 US

Sessions

Description

Trail Kids Mountain Bike Programs are part of the Loppet Foundation’s Trail Kids year-round programming. Trail Kids offers three sessions of six-week mountain bike programs for novice to advanced riders. Participants ages 7-13 will explore single-track trails while gaining skills they can use for a lifetime! The focus of the mountain bike program is to have fun, meet new friends, and build confidence riding the single track trails.

Those who have no experience mountain biking on singletrack trails should take one of our Beginner Mountain Bike Clinics before taking one of the six-week evening sessions

Female-identifying, trans, and nonbinary youth seeking to ride only with others identifying as female, trans, or nonbinary can sign up for our Girls Rock Mountain Bike Program. *Nonbinary and trans participants are welcome to join any offering in which they feel most comfortable. Participants ages 13 – 18 years old can join the Loppet Cycle Works Juniors program.

What can your child expect at a Trail Kids Mountain Bike Program? Watch the Trail Kids Mountain Bike News Video to learn more.

 

Girls Rock!

The Girls Rock! Mountain Bike Program is part of the Loppet Foundation’s Trail Kids year-round programming. This 6-week program will focus on mountain biking skills for novice to advanced riders. “Girls Rock!” was designed specifically for the purpose of allowing female-identifying participants to feel more comfortable learning mountain bike skills with those who identify as female. The focus of the “Girls Rock!” mountain bike program is to have fun, meet new friends, and build confidence riding the single track trails at Theodore Wirth Park. Non-binary and trans participants are welcome to join any group in which they feel most comfortable.

 

Registration Guide: Ability Levels

Registration based on ability: All Trail Kids who attend the program must be able to ride their bikes safely on paved paths. When registering your child make sure to indicate their ability level as described in the Mountain Bike Ability Registration Guide.

During practice sessions, participants will be coached by trained Loppet coaches on a variety of mountain bike skills so they can become safe and confident riders. Fundamental Skills include:

  • Ready/neutral position for descending hills
  • Side/Side bike body separation
  • Pedaling/shifting efficiently
  • Controlling speed and braking safely
  • Cornering confidently
  • Handling obstacles and rocky terrain
  • Riding with vision
  • Ratcheting

Participants will be tested at the end of the session on different bike skills and will be able to move up in levels if they progress through additional tests throughout the season. For a full description of our mountain bike skill level progression, view the Trail Kids MTB Skill Level Guide.

 

Financial Assistance and Sibling Discounts

Financial Assistance: Trail Kids provides financial assistance for those in need, up to 100% of the registration cost. To apply, please fill out our Trail Kids Financial Aid Assistance Form. We will follow up with you with instructions on how to register at a price that is manageable for your family. For information about Trail Kids Program scholarships email trailkids@loppet.org

Sibling Discount: For those families who have three or more participants in the program we will given a fifteen percent discount code. Please email trailkids@loppet.org for more information.

 

Additional Details

Ages/Ability: Ages 7–13, beginner to advanced abilities welcome (we split into different coaching groups based on ability, fitness, age, and friend request – friends who are of different riding abilities may not be placed together). We do not have programs for kids 6 years of age and under, so please do not register them until they turn seven years old. If your child has good biking skills and is mature enough we may consider them to start early, but you must contact the program director first at trailkids@loppet.org.

Friend Requests: For safety and equity reasons, Trail Kids does not offer friend requests as part of registration. The mass quantity of friend requests made it impossible to accommodate them all and greatly impacted safety and group dynamics. We would love to allow everyone to practice with their friends, but if we cannot accommodate all friend requests, we cannot offer them to everyone. We encourage riders to embrace the opportunity to form new friendships through our programs!

Equipment Needed: Participants will need their own mountain bike, helmet, and water bottle carrier to participate. We do not provide rental bikes for our six week sessions. Bikes need to have front and back wheel brakes on the handle bars (no peddle brakes or kickstands allowed). Tires must have tread and be wide enough to ride safely on mountain bike trails. For more on mountain bike equipment, view the Trail Kids MTB Equipment Guide.

Trail Kids Adventure Mountain Bike Race Series: Participants will get a chance to partake in one of the Adventure Mountain Bike Races that are offered as part of our Trail Kids program. There will be one race scheduled for each of the three sessions scheduled during a normally scheduled practice. Participants will race in their coaching groups at different start times throughout the evening.

 

Place

1221 Theodore Wirth Parkway
Minneapolis, MN US 55422

Program Website

Additional program information can be found at https://www.loppet.org/programs/tk/mtbclincs/.

Program Contact Info

If you have any questions about this program, click the button below.

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