Young mountain bikers sharpen skills at Alameda clinic
A group of young mountain bikers learned safety and skills on the trails at Alameda Park on Saturday, July 15, and walked away with knowledge as well as a community.
Despite the blazing heat, the experienced group of eight participated in a three-hour ride along some of the park’s toughest trails.
According to Julie Säler, a certified biking instructor, this was the first time a training of this kind had taken place.
“It’s about building confidence in the skill, but also building community,” she said.
Before hitting the trails, Säler and her husband, Travis, assessed the group, which ranged from age 9 to age 16. The bikers were asked to perform a series of skills.
“I was really impressed,” Julie said. “A beginner clinic you have to go through a lot more safety.”
“I think you all undersold yourselves a bit,” Travis said to the group. “There wasn’t one spot where everyone didn’t ride. Maybe you’re not the fastest, but your skills are there.
The group would frequently stop and start during the training, focusing on a skill and then riding some more. There was a lot of banter and encouragement going on between the riders, Travis said.
“The first thing we worked on was climbing, having enough stamina to ride to the top,” Julie said. “This group liked to jump the most...we did some jumping today.”
One skill they spent a lot of time on was riding switchbacks, which snake back and forth down a steep hill.
Following the ride, most of the bikers said they took away lots of knowledge about safety and speed on switchback trails.
“When you’re coming down a hill, you don’t take the inside, you take the middle or high (side of the trail),” said Brodrick Cratty, 13, of Grove City. “The goal is speed and flow.”
Brodrick said he started biking because his brother was interested in it. Of the 32 mountain biking trails at Alameda Park, his favorite is Janice Jumpline.
His love of this trail was shared with Evan Capsin, a 16-year-old from Butler.
“Janice Jumpline is a fan favorite. It’s one of the biggest, smoothest trails with nice big jumps,” he said.
“I thought I had more endurance than I had,” Evan said at the end of the ride. “I ride a lot of roads. 15 miles on a road is like 20 on the trail. The trail doubles everything.”
Ben Speck, 9, and his best friend, Rowan Bowser, 10, said they’ve been on bikes since age 3. Ben said he liked jumping the best.
“I’d say I kind of want to be a pilot and the jumping is fun. I like being in the air more than I’m on the ground,” he said.
Jumping was a shared interest among the group, Julie said.
“I would be interested in reaching out to jump coaches (for a training),” she said.
All the riders received free sunglasses, as well as a voucher for $20 off a purchase at Trek, a bicycle shop in Pittsburgh.
Some participants even exchanged phone numbers with their instructors, so they could ride together again.
“This is our first time getting a group like this out here,” Julie said. “Some of these kids usually ride alone...We’re tying to get that sense of community.”
