You have to walk before you can run and you have to ride before you can race.

I have been spending a lot of time lately thinking about what brings and keep people in cycling and also what are the hurdles that block the way of more people getting involved in this sport. It seems to me that all the benefits of cycling and a bike racing lifestyle are things valued and sought after with much more energy and money than what it costs to pick up a decent bike and helmet and get involved in cycling. But it seems that the entry point riding skills required to hop into tonight’s race at Palmer Park is by far a more limiting factor on getting new riders involved in mountain bike racing than the cost of bikes or entry fees. Tonight’s race is only $20! This really is not as expensive of a hobby as it is sometimes made out to be.

( Photo: All ages and abilities are welcome at the Ascent Cycling Series.)

I am discovering that rides and clinics that are designed specifically to allow people on any bike to get into the dirt and allow them the repetition necessary to begin to learn the movements, weight balance, and techniques that allow them to negotiate their bike around confidently in singletrack, are wholly more necessary to grow a MTB community that I previously imagined. There is a group of us that learned all these things as kids and we don’t even think about it, but many people did not get that experience and as an adult this is a legitimately tough skill set to go pick up on your own.

The new trails that have been in development along the downtown corridor of Fountain Creek are offering us an outlet for this type of ride to take place. The last few weeks a group of riders have been meeting for an easy recovery ride and turn some laps of the short new trail.  Quickly we have been able to bring other people interested in the downtown development side of the trails and get them experiencing off road riding in a great and relatively safe atmosphere. Seeing people have so much fun and improve quickly by turning laps of a quarter mile piece of trail has been eye opening and inspiring for me. I think trails like what has been started by the Urban Singletrack Project hold far more potential for growing our sport than does any other bike promotions that I have been involved with.

I want our races to be huge. I have seen what happens in communities that have a strong race scene. Businesses quickly see us a resource and great community to partner with, money can come quickly into the sport. Promoters like Andy Bohlman now have incentive to continue to put on more events and trail development follows fast on the heels of the visibility that comes from big mountain bike races. We have to continue to grow the pipeline of racers, it won’t happen on its own at the rate I want, and I am making a new commitment to rides and clinics like I have been experiencing on Monday nights.

After a brief hiatus for the US Cup we are back in action tonight. Back at Palmer Park, in the rocks and rutty fun we love. Take the opportunity in front of you to be a mountain bike racer today. All that is required is you grab your bike and helmet and $20 and go for a bike ride with a bunch of likeminded people. If you think you need to hone your riding skills before jumping in, then come out to the races anyway and look me up. I can give you the scoop on rides available and you can see firsthand that the fun we are all having and the rewards this sport offers far tops any gym membership.