BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day was held on Saturday across the US, the eighth annual staging of the promotional event.
The promo is staged by IMBA, the International Mountain Biking Association.
IMBA wants the one day of action to turn in to regular activity for children. Events are conducted by IMBA clubs, bike retailers, volunteer groups and numerous Trips for Kids chapters. IMBA has a ‘toolkit’ of best practice for organising children’s MTB events.
There’s nothing stopping UK individuals and groups from staging their own Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day. BikeBiz executive editor Carlton Reid is a Go Ride coach and decided to take a bunch of kids night-time mountain biking. He led five under-thirteen lads on an urban park trail, which would be relatively tame during the day but was a buzz to ride during the night. Reid – who has ridden 24-hour MTB events in the solo category – said the event was made possible thanks to powerful helmet and bike lights supplied by British LED lights manufacture, Exposure.
"None of the lads had been night-time mountain biking before and they had a real blast. It was wet, it was cold but none of that fazed the kids. They were on a wide range of bikes, from good quality machines through to creaky BSOs.
"The lads want to do more night time rides. We turned off the powerful lights in the middle of the urban park. It was pitch black. the kids weren’t expecting it to be so dark, so close to town. It was great to pass on my passion for mountain biking, and especially mountain biking at night."
