Over the past three days I’ve been trying to find out if there are any races mountain or road for kids under 13 at Sea Otter Classic…you know one of the largest cycling events in the US. I can’t even get an answer direct from them. I did hear from Primal Wear, one of their sponsors, that the answer is no. But then I get confused as I have seen reports from U13 racers that they’ve been racing there for years. So is it allowed, not allowed, or only allowed for some if they are connected or know how to break rules? Just.So.Confused.
I get that in the current environment holding races or events for the youngest of juniors is a huge pain in the ass. There aren’t enough of them in most cases and there is a limited amount of time. So I also checked if kids could do any of the mtb rides (not races). Nope, not until 12.
We need to start somewhere and address this issue.
Why are the teen years too late?
When kids start elementary school they are introduced to popular organized sports such as soccer, baseball, and football. Outside of the professionals these ball sports focus on children. While there are pick-up adult teams you don’t see a huge focus on Master or Amateur baseball/football/soccer players. They focus on kids. Kids grow up to love these sports, the good ones move up and the ones that aren’t so good go on to spend billions on sporting events and proudly wear their favorite player’s jersey.
Cyclists? We ignore kids after they grow out of Striders and free Shimano Kids Races. So at 5 these kids pick up those other sports and once they enter these sports they tend to stay. Some sit on benches not getting much exercise and some get really good. The ones that get really good aren’t likely to switch over to cycling when they reach puberty.
So while NICA and other organizations focus on high school cycling it leaves a huge gap between Strider races and High School! This is one reason while NICA seems to have two types of riders…a handful of strong athletes that grew up around cycling and have been doing it since they were young and then the kids who never fit into any other sport or just started cycling.
I’m not saying that kids need to be on training plans or even racing seriously but there needs to be more diversity and opportunity before the teen years. This would introduce cycling to more girls, more kids from non-cycling families, and more athletic kids before they get drawn away to other sports because there is nothing in cycling for them until it’s too late. There’s a lot to learn from competing including camaraderie. Especially road biking which is not an individual sport.
What’s the Answer?
While this will take many solutions here are a few:
Encourage Master’s teams to support Juniors – I know some Masters Team have Juniors but these Juniors are usually U23 not U14. I say Masters because there are a lot of these guys (yes guys) racing and they have a pretty easy time getting sponsor money because they often work within an organization to secure funding.
More community cycling clubs – There is a reason kids from places like Durango and Boulder top the podium…and it’s not a secret sauce. I know in Durango they aren’t putting kids on training plans or even push racing until kids want to race. They provide a community cycling club starting with balance bikes. Kids are encouraged to enjoy cycling and are supported as they move up. Some naturally want to race as they get better. Others move into sessions that focus more on exploring via bike.
USA Cycling/Promoters – Need to communicate and encourage junior racing. I can never get a clear answer from USA Cycling about juniors except that “it’s up to the promoter.” Surely they can help the promoters – financially or other. And importantly don’t throw up bounce houses and a course around the parking lot and communicate that as “supporting kids cycling.” It’s great, heck it’s essential, for kids under 5 but it’s like offering to kick a soccer ball in a field with a 10 year old and call that a soccer game. It’s not. Kids at 8, 10, 12 need more than what is currently offered in “kid’s races.”
And when kids show up to race don’t turn them away because they don’t have the right bike. We were at a closed USA Cycling Jr. Crit race and I saw the officials turn away a 10 year old because he didn’t have the right bike. There were only 3 other kids racing. This kid was not from a cycling family but he saw the race and wanted to try it out. Luckily, we were able to go down the road and the Dad was able to rent a road bike from a bike shop and get back to make the race. I know that ideally a mountain bike should not be on the course but that’s where we are right now. Find a way to make it work without ever turning away a kid that shows interest in this sport. When there are 30 kids lining up, then you can enforce more rules.
Cycling Manufacturers – There are two kinds of bikes for kids after they leave the lightweight balance bike, very expensive bikes mostly from Europe and heavy bikes made by some of best brands in the US. And even those bikes are costly and hard to get for most kids.
But these heavy bikes are also better than nothing. How about taking a look at what Strider does. They don’t just sell bikes. They are out there at events, they sponsor “races,” they offer community events. They hand the cycling community thousands of 3-5 year olds ready for pedal bikes and what are we doing for these kids once they can pedal? Little. They get the same parking lot course as they did when they turned 18 months and now they have to handle a 20 pound bike.
How about the big names in cycling rethink pro deals and free bikes for 40 year old men that race around a closed office park while nobody watches and funnel just some of those dollars into getting more kids racing. I know in Europe kids are able to access bikes from Colanago and Pinarello on loan and trade it in for new ones as they grow. Give your sponsor money to promoters only if they offer junior races (or appropriate length rides) for all categories. When you go to places like OuterBike, bring your kid’s line of bikes. Encourage families to all come and test all bikes.
Okay, off soapbox.
What are your thoughts? I’m sure there are examples of kid’s events, races, and organizations out there doing great things. Here is Colorado BRAC is making great strides. Please add them to the comments so everyone can see what is possible!
I totally agree. My husband and I have talked about the things we’re going to be committed to athletically as a family, and the answer is always cycling and skiing… and we would like the same for our 3 kids. But to your point the only option is to sign them up for the Boulder Devo team. Which is fine, but there should be other opportunities for those kids who love cycling to have an opportunity to pursue that besides riding their local pump track or spending some time at the Valmont bike park. I would be willing to help work with local race sponsors to help create a category for kids who want to try a crit or TT or a mountain bike race or cyclocross. It just makes sense to work hard to develop the next generation of talent before they’re in high school… it certainly would help our international presence in all disciplines of racing.
Additionally, I think we should focus equally on boys and girls at a young age, because I’m tired of being on the podium because I was one of 3 ladies in a race. Lame. I want my daughter to have an opportunity to be challenged when she’s young, face adversity in a race and work hard to finish in the top 3. I have countless pictures of me winning/coming in second merely because I was the only option. Where’s the fun in that? I wasn’t the best, I was the only… and I think races like the Beti Bike Bash are helping to combat that, but that’s one race a season.
Let’s work on this together. 🙂
Thanks for the in-depth response. I agree with everything and I think I could/should devote some time to this since it eats at my brain all the time. In 2011 I started an offshoot of Durango Devo here in Ridgway. When we started most kids in 2nd grade could not ride a bike without training wheels now we have over 50 kids (in a town of 800) in the program and loving cycling. Almost all these kids come from families that do not (or did not) mountain bike. Now we’re seeing a lot of parents getting involved. But I think it’s time to start a national conversation. Maybe a blog/facebook group to encourage communities, parents, the industry even USA Cycling. Similar to the focus on women’s cycling but for kids.
I don’t road bike, only mountain, so that’s all I know about. The RME mountain bike series offers free kids races for kids under 10, and junior races starting at 11, The Winter Park Epic Single Track series has junior races starting at 11. The Little Bellas girls race starts at 8.
Thanks for all those great examples Rachel. I think there are some examples like these to grow from and make the interest deep and wide!
Out here in California I believe our Local Association, SCNCA, requires USA Cycling-sanctioned races to have a junior class, and a women’s class, but they don’t have to have a class for each age group, or each women’s category (our women’s races are often CAT 1-4!). My guess would be that your son could race at Sea Otter, but may have to race with older kids. As you’ve already noted, unfortunately there is very little funding for junior teams, but lots of funding for masters’ teams. That doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon. There also appears to be little interest by USA Cycling to provide national-level opportunities for juniors, or a track that leads to Olympic opportunities for junior cyclists. Apparently it’s quite different for European junior cyclists – where many countries have well-funded junior development and Olympic programs. My son was invited to race in Germany and Demark for two weeks and is headed there on Monday. His coaches envision that he will be spending a lot of time racing in Europe in the future as there are so many more opportunities for juniors – more races, better competition. Who funds these trips? Mom and Dad! There is no national-level funding, and no sponsor money. We’re working on it…..
Jeannine, Yes I have my eyes on your family and son to pave the way;) My husband grew up in Australia and all his racing team mates went to the Institute of Sport paid for by the government. He wasn’t allowed because he was a US Citizen. Another family we know in Italy talks about the huge focus on juniors with bike lending programs and clubs for road biking. I know our son will be fine (although it’s frustrating to get info) but I’m sad for our sport that we aren’t more diverse and leveraging interest at a younger age. If you look at a lot of top racers in the US they were raised by pro cyclists or top level amateurs (Tejay, Taylor, Alex Howes probably more…) versus other sports where parents are important to entry but not everything. So you’re on my list to include for taking this conversation further. Thanks! And congrats to your son! Is is such an amazing cyclist.
Really awesome points you bring up, Jen. I don’t know that I would have made this same observation unless you pointed it out…and now that you did I see so much truth in it!
Having worked on the hardgoods (bikes) side of the bike industry for so many years, I think much of the hesitation from manufacturers stems from the perception of a very small customer base. However you are so right…kids ARE the future of our sport and the health of the bicycle industry! While NICA is doing a stellar job getting middle and high school kids on bikes, there is a gap that needs to be bridged between the Shimano/Strider kid’s races and NICA. While the customer base may be small now, I’m a believer that if we build it they will come. If more promoters started offering racing for younger kids (pre-juniors?), I think there would be more interest and support than people think…which leads to demand for higher-end “race” bikes for kids.
I would encourage you to write a letter to BRAIN (Bicycle Retailer and Industry News) and put this in front of the face of the bike industry. I think it would be a real eye opener for a LOT of folks!
Jen,
I don’t know too much yet, but we are going to this meeting here in Baltimore tomorrow. They have started “Baltimore Youth Cycling” program. I’m not clear if the focus will be on Cyclocross or if that is just the first thing. I’m hoping it will also promote mountain biking (since that’s what our kids have). Your point about having programs that lend equipment is great, because while I’m happy to let my kids try cyclocross, I don’t want to buy yet another bike if they don’t know if they will like it. And if they do try a race, a don’t want them to feel self conscious if they don’t have the “right” bike. I’m hoping the program will meet the kids at whatever level they come and that it will not just be a group of kids that have parents that race.
Here is the link:
http://www.baltimoreyouthcycling.org/
Cathy
Brilliant article. I think you are hitting the nail on the head. Even look at what happened to the Junior CX races at Nationals….. At any rate, we just recently organized our first Kids race and we had a balance bike division winner, a pedal bike division winner and everyone got a cowbell as a medal. In the end, the children and parents were super inspired and pumped up and can’t wait to ride their bikes more and do another race. Matteo, the youngest rider, wasn’t even 3 years old. We are also planning to do additional rides and provide children with free bikes and helmets when they attend the rides. We work with another non-for profit organization @GhisallFound to make it happen. At any rate, yes, we think that in general little attention is paid to children. People always talk about how important it is for kids to ride and then they buy them cheap and heavy bikes that don’t fit well and it’s not much fun for the children to ride. For example, I attended the CX event in Austin and see parent racing on 16-18lb bikes. The parent weighs 160lb. Next thing you know, their child participates on the CX event with a 30lb bike. THe child weighs 40 lbs…… So, i think we all have to do our part to educate, inspire and contribute. Thanks for your post. It’s very timely. Mathias – us.woombikes.com
Just a quick follow up and some very positive examples in our Austin or Texas communities where leaders are working to support kids racing and kids riding. Please have a look for an exemplary effort here: http://cxproject2015.org/ and http://ghisallo.org/ and http://www.boneshaker.org/
Just wanted to pass along that we have positive initiatives as well and we hope they get the recognition they deserve. I am off the soap box too:)
Mathias, I will post those on the FB group we started called USA Junior Cycling. Please join and spread the word about bikes, events etc…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/811843755570273/