Primary school MTB team - Starting up!!

[rudi-h]

I live in Musina.  We don't have a bike shop, a coach or anything cycling related and the Primary School just entered the Spur MTB series this year for the first time!!

 

Disclaimer:  I'm not a parent and have no association whatsoever with the school, so this is not me looking for sponsorship or opportunity for a the school in question, nor for a specific child.  I am not writing on behalf of the school nor do I represent them in any formal manner.

 

Why am I writing:  I believe I am a fairly experienced cyclist living in a town that otherwise does not have the know-how or basic resources needed to get a school cycling team off the ground.  So I guess to me it is a "pay it forward" initiative to help the kids fall in love with a sport that greatly contributed to shaping my adult life and has given me endless pleasure over the past 15 years.

 

I believe we need 2 things as a start:

 

1)  Bikes:  The kids are between 6 and 14.  Being in the platteland, I guess there will be quite a spread in terms of what parents would be willing to pay.  I think the bottom line is we just need some mechanism to screen / view / testride 2nd hand bicycles.  I know parents can technically search the hub, but living 5 hours from Gauteng, it's not as easy to buy anything online, especially if you can't "quickly" go have a look at it or if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.  I was thinking of a "bike swop" arrangement with another school.  I.e. a school that has some kids that have outgrown their bikes load them on a trailer and we send it to Musina.  Here parents can have a look, see if the kids fit etc. and then buy what they want and send the rest back?

 

Anybody associated with other primary schools willing to look into such an arrangement or perhaps have an alternative idea for sourcing 2nd hand bikes in a far-out town?

 

2)  Trailer:  I have a friend (he's committed to this initiative with me) that might be in a position to sponsor / buy / modify a trailer so that we can transport say 10 or 15 bikes at a time.  Does anyone have a nice design or similar?  I know how to transport adult bikes, but not sure what attachments etc. work best if you have different wheel sizes, frame sizes, shapes etc.  Any pictures, drawings or info around Primary School bike transporting options will be great

 

Some emails might follow in terms of coaching advice etc. later, but for now we just need to get the kids on bikes and find a way to get their bikes to the 3 remaining races in Limpopo.

[TobiasL]

You are welcome to contact me at Tobias.lubbe@affies.co.za

[PeterF]

The Spur MTB series is actually only for high school's. Most provinces allow primary school kids to ride but they do not qualify for the series. Great to see more and more schools getting involved in the sport though.

[ChrisF]

Best wishes with your initiative

 

 

We registered the school our godson is attending for the Western Cape SPUR series.  It was ONE phonecall and one email.        THANKS to Michelle for her stunning work with the local series.

 

 

Have a look at the program for your local series.

 

In the Western Cape primary school kids practice from 7 to 8, with racing starting at 8:00.  By lunch the primary school kids are done.  After lunch it is the high school kids.

 

 

Next Saturday morning we are leaving at 5:00 .... picking up some people along the route, and need to be on track for practicing by 7 in Worcester ...    

 

 

For now we send photos and video clips of the events, training sessions, and trail rides to the school.  They put it on the schools facebook page.  It is slowly growing in popularity .....

 

 

The fun starts when the SPUR dates clash with other school sport dates ....  tread carefully  .... if the school sport suffers because some key player decided to rather ride his bike ..... let's just say we are not getting "full support" from the school ......

 

your next hurdle will be registering the parents and kids on the SPUR website ..... PATIENCE !!  You need to repeat a number of the steps a couple of times ..... not the smoothest site .... once registered, it is very easy to enter an event.

 

 

 

Actually saw a LONG trailer at the Backsberg event today.  Probably 6 or 7m long.  Bikes are loaded sideways, into tracks that holds the wheels.  Not sure how they strap it down.  Pity I did not take a photo of it ....

 

 

In terms of buying the bikes .... the kids outgrow each bike size in 12 to 18 months.     If they take care of it, it can be passed on to the next kid a number of times.

 

 

Also think about cycling helmets ... no helmet no ride.  By 7 years of age they outgrow the small helmets .... we struggled to find a proper helmet for the next size .... the kid cant ride properly if the helmet is too small and hurts them ...

 

 

Yes, you will see some insanely expensive bikes at the SPUR events.  For the age group you are looking at the following skills determine their level of success:

- basic bike handling skills

- ability to read the track and shose the best lines

- GEARS .... the younger kids really struggle with gearing  ..... they get off and walk a hill long before even thinking of shifting the gears ....

[Rolling Stone]

The Spur MTB series is actually only for high school's. Most provinces allow primary school kids to ride but they do not qualify for the series. Great to see more and more schools getting involved in the sport though.

[Rolling Stone]

The Spur MTB series is actually only for high school's. Most provinces allow primary school kids to ride but they do not qualify for the series. Great to see more and more schools getting involved in the sport though.

Word is that we may have something for primary schools next year.

[Rolling Stone]

Good luck with this initiative

with schools mtb getting ever more popular you are going to find that XS and S 26” bikes are getting very scarce