Hike & Bike Adventure Camp

Last week I completed my first cycling camp where I was in charge. My attempt to give something back to the sport that gives me so much daily. It sounds trite, but I also wanted my church to gain some from the cycling knowledge I've accumulated. It will probably happen again in a different form because I know there are some adults that were not able to attend and learn what they needed to learn.

The camp was run for fun, not to instill training regimens or anything. We did rides of moderate challenge for Junior High Age kids. We ended up doing about 15 miles per day. We ended the week with over 75 miles all on hybrid mountain bikes or trick bikes. We had days that were road only, some that were road and trails and one that was road and trails and horse-back riding.

First couple of days there were mechanicals so we were able to practice some of the things that the kids had seen done on the first day when all we did was learn how to repair some basic things and to handle obstacles and how to keep a straight line. We did practice going from a group riding technique to a single file paceline type arrangement. We did practice good traffic skills within a group using city maps and being smart about what roads we traversed.

It was cheap for the kids and basically paid me back on what I spent on go-juice and goomies. They were also introduced to various things to try to eat while on the road so there was a nutrition component. And since it was done in August, they had plenty of practice dealing with the heat, but most days we were out of there before the hottest part of the day took effect.

We were also able to secure sponsors for the shirts and will use this opportunity to produce our Hike and Bike t-shirts which each participant will receive one for free and jerseys which participants will have to invest some to receive. But the point is that we have begun the process and that is the big challenge.