IMBA Sprockids Thrives

IMBA Trail News
Volume 15, Number 3
Summer 2002

Ten years ago British Columbia educator Doug Detwiller started a mountain bike club at his school with a half dozen kids. Known as Sprockids Coastriders, this group continues to thrive and serves as a model for nearly 100 other Sprockids clubs that are bringing the joy of mountain biking to thousands of kids around the world. IMBA now coordinates and promotes the Sprockids program worldwide.

"Sprockids is about kids-kids having fun on mountain bikes and building self-esteem," Detwiller says. "Kids today want to be part of something and they want to be active. Sprockids gives them something to belong to and reaches out to kids our schools might miss with their more traditional sports offerings."

One active Sprockids club is based in Finale Ligure, Italy, and is run by 1999 European downhill champion Bruno Zanchi.

Sprockids Blu Bike has more than 60 kids who regularly attend its clinics and fun rides. The club is also helping to build a local mountain bike park on the edge of town. The park is easily accessible via bicycle and will give kids a place to practice their skills in a positive environment. In Italy, soccer is king. But among the kids in Finale Ligure, mountain biking is becoming popular, too.

Another successful Sprockids club got its beginning in Durango, Colorado - one of mountain biking's true Meccas. The mountain town supports a thriving youth mountain biking scene.

The Sprockids Explorers launched their program in the spring of 2001 with a kids mountain biking festival. Organized by the Fort Lewis College (FLC) Cycling Team, the event featured a number of local pro mountain bikers and attracted more than 150 kids.

Following the festival, about 20 kids started doing weekly rides, led by the FLC team. Escalante Middle School and Durango Parks and Recreation now work together to keep the Explorers spinning. During the school year the middle school runs the club as an after-school activity, and during the summer six-week classes are offered through the parks and recreation department.

Sprockids Blu Bike and Sprockids Explorers are good examples of how varied the Sprockids program is. Sprockids clubs have been integrated into classrooms, organized by adult cycling clubs or simply led by a cycling enthusiast. They all have one important thing in common: smiling kids on bikes.

IMBA Sprockids is sponsored by Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Giant and SRAM.

For more info email Sprockids coordinator Dirk Vinlove at .