A group of Colwood boys who spent months building a mountain bike track only to have it dismantled by the Capital Regional District recently, have been given a chance to continue their passion at Bear Mountain.
Adam Walker, a coach for the provincial mountain bike team and owner of The Cycling Co., has offered teenagers Morgan Lessard, Parker Gale, Myles Moshuk and nine-year-old Ty Skaalrud a spot in a pro-d day bike camp next month.
“I just felt like it was the right thing to do. It broke my heart that these kids had spent so much time and energy doing something productive, building their own little bike park so that they could do something healthy and outdoors only to have it dismantled by the CRD,” Walker said. “It made me feel sad and I thought ‘I can do something here, so let’s make that happen.'”
RELATED: Colwood boys build mountain bike track
For the past six months, the boys have been building a mountain bike track next to the Galloping Goose off Aldeane Avenue. Using nothing but a few shovels, rakes, and a mini pick axe, the boys have carefully carved out technical trails with drops, berms, a skinny line with a two by four piece of wood (which they could ride over), and a rock garden.
But on March 20, workers with the Capital Regional District dismantled the trails and placed debris across to prevent people from re-building them, citing safety concerns.
When Walker heard about the Gazette’s story last week he was moved to action. At the May 18 camp, the boys will learn the fundamentals of mountain bike skills such as basic body position, braking control, corner and shifting gears. Morgan also received a preview of the camp, when he was invited to the kids event at the 2018 Bear Mountain Bike Festival over the weekend.
“They were blown away [by the invitation],” said Walker, noting there needs to be more facilities for kids to ride bikes.
“It’s so important to keep kids healthy, active and away from screens. I think having a healthy, active population is so important for us as a society and to be able to provide opportunities to do that, whether it’s on bikes or by other means, is just so important. As a community, we really need to stand up for these things.”
kendra.wong@goldstream
