Are your kids wanting to improve their mountain bike skills? Maybe they want to join their high school cycling team or simply participate in some fun rides with their friends and get top notch coaching along the way?Whatever the case, the Singletrack Mountain Bike Adventures (SMBA) has a slew of programs to help you and your kids. Lets face it, especially right now, kids are looking for some adventure more than ever and as fast as programs fill up, now is the time to check out these opportunities!
With a variety of programs for youth of all ages, SMBA offers a spring session, two summer sessions, each with options for more or fewer days per week. New for 2021: a high school league prep program with 6 hours of mountain bike foundational skills training https://smba.lertprograms.com/high-school-mountain-bike-competition-skills/ and a full season Epic Team option focusing on big rides and adventures through both the spring and summer sessions. Registration opens January 18th.
Through the SMBA progression that focuses on solid skill development in climbing, cornering, braking, and descending, riders dedicate time to drill mastery in the early stages of the sport. SMBA riders are exposed to and participate in all aspects of mountain biking including cross country, short track, dual slalom, downhill, enduro, and dirt jumping. SMBA is the only Boulder County program that takes riders to trailheads throughout Boulder County and Colorado. Athletes are always getting new perspectives by riding trails in Nederland, Golden, and Winter Park on a regular basis, and Moab and Crested Butte for weeklong trips. Riding new and challenging trails can make for epic days on the bike and it keeps things fresh and fun. SMBA’s coaching/mentoring program allows older athletes to take part in training that eventually allows them to become SMBA coaches.
In recent years, SMBA has also been making contributions to the explosive growth of the Colorado High School Cycling League by way of its being a “supplier” of many of the riders representing Boulder County at league races each Fall. Kate Rau, Colorado League Executive Director and former SMBA director, recently reflected that SMBA produced the first “high school race” up at Caribou (in Nederland) back in 1996! SMBA’s mission, growth, and influence on junior mountain biking across the front range is phenomenal.
Some SMBA alumni include national and international racers including Joey Schusler, Heather Irmiger, Colin Cares, and Timmy Duggan. There are many current Boulder County athletes, coming up through the junior ranks in national and international cross country and enduro race scenes, who owe their foundation development to SMBA. They’re becoming “champions in life and in sport.”
SMBA’s curriculum progresses riders of all ages through things like climbing, cornering, braking, and descending. Riders can also participate in cross-county, short track, dual slalom, downhill, enduro, and dirt jumping events. Rides consist of routes in and around Boulder, Nederland, and Winter Park.
More than anything, a SMBA day is fun day on the bike. Trained coaches keep groups safe while guiding them through hours of singletrack, outside, among friends; all while growing skills and strength. Though multiple professional cyclists started riding as kids with SMBA, the motto remains “developing champions in life and in sport.”
Lake Eldora Race Team (LERT) is the umbrella organization for two long time Boulder County non-profit programs, Singletrack Mountain Bike Adventures (SMBA) and Eldora Mountain Ski & Snowboard Club (EMSC). Founded in 1993, SMBA is the longest running, independent junior mountain bike program in Colorado and, possibly in the country.
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