yeah, its always the same.
Teenagers, bored, fed up, causing divilment, staring into space, Xboxes and their own navels. Why, they are teenagers, they have no focus..they dont need any , they are still kids. We still tell them when to get up, when to go to bed, when to eat, when they can go out and when they should be in.
Yet we expect them to amuse themselves and find things to do. Thats a load of me Boll*& , most adults need the same thing but can find it easier. A lot of stuff thats not cool for a teenager is very acceptable for adults. But still we complain that they are turning into zombies but do nothing about it. Well us adults always have one thing we can give them, even if we are broke !
We can give them some of our time , how hard is that ! I would never have embarked on any of the crazy adventures I have enjoyed without the help of an adult who gave a shӣ.
So I learned a valuable lesson as a teenager. Always give some time to people who want to see your world, welcome them, make them last and teach them something useful even if it is how to skid spectacularly.
So I rounded up some teenagers , with the help of some teenagers and a couple of dedicated adults and off we went.
We brought them to the best forest in the world to ride your bike and let them loose.
I took the under 12s consisting of Drew Armstrong (XMTB),Craig McCarthy (XMTB), Nathan Carr ( Me DadCC) and Ross Ennis (EPICmtb) , and Alfie Wallace and Joe McCall took an Army of older ones for an EPIC spin ,
We took in all the best singletrack in the place and put several of the hardest climbs in the place to bed ! I’ve said it before , Mountainbiking is hard ; hard, dirty and dangerous . It hurts when you hit the ground, it hurts when you have to pedal uphill, its scary on the way back down .
But when you get it right its so sweet, so satisfying.
It doesnt matter how old you are, it always hurts. But when you are a young teenager, getting hurt and wore out will easily put you off. Thats the problem we have, theirs a whole heap of things to distract them. So the job we have is to make mountainbiking so deadly to do, they will keep doing it.
My plan is to build a community of youth and junior Mountainbikers and create an environment thats safe, enjoyable and builds self confidence. After all thats as important as being a winner. give a teenager a sense of his worth and you keep in on the right path and make the world a better place. Simple !
As we got near the end of our spin I produced yet another fierce climb.
As we were grinding our way up it I heard one of them say to another,
” don’t be afraid to pass me out, i’m wrecked”
to which the other guy replied
” no way, I can barely keep on your wheel!
I’m pretty sure a teenage Joe McCall said the same thing to Bob Seymour about 22 years ago !