Learning to Master the Trail: Mountain Biking Pros Teaching the New Generation

Bikers want to inspire a new generation to take off on two wheels.

Kids can get a crash course on riding a mountain bike.
 
“I’m really excited,” says Seven-Year-Old Leif Strum.
 
These kids are getting an opportunity to try a different set of wheels.
 
Leif adds, “I’m gonna test out a mountain bike.”
 
The Great Northern Bicycle Company provided a bevy of mountain bikes for kids to borrow at Gooseberry Park.
 
“Just kind of teaches you a different side of bicycling,” explains bike expert Steve Hausmann.
 
There’s also an obstacle course for them to test out their skills.
 
Leif says, “I like going up that ramp, the one that’s kind of long.”
 
They take their lumps.
 
“As funny as it might seem, they love crashing,” says Hausmann, “although gracefully.”
 
Mountain bikes aren’t like street bikes.

If you master one of these, you can go almost anywhere.
 
“You can get places. It’s pretty fun shifting gears. You can go on the trails and do cool stunts and jumps,” explains eleven-year-old Lawson Strum.
 
It’s not easy to learn to ride these bikes.

But for these kids, two wheels, is quickly becoming second nature.
 
“Oh, they love it,” adds Hausmann.
 
Once they got a feel for the mountain bike, they took off down the trail, blazing a path for the future of biking in Fargo-Moorhead.
 
Hausmann says, “I love this sport and I want to continue to see it grow.”
 
If you or your kids want to learn how to handle a mountain bike, Great Northern is hosting another trail riding event on the last Thursday in August.