Our Aim?
To get kids to have fun on bikes...oh, and there are a few others
- To give kids (and their parents) the opportunity to learn about cycling in safety
- To develop their skills and confidence and fitness
- To introduce them to racing in different disciplines and in a friendly atmosphere
- To give mums and dads the experience to join in on the club’s family rides and to take their children out themselves - locally or on holiday
Do we succeed?
Kids always have fun on bikes, so how could we fail? As to our other aims come along to KSBC and make your own mind up. However, here are a few of our 'milestones'.
Well, we’ve put more children through the British Schools Cycling Association Trix Awards (that’s skills, to you and me) than any other club in the country. We have containers full of bikes and skills equipment like seesaws, limbo bars, ramps, cones, boxes and pallets so that kids have fun and learn skills and confidence at the same time. This fun activity is core to KSBC. It really is amazing how much fun a kid can have learning to pick up a bottle from the floor, or how looong a KSBC 'slow' race can take!
Our members have stood on the podium in regional and national schools championships in - deep breath - circuit racing, time trials, cyclo-cross, mountain biking, grass track, hard track and hill climbs. In doing so they have set a couple of national records and they’ve even raced in international events. Not bad for a bunch of lazy, long haired, couch potatoes
…but less of the parents, lets get back to the kids
Determined and adventurous and very, very fit, 8 and 9 year olds have dragged their dads from Wetherby to Filey in the annual Great Yorkshire Bike Ride - what’s 70 miles? Young enthusiasts have even dragged their parents up Holme Moss to watch the Tour of Britain go past!
And one 11 year old girl descended the Les Gets Downhill World Cup course without fear, which is more than could be said for her dad. In one hour the kids cycled 210 miles around our track, that's equivalent of Bradford to London, and raised £XXXX for Children in Need.
So remember, it's not all about racing - you can have fun and help others too!
We’ve run short family rides on quiet roads / Sustrans routes and our kids have ridden some, or all, of the way to Osmotherley (70miles) and Stainforth (40 miles) on EBCC Youth Hostel weekends.
The club also runs many of the regional schools championships at the Richard Dunn Sports Centre cycling circuit, Oakbank Sports College and Haworth’s Penistone Country Park. The main coach, Mike Healey, is a lead organiser in the new British Cycling initiative 'The White Rose Junior League', which is based at Richard Dunn.
EBCC are a registered British Cycling Go-ride Club - so we have qualified coaches, trained volunteers, child protection policies, an organised club structure. Two of our parents have been inspired to take up coaching themselves and both mums and dads now regularly take part in time trials and mountain bike races.
Hostel Weekend