This is a story from last summer by Dani Barto, former TNAC member with Youth Outdoors-Duluth, current Program Coordinator for TNAC. Youth Outdoors-Duluth (YOD) is one of our many community partners. This organization works to remove barriers that youth face when accessing outdoor recreational opportunities. During the summer months, YOD puts on a, “Explore Series” where youth get instruction, equipment and experiences rock climbing, mountain biking, fishing, canoeing, archery, and more. In this story, Dani is reflecting on taking groups of kids mountain biking for the first time, and the impressively quick skill development that was demonstrated and the resulting social-emotional growth noticed within the youth. Outdoor recreational experiences can be transformative for the lives of the youth we serve, and the incredible YOD staff, volunteers and TNAC members really enhance these experiences in our community. We feel great appreciation for our partnership with YOD, and are looking forward to our future member placements with this amazing program!
While working for Youth Outdoors-Duluth I was able to attend various outdoor events with the youth we registered. One of my favorite events was mountain biking. I’ve been a street cyclist for a long time and was anxious to try my hand at trail riding. The first group we brought out was through the Boys and Girls Club. The kids were ages 9-15 and the majority of them had little-to-no mountain biking experience. We got them all fitted with helmets and adjusted their bikes to their height and started on a skills course.
Right away I noticed a young boy struggling to stay upright. He insisted he knew how to ride a bike, it had just been a long time and the bike he was using was a little too big. His struggle with balance began to raise his nervousness level; he was afraid he would fall and get hurt. Getting through the initial access trail took him longer than most of the other kids, but another young girl was struggling too so she stayed back with us. The two kids offered each other a ton of verbal support and encouragement. The young man was tempted to quit many times, at one point he tipped over and began to cry out of frustration. He stated “I hate mountain biking, I can’t do this. I’m scared.” However, between his own tenacity, the verbal encouragement given by his peer, and the reassurance given by myself and his staff member, he was able to keep going.
We got onto the real trails and he started to become more comfortable on the bike and how to situate himself on it. His words of protest and frustration shifted to a loud shriek of “WHEEEEEEEE” as he flew down a gravel hill in full control of his bike. By the end of the event he kept exclaiming “I can do this!” as he navigated some of the tougher parts of the trail. He admitted to being glad he stuck with it as they left.
There was a second round of mountain biking after Boys and Girls Club left; a female mental health group from The Hills Youth and Family Services came out to try it. Many of the clients within the group have been on the receiving end of terrible abuse and other traumatic experiences. Due to these past life events, they’ve had minimal opportunity to engage in typical childhood fun (like mountain biking) and have limited trust for adults. Many of the clients knew me due to work I’ve done with them in the past. They inquired about my supervisor and the mountain biking instructor, trying to decide on whether or not they recognized these other adults as safe. It didn’t take much convincing for them to warm up. Brian, the mountain biking coach, and Melody, my supervisor, were incredibly warm and inviting towards them and were able to successfully instruct the group. I watched students with severe mental health disorders happily take directions from all the adults involved. They kept expressing excitement at being able to ride bikes and be outside of the facility. The entire group took to mountain biking really fast.
Brian was so impressed with them that he led us to an intermediate trail, something he almost never does. The kids were doing so well that I had a hard time keeping up with them! They all boasted about their quickly developed skills at the end of the ride. Everyone felt inspired and proud by the end of this group’s time. The staff person that brought them later told me that the kids kept talking about it for weeks and were all begging to find a way to go again. I was overwhelmed with joy to have witnessed young people, who have essentially been robbed of basic childhood happy memories, get a full blown mountain biking experience for the first time.
-Dani Barto, former True North member with Youth Outdoors-Duluth, current True North Program CoordinatorÂ