Kids’ summer mountain biking programs

Mountain biking season is here, with a variety of kids’ biking programs offered in Duluth.

“We get to be outside. We get to have fun in nature. We get to enjoy the trails and this epic place that we live in, in Duluth,” said Spirit Mountain Director of Resort Services Jon Regenold. “Kids often come ready to ride their bikes and they leave even more excited to be on their bikes continually.”

With participants from across the region, kids of all ages and abilities can learn and improve mountain bike skills at Spirit Mountain.

“We’re super excited at Spirit Mountain to be able to offer multiple levels of biking lessons and camps,” said Regenold. “We start as young as two years old with strider camps and work all the way up through any age to offer private lessons.”

Founded in 2013, Duluth DEVO meets after school hours as a youth development program.

“Our goal is using mountain biking to develop a youth to the point where it’s building a strong mind and body together and giving them that lifetime support,” said Duluth DEVO Founder and Program Director Brian Hayden. “We’re not just about competition. Only about 10% of our kids race. So we’re a much larger program than just that competitive background. And really, our focus is on developing youth and character building.” 

Many of the Duluth DEVO coaches are program alumni.

“I would say at least a quarter of our coaches, we have about 70 coaches that work with our program, our alumni that have one time participated in the program and still want to ride and get back to the kids in the community,” said Hayden.

With programs varying from performance-based race and Enduro to the more social adventure program, kids can pick programs that suit their interests. 

“Our tagline is Growing Lifelong Cyclists. That’s our mission. So engage those kids at an early age. Most kids do ride bikes at a young age,” Hayden explained. “We’re a program that can engage the whole family to be able to ride that bike and learn the skills, to be able to do it safely and also educate them throughout our city, the trails that’s available for the whole family to go ride.”