Biking Groups for Teens & Preteens

2 parent questions ▼
Archived Q&A and reviews ▼

Parent Q&A

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  • Seeking mountain bikers for teenage son

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    May 16, 2018

    My son is looking for others interested in mountain biking.   We know that that El Cerrito High has a great mountain biking team,  however he is just graduating from middle school in June.  We live in Kensington; Tilden is our back door.  Hope to hear from you soon!

    May 16, 2018

    I believe ECHS rides during the summer.  

    Contact:

    https://echsmtb.com/contact/

    May 21, 2018

  • Biking club for preteens?

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    Mar 13, 2017

    Hi - 

    I'd love to find a mountain biking group for my 12 year old, ideally a group that rides in the Oakland Hills. Hopefully on weekends or and weekdays during the summer. Does such a thing exist? 

    Tamarah

    Mar 13, 2017

    Hi- Yes! It's called Oakland Composite High School Mountain Bike Team....and their development team for middle schoolers called Oakland Devo. My husband is one of the coaches, and my Senior son is in his 6th year of participating so I'm speaking from experience. Previously middle schoolers were allowed to come to practices with the team, but now its actually all very structured which is great. Boys and girls are out there together (one of the things I love about this sport) and the goal is "more kids on bikes." Practices tend to begin at the Trudeau Center up on Skyline or at Joaquin Miller, but there are also field trips (not mandatory). Check out the latest posts here: www.facebook.com/oaktowncomp. Here's the FAQ page on the team website www.oaktowncomp.com/faq, and finally, the email address for more info: oaklandcompositemtb [at] gmail.com (subject: Info%20About%20Oakland%20Composite) (oaklandcompositemtb[at]gmail[dot]com)

    Mar 20, 2017

    Hi Tamarah,

    If your 12 year old is in middle school, there is indeed something in Oakland.  Oakland Composite HS MTB Team has a Development piece or rather Middle School aspect to it.  My husband is the head coach. The program is run by volunteers and hosts weekly rides for the kids.  The high schoolers participate in a larger program that includes high school mountain bike racing through the end of May each year.  It's a great sport for kids who aren't the "ball sport" type kids. Both of my kids participated in the program. There are currently about 30 middle school riders participating on the team - so also plenty of other like minded kids to make friends with.  Feel free to email me if you've got questions.   Here is the website for more info:  http://www.oaktowncomp.com/

    Mar 20, 2017

Archived Q&A and Reviews

Questions

Mountain biking group for teen

May 2013

My 16 year old wants to mountain bike. How can he get started? Is there a group to go with if you are just beginning? Are there beginning trails? He doesn't know anyone else who does it. Thanks

You and your son should look into the Norcal High School Cycling League, http://www.norcalmtb.org/. During the school year there are teams at many high schools and an intensive amount of riding and practicing, then competitive races begin in the spring. I think there are even teams made up of people who don't live near enough to a participating high school to be on their team. He doesn't have to race; just going to the practices will teach him a lot about riding and get him in shape. I'm not sure what city you are in, but the El Cerrito High team is great, and I've seen Albany and Berkeley and Oakland teams, as well as teams from the South Bay down to Santa Cruz and up towards Sacramento. Also I see this summer there are some biking camps. My son knew nothing about mountain biking when he began, so they are geared towards helping beginners. Liz

I don't know where your son lives, but Berkeley High, Albany High and El Cerrito High all have mountain bike teams that are open to anyone who is interested in riding- you do not have to qualify. At Berkeley, we have loaner bikes, great coaches, and supportive families. The team riders organize fun rides that I'm sure your son would be welcome to join. Please contact me for more information. It is a great group of supportive and welcoming teen riders. Mona

Berkeley High has an awesome mountain bike team that is eager to encourage new rides of all levels (and fyi is also very girl-friendly). The season just ended, but there is still activity and ongoing races. Your kid can check out more at http://www.norcalmtb.org/ Norcal is the California organization for high school mountain biking, and they host races, camps, all sort of good stuff. Heather

Addendum - website and contact info for the Berkeley High Mountain bike team: http://www.bhscycling.org/

Other local high schools/counties also have teams, so you could google for teams in your city. Heather

My husband and I coach a High School mountain bike team. AND I have a 16 year old son who rides.

We'll be having some fun, easy going summer rides if your son (an any other high school aged kids - girls AND boys) would like to join us. Any level is welcome. During the spring (we ride as a group a lot). During the summer, less so, but it'll be more about getting new kids into it.

Our team website is here: http://www.oaktowncomp.com/

In addition, I work for a youth mountain bike program. Our goal is to get mountain biking into high schools as a legitimate sport. Currently we have over 1000 kids just in CA participating in our camps & races.

Feel free to email me! Would LOVE to get more kids riding. We would love to have your son join us! Lauren

Road bike club for teens?

Aug 2012

My 14 year old son is becoming interested in road biking. Is anyone aware of any road bike clubs that are geared towards teens or teen-friendly? We live in Berkeley. --Thanks Heather

An excellent club based in Lafayette is Tieni Duro. Check out their website. This is a group of very dedicated instructors and parents geared (no pun intended) towards competitive cycling with an emphasis on team support, character building, cycling skills, strategy, and of above all safety. It requires some commitment to attend the Sunday rides and cycling events held throughout Northern Ca. If your son is serious about cycling, it's a great age to get started and a great program robert