Norwich youth have fun at play-based mountain bike camp

NORWICH — At a mountain bike camp for kids at Huntley Meadow Athletic Fields in mid-July, pedaling along the park trail and in the grass field were only part of the equation for ensuring a fun week.

Camp instructor Jane LeMasurier’s formula to keep the campers interested required more than instructing them on bike handling skills.

“I feel at this age, it has really got to be play based,” said LeMasurier as the kids pedaled around the short, dirt pump track that included few berms and some rollers. “If you have to explain a lot then you lose them. You have to teach them with movement.”

Though riding their mountain bikes and learning about cornering or steering across narrow bridges was the camp’s foundation, LeMasurier combined that main activity with games such as musical bikes, journal writing, and tossing tennis balls in a basket after completing an obstacle course.

“We 100% try to teach through a game and have them play a game as a challenge,” she said.

The short obstacle course was laid out on grass. In keeping with the theme of focusing on fun rather than completing established goals related to riding, there was no pressure or demand that campers take on the course, though most did. Some chose to rest under a pavilion and try their hand at drawing a map of where they rode in their journals.

The first challenge on the obstacle course was to pedal next to a piece of rope about 30 feet long as it curved toward several small cones. At the cones, the kids dismounted, laid down their bikes and then tried tossing a tennis ball into a basket a few feet away.

“It teaches them skills like being in the right gear and dismounting,” LeMasurier said of the course. “The tennis balls in the basket have nothing to do with biking, but it was the most exciting thing for them to do on the obstacle course.”

LeMasurier’s camp format seemed to be working for everyone — even Henry Orem, 5, of Norwich who said he was not thrilled when his mother signed him up for the camp.

“I didn’t want to do it, but now I really like it,” Henry said while eating a snack at the park pavilion after the group rode more than a mile on the pump track.

While Henry circled the track, LeMasurier said he told her on day one he would not be returning.

“Here we are on day four,” she said as Henry pedaled by.

Nine youngsters attended the five-day camp, held each morning for two hours.

“I came because I wanted to learn how to ride my mountain bike and I like doing the pump track and going over the bridges,” said Cabot Eberhardt, 7, of Norwich as he took a rest from the pump track. “I also like the obstacle course.”

The camp also took advantage of a .8 mile single-track trail that rims the 27-acre athletic fields. Riding the trail provided a challenge of going over small bridges just a few inches off the ground, LeMasurier said. One trail section where the bridges crossed over wet, muddy areas became known as Alligator Alley.

“Getting to have fun on new trails,” was why Willa Gerecht, 6, of Norwich said she liked the camp. “I really like Alligator Alley.”

LeMasurier has held camps for older children, as well as an after school program for grades four through six in Norwich. This is the first year for this age group, who had to know how to ride a bike to attend.

“If they know how to ride a bike with hand brakes, it means we can all stick together and do longer rides,” LeMasurier said.

An “adventure ride” took the campers on the loop trail around the park where they experienced varied, but easy terrain.

The pump track gave the kids a chance to work on body position and braking while the bridges, some only about a foot wide, helped to improve balance.

“They never tire of it,” LeMasurier said of the pump track as the kids circled it nonstop.

For the bike-themed “Simon Says,” LeMasurier would ask them to find parts on their bikes, such as “Simon Says, touch your spokes.”

The musical bikes game was a variation of musical chairs. With music playing, they rode past cones which were spaced far apart. When the music stopped they had to get off their bikes and step on the nearest cone, which numbered one fewer than the bike riders each round.

LeMasurier said above all, her goal for the camp was really about making sure the kids enjoyed coming each day.

“My whole hope is that they are smiling, laughing and having fun,” LeMasurier said. “If I can get them smiling and laughing and we can introduce them to challenges they might not otherwise take on then it was a success.”

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.