Mountain bike team gets in gear

Paradise Creek Regional High School teacher Matt Pollard said he developed a passion for mountain biking at 14.

Now 45, Pollard hopes to share his experience and his love for the sport as coach of the recently created Palouse Composite Mountain Bike Team.

The team is open to youth in grades six through 12 who live on the Palouse and in the Lewiston-Clarkston Valley.

“It is so much fun riding with these kids,” Pollard said. “They are just so happy and I love being out there sharing my enthusiasm and having it come to life even more around them. This is a chance for those interested in making friends through a nontraditional sport.”

The team, based in Moscow, will compete as part of the Washington Student Cycling League, which touts itself as a “holistic” mountain bike program that promotes youth development, confidence, leadership, health and public stewardship, according to the League’s website.

Pollard said if participants are in need of any equipment, everything is available through the league. If someone is in need of a bike, for example, there is no loaning or renting, they will just receive one, he said.

He said the team will provide a time for families to be together, and that the program would be unsuccessful without the support and involvement of parents. There is ample need for coaches and other volunteers to assist with logistics and ensure a solid infrastructure as the team expands, he said.

“The most rewarding aspect of starting up this team is that I am at least planting the seed for these kids to enjoy mountain biking and create healthy habits,” Pollard said. “Even if they take a break once they reach college, it is valuable to be able to come back to a sport that will always be there.”

Michael Lynn, coach and close friend of Pollard, said both men saw a need for a youth mountain bike team on the Palouse and the region. Lynn said the ultimate goal is to grow enough for the region’s cities to have their own team, but for now riders from the entire geographical location are invited to form one squad.

“Matt and I don’t have formal coaching experience, but we have experiential education and are currently attending coaching trainings,” Lynn said. “This team is a chance to have fun by riding a bike, getting outside and allowing participants to challenge themselves as much or as little as they wish.”

Practices will consist of riding one to three times per week roughly January through June, Lynn said. At the beginning of the season, Hells Gate State Park near Lewiston will be the main practice site. The team likely will move practices to Moscow Mountain later in the spring.

Those interested in the team can join any time throughout the year, as there is no registration cutoff deadline, he said.

“The team can be described in one word — fun,” Lynn said. “The point isn’t to grind on really hard rides and have kids burn out, but rather invite others through word of mouth and hopefully create a team that will double and triple in participants in years to come.”

Allison Spain is a journalism student at the University of Idaho. She’s writing feature stories for the Daily News this spring. Send Allsion story ideas to editor@dnews.com.

IF YOU GO

What: Palouse Composite Mountain Bike Team informational meeting

When: 5:30 p.m. tonight (Feb. 1)

Where: Three Forks Bikes & Brew, 588 SE Bishop Blvd, Ste. G, Pullman

Who can join: Youth in grades 6 through 12