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| Mountain Bike Action Feature - May 2005 |
| Hard
Tales |
Compiled
by "Jimmy Mac" Mcllvain
Editor's direct email:jamesmac@hi-torque.com |
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A
Unique Team Gets Smart
The Mill Valley Racing Team
is a breakthrough organization that has taken
a proven sports program and applied it to mountain
bike racing.
Mark Green, of Mill valley, California,
had a brainstorm while taking his daughters to
soccer practice. His idea was ro organize a youth
mountain bike team that used the soccer-league
format as their guide. that meant there wouldbe
organized tryouts, weekly practice sessions, riding
clinics and a requirement that grades be kept
above a 3.0 average. mark didn't stop there, however.
He takes the word "team" seriously.
Parental participation was required too. He saw
his team as a family effort.
The Mill Valley Racing Team was
formed and today includes riders from age 13 through
16. They recently attended a school taught by
Bikeskills.com instructors Joe Lawwill and Brian
Lopes. The school was held at Northern California's
Sandhill Ranch in Brentwood. the clinic worked
on starting techniques, cornering, passing and
race strategies.
You can get more information
on both the Bikeskills clinics and Team Mill Valley
racing at Bikeskills.com
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School's
in session: Teachers Joe Lawwill (Santa
Cruz jersey) and Brian Lopes (Oakley Jersey) didn't
have to whack any knuckles with a ruler to get their
student's attention. these riders were mesmerized. |
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| Graduation
day: Team Mill Valley racing's director/founder
mark green has already begun putting together a
second team. Want to start a team in your area similar
to Mill Valley racing? Contact Mark at www.mvextreme.com |
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| Start practice: If this is the classroom, imagine how much fun these
students have at recess. Joe and Brian watch and
critique the riders' gate techniques. team mill
valley Racing is guaranteed to produce a number
of talented riders. |
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| This
story has been posted with the permission of Mountain
Bike Action. |
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