There is good news for children who have been cooped up inside for much of the last three months or parents looking to get something of a break.
From Monday, June 22, through Friday, June 26, Sedona Parks and Recreation will host the Sedona Mountain Bike Academy Summer Camp.
“We’re really lucky to have all of the bike park features,” said Evan Puglia of the Sedona Mountain Bike Academy and one of the camp’s instructors. “We have the pump track, dual slalom track, jump lines and the nearby Adobe Jack Trail System. [It’s] combination bike park riding and trail sessions. We’re going to ride both the bike park and the trail with the kids.”
The camp is open to kids ages 8 to 13. There are some requirements, though. First, participants must have their own mountain bike. Also, due to the nature of the courses, some prior mountain bike experience is a requirement for participation.
“We require previous offroad experience,” Puglia said. “Basically, almost everyone who’s not a first-timer [can participate]. We’re going to be riding at the bike park, riding on the trail. We can’t bring them up to speed quick enough to participate.”
While the camp was not shut down by COVID-19, it did force some changes.
It will be limited to 15 participants to help promote social distancing. The smaller number of campers will also ensure that the student to instructor ratio is no more than 5 to 1. The original plan to cool down in the community pool at Posse Grounds Park has also been canceled, as has a lunch break period, since there will be reduced hours. The camp will run from 8 to 10:30 a.m. each day with no breaks. While snacks can be consumed, they cannot be shared.
“It will be a smaller camp size with smaller groups,” Sedona Mountain Bike Academy Director Amaryth Gass said. “We’ll have a hand washing station and implement hand washing at the beginning of camp, before snacks and at the end of each day. Hands-on instruction will be minimized if not negated. There’s not much of that with mountain biking anyway. We’ll also have Lysol wipes and hand sanitizer available.”
Because fewer things are being offered, the 2020 camp is being offered at $299 for five days — a lower price than previous years. Despite that, the amount of instruction that participants receive will be the same as it would have been during a non-COVID summer.
“[There will be] five days in a row of certified coaching from our team,” Puglia said. “By the end of the fifth day, these kids are going to be going home with a whole new toolkit of skills that will help them enjoy not only Sedona but the outdoors in general. It’s going to equip them for the rest of the summer.”
“We are so lucky to live in this mountain biking mecca,” Gass added. “It’s important to make the most of a childhood being brought up in Sedona. The style of riding here is particularly technical. So the way to have the most fun as possible and stay safe is by getting some instruction at a young age.”
Anyone with further questions can contact Gass at (888) 288-0603 or amaryth@sedonamtbacademy.com. Sign ups will run until June 18 or until the class fills up. Anyone interested in signing up can do so at sedonaaz.sport
sites.com/Player.
