Surrounded by the red rocks and all kinds of trails, being able to mountain bike is a great skill for anyone living in or around Sedona. With an eye toward teaching kids those skills, the Sedona Mountain Bike Academy ran a camp from Monday, June 22 through Friday, June 26 for a group of ages 8 to 13. The camp was hosted by Sedona Parks and Recreation.

For parents and kids alike, the camp was a welcome change of pace.

“I really didn’t have much experience — I didn’t know how to do tricks or how to do much,” said 10-year-old participant Paxton Corney. “I had a great time. I learned a lot, going on the trails and trying new stuff.”

Paxton’s father, Matt, was also a fan.

“It’s a good healthy activity that’s safe in today’s climate, along with an opportunity to meet some kids and really get more experienced on a mountain bike and develop some basic skills to be able to go trail riding together as a family,” he said.

The coaches were happy with how much the kids learned, as well.
One of the coaches, Joanna Yates, said that on Monday the kids were generally hesitant to be the first one to try a new skill. By Friday, they were almost unanimously enthused to be the first one to go when the same opportunities
came about.

“We are really excited about the outcomes that we had from these kids,” coach Evan Puglia said. “Sometimes parents stick their kids into summer camp because they just want them to have something to do. But we all thought as coaches that it was really awesome to have kids who really wanted to be here and wanted to get better at mountain biking. We had a special group this week.”

For the kids, who have spent much of the last several months in quarantine, having the camp available to them was a thrill.

“A lot of the stuff was shut down and one of the things that stayed open right after quarantine was bike camp — and I always wanted to learn how to bike really well,” said 11-year-old camp participant Theo Radcliffe. “I found this camp, with kids. It was a week camp and I knew some of the coaches already. I was just really excited.”

The camp provided the kids a chance to ride on a number of terrains. They rode on trails, on fields and in the bike park. That was a welcome surprise for Marley Wennerholm, an 11-year-old from Gilbert who participated in camp along with her sisters, 13-year-old Autumn, 9-year-old Cade and 8-year-old Indy.

“I wasn’t expecting as much as this,” Marley said. “I wasn’t expecting to go to the bike park, just expecting to ride around here and learn some stuff.”

Though falling and accidents were bound to happen and did, positive learning moments were able to come from them. One rider, Dani Sherman, not only fell on the final day of camp, but she fell into a cactus. After getting bandaged up, the 10-year-old was fine. But even immediately after the fall, she was touched by the support and encouragement that she was shown.

Sherman was not the only person to fall on Friday. Coach Amaryth Gass said that she fell as well. Rather than take it as an embarrassing moment, she was happy to have a teaching moment for the students who saw it.

“It was this really interesting opportunity to talk about how falling is a part of biking and a metaphor for life,” Gass said. “We’re not just teaching them how to bike. We’re also teaching them how to build grit and internal resiliency. Because in life, things knock you off of your bike metaphorically. You’ve got to brush yourself off, pull out the prickers and move on. Biking really translates beyond just on trail, aerobic experiences.”

“Kids these days need the opportunities to face challenges, maybe have a few barriers to their success and then achieve something that they didn’t think was possible,” she added. “For us to provide that with them is really a gift.”