News
Outdoors
ENLARGE
Interest in mountain biking among Nevada County's youth has skyrocketed within the past few years, and that has a lot to do with Jet Lowe's passion for the sport.
Several years back her son took her to a mountain bike club meeting, and she was impressed by what she heard.
Mountain bikers talked about how the sport got them in shape, got them outside and got them interested in healthier eating habits.
The sport seemed to be attracting young people who weren't drawn to traditional team sports, yet there wasn't an established club for young people in the area.
Inspired by young mountain bikers, Lowe spent a year researching bicycle organizations, hoping to start a nonprofit that could serve as an umbrella — with guidelines, mentoring, grant sources, technical skills, volunteering and funding advice — to communities wanting to start youth mountain biking clubs.
With a mission to address the rise in obesity and diabetes among young people, the Youth Bicyclists of Nevada County (YBONC) Foundation was developed. The foundation's founder, Lowe, now serves as president, and has brought in community board members Estelle Barber, Stacy Fore, Duane Strawser and John Seivert.
Childhood obesity rates have tripled in the last 30 years and roughly one in three American children are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which opens the door to a host of health complications.
If these statistics continue or increase, the CDC reports that one third of all children born in the year 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives.
In addition, others will face chronic obesity-related health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma.
It's estimated that 8 to 18-year old adolescents spend an average of seven hours a day using entertainment media, including TV, computers, video games, cell phones and movies.
Just one-third of high school students get the level of physical activity recommended by health experts.
“Cycling and getting teens engaged in the outdoors is a true passion for everyone involved with YBONC and school bike clubs in Nevada County, teachers, parents, volunteers, local bike shops and cycling organizations,” said Lowe. “This sport is about 100 percent participation — no one sits on the bench.”
The organization's growing success is easy to quantify: This year YBONC has attracted more than 100 young people participating in seven bike clubs in the community. Forty-two of those are racing with the Nevada Union High School Mountain Bike Club.
“YBONC programs help support school bike club activities, events and insurance to racing,” said Lowe. “With two racing leagues for middle and high school-aged teens, more teens are going to the next level of competition — racing leagues. Nonetheless, we stress to teens that school comes first. All racers are subject to grade checks.”
Christa Baker, 18, caught the mountain biking bug during her junior year at NU, and now she's hooked.
“It's great physical exercise with a friendly vibe and I love all the technical aspects of riding,” she said. “I got a lot stronger. We had the largest turnout of girls on the team last year.”
Baker is now a freshman at Sierra College and wants to race on the collegiate level. When she discovered the college didn't have a team, she and two other NU grads began taking steps to form a college mountain biking club.
They've recently registered with USA Cycling and hope to begin racing against other clubs, not teams.
Like Lowe, Baker is eager to get younger riders out on mountain bikes. She volunteered as a teen mentor at last year's Bike Safety Rodeo, which attracts young people of all skill levels.
This year, YBONC has teamed up with the International Mountain Bicycling Association for “Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day,” as part of “International Trails Day.”
Activities will include helmet inspection, seven bike safety stations, a skills clinic with certification, a fender blender demo, teen mentors, a bike rodeo, T-shirt painting, trail rides for different skill levels and a goodie bag. Participants are encouraged to register by Sept. 28.
Additional collaborators include Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, REI, Bicyclists of Nevada County, Xtreme Outfitters, BriarPatch Co-op, State Farm Insurance, the Grass Valley Police Dept., the Nevada City Bicycle Shop and others.
“Last year's bike rodeo was a lot of fun,” Baker said. “I mainly helped smaller riders. Some were still on training wheels. We had a little course for learning how to make turns and ‘figure-eights.' It's really fun. Then there's a bigger course for older kids, the more advanced riders.”
Lowe emphasizes that this weekend's event has a little something for everyone. The key is getting young people outside, active and on their bikes. Her hope is that through sponsorships, as well as community and private donations, that YBONC's campaign to fund school bike clubs and get more young people out on bikes will continue to grow.
“My advice to the beginner is: Come ride with us for fun,” said Baker. “There's no pressure. Everyone has their starting point. If you're not comfortable with something, go slower or get off your bike if you need to. Being outside is the best part. It's all good and you'll find yourself getting stronger every day. Just have fun with it.”
Those interested in making a tax-deductible donation on-line can visit YBONC's PayPal at http://ybonc.org/. For more information on having an organization or business logo on a cycling jersey, website etc. send an e-mail to yboncfdn@ gmail.com.
To contact Staff Writer Cory Fisher, e-mail cfisher@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4203.
Several years back her son took her to a mountain bike club meeting, and she was impressed by what she heard.
Mountain bikers talked about how the sport got them in shape, got them outside and got them interested in healthier eating habits.
The sport seemed to be attracting young people who weren't drawn to traditional team sports, yet there wasn't an established club for young people in the area.
Inspired by young mountain bikers, Lowe spent a year researching bicycle organizations, hoping to start a nonprofit that could serve as an umbrella — with guidelines, mentoring, grant sources, technical skills, volunteering and funding advice — to communities wanting to start youth mountain biking clubs.
With a mission to address the rise in obesity and diabetes among young people, the Youth Bicyclists of Nevada County (YBONC) Foundation was developed. The foundation's founder, Lowe, now serves as president, and has brought in community board members Estelle Barber, Stacy Fore, Duane Strawser and John Seivert.
Childhood obesity rates have tripled in the last 30 years and roughly one in three American children are overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which opens the door to a host of health complications.
If these statistics continue or increase, the CDC reports that one third of all children born in the year 2000 or later will suffer from diabetes at some point in their lives.
In addition, others will face chronic obesity-related health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and asthma.
It's estimated that 8 to 18-year old adolescents spend an average of seven hours a day using entertainment media, including TV, computers, video games, cell phones and movies.
Just one-third of high school students get the level of physical activity recommended by health experts.
“Cycling and getting teens engaged in the outdoors is a true passion for everyone involved with YBONC and school bike clubs in Nevada County, teachers, parents, volunteers, local bike shops and cycling organizations,” said Lowe. “This sport is about 100 percent participation — no one sits on the bench.”
The organization's growing success is easy to quantify: This year YBONC has attracted more than 100 young people participating in seven bike clubs in the community. Forty-two of those are racing with the Nevada Union High School Mountain Bike Club.
“YBONC programs help support school bike club activities, events and insurance to racing,” said Lowe. “With two racing leagues for middle and high school-aged teens, more teens are going to the next level of competition — racing leagues. Nonetheless, we stress to teens that school comes first. All racers are subject to grade checks.”
Christa Baker, 18, caught the mountain biking bug during her junior year at NU, and now she's hooked.
“It's great physical exercise with a friendly vibe and I love all the technical aspects of riding,” she said. “I got a lot stronger. We had the largest turnout of girls on the team last year.”
Baker is now a freshman at Sierra College and wants to race on the collegiate level. When she discovered the college didn't have a team, she and two other NU grads began taking steps to form a college mountain biking club.
They've recently registered with USA Cycling and hope to begin racing against other clubs, not teams.
Like Lowe, Baker is eager to get younger riders out on mountain bikes. She volunteered as a teen mentor at last year's Bike Safety Rodeo, which attracts young people of all skill levels.
This year, YBONC has teamed up with the International Mountain Bicycling Association for “Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day,” as part of “International Trails Day.”
Activities will include helmet inspection, seven bike safety stations, a skills clinic with certification, a fender blender demo, teen mentors, a bike rodeo, T-shirt painting, trail rides for different skill levels and a goodie bag. Participants are encouraged to register by Sept. 28.
Additional collaborators include Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital, REI, Bicyclists of Nevada County, Xtreme Outfitters, BriarPatch Co-op, State Farm Insurance, the Grass Valley Police Dept., the Nevada City Bicycle Shop and others.
“Last year's bike rodeo was a lot of fun,” Baker said. “I mainly helped smaller riders. Some were still on training wheels. We had a little course for learning how to make turns and ‘figure-eights.' It's really fun. Then there's a bigger course for older kids, the more advanced riders.”
Lowe emphasizes that this weekend's event has a little something for everyone. The key is getting young people outside, active and on their bikes. Her hope is that through sponsorships, as well as community and private donations, that YBONC's campaign to fund school bike clubs and get more young people out on bikes will continue to grow.
“My advice to the beginner is: Come ride with us for fun,” said Baker. “There's no pressure. Everyone has their starting point. If you're not comfortable with something, go slower or get off your bike if you need to. Being outside is the best part. It's all good and you'll find yourself getting stronger every day. Just have fun with it.”
Those interested in making a tax-deductible donation on-line can visit YBONC's PayPal at http://ybonc.org/. For more information on having an organization or business logo on a cycling jersey, website etc. send an e-mail to yboncfdn@ gmail.com.
To contact Staff Writer Cory Fisher, e-mail cfisher@theunion.com or call (530) 477-4203.
