Duluth Composite team recruiting, training more young girls

They ditched their bikes like kids do, not quite slamming them to the ground, then raced for the one small mud puddle nearby.

All five of them, girls ages 9-12, dipped their fingers into the mud and then smeared it on their faces. They were becoming wolves, they said, and some began to howl.

Don't try too hard to understand the mind of a pre-teen, one adult muttered. But then, just as fast, the girls were back on their mountain bikes and back on the skills course at the base of Duluth's Spirit Mountain.

So goes another installment of the Duluth Composite Mountain Bike Team's development program, or "DEVO" for short. (Apologies to the 1980s alt-rock group.)

"You can see that it's more fun than serious. It's as much a social thing than training," said Erik Torch, a coach and organizer of the DEVO program. "We're serious about the fun."

Torch's daughter Mia, 10, joined the DEVO team in its first year in 2017 and she says she loves it. While her family have been avid mountain bikers for years, Mia Torch said the DEVO group offered a chance to meet other cyclists - especially girls - her own age.

"I like the group. They like to mountain bike. But they're also silly,'' Mia said.

Mia said she's looking forward to seventh grade in a few years, when she can enter competitions with the Duluth Composite Team, which has already set a tradition of winning in the state-sanctioned world of high school bike racing. But she's also liking where she's at now in the sport.

"Our whole family does this sport,'' she said. "I think I'll compete some day. But for me, it's more fun than serious."

Wanted: More girls on bikes

Mia is the exact demographic that Duluth Composite is hoping for as it heads into its second year of the DEVO program.

"We have this wonderful trail system in Duluth, and we have a pretty good high school team. But we struggle at the high school level to get girls to participate because, until now, we didn't have any development program to get kids into the sport,'' said Brian Hayden, a longtime Duluth Composite varsity coach. "We wanted a way to ge more kids involved earlier ... Especially girls."

More than three-fourths of the Duluth Composite roster is boys. Even the DEVO program offered this summer filled up the 25 boy slots within days. They are still looking for more girls.

All kids need is a helmet and a sturdy bike with hand brakes and knobby tires.

In addition to the second years of the DEVO Junior Program, for kids entering grades 4-6 - sessions start July 11 - the team has added a new DEVO Explorers Program starting in August for girls entering grades 2-3.

Boys, organizers say, just seem naturally attracted to going fast on bikes down steep hills filled with obstacles that could cause one to tumble head-over-handlebars. Girls, less so.

"But once they get the confidence, they see how fun it is,'' said Pam Schmitt, one of the DEVO coaches for girls. "For a lot of girls, like me, the first time they find out how much fun a mountain bike is might be in college, or later, with a boyfriend. We need to get them out there sooner than that." Schmitt also organizes a women's ride every Tuesday evening in Duluth that gets upward of 40 participants each week.

For the young girls, Schmitt combines some light-handed training with a lot of extracurricular fun.

"Widen your knees out, Leah,'' Schmitt called out as the girls practiced going over a wooden "A-frame" bridge at Spirit Mountain. "Not too much brake there, Mia ... Level pedals."

But she's quick to let the girls take the lead. Like when they wanted to smear mud on her face, too.

"OK,'' Schmitt agreed, but only if all the girls tried one more run over the A-frame bridge.

They were back on their bikes in an instant.

"Last year, we stopped in the woods and had a dance party,'' Schmitt said just before her mud makeover. "They are so much fun to be with."

Erik Riker-Coleman, father of 12-year-old Leah, who participated in DEVO last year, said the program helped stress the team spirit as well as safety and skills.

"Last summer in the program, it really clicked for her. Now she wants to race,'' he said. "I don't think she would have done that before."

Other parents noted that, even for kids who aren't interested in soccer or softball or other traditional team sports, mountain biking can bring out the competitive spirit in a team atmosphere. Alexis Pueringer, 11, of Duluth said she's learned a lot after one year with the DEVO group.

"Now, if there's (a choice) of going on the smooth trail or over a rock, I go over the rock,'' she said with a bit of boast. "You learn not to be afraid anymore."

Spirit Mountain camps

Jon Regenold, action sports manager at Spirit Mountain, said summer mountain bike camps have been gaining in popularity since they started about six years ago. Last year, the program offered the first "Little Rippers'' camp for 6- to 9-year-olds and 10 kids signed up. This year, 21 kids were in the first week's camp.

"I have kids of my own and I know that we need to get kids on trials early,'' Regenold said. "These camps have been really popular. There hasn't been a lot out there for the younger kids until now."

Of the 21 riders in this year's Little Rippers camp, five are girls, Regenold said.

"It's slowly getting better for getting more girls,'' he noted. "And the ones we have are having fun, you can see that."

Kids mountain bike summer programs

Duluth Composite DEVO Juniors:

• Girls and boys entering grades 4-6.

• Wednesdays, July 11 through Aug. 29, 6 to 7:30 p.m.

• Cost is $109.

• For more information or to register, go to duluthmtb.org/devo.

Duluth Composite DEVO Explorers:

• Girls entering grades 2-3.

• Thursdays, Aug. 30 to Sept. 27, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.

• Cost is $60.

• For more information or to register, go to duluthmtb.org/devo.

Spirit Mountain summer camps:

• Spirit Mountain offers six summer mountain bike camps for kids ages 2-15. (Yes, age 2.)

• Costs range from $35 to $229.

• For more information or to register, go to spiritmt.com/summer-camps or call Jon Regenold at 218-624-8520.