I just wondered if anyone liked the idea of getting together maybe once a month for an hour riding with their kids on some of the trails around pitch hill. Could be 25 minutes skills i.e. riding corners, a break, and 25 minutes trail riding. Nothing too formal and not a club, to avoid regs. You see other parents taking their kids to football etc… I was racing Motocross from the age of 7 in a club. So why not MTB. I haven’t thought of all the details i.e. deciding on a formula for the training sessions, though these could be based on video training techniques, brought down to a level for kids. And the group could be split in to ability for each exercise so no one is left feeling they are not succeeding etc… As I say, it would not be a proper club and parents would be responsible for their own children. Could also arrange one off training days with pro’s. Maybe even un-official timed races a couple of times a year, on one section of trail. I would say single track would be the theme, so it sits in between cross country and DH. I don’t see this starting next week! But if anyone is interested, let me know. 🙂

Not quite Surrey Hills but have you though about Sutton CC. They do kids training and racing every Saturday from 10 to 12 at Northey Avenue in Cheam. Mix of MTB and cross. They have try out sessions for new joiners once per term.

Cheers, that looks interesting, but I was thinking of something on the north downs as lots of people that live near here ride. Plus I thought something purely MTB focused.

OP sounds like a good idea.

Was discussing this with a Local CC but it is primarily a road club and they had too many rules and regs which put me off helping out… insurance etc etc

But happy to discuss…

Come further South and I’d drag my herberts out to join in. Friston forest is ideal nr Eastbourne!

tuskaloosa i’ll keep plugging away on what forums I can, and will hopefully sort something out for next year. I will be in touch if I get anywhere. There may also be a couple of parents at local school (cranleigh area) I could get involved. I already take my two daughters out riding but just thought it would be better for their development and interest to be in a group. To be fair they don’t really need much more encouragement. As you mention rules and regs can be too much, and for an informal group where parents are responsible for their own kids, not really necessary. It struck me when I saw the neighbour trotting his kids off to football, why aren’t there mtb groups, especially on the surrey hills.

I’d be up for this in a couple of years! the kids are too young.

Took them along the NDW a couple of weekends ago (1.5 yo in rear seat and 4 yo’s Isla Cnoc in tow). Met some surprised MTBers.

dogmatix, we ride regularly so ping me if you want to hook up. My kids are 11 and 10.

the oldest is chomping at the bit these days especially after Whistler. Now wants to learn to jump so told him he can save for a skills class with Si at P&Spoke.

We’d be interested … Jnr loves being able to ride with other kids but the local clubs MTB training seems more riding round traffic cones in carparks

Our main restriction is XC season so summer would be harder to make something consistently than over winter but I’d guess we wouldn’t be alone in that.

Cranleigh Cycle Club have been up on the surrey hills with a quite a large mixed group of young persons.
Spotted them last year on several trails on Winterfold.
You could try them they have a web site

We’re interested in coming along to this… he’s 10 year old and in the really early stages of singletrack riding, a bit nervous, but very keen.

Unfortunately circumstances mean that the best we could do is fortnightly.

Tuskaloosa my kids are 8 and 6 so might be at a different level to yours. They ride singletrack but at a very beginners level. This is why I am thinking about a larger group so kids can be at different levels and still have someone within their range. Even if this little thread becomes a way of people hooking up, that would be cool. I will contact cranleigh club, no point in reinventing the wheel if they already have a group. My guess is a kids off road group would be a regulatory/insurance nightmare for them. I’ll try to keep this thread going to see if we can build a larger group? Happy for any input and relevent constructive thread hijacking.

We ride there regularly. There are loads of kids out there now TBH. I’ve been stopped in Peaselake and seen nothing but kids.

There is a Horsham Youth Cycle Club, they cycle in varying places in the area, sometimes around the SH.

We’re not that regular with our timings so probably can’t commit but this sounds like a good idea. Good luck!

My kid has just started riding with me and we’d be up for this. He’s 14 though, and probably better as a teacher than a pupil 😀
But, yeah, sort out a date and we’ll try to make it, should be fun.

I will contact cranleigh club, no point in reinventing the wheel if they already have a group.

I don’t know what Cranleigh do specifically but most of the clubs I see might do the odd jaunt on single track but it’s not a focus.

CCC does not host the kids rides anymore due to lack of volunteers and not enough mountain biking experienced volunteers. They were looking for mtber’s to help with the rides. They have insurance in place. Being a club it comes with a bunch of rules depends how you cotton to such.

Unfortunately they used have specific mtb trained leaders but it seems a lot of those peeps were getting the club to pay for the badge training and then after awhile leaving. Not sure if they have restarted the rides I can put you in touch with the people in charge if you want.

It was easier just to arrange rides with a few of the Dads from nearby and their young uns, which we do now and then schedules permitting.