Canadian Club

Mixing fun and important life lessons for young riders

Attack Racing and Velokids

Even with the opening of the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ont., in 2015, the Forest City Velodrome – just a two-hour drive away in London – remains one of the few track options for Canadian cyclists. According to Art Adams, head coach and manager of Attack Racing, the track represents an opportunity for kids in the area. He became involved with Velokids, the velodrome’s youth cycling program, about 10 years ago. Since then, the program has grown and evolved, giving rise to Attack Racing, a separate but closely associated team, in 2019.

The driving force for the organization is to give kids the opportunity to experience cycling and all the lessons it has to offer. “I’m just trying to reach kids who aren’t in the sport,” Adams says. He’s planned recruitment visits to schools and developed partnerships with various sponsors throughout the years.

As with parents, kids in 2020 seem busier and more stressed than ever. At the same time, complaints about a sense of entitlement among today’s youth abound. “To me, bicycle riding is a perfect way to teach kids lessons,”

Adams says. “Kids need to understand that there are responsibilities in life. You can’t just go, ‘I need a new iphone!’ and have it appear. The bicycle teaches kids about responsibilities and goals.”

Adams is just one of many people involved in Attack Racing, which lets kids ages 10 to 18 participate at different levels – recreational/velokids, development or performance. On the club side, kids as young as seven are invited to start training with Velokids. Three weekly sessions are run by volunteer community coaches, whose own development the team, in partnership with the organization Off the Front Sports, has prioritized. “You can’t have a program that has hopes for a long life without other people,” Adams says, adding that during the past few years the partnership has provided coaching education for at least 12 people. The organization is also behind the Off the Front Sports Summer Classic, Ontario’s only multi-day road race for youth cyclists.

While the program’s roots are on the track, the kids have been adding in road training for years. “We’d lose kids over the summer since they weren’t attached to anything and they’d just drift off and do other things,” Adams says. Recently, as a way to develop a broader love of the bike, the group has incorporated mountain biking and even cyclocross into its weekly sessions when the weather is warm.

For Brody Mann, a 12-year-old rider from St. Thomas, Ont., who joined Velokids in 2017 and became part of Attack Racing when it started, it’s tough to choose the type of riding he likes best. “Every time we transition into a new discipline,” his mother Sarah Mann says, “he always says ‘This is my favourite!’ Right now he really does enjoy all of them, so we want to encourage that love.”

It all comes back to getting kids riding. “If the kids aren’t having fun, they’re not going to keep doing it,” Adams says. Only from there – on the seat of their bikes – comes the opportunity to teach kids the lessons they need most, like how to believe in themselves even when they’re struggling. “During the past couple years, I’ve seen a number of kids who suffer from anxiety, and I have become more aware that kids have to deal with all kinds of stresses,” Adams says. “I’m just trying to get kids to look in the mirror and believe in themselves as people.”

Thanks to the opening of the track in Milton, other programs similar to Velokids and teams not unlike Attack Racing have formed in nearby cities. Rather than viewing these clubs as competitors, Adams is happy to see them do well. “I can’t speak for everyone, but I think all these programs are trying to do the same thing,” he says. “In the end, I think everyone cares about working with kids and giving them opportunities.”