4 minute read
MOUNTAIN BIKES
Biking Boost
Landon Buscher, sophomore, takes a turn on a trail at Castlewood State Park as he starts off his ride with the Rockwood Composite Vipers team. Buscher helped found the MHS Mountain Biking Club and bikes for the Rockwood Composite Vipers. Photograph by Jacob Robinson
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Program gifts bikes
jacob ROBINSON
Repeatedly falling and getting back up, Jordan Shelton, Language Arts teacher, learned how to ride a bike before she was 10. But she wouldn’t stop trying because she thought everyone should at least try to learn.
“Making sure every kid has a bike and a way to get outside and be active is a right of passage for childhood,” Shelton said.
Living On Two Wheels, founded by Chris and René Creed, is a state non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging children to learn how to bike by giving bikes to elementary schools.
“Most of us remember riding bikes as a kid only to return home when the sun sets,” Sarah Tochtrop, program director, said. “Kids today are not experiencing this foundational piece in growing up.” Tochtrop wants to help change that and direct kids away from their screens, something she said they don’t do enough of that would help build family bonds.
“Bringing bicycle riding awareness, education and opportunity closer to home and accessible to all people will help change the world,” Tochtrop said.
Ballwin Elementary is the 19th school in the state to receive bikes from the program. It costs $6,000 for the program to be put into the schools, but they can get more fundraising for more equipment. Each school gets 24 Strider balance bikes and one teacher bike. The schools are also given 25 pedal conversion kits for these bikes for when these students learn how to balance.
Michael Lacavich, Ballwin Elementary P.E. teacher, said he plans to start using the bikes with his students inside in a more confined area before going outside with them more in the springtime.
“I wish this was an opportunity years ago,” Lacavich said, “Because it works on the whole body and allows the kids to learn balance first. Then add the pedals.”
Funding for the program comes from charity events like a charity golf tournament for “More Butts on Bikes” and from the Amazon Smiles Program, which allows any Amazon Prime member to pick a non-profit organization to receive a percentage of their purchases.
Additional reporting by Ash Hollingsworth, Aubrey Lacavich and Riley Merrifield.
Giavanna Garza, kindergartner, practices riding a bike at Ballwin Elementary after the school received bikes from Living On Two Wheels. “Only if I can go fast, I can ride a bike without training wheels,” Garza said. Photograph by Michael Lacavich
Biking club begins at MHS
shyam PUNNACHALIL
On a Saturday morning, Landon Buscher, sophomore, and his dad secured their mountain bikes to their car and headed to Bluff View trail to enjoy the thrill of jumping off ramps and riding downhill at a fast pace.
“Riding on that trail was a blast,” Buscher said. “I was absolutely hooked from there.”
Following his move to St. Louis from Nebraska in the summer of 2020, Buscher gained interest in mountain biking after going on many St. Louis trails and seeing the large social media presence of the mountain biking community in the area.
“I knew almost nothing about the sport in Nebraska,” Buscher said. “Back there, good trails weren’t in a commutable distance from where I lived.”
Buscher soon decided to join the competitive trail-riding scene by participating in the Rockwood Composite Vipers team, which is a part of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), a non-profit organization that promotes youth mountain biking programs in the U.S.
“I’ve learned so much over the past six months and have advanced significantly as a rider,” Buscher said. “Mountain biking has been and still is a great workout, and I’ve enjoyed just simply riding.”
Buscher then decided to start the Marquette Mountain Biking Club.
Nathan Frankenberger, sponsor, started biking during the pandemic and said the club is a great way for students to get active.
“A lot of teachers and parents like me don’t like the fact that kids are always on their phones, so this club is a great way to get kids involved and pick up a new sport,” Frankenberger said.
Tanner Jesperson, senior, signed up for the club after trying to start it last year.
“After seeing that there’s finally a club for mountain biking, I was extremely excited and immediately signed up,” Jesperson said.
Frankenberger said the club is purely a casual activity for all people to join.
“For us, the club is designed to be a place for experienced people to continue and find a way to ride on trails and for new people to learn how to also join in on that fun and educate them about mountain biking,” Frankenberger said.
