Mountain biker Benjamin Haas is excited to introduce the youth of Poplar Bluff to a new and thrilling activity.
Hass serves as secretary for the nonprofit Poplar Bluff Trails Coalition, whose mission is to develop, promote, construct, and maintain trails in the area. Motivated by his passion for the sport and desire to share it with local youngsters, Hass is launching a youth mountain bike team for the Poplar Bluff region.
Hass will meet on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Wolf Creek Mountain Bike Trail, North Trailhead, for the Poplar Bluff Hellbenders Youth Mountain Biking informational meeting. It will be an information session to introduce the sport and the area to the participants and also lead the group on a mountain bike ride.
The inspiration to form the squad came from Hass's experience at a National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NIKA) mountain bike competition, where he saw many kids from throughout the state compete.
“I believe this sport is something fun and new for the youth in our area,” Hass said. “Missouri has a league that has almost 500 students who participated in mountain bike races around the state last year, and I thought it would be great to have our own. The closest teams are in West Plains, Springfield, and Cape. The league's slogan is to ‘Get more kids on bikes,’ so I’m hoping to make that happen in Southeast Missouri. They’ll ride mountain bikes, get the opportunity to race and go on adventures.”
With a father who owns the local bicycle shop, Country Cycles, Hass has participated in mountain biking since childhood, and after going to bike camp this summer with the Missouri NACA program, Hass is now a level two coach and is excited to share his passion and training with the youth in the area.
Hass said they’re are many benefits to mountain biking, including improved fitness and mental well-being.
“I think a lot of people see mountain biking in the Olympics or TV and believe it's about tricks and jumps, but NICA doesn’t do any of that,” Hass said. “It’s really considered cross-country mountain biking, and Wolf Creek Trail is an excellent example of a beginner to intermediate bike trail. We’ll show them the drops and jumps and how fun the sport can be. We want to let them know that people around here already do it and they could do it too.”
For more information about the event, contact pbhellbenders@gmail.com or check the Poplar Bluff Hellbenders Facebook page.