Frequently Asked Questions about our Junior Programs
Q. Where do you run your Junior programs ?
A. Our programs run at Stromlo Forest Park, Canberra ACT Australia.
Q. What ages are the junior mountain bike programs suitable for?
A. Most of our programs are suitable for ages 6-16, however we can consider those outside this age range. They need to be old enough to be out on the bike and listen to instructions, they also have to be capable of riding for the duration of the program, though with our younger groups we will take breaks and rest as required.
Q. What skill level can you teach up to?
A. We can teach up to whatever level the young person wants to get to, all the way up to elite level racing.
Q. What is the minimum ride/ skill level?
A. We can teach from absolute beginner on dirt, however they do need to know how to basically ride a bike, even if its just on a path.
Q. What sort of bike does my young person need?
A. Your young person doesn’t need anything fancy, but they will need a safe, off-road suitable bike, without back pedal breaks and with working gears. We don’t allow back-pedal breaks on any of our programs as we see it as a safety risk, when kids get freaked out, they tend to take their feet off the pedals, which then means they have no back brakes, it is also more difficult to have control over and be able to modulate the brakes when using back-pedal brakes. We require bikes with gears, as the kids will need to ride up hill to a degree and we find that this is near impossible for kids without gears.
Q. My young persons bike has backpedal brakes and hand brakes, can they still do you programs?
Unfortunately, no. We don’t allow bikes with back pedal brakes onto our mountain bike programs. Whilst there are some riders who can develop strategies for riding on mountain bike trails using the back pedal brakes, the vast majority of the riders we see with them are very limited in what they can safely ride. There are 3 major safety issues with back pedal brakes on mountain bike trails:
1. Limited modulation. When they put the brakes on they tend to lock and skid which is not controlled. ie: Not safe.
2. If they get scared, most kids will take their feet off the pedals, meaning they have no braking if they don’t also have hand operated levers. Once they are scared and their feet are off, they are unlikely to remember to use the levers to control speed. ie: Not safe.
3. Unable to back pedal to achieve a level pedal position when they are moving over terrain, meaning they could hit rocks or other obstacles on the trail. ie: Not safe.
Q. What safety gear does my young person need?
A. A well- fitting mountain bike helmet and gloves are required on all of our programs, we also strongly encourage knee and elbow pads but they aren’t mandatory. As the juniors start riding blue or black trails, more technical terrain or jumping, they are then required to wear full face helmets and strongly encouraged to wear body armour for further protection.
Q. What does my young person need to bring on the program?
A. We will send out an email, once your young person is enrolled in a program that will have information on what to bring, where to meet etc. as it may vary from program to program. On all of our programs your young person is required to bring a bike, a bike helmet, gloves, drinking water and a way to carry it as well as weather appropriate clothing.
Q. Can I hire my young person a bike for the program?
A. Hire bikes can arranged separately through Cycle City Bike Hire for school holiday day programs. If you contact them and arrange to hire the bike, let them know that it is for our program and let us know that you have hired through them. We can then arrange to get the bike out for you on the day.
Q. How are the groups split?
A. The groups are split by skill level, not by age, however we try to keep similar age groups together. This is easier in the term programs than the holiday programs as we have more groups, but we do make sure that we always have enough instructors to cover various skill levels in the holidays.
Q. My young person wants to ride with their friend/s, is that possible?
A. We try to keep friends together, so if your young person has a friend that they wish to ride with please let us know. If there is a large skill gap between the friends, they will be in a group that is suitable for the more beginner of them if they wish to ride together.
Q. Do you do Private lessons for juniors?
A. Yes. We can do private group or one on one lessons for junior riders. Please contact us for pricing.
Q. What happens in wet weather?
A. As Canberra weather can be so unpredictable we will generally decide on the day at the time or just before the program. We still try to run our in term and holiday programs even if its drizzling, however we will cancel the program if we feel that it will be unsafe to ride or that the conditions mean that we will damage the trails. If it starts raining on a program, we will generally find shelter and wait for it to pass and then continue the lesson, if the weather is really bad or doesn’t look like it is going to clear, we will find shelter (normally at Handlebar café) and contact parents to come and collect your young person.
Q. What happens if it gets too hot in summer? / How hot is too hot to run?
A. As Canberra weather can be so unpredictable, we will generally decide on the day at the time or just before the program. There is plenty of shade at Stromlo for hot days and we generally try to cover less distance as well as limit up-hill riding on really hot days, instead we will utilise the Stromlo Shuttle Bus.
In acknowledgement of the current seasonal issues such as heat, air quality and bush fires, we cancel the program the day before day when:
- Temperature is forecast to be > 40deg
- Air Quality Index is forecast to be > 180
- Fire Danger Rating is forecast to be Extreme or Catastrophic
Q. What are your booking terms and conditions for Term programs ?
Our Junior MTB program is a term fee structure. When you sign up for our program, your commitment to attendance from week to week is up to you, not us. We can’t offer partial refunds or credits to compensate for poor attendance on your part.
In the event that a program is wholly or partially cancelled due to COVID lockdowns or restrictions, we will place a credit on your account equal to the amount of classes missed due to the restrictions. You will be able to use this credit for anything you do with us in the future. This is a gesture of goodwill toward our community but given the ever-changing pandemic situation and the instability we could come up against in the future, this credit is not a guarantee, though we will do our very best to do this. Please keep that in mind when enrolling into our programs.
We have introduced an optional weather insurance policy only selectable upon booking where we will provide a refund for any sessions we cancel due to weather. Insurance cannot be taken out after the first scheduled session of the program after your booking.
Q. Are there any options to take riding further? (racing, coaching)
A. We have options for juniors to take their riding further if they wish to. We have:
- a junior development squad, which is for those that want to take their riding more seriously
- a sponsored team, which has a freeride and race focus
- private coaching
- a pathway for juniors to become instructors. At 15 they can come and help out, at 16 they can do their PMBI course and once passed, come on as a Junior Instructor and at 17 and once they have been deemed competent they can teach their own group. We believe this is a great option as it is possible for anyone that has come through our programs that wants to teach the next generation!
Q. What qualifications, certificates or training do your Instructors have?
A. All our instructors are PMBI level 1 Qualified, we also have a few PMBI level 2 instructors, all of our staff have WWVP cards and current first-aid and CPR. Mic, our Program Director, is also PMBI Course convenor, has UCI Level 2 coaching accreditation and Wilderness First Aid. We also do our own in-house training with new and junior instructors so that they can learn our curriculum and programs. This ensures that no matter who your young person has as an Instructor and what level group they are in, the terminology will be the same across the board so it allows for easy progression to new skills.
Q. I have kids in your junior program. Are there any adult classes on at the same time?
A. We certainly can run Adult MTB Skills courses whilst your young person is in our Junior Program. If we do not have one scheduled, please ask us.
Q. What Junior programs do you offer?
A. We have several Junior programs available:
- ACT Terms 4 & 1. We run several programs during the week. Monday night 6pm-8pm, Wed night 6pm - 8pm, as well as a Jnr littlies (5yo-8yo) on a Tues afternoon 5pm - 6:30pm.
- ACT Terms 2 & 3. We run our Junior program on a Sunday from 11am-1pm.
- ACT Terms 1, 2, 3, 4. We have our Ride Like A Girl program, which is a mountain bike skills program for girls aged 7-13 and runs on scheduled Sunday mornings from 8:30-10:30 and another, 11:00 - 1:00 year round.
- ACT Terms 1, 2, 3, 4. We have our Junior Development Squad which is for those that want to take their riding further and have a reasonable level of skill, they have a bike Skills session on a Saturday afternoon 2pm - 4pm or Sunday morning from 8:30-10:30.
- ACT School Holidays. We run School Holiday Day Programs at Stromlo every school holidays, these are single day programs, however you can book into as many as you would like. Our Holiday Day Programs run from 9am-3pm Mondays-Friday during school holidays.
- January or April each year. We have a 4 day 3 night School Holiday Camp that we run at Bungarra in Jindabyne (restrictions allowing).
- We also have a sponsored Race Team, which currently consists of 5 Riders.
Q. What is your cancellation policy ?
A. Our program is Term based, and we schedule our instructors for the term. We operate this program on a low margin so it is sustainably affordable for families to have one or many kids attend over time. Because of this, we can only offer refunds for cancellation if we can fill the spot. We do not offer refunds or make up sessions for cancellations due to environmental or weather conditions. Thank you for your understanding. Please contact us if you have any questions or queries regarding this.
Q. What can you tell me about your School Holiday Programs ?
They are awesome and this is why:
Remember when kids spent their holidays playing outside, riding bikes, climbing trees, swimming in rivers and had a great time without the need for daytime television and video games? At Dynamic Motivation we remember those times and have created regular programs to re-create them. We are Australia's leading Junior MTB provider, we have been running more programs with the most qualified instructors for longer than anyone else. We are a local Canberra company that trains over 250 kids every week and has been doing it through this business for 10 years and for years before that through clubs. Our programs are not new, they are tried and proven over many years and great fun for the kids. We are passionate about Junior Development and keep our costs as low as we can so families are able to provide long term access to a great sport and expert instruction to their kids. We are the only provider in Canberra to offer day programs nearly every day of the ACT School Holidays with the exception of some closed time around Xmas. We run normal school hours for parental convenience and the kids have a great day learning new skills, meeting new friends and riding bikes. With kids its not about cramming as much knowledge into them in the shortest time its about having a great experience and developing over time. Kids go to school for 6 hours a day they easily cope with spending that time having fun with their friends on bikes.
The crew at Dynamic Motivation has extensive experience teaching kids to ride and delivering Junior MTB programs. We have a low participant to coach ratio (maximum 8:1) for safety and quality of coaching. We roster Instructors on a 6:1 basis but sometimes the skills and supervision required don't fit neatly in this. Younger less mature kids may need 4:1 and older more experienced works well at 8:1 this flexibility ensures the best outcome rather than forcing into set sized groups.. Overall It’s a great small group atmosphere where all the kids can get to know each other whilst they are learning cool new stuff. Where possible we have an extra instructor rostered on as a spare just incase we need extra help and support on the trails and all our Instructors carry 2 way radios to ensure we can manage where everyone is and they can support each other where needed.
Most days we also have our shuttle bus available so we can provide uplift to the top of the hill and expand the possibilities of trails that can be ridden.
All of our Instructors have PMBI certification which is the most highly regarded world wide industry standard qualification. They also go through our internal training to learn our systems and curriculum and have the required WWVP and First Aid. We have a range of Instructors from older more experienced, to school teachers and younger riders that the kids relate to and can aspire to be like. For us it has never been just about riding bikes but also long term personal development and mentoring which you can see in our younger instructors who have been through our programs from the beginning. Kids want to ride with and be taught by instructors that they can relate to and look up to, creating a community.
