Northampton cycling club

The NCC partners with the Northampton Parks & Recreation Department to run the junior cyclocross training series for kids in grades 2 through 8. All riding levels and abilities are welcomed. Please have your child bring a working bike and a helmet, and we’ll do the rest.

Spring 2025 Dates:

• April 28, May 5, May 12, May 19, and June 2, 2025
• no session on May 26 in observance of Memorial Day
• rain make-up date, if needed, could be June 9

Time: Mondays from 5:30 to 6:45 PM; plan to arrive early (about 5:15 PM)
Location: Dow Pavilion at Look Park (note: there is a parking fee if you enter the park by car)
Registration: Register online (2025 registration link to come) through the Northampton Parks & Recreation Department. They also maintain an official program details page that eventually links you through to the online registration form. A mail-in registration form is also available.

The series will focus on the following skills:

• Riding safely in a group and around the park
• Cornering technique, including off-camber corners
• Riding over obstacles
• Riding downhill and braking
• Riding through sand
• Dismounting and remounting on-the-go
• Running the barriers and shouldering/carrying your bike
• Bunny hopping
• Balance beams
• Sprinting, passing, racing, and much more

Kids will be able to ride on a full CX race course every day!

Group Assignments: Participants will be assigned to groups by age. We usually have 70 to 80 participants, so creating the groups ahead of time and assigning group leaders helps us get kids riding as soon as possible on the first day. If your child wants to change groups for any reason, that’s usually no problem. They can just ask their group leader or a volunteer at the check-in table for help changing groups.

We try to limit group size to about 10 kids. We generally group 2nd and 3rd graders, 4th and 5th, and 6th through 8th. When you see us at the sign-in table on the first day, we will tell you which group your child or children have been assigned to. If for any reason you’re concerned about the groups (or anything else), please don’t hesitate to contact me (Tom) ahead of time or see me in person. Our number one priority is to make sure every child has a positive experience and feels comfortable riding with their group.

Volunteers Needed: Want to ride with the kids? Want to help setup and takedown the course? We need about 25 volunteers to help out each evening. You do not need to commit to all of the sessions, though it is helpful to know ahead of time which sessions you can commit to so I can plan each session. We start setting up at 4 PM if you want to help with setup. We break into groups and ride starting at 5:30 PM.

Questions: Please contact our youth programs coordinator Tom Hoogendyk with any questions or to volunteer.