The Two Wheel Academy - Building for the future

In early April this year, the New England MTB Club (NEMTB) hosted their annual “UNE 12hrs in the Piney” race, right in Armidale State Forest. While it wasn’t a close event to get to for me, it did offer an opportunity to find out a bit more about possibly the loudest mountain bike club in Australia, and the programs they have in place to turn out such exceptional bike riders from regional NSW.

At the past few National Championships and National Rounds I have attended, there’s been a huge roar for any of the riders from NEMTB. Partly due to their enthusiasm, but also their sheer volume. The club has been bringing lots of young riders to the National Championships and key National Rounds, to help develop their capabilities.

I spoke to Peter Hosking, the NEMTB club president, about how the club was supporting their young riders. Together with Torq and other industry support, they have created the 2 Wheel Academy, basically a program to help get Juniors to races they need for development.

“At the end of the day the outcome people external to the club see is that the kids in the 2 Wheel Academy and Torq team are pulling good results at the Nationals,” says Hosking, which confirms what I have seen. But it’s about a lot more than the young riders tearing up trails at great speeds – it’s about developing the club and options for all riders.

“We think that it is important that a club must first be very inclusive, meaning that anyone can make this their main regular sport, whether for competition, just fitness and/or pleasure. To allow this to occur we only build trails that are publicly accessible trails, whether a member or not. All our trails (The Piney, Sport UNE, Walcha Mountain Bike Trails, Fat Tyre Farm, Robbers Run and Kookaburra Crest) are all now legal, publicly accessible trails, that have been five years in the making. We have then moved our focus on our ability to teach people from zero skills/experience up. We have started working on this by holding weekly training sessions in fourth term for everyone and not just juniors. As of early 2016 we now have 4 qualified Level 1 Coaches and two further completing the training, and one Level 2 coach. We also have standard Winter and Summer Series events and a number of social events.” It’s interesting to hear the focus is on having the right mix of events, as at the UNE 12hrs in the Piney there was an awesome balance of fierce racing and camaraderie – through the whole 12hrs. So clearly everyone knows when to have the race face on and when it's not required.

So where does the 2 Wheel Academy fit? Hosking explains that interested juniors can go into selection.

“From the standard club skills sessions and competition juniors can then go into selection with the Development or Race squad.” The squads then take a rider who is in a sport that is focused on individuals, and places them into a team. They train together, travel together and support each other.

“The use of the Development and the Race Teams allows further progression and riders might aspire to move to the Race Team if that’s important to them,” continues Hosking.

As is true for any mountain bike club or the initiatives they run, a lot of volunteer hours go into producing the final result, and Hosking believes that without that core set of volunteers who love mountain biking, it would be hard to run a mountain bike club and develop riders, but there is support that goes further than just the club members.

“The support we get from the Armidale Dumaresq Council (ADC) and our strong alliance with the University of New England (UNE) assists greatly to move projects and mountain biking forward. The UNE alliance is very important as it adds a commercial facet that aligns with our development of mountain biking in the area. Obviously long-term sponsors and supporters are also important and invaluable; Armidale City Bowling Club, Newcastle Permanent, Hutchinson & Harlow Real Estate and Bicycle Central on Marsh. The Walcha Council have also assisted greatly with our Walcha “Chapter” to develop a MTB park there.”

Torqing of support

Dean Clark was on hand at Armidale, with a host of the Torq team, but also there supporting the 2 Wheel Academy riders in the pits. Torq are one of many supporters of the Academy, and Clark was happy to discuss why.

“The whole idea behind the 2 Wheel Academy is we know we don’t have depth in numbers in mountain biking, and we wanted to create something where kids feel like they are part of a community – they’re not just receiving a hand out.”

If you stand back and watch a group of riders from the Academy, that’s pretty self-evident. They talk, laugh, joke around – and generally look like they are having a good time, supporting each other, but pushing each other too.

“The Academy concept is to create these sort of hubs around the country,” continues Clark, “and the more the better because it creates a better National Series, it creates better racing, and drives towards having better future riders for Australia.”

The alignment with Torq seems obvious – not just from the logo on the team kit but also how the teams are together at events, in practice, in the pits, and at podium presentations.

“The whole philosophy with the Academy is very similar to Torq. The Torq team has always been about not having just the best rider, but riders that gel, can be mates and love riding their bikes. Sometimes that then creates the greatest riders. We all give a lot of time, and while we are helping out with nutrition we also help them out with Motion clothing – but it’s about developing the riders, and making a bigger pool of talent.

While I had associated the Academy with Armidale, Clark is quick to inform me that is just the start, as it’s a concept that is set to spread around the country to other regional towns and cities.

“Armidale were the first one and have embraced it really well, and we have just setup an Academy down in Albury at Cycle Station and one potentially in Bendigo, and Hobart… pretty much all over. So at Nationals we should see a big pool of youngsters that should feed into some of the biggest teams in the future. The bigger base means we have a bigger pool of elite guys later on. If we keep them in mountain biking or they go to road it doesn’t matter, it’s a case of developing them into great young people who represent their communities.”

The future is bright 

So with five National Champions driving home to Armidale from Bright in March, it is clear the concept is proven. Support at a regional level via clubs will help develop riders and find those who may want to pursue the sport at a higher level. So what’s on the horizon for the 2 Wheel Academy in Armidale and New England MTB Club?

“Our goal is to continue to build the region into a mountain biking hub that can cater for tourism, training and high level events. We are now in the final stages of securing National XCO rounds in conjunction with ADC and UNE,” says Hosking, a clear sign that their growth is just starting.