SoMont, a youth mountain bike team for grades 6 through 10, originated here in the Glenside-Wyncote area and is now heading into their third season. The team, actively looking to add more youth riders to their program, will be holding promotional events in the nearby areas.
Co-founders and mountain bike enthusiasts, John Raisch and Thuong Nguyen came up with the mountain bike team concept back in 2016, when they realized there really wasn’t any opportunity for kids to ride and compete. Having children of their own whom enjoy riding, they decided to begin a program that enables youth athletes to embrace in the sport of mountain biking and also meet some new friends along the way.
In 2017, the SoMont cycling MTB team grew to 25 youth athletes. They are a PICL (Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League) sanctioned composite team, in the Cheltenham, Abington, Rockledge, Lower Moreland, Upper Dublin and Springfield areas of southern Montgomery County.
Raisch and Nguyen’s coaching philosophy is “to use cycling, and the mountain bike itself, as a way-of-thinking to transport our riders to a sense of adventure, exploration, excitement, friendship and good health.”
Our athletes impress me every time we’re out on the bikes,” said Nguyen. He further added, ”Last year, their confidence grew off the charts, but, more importantly, they developed meaningful friendships. They’re just a great bunch of kids.”
Listed below are SoMont’s promotional events in which you can learn more about their program. You can also find additional information by clicking here.
Saturday April 14, 12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Keswick Cycle Glenside
408 N Easton Rd, Glenside, PA 19038
Circle Cycle Meet-N-Greet
Thursday April 26, 6:30p.m.
Circle Cycle Bike Shop
2525 Huntingdon Pike, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006