New Cook County youth mountain biking team set to begin in August

Cook County youth will soon be able to participate in a new outdoor recreational team.

Starting in August, a new mountain biking team for 6th through 12th graders is slated to begin.

Melissa and Brian Gregg, who recently moved to Grand Marais from Rochester, Minn., are leading the new mountain biking team initiative and hosting a parent and youth informational meeting at North Point on Thursday, July 18, at 5 p.m. to gauge community interest.

“Every parent that we’ve talked to so far has said, oh wow, that’s great,” Brian Gregg said. “A lot of kids have said they’re interested as well.”

The July 18 meeting will include details on the frequency of practice, the process of joining and participation, required gear, and more. “This meeting is to really kind of tell everybody what it will look like if they sign up as a team and get a group formed to ride together,” Melissa Gregg said.

The team expected to begin practice in August can accept a maximum of 14 kids and is open to all skill levels. Melissa and Greg said they will finalize further details after seeing how many interested youth are willing to join the team. “We’re still kind of navigating that,” Melissa Gregg said. “But we’ll have everybody practice one day a week.”

At this time, practice or fitness rides will take place on nearby Grand Marais trails such as Pincushion or the Gitchi-Gami Bike Trail.

Melissa and Brian bring over a decade of mountain biking experience and are Minnesota Cycling Association level three coaches. In 2011, the couple started and coached a high school mountain biking team in Rochester.

WTIP’s Kalli Hawkins spoke with Melissa and Brian Gregg about the newly formed youth mountain biking team and the upcoming informational meeting. The audio from the interview is below.

Kalli Hawkins July 10, 2024