Shredding Up The Track
On Saturday October 5th, the Annual 603TrailRiders Rodeo took place at the specially groomed track in Rumney, N.H. under spectacular sunny skies. Raffles, food, swag, a variety of motorcycles and professional dirt bikes, and up-close track-side seating greeted the participants, MPA Faculty, volunteers, community members, and families for the day’s activities.
MPA Faculty Volunteers
The event celebrates the skills of all the participating students who, for the past semester and riding season, have shown an undeniable commitment to the program and to themselves.
Mount Prospect Academy students in conjunction with the non-profit 603TrailRiders Inc. (NHYPM) took to the track for more than 4 hours in a display of dirt bike riding skills that involved a Slow Race, a Barrel Race, a Box Drill, and the thrilling Trials Course Race, followed by an awards ceremony recognizing the riders’ skills.
The event brought to fruition the 603TrailRiders mission to instill personal, social, and environmental responsibility through safe and exhilarating dirt bike adventures. At heart the Annual Rodeo itself is a riding event- it is also the culmination of many months of hard work and determination in the classroom by Mount Prospect Academy students in the dirt bike program.
For MPA students the event enables a tangible continuity and a direct connection to the experiential curriculum’s hands-on approach to riding. Most critically, it demonstrates in “real-time” the student’s personal psychological growth and learned knowledge gained by their active physical interaction with the equipment, their fellow students/riders, and their instructors.
Beyond the academic and behavioral growth, students bond with their MPA instructors and each other throughout the educational process while riding, repairing the bikes, and learning about the sport together.
Instructors Gearing Up the Riders
It is a team effort all around!
That sense of camaraderie was evident throughout the day as the riders encouraged, guided, advised, and helped each other to adjust to the changing track conditions. Positioned throughout the track, all students assisted each other in the approaches to the berms, rollers, and the hill climb. The excited and vocal chatter about gear ratios, ‘short shifting’, and ‘counterbalancing’ mixed with bit of rider bravado as to which rider ‘got air’ reflected the unmistakable level of positive energy and enthusiasm that made this event a resounding success for all!
