New Programs FAQs

Over the past few years, we’ve seen a beautiful diversity of style and skill emerge among some of our youngest athletes. Sometimes, though, this diversity poses a challenge to both riders (who sometimes feel out of place among their peers) and coaches (who must teach to a broad spectrum of abilities and interests simultaneously). Our program is now robust enough to begin grouping riders in a more sophisticated manner: one that takes into account pre-existing friendships, individual learning styles, experience level, and stoke. We expect that this fine-tuning of class groupings will allow for more fun and more learning for all. And that’s what this is all about!

Kinder through 2nd Grade teams will be offered a choice between two days of the week instead of four. On the first day of practice,  Devo’s most experienced coaches will briefly observe each of the riders and divide them into teams of no more than 10 that are optimized for FUN! Previously, team groupings were based solely on the day of the week; the new system allows for teams to be based on rider compatibility, learning style, pre-existing friendships, and a little Devo secret sauce. Each program is still 1-day per week, and the season still lasts a full 8 weeks. 

3rd-5th Grade team offerings will also be consolidated to a choice between two weekdays. By this age range riders often have specialized interest areas. To accommodate these, we offer a variety of team options for riders to choose from based on their interest, motivation, and experience level, ranging from true beginner to advanced riding.

Pushbike and Preschool offerings have been consolidated slightly due to low enrollment in our AM timeslots over the last few seasons. If the new schedule fills and draws a waitlist, we will do our best to add a class to accommodate the waitlisted riders. 

Upper-level (6th-12th Grade) programs have some upgrades too! We’ve added several all-girls (for riders who identify as female) groups for Middle and High School ages, including the Sendas, a gravity, jumping, and skills group, and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, an all-girls high school trail riding group.

Adult programs are not affected.

No. The 3rd-5th grade classes are already organized by skill level and riding style. By this age, we think that riders and parents can decide which team is right for them based on their interests, motivation, and experience level. If we observe that a rider might be more successful in a different group than they originally selected, we may recommend a swap to a more suitable group.

We cannot wait to ride with your little shredder — once she is three! Years of trial and error have taught us that three is the youngest age that we can successfully accommodate in a group environment. But, we think a toddler-and-parent bike club for 2-year-olds would be just about the cutest thing ever, so if you’d like to spearhead it, please get in touch!

By consolidating the days on which each age group is offered, we’ve been able to add more teams! For Spring 2024, Kindergarten, First Grade, and Second Grade will enjoy increased enrollment opportunities with one new class each. That’s 30 new registration spots!

More is more, right? Unfortunately, it’s trickier than that. Our limitations are twofold: 

First, we take our coach selection and training very seriously, and can only offer as many classes as we can responsibly staff with the best coaches we can for that age level.

Second, we pride ourselves on our stewardship of Durango’s trails and believe that everybody loses when trails are over-crowded. As part of this commitment, we must limit the number of riders we put onto the trails during the trails’ 4-7 pm rush hours.

Probably, yes. One of our motivators in consolidating classes to two weekdays per grade level was to make it easier for friends to ride with friends. If your kiddo is age Kinder-2nd, make sure the buddies register for the same weekday and let us know on Day One — we will do our best to ensure they are grouped together.

Fear not! On the first day of class, our most experienced and senior coaches will be observing all riders to group them as sensibly as possible into well-matched groups. Worried your kid had a bad day and didn’t show her full potential? No problem! We can continue moving athletes around until they’re well-matched.

We get it! It’s not exactly like trying to get tickets to see U2 at the Sphere in Vegas, but registration has had its stressful moments. We are working hard to make your registration experience with us as easy as possible:

1. We are expanding registration to accommodate a new class of kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders. We expect this will alleviate a lot of the waitlists of the past!
2. Our waitlists are living, breathing extensions of our class rosters. As families adjust their schedules and move kids from one day to another, spots do open up! We always do what we can to get waitlisted riders into a program.
3. If we notice a significant waitlist for a particular grade or level, we will do our absolute best to wave our magic wand and create a new class to accommodate those waitlisted aspiring riders. We don’t want to leave anyone out in the cold!

No way! Lucky for you, we have a variety of adult programs for people just like yourself. 

Kids aren’t the only ones having this much fun with their peers on wheels. Our adult women’s and men’s programs range from true intro-to-MTB all the way up to an advanced, technical level. We have heard from countless participants that our adult programs have been transformative to participants’ relationship with riding – with their kids, with their friends, and solo. As a bonus, our adult program registrations are an important funding source for our youth scholarship program. You can not only learn to shred with your grown-up peers, but feel good about helping more kids gain community, confidence, and friendship through Devo!  

Two things we can never get enough of (other than riding bikes, of course!) are volunteers and coaches. 

Have a background in coaching, teaching, cycling, or just a boundless love for kids? Learn more about becoming a Devo coach and fill out an application under the Coach tab.

No experience? No problem! Devo is truly a grass-roots community organization and volunteers are the backbone of our success. We host events and initiatives all year round and need brilliant minds and bodies like yours to help make the magic happen! Contact Amy at amy@durangodevo.com to learn how to volunteer.