A youth mountain bike program built on one idea: confidence through competence and community.
Program status: Pizza Cats is on hiatus for 2025 and 2026. It may return in a simplified format in 2027. If you’d like your rider to be part of it, please contact me by January 2027.
How it started
Pizza Cats Academy started by request in 2022. An aspiring mountain biker who loved riding with his Dad asked me to help create an opportunity for local kids to explore the trails.
The Academy helped develop new coaches and inspired the athletes to develop their own coaching and leadership skills. Along the way, they mastered basic and intermediate mountain bike skills through adventures in Burnaby and the Tri-Cities.
Those first athletes weren’t just participants. They were co-founders who helped shape what Pizza Cats became.
Where they are now
The riders who started Pizza Cats have moved on to new chapters. Some are now coaches themselves, some are chasing performance goals, and others are off on adventures of their own. That’s the legacy I care about most: experiences that encourage athletes to lead others in the future.
How it worked
- Ages 10–14: developmentally appropriate challenges through cycling.
- Weekly group sessions on mountain bikes, exploring local trails and the outdoors.
- Monthly bundles, so small cohorts of riders could train together, get to know each other and progress as a group.
- Basic and intermediate skills: body position, braking, cornering, climbing and handling features with control.
- Confidence through competence and community: riders gained confidence by building real skills, alongside friends who cheered them on.
“As a parent, seeing my son find an activity that he is good at and loves is very rewarding. Keeping active is a lifelong habit, and he now invites his friends on bike rides and helped start his school’s mountain biking club.”
Team kit
The Pizza Cats 3/4-sleeve jersey with zip pocket comes in two colours, designed by club member 001, Enric McAlpine.
Interested in 2027?
If Pizza Cats returns, it will be a simplified version of the program. Interest will help decide whether it runs and what it looks like. Please get in touch by January 2027 and tell me a little about your rider.
Contact Ben about 2027