“To discover the best version of yourself, you are going to need to be willing to do some hard things and get outside your comfort zone,” said Todd Poquette, director of the Marquette-based 906 Adventure Team. “You are going to have to be willing to attempt things you may first fail at.”

Every Monday night for 10 weeks this summer, a group of nearly 50 young bicyclists and nearly 25 coaches and volunteers gather at Marion Park in Norway and take to the surrounding area trails, not only to improve their mountain biking abilities but to learn some important life skills cycling can teach.

The 906 Adventure Team started its first team in Marquette in 2014 as a cycling group to give men, women and children who were average cyclists a chance to get together, ride and challenge themselves to do better.

In 11 years, the program has expanded to more than a dozen teams throughout not only the Upper Peninsula but the Lower Peninsula, Wisconsin and even Ohio.

Local 906 Adventure Team coach Mike Halley leads a group of participants down the trail. Youth in the program learn not only biking skills but life skills as well. (Courtesy photo)

The Dickinson County team is led by Sanj Peterson and Jackie Halley, who were approached three years ago by the local mountain bike community about the need for a youth program with a nontraditional sport.

Peterson and Halley had heard about the 906 Adventure Team and appreciated that a well-developed program template already was available that they could follow. They would spend the next year seeking support from local businesses, recruiting volunteers and raising awareness about the program.

All volunteers went through background checks and received training from the staff in Marquette. Participants receive plenty of support with nearly one volunteer for every two participants.

The program officially launched in Dickinson County in 2024, with 50 youth participating. Most came back this year.

Participants range in age from 5 to 17 years old and have varying cycling and mountain biking experience, but all must have a desire to get better.

The local 906 Adventure Team was founded and is led by Sanj Peterson, left, and Jackie Halley. (Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

The 10-week program costs $125 and those enrolled must have their own bicycle and helmet. The first week is spent doing bicycle inspections and used as a chance to get to know each other. The rest of the summer is devoted to riding and learning.

The base camp is in Marion Park and the Dickinson Trail Network trails around Norway are used, including the new youth trail.

While getting out and improving cycling skills is one of the 906 Adventure Team goals, there is more than that. Poquette said they teach an independent mindset by challenging the group to try things that initially cannot be done.

“To create self-supported, independent, accountable people within not just the cycling community but within our community at large,” Poquette said. “If we successfully do that, those people will benefit and our communities will be stronger.”

“Bikes are just a gateway to get them to look at various different things,” Peterson said. “Each week they will learn a bike skill — it could be braking or pedals or something to keep them safe on the trails, but then on the flip side they learn a character-building skill like effort, consistency and grit.”

Peterson said that mountain biking provides an environment that is both challenging and fun at the same time.

The program teaches that total failure does not exist — there are parts of the area trails that may be too hard at first but they have more opportunities to improve and ultimately get through.

Participants receive other benefits as well. Parents cannot be their child’s coach, and siblings and existing friends cannot be in the same group, forcing them to create new relationships.

“Their sense of belonging extends a long way beyond the bike club,” Poquette said. “There is a sense of belonging that comes from when they see a kid and his or her mom at the grocery store and they feel like they can come up and say hello.”

As an added bonus, participants are getting away from their screens other days of the week, too, and parents are following their children into the sport of mountain biking.

The volunteers also take things away from the 906 Adventure Team — some as much as the participants, and maybe more, organizers said.

“A lot of them are mountain bikers and they are having to slow down, look at things differently and see the sport through youthful eyes,” Peterson said. “They get to hear the fun stories every week and watch these kids grow.”

Peterson adds that it is great to see the sport of mountain biking grow, not only through the 906 Adventure team but through the efforts of the Dickinson Trail Network. Peterson said a nontraditional sport like mountain biking gives children who are not interested in a team sport an opportunity to still get out and be active in a group.

Poquette in coming years hopes to not only see the numbers of teams increase but also that the 906 Adventure Team will become a national program.

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Jim Paul can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85229, or jpaul@ironmountaindailynews.com.