Farmington Valley Youth Cycling offers variety of opportunities
- jfitts0
- Apr 29
- 5 min read
Stay active, get outdoors, make new friends, learn new skills
Written by Maria G O’Donnell
Staff writer
Love of cycling: It sometimes starts out as a family affair. The family rides together, and a kid has an impactful cycling experience. Or Dad suggests, Why don’t you give a cycling team a try? Or even, as one young cyclist recalled with a chuckle, “My mom wanted to get me and my older brother out of the house!”
That cyclist, Annabelle Boryczewski, is a member of Farmington Valley Youth Cycling (FVYC). The organization comes under the support of The CT Cycling Advancement Program (CCAP), “a statewide 501.c.3 non-profit organization with just a few paid employees,” according to FVYC road bike head coach Jeff Cote. “There are about six school teams in the program, and about a dozen regional teams.” He said that CCAP promotes many events for free or a low fee.
According to CCAP Executive Director Brian Wolfe, “We foster the teams and support them as much as we can,” including coach training. CCAP Director of Youth Programs Gregg Ferraris said it’s his full-time job “to manage the program, riders, teams, coaches.” He must be “all hands on deck running multiple events all year.”
Cote noted that coaches receive thorough training: learning how to coach kids, recognize concussions, are trained in first aid, receive Safe Sport Training, teach trail safety and etiquette, learn to recognize abuse, harassment and hazing, and have criminal background checks. Cote said, “CCAP is a safe haven for kids.”
While CCAP started in 2014, FVYC launched in 2018, explained Cote, who has gone through both organizations since their inceptions. His own sons literally rode through it all with him until they aged out of the program, which is geared to boys and girls, ages 9-18. Participants come from all over the Farmington Valley, as well as New Britain and Glastonbury.
FVYC has three different seasonal cycling styles that overlap, and many kids enjoy participating in all three: mountain biking (MTB), road cycling, and cyclocross. MTB runs April to June, roadies are May to Sept., and cyclocross runs from Sept. to mid-Dec.
With MTB being first, head coach Ron Beliveau, in his fourth year, said, “It’s been a lot of fun. The skill level [then] was nowhere near as it is today, even with new kids. Probably because MTB is popular as a family activity with lots of good places to ride. Kids have the skill level to ride now.”
His current team has “diverse skill levels and a wide age group.” Beliveau noted that biking is different from Little League or soccer, which are age-based. “We deal with kids age 9 to 15. At practice, we break them into groups with parent coaches.”
Kids can participate in FVYC’s local races or register for out-of-state races on the website BikeReg.com, according to Cote. This is appealing to those who have mastered their skills locally and are looking for more challenges.
According to Cote, “While we encourage kids to race, we know that racing isn’t for everyone, and we do have a few kids who simply ride for fun, fitness and camaraderie. Like CCAP, our mission is to get more kids on bikes. We take pride in having as many girls (and mom coaches) as we have boys (and dads). We also stress the importance of having older experienced kids mentoring newer younger kids, by having them all practice together. Many FVYC and CCAP parents are grateful for the opportunity to participate in the sport alongside their kids.”
Sarah Boryczewski, FVYC mom of three participants, Eli, Annabelle, and David, said her Weatogue-based family has been all over the country, and her older kids have grown into high performers with admirable race results. Wisconsin in June will be their next road trip to race. Last year, the family racked up 52 races.
Annabelle, 12, said she started with FVYC in 2021. “My mom wanted to get me and my older brother out of the house.” She enjoys all three biking options and her favorite thing about the experience is “to be able to connect with others and being in a loving community.”
Sarah Boryczewski has been grateful that people donate bikes, as this is the most expensive component (outside of travel). According to Cote, bikes for all different types of cycling are donated by parents.
The Moses family of Farmington gets involved in different ways. Tim Moses is a ride-along parent and said he’s sometimes a coach or assistant coach. His wife Nancy helped out with early morning March races, and his 15-year-old daughter, Penelope (Penny) “is thinking about helping younger kids for FVYC,” said Tim.
Penny has been involved in the group for six years, and credits her dad for getting her into MTB. “Now I focus on cyclocross,” she said, adding that her favorite thing about FVYC is “the community and the course conditions.”
Her teammate, Naomi Ericson, almost age 14, of Simsbury, also has a very involved family. Her dad, Miles, is a road and MTB parent and assistant coach, her mom, Sonya, is also an assistant coach, and younger sister, Lydia, is a two-season roadie. Naomi has been with FVYC for three or four years. She said, “My dad found this team. He wanted me to try it, and I ended up liking it. I really like racing and competition and seeing all my friends and meeting all nice new people.” She participates in all three types of biking, but mainly cyclocross.
New to FVYC is Katherine Tolve’s son, Oliver, age 10. The Granby mom said this is her son’s first year. Oliver and his friend Bode, also in his first year, felt “it was time to join a team and learn some skills.” Oliver was “always more interested in MTB,” said Tolve. “It’s more thrilling, but he might go into road bike for racing.” She added that his dad, also Oliver, will probably be a ride-along dad. It was a Boston trip in Fall where the family rented bikes, and Oliver “loved it.”
According to Coach Cote, “Everybody’s here because they want to be here. These guys keep me young!” VL
