OXFORD – The Oxford Academy High School physical education department recently added an outdoor education elective to its program.

In the spring of 2018, physical education teachers Margo Barrows and Lance Thorne were approached by first year principal Mike Waters with the idea of a new offering.

After months of planning, the mountain biking new elective was ready to be offered to students in the fall semester.

Mountain biking was one of the first course offerings that came to mind, since it had been implemented in the traditional physical education course in years past.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge with the current condition of our bike fleet,” said Thorne. “It had been years since we had last utilized our existing bikes, and many of them needed major repair work in order to be usable once again.