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MARQUETTE -- With the Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic less than two months away, racers big and small are getting ready.

The first Junior Mountain Biking Class took place Tuesday morning.

At 3 feet 10 inches tall and only 43 pounds, 6-year-old Hayley Clark is the youngest and the smallest racer on the Junior Mountain Biking Team.  But don't let her size fool you...this little girl has a big passion for bike riding.

"I love biking because it's really fun, and I bike in my backyard, around the house, around the block, around the swing set, everywhere.  I love riding my bike everywhere," says Hayley.

But Hayley learned Tuesday that mountain biking is different from the biking she does at home.

Although she was placed in the beginner group, titled the "Yellow Olympians," she struggled to get used to her new, larger gear shift bike.  Gear shift bikes are a requirement to participate in the Junior Rock Race, which is a four mile, timed race for kids 16 and under.

"She's learning to use the brakes; her bike last year had coaster brakes which you use with your feet.  This one has regular brakes up on the handlebars, so sometimes she forgets that she has to squeeze the handlebar brakes to stop," says Hayley's dad, Tom Clark.

Hayley says she fell five times throughout the morning, but that didn't stop her from riding. In fact, she shows off her cuts and scrapes with pride.

And her perseverance paid off.  By the end of her first class, Hayley had completed a series of difficult stunts and challenging obstacles, which will prepare her for the Junior Rock Trails.

Hayley and the rest of the Yellow Olympians will continue training next week when they'll take on some of the trails in the area.