When youth mountain bike teams started up in Eastern Idaho in 2014, you could fit all the participants in a few cars.
Now, as the teams are in the process of signing up new recruits, the original team of 16 youths has grown to three teams and has nearly doubled in numbers each year.
“High school, middle school mountain biking is the fastest growing sport in the United States at the moment,” said Brian Olson, the head coach for the Thunder Ridge Composite team. “We’ve had a team here since 2014, it started out with 16 kids. Last year, we made it up to 65 kids on the team. But now we’re at the point where it’s really starting to take off.”
The original team has split into three: The Rigby Composite team, Thunder Ridge Composite team and the Idaho Falls Composite team. The teams include high school and middle school age students and, in the case of Thunder Ridge and Idaho Falls, they are school-district-wide. Between all the teams, coaches expect to well exceed 65 youths as they continue to sign up more students.
“The response has just been phenomenal from the students as well as the adults that are participating and helping out,” said Matt Klinger, head coach of the Rigby team. “We have not finalized our numbers for this year. We’re still signing everybody up. We anticipate this year in Rigby we will probably have 30 to possibly 40 riders. Every year we’re a little surprised. If we follow the trend of doubling then that’s about where we’ll land.”
What is the attraction?
A lot of it has to do with how the program is put together. The program is organized through the National Interscholastic Cycling Association. It is not a team sport organized within the schools. The association’s motto is “we build strong minds, bodies, character, and communities through cycling.”
The program takes a three-pronged approach, offering races, adventure rides and girls-only rides. Team members can participate in all, one or none of the races or just the adventure rides. Teams in Eastern Idaho practice at Freeman Park, the Kelly Canyon area, Teton Valley and Pocatello. Races are held in Boise, McCall, Twin Falls, Sun Valley and Grand Targhee Resort.
“It’s really fun to do because you get to ride up in the mountains,” said Ashlyn Stucki, 13, a Rigby Middle School student on the Rigby team. “I really don’t like doing track and football and stuff what the schools provide. I like doing this. You aren’t practicing at school and not many people are doing it compared to what other sports are doing. I think it’s really fun, and I like it a lot more than doing softball.”
Coaches mention the inclusiveness of the mountain bike team as a major attraction. Students neither try out nor sit on a bench.
“It’s a sport that you don’t have to be good or bad, you just have to know how to ride a bike,” said Erik Peterson, the Idaho Falls composite coach. “Not every kid is in it for the competition, some are just in it to ride bikes and learn how to ride a mountain bike.”
For those who do give racing a try, the atmosphere is supportive and encouraging.
“It’s a great atmosphere to be around, and you grow up with great people,” said Chris Palmisciano, 16, a student at Thunder Ridge who has been on the team for two years. “You learn a lot of new skills, things you grow up with and you’ll have forever. It feels more like a family than it does a team.”
Palmisciano said he joined the team after a friend brought him to a practice and he “fell in love with it.”
“We only have a handful of kids who are interested in getting on the podium,” Klinger said. “We have some kids whose whole goal was to smile as they crossed the finish line. One of our riders would come in last basically every race, except for her last race. She just loved it. … That was her goal was to just go out there and have fun.”
Participants mentioned that part of the fun is camping out at the race venues.
“There’s always camping at the races, and a lot of the parents camp at the races with their kids,” Chris said. “The campgrounds are right next to the race site. You ride your bike from your tent to the race.”
Right now, coaches are in the process of signing up participants. The first gatherings will be maintenance and skills clinics and trail work projects. The official practice season begins in July, with the first races in August.
Olson said a major challenge with the teams is parental and adult involvement. The cycling association requires teams to operate with one adult per four to six youth. Adults are given a background check and training to ride with the youth and more extensive training to become coaches.
Olson said the cost to join the team is reasonable, especially when compared to some school team sports.
“(National Interscholastic Cycling Association) requires that each student pay $175 for the season,” he said. “That covers liability insurance and all the stuff that’s required to protect the kids. Our local teams charge $20 for the team fee. A jersey typically costs either $35 or $55 depending on the jersey a kid purchases. If kids want to race, there is an additional cost. For those who don’t want to race, that’s pretty much the cost right there.”
Olson said getting a bike for youth has not been much of a hurdle. The Idaho chapter of the cycling association offers a limited number of loaner bikes to youth who need one.
“Our team has a small number of loaner bikes that we purchased through Idaho Mountain Trading and Bill’s Bike Shop,” Olson said. “So far it hasn’t been an obstacle this year. I’m concerned it could be. Generally, if a kid comes out and really likes it, there have been ways we’ve figured out to help a kid get a bike.”
More information is available via email at ifcmtb@gmail.com for Idaho Falls Composite; titansmtb@gmail.com for Thunder Ridge Composite; and rigbymtb@gmail.com.
