Watch out, on your right! From its creation in 2014, CHS’s mountain bike team has grown exponentially over the course of the years. Starting small with only a few members, the team had some unfortunate set backs due to their size and were only able to compete in two out of the five races that they had during that spring. With the unlucky season, the years to come would be very promising as more members began to join quickly. By the time 2015 came around, the team was able to perform in all five races which underlines how much the team grew with just one offseason, and since then, the team has been doing well. With the growth of the team, estimating about 20 members, this number helped bump the team to Division 1.
Mountain biking is not in the least bit easy and requires a lot of time, effort, and dedication. The team begins practicing in December, preparing all the way until February when their first race actually takes place. Their practices are an hour and a half everyday during the week and two hours on Saturdays. Although all this work can be a strenuous amount of training, as a result, it makes them a formidable foe for their rivals. Of course, the biking team’s rival is Damien High School. Their hardest race is certainly Keyesville; the increased elevation paired with a challenging trail turns the race into an uphill battle.
Team members mostly consist of students from CHS, but the team welcomes students who are in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade.
“The only requirement for joining the team is being able to ride a bike so we really don’t discriminate against anyone,” Libeskind said.
The team has been doing really well during the years, but still faces some difficulties. One such problem is the recruitment of female mountain bike riders because of how male-dominated the sport is. Having female riders will not only help the team be co-ed but encourage other females to join as well and help the team win points.
“The way they score us as a team is the top four riders get scored and one of them has to be a girl,” Libeskind explained.
Races are held five times throughout the season and take place on Sundays. As is the custom, riders drive out the day before on Saturday with everything they need. They do a pre-ride to get a feel for the track and test each rider’s input for any difficult parts. Once night falls, they camp out on the mountain with a big bonfire with a team spaghetti dinner. The morning of the race, they eat pancakes for breakfast. During the rest of the day, the team competes. Once the first few riders race, they just relax and watch other racers compete. The gear they use is from sponsors and other outlets that provide what they require, along with lubricants, chains, inner tubes, sprays, and anything else they would need.
“The ranking system of mountain biking teams is based on the size of our team, so any team at or under eleven high school athletes is considered a D2 team and any team at twelve or above high school athletes is considered a D1 team,” Libeskind said.
The team’s main goals are to expand in size because they want people to know of them so they would get recognized more as a school sport. This would really help the sport grow. Generally, people do not know of the mountain biking team as much as they would know about the golf team or the soccer team. Another goal for them is to increase the numbers of female members because the team is lacking diversity, and it would greatly benefit the mountain biking team.
The team has many sponsors, mainly Jax Bicycle Center in the Village, but also with Troy Lee Designs, Torco Lubricants, a car dealership, plus local restaurants and small businesses. These sponsorships help with supplying repair materials in addition to necessities and to help pay the team’s fees. Hereafter, the team continues to grow and succeed with many members and sponsors and hopes to further diversify their team.