Students start mountain biking club
Katie Pine, Sraff Writer
Northgate Sentinel
February 2009
A few of Northgate’s most adventurous students are partaking in “Contra Costa Composite,” a district mountain biking team with student representatives from Northgate, College Park, Clayton Valley, Las Lomas, and Pleasant Hill Academy. Northgate is being represented by sophomore Travis Lyons and freshman Nathan Hill.
The spring sport kicked off on Jan. 8, with a meeting for anyone interesting in riding. Ranging from beginners to advanced riders, ten student athletes from many different schools are on the team, and they really seem to be enjoying it so far.
“Mountain biking is a cool way to be able to hang out with your friends and get in a good workout at the same time,” said Lyons.
The team trains two to four days weekly. Afternoon training rides can be up to three and a half hours long, covering distances up to 60 miles. The riders are lead by coaches Gordon Reese and Lesley Jensen, as well as Joseph Lyons, Northgate parent and avid cyclist.
“The sport of mountain bike racing is one of strength, speed, endurance and skill. Successful competitive cyclists develop their skills over many hours, days, and years of experience, but they all started out by just learning how to ride a bike. Their commitment to excellence in the sport of cycling is a testimony to their love for the sport,” said Coach Lyons.
“An individual rider might log between ten to fifteen hours on their bikes weekly, covering as many as 150 miles,” he added.
“All of this preparation is for our 5-event race series which starts on March 1 at Easy Garrison [in Monterey], and concludes with the NorCal State Championships on May 17.”
“Ultimately, our goal would be to have a full-fledged NHS mountain biking team, but in order to do so we’ll need better participation from the student body,” said Coach Lyons.
The team is practicing now in local parks such as Redwood Regional Park in Oakland and Mt. Diablo State Park.
The students of Northgate who do mountain bike greatly enjoy it, and hope that others will begin to participate as well.