From our friends at Mountain Flyer

http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/

Sept 19, 2010) NATHROP, Colo—It was a special day in the history of Colorado mountain biking which saw the first ever high school cycling league mountain bike race take place at the Chalk Creek Ranch in perfect weather.

Designed for success, the race series is comprised of four races taking place during the fall semester, and features individual fields for boys and girl’s varsity, junior varsity, sophomore, and freshman racers.  There’s also an overall team competition which requires both boys and girls to participate in, and already has six high schools competing for the overall series.  Additionally, teens can race as independents if there are no team opportunities at their school, and smaller schools can pool their resources to race together as a composite team.

Executive Director of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, Matt Fritzinger was in attendance to help kick-off the third cycling league in the United States, and was very impressed with the turnout that far exceeded the expected one hundred.  “It feels like an established league already with the help of all the parents, volunteers, coaches, and schools.  With this kind of support we just can’t go wrong” noted Fritzinger.

Starting at 10am, the Varsity girls took off for 3 laps on a real-deal cross country mountain bike race course that was shortened from the same course used during the second Mountain States Cup race which attracted top US professional mountain bikers from around the country.  Each lap was approximately 6.3 miles and featured 500 feet of climbing.   It was Boulder High School girls Ellie Atkins who took the varsity win and Kelsey Phinney taking the junior varsity wins.  The sophomore/freshman girl’s race was combined together and won by independent racer Laurel Rathbun.

Dry weather lent to sandy and dusty conditions, but there was no shortage of good singletrack for racers to test their skills on.  “I was surprised by the quality of the course and the amount of singletrack.  Everything about this race from the competition, to the course, and especially getting kids on bikes is awesome” complimented stand-out professional mountain biker Dave Wiens who was in attendance to support the Gunnison high school team, and also lead the boys races out for a neutral start.

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http://www.mountainflyermagazine.com/view.php/colorado-high-school-cycling-league-race-1.html