St. Francis’ Mountain Bike Racing Team Gears Up for the SoCal League’s 6th Season of Mountain Bike Racing

As the St. Francis High School Mountain Bike Racing Team approaches the start of its 6th season of mountain bike racing in the SoCal League, I wanted to take a moment to tell you a little about our team, the races, and extend a formal invitation to you to attend a race if you can.

The St. Francis High School Mountain Bike Team is comprised of twenty St. Francis students that race in a high school league called SoCal. The SoCal League is a chapter of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) which promotes high school racing in 10 states, with plans to be coast-to-coast by 2020.

Our students have been training since December 1 in preparation for a six-race season which will start with our first race on February 23. Like other high school sports, the students will represent their school in a team uniform, in races that are classed by their grade level and skill; freshman, sophomore, JV, and Varsity.

High school mountain bike racing is an endurance sport, with the races lasting from 1 to 2 ? hours long. Similar to cross-country running, the students compete on an off-road course, racing multiple laps. The pre-season training will help prepare the students for the demands of the technical courses and stamina required to compete.

The St. Francis High School Mountain Bike Team was the second team to be founded in the SoCal league, and is regarded as a “model” program by the league. We have incredible support from the school, families, students, and alumni. Our students race hard and practice good sportsmanship, just like the other student-athletes at St. Francis.

Our races are held on Sunday’s. A typical race weekend has the students and their families arriving on Saturday afternoon to the race venue, with camping overnight and racing on Sunday. During all of this, the families band together for team meals, camaraderie, and even a team Mass on Sunday morning. (Brother Chris helped bring Mass to our races last year).

The race schedule is below. For those interested to attend any of these races, please let me know and I will be sure to provide you with more detailed information such as race times, directions, etc.

February 23 – Lake Perris
March 9 – Vail Lake (Temecula)
March 23 – Riverside
April 6 – Keyesville
April 27 – Los Olivos
May 11 – Monterey (State Championships)

For more information, visit http://stfrancisracing.blogspot.com/.