KIMBERLY, Idaho — Idaho’s Interscholastic Cycling League is one that many locals are still discovering. This week they moved through their second race in a series of five in Kimberly, Idaho at the Magic Mountain Resort, Saturday.
This league is a part of a nationwide league called the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, or NICA. This sport is unique from traditional sports because of the organization’s focus on inclusivity first.
“There’s no bench warmers. Everyone gets a chance to ride, have fun, and experience the course. Every kid that comes across the finish line is getting a point value for their result. It’s something that’s completely different. It’s something that’s really open for everyone,” Eddie Freyer, the Executive Director for the Interscholastic Cycling League says.
Freyer says the courses they choose are picked with beginners in mind, but it’s still challenging for varsity riders. The courses can take about 45 minutes for one lap around. To add difficulty for the varsity riders, they take more laps.
“We try to design our courses keeping in mind that we’re going to have beginner riders who have never done this before, 6th-grade kids who are just coming into the sport,” Freyer says.
“This race in particular at Magic Valley had a lot of technical rocks, it had some rock gardens that some of our riders have never experienced before,” Becky Jenkins, a coach for the of Emmett Huskies says.
Freyer says almost 10 years ago he remembers the sport being represented in seven states. Now it’s grown to over 25,000 middle-school to high-school-age mountain bikers in 31 states. Idaho’s league is the fourth-largest league in the nation.
“It really is just amazing the see the growth. Here in Idaho when we started, this is our ninth season here in the state. We started with 250 kids. We now have 1,400. I think it’s just a testament to the fact that our core values are about inclusivity … it has allowed the program to really grow,” Freyer says.
Becky Jenkins, of Emmett, Idaho, is in her first year of coaching. She says their team initially started with about five riders in 2022, and this year, they are now up to 13 both male and female.
“So far it’s just been such a positive environment. It’s a super fun sport where everybody comes out cheering. I mean every team is cheering for each other. As a coach that just makes it so fun when the focus is on helping riders be strong, and not about necessarily winning,” Jenkins says.
Anthony Perkins the head coach of the Biting Goats team in Rexburg says they began back in 2015. They started with 15 riders and are now up to 109 riders, 43 of which are female athletes. He say’s they’re anxious to have more girls join the sport.
Perkins says riders learn a lot of skills but this is what he thinks is most important.
“So, I think just a, a ‘can-do’ attitude is very important to begin with, and that often propels student-athletes to continue to try new things and that’s how you adapt to the workload of mountain biking,” Perkins says.
Chase Henrie, a Freshman on the Biting Goats team says he’s learned a lot of technical skills. This is his second year on the team.
“A lot of it is bike body separation so, where your bike is away from your body so you can turn and handle it better, and then just overall riding skills, how to go faster and turn better, and things like that,” Henrie says.
There are 3 more races in the series left and Perkins says if it’s your first time at a race you can expect excitement.
“They can look for a lot of chaos, and a lot of cheering kids, and a lot of excited parents, and hopefully a lot of people smiling because I think they will be having fun,” Perkins says.
There are about 25 teams in the state of Idaho. To learn more, or to start a league in your community go to IdahoMTB.org.