Alameda Park hosts mountain bike races
BUTLER TWP — The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League brought mountain biking to Alameda Park with it first western conference race of the season on the ascent at Alameda Singletrack.
“The park systems you guys have out here, it’s really admirable,” said John Spahr, the league’s director of coaching. “(They’re) beautiful, well-maintained. It’s just a real pleasure to be a part of it.”
Teams gathered from all over Western Pennsylvania, and as far east as Johnstown, gathered Saturday, Sept. 20, at Alameda Park for 16 races beginning at 10 a.m.
The teams had boys and girls from grades six to 12 racing against other teams in their age groups throughout the day. The varsity riders kicked off the races with JV and younger age groups following.
Racers began arriving around 8 a.m. to walk the track with their teams before riding it in the race.
“There’s a couple quick uphills that you won’t even notice,” said Margo Howard, a 14-year-old racer for the Laurel Highlands Composite Mountain Biking Team. “I feel like they come out of nowhere.”
Different parts of the course featured different challenges. Some portions went between road and grassy areas with wide turns and others had sharp turns through the trees with steep uphills and downhills.
“It will end, so just go your hardest,” said Sophia Goodsell, a 13-year-old rider with the team.
Different age groups may also race on different courses. While varsity racers might do five laps on a 4-mile course, sixth-grade riders may only do two laps on a three-mile course, according to Rich Maher, a coach with the Johnstown Ridgebacks, another composite team.
The western region of the league has about 1,465 riders, Maher said. He said most teams are affiliated with a school but composite teams that draw from multiple schools may also participate.
“You have to pace yourself, but it has to be fast,” Maher said. “These kids are amazingly fast.”
Most of the riders on the 10-person team ride year-round and register with the league by July 1. League races start in September.
“So that gives us two months to get somebody new caught up to speed (and) to keep them safe on the course racing,” Maher said.
The league has a west, central and east conference. They typically hold two conference races and three statewide races, according to Mimi Pottinger, of the Franklin Regional Mountain Bike Club and the event manager and volunteer coordinator for the Alameda Park race.
Next weekend, the conference will be in Wainer Park, near Edinboro, for another race. Their season runs from July 1 to Oct. 31, Pottinger said.
“We want more kids on bikes and we don’t bench anybody,” Pottinger said. “Everybody gets to ride in whatever capacity they want to ride.”
Maher added about 25% of riders in the league do not race and only attend to ride.
Spahr said the league aims to grow the sport in Butler and already has interest here. The group chose Butler for its central location between Pittsburgh and Erie, Pottinger said.
The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League is part of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, which operates in about 30 states, Pottinger said.
The results of the race can be found at my.raceresult.com/361853.
