Schools
Cannon Valley Biking Team Pedaling Toward Starting Line
An informational meeting for the local entry in the Minnesota High School Cycling League is 7 p.m. Tuesday at Northfield High School.
Griff Wigley isn’t sure what to expect from Tuesday’s information meeting for the Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Team.
Formation of the team—open to ninth- to 12th-graders in the Northfield, Faribault, Cannon Falls, Lonsdale and Red Wing area—has received plenty of media attention around town and in the Twin Cities.
Whether that press coverage translates into more participants in bike saddles remains to be seen.
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“We’re hopeful, but you never know until D-Day,” said Wigley, one of the team's coaches.
D-Day comes with Tuesday's meeting, which is slated for 7 p.m. in the cafeteria. Students and parents are invited.
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Wigley and fellow coach Sue Welch will lead local entry in the new Minnesota High School Cycling League, which plans to get out of the starting gate with four races this fall.
Wigley said he doesn’t have a specific number of participants in mind when it comes to Cannon Valley’s makeup.
“But for social stuff, it’s been suggested that we have at least six or eight riders,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll get at least that many.”
One point Wigley stresses when talking about forming the team is that the activity is open to girls, as well as boys.
“The big push nationally is to get girls involved,” he said. “And, there is an incentive for having girls on your team. Points earned by girls are worth more, which helps in recruiting. But, the point is that mountain biking is a sport anyone can take part in and enjoy.”
Mountain Biking a Growing Scholastic Sport
Minnesota joins five other states—California, Colorado, Texas, Utah and Washington—in making mountain biking an organized school activity.
Scholastic biking got its start in California in 2001 with the formation of the NorCal High School Mountain Bike Racing Series, says the MHSCL website. States involved in biking are associated with the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.
The MHSCL website says four teams—Cannon Valley, Rochester Area, Minnetonka High and Minneapolis Washburn High—have been formed so far. A map on the website points to a number of teams across the state that could join that quintet soon.
Gary Sjoquist, the league’s founding chair, told the Star Tribune he hopes that about about 200 students and 18 to 20 teams will compete this fall.
Sjoquist, by the way, is scheduled to attend Tuesday’s meeting in Northfield.
A Club Team to Start
For the MHSCL’s immediate future, its teams will operate as club teams.
Wigley said the Cannon Valley team does not have a partner as of yet, but the team is pursuing potential affiliations within Northfield. Northfield Public Schools Community Services is one of the organizations mentioned.
As for a practice location for the local team, Wigley said students would not have a home course. Rather, they would hone their skills on trails and courses close to their schools during the week, then travel to mountain biking courses at regional parks within a 35-minute car ride of Northfield on weekend when no races are scheduled.
A tentative schedule for this fall calls for two races in the Twin Cities, one in Rochester and one in either St. Cloud or Elk River between Sept. 9 and Oct. 28, says the MHSCL website.
Cannon Valley Mountain Bike Team on the Web
- Check out the team's website
- Find them on Facebook
- Follow them on Twitter
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