PRACTICE SCHEDULE
WHEN DO WE PRACTICE
Cycling Development trains multiple high school teams together at each practice. The practices are broken up by the riders ability level. We train everyone from the new mountain biker to the expert racer. As riders progress they are encouraged to move up as their skill level increases. The Cycling Development high school signups start each year in September. Our first practice is in the middle of November.
November and December we have Pre-Season practices once a week on Saturdays from 9 am to noon.
Starting in January we move to our normal practice schedule that runs until the end of April where we practice 4 times a week.
Mondays - Night ride from 6-8 pm.
Midweek - Two workouts with your individual high school team. This may include spin class, off the bike workouts, or local rides with just your team.
Saturdays - 9 am to noon.
WHERE DO WE PRACTICE
Monday Night rides are in Granite Bay State Park. Our weekend practices are the ones where we will venture out a little farther and do rides like Auburn, Salmon Falls, Cronin Ranch, Olmsted Loop, Hidden Falls and Sly Park.
OTHER SPORTS THAT CONFLICT
We operate like any other sport at your High School. What this means is we expect you to be at every practice. Here is a list of other high school sports that work with Mountain Bike Season and a list of sports that don’t work.
HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE
All of our team communication is done through a platform called TeamSnap. When you sign up with Cycling Development you are automatically added to TeamSnap. You can access it either using a web browser or through their mobile app.
RACE SCHEDULE
WHERE AND WHEN DO WE RACE
When you signup for a high school team you will find out your first season there are plenty of races you can do. Let's first go over what are the required races that the team does and then all the other race options.
REQUIRED RACES
NorCal High School Mountain Bike League (February thru April) The League all of our teams run under is the NorCal High School Mountain Bike League. Our League is part of NICA (the National Interscholastic Cycling Association) that is spreading high school mountain biking across the U.S. We race in a 4 race series that is followed by a NorCal championship race. Locations vary but most races will involve a super fun weekend of travel.
OTHER (OPTIONAL) RACES
There are a bunch of races going on locally. Many of our riders choose to do some of these as practice races to get ready for the NorCal races. Here I will explain a few of the extra races that one can choose to do.
Clipped in Racing Clipped in Races is a local race organizer who runs many different racing events. A large amount of the local high school teams race in their Good News MTB Series as they are usually before the first NorCal race. Clipped In also runs a mountain bike stage race after our high school season ends known as the Mother Lode Classic.
TBF Race Series TBF Racing is a local series that races out at our home course in Granite Bay. The timing of these races is pretty awesome. The first 3 TBF Races are usually before the first NorCal race. These are great races to practice your racing and get the bugs out so that when you get to your first NorCal race you are a lot more prepared.
USA Cycling Races USA Cycling is the organization that runs the national mountain bike championships and also some of the largest and most prestigious races in the country. Many of the riders will travel down to Monterey in the middle of April to experience the Sea Otter Classic. This is much more than a race, it is the largest mountain bike event in California held at the beautiful Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey California. USA Cycling Nationals in July is something that only a small group of our hardcore racers will go to. This can be anywhere in the country and is a showdown of the best in the nation.