SLV bicycle team prepares for season

Erik Suttles leads a clinic on how to handle broken chains. (Courtesy photo by Stan Moyer.)

VALLEY — From Alamosa, Del Norte, Monte Vista, Moffat and Sargent, 10 youthful mountain bicycle riders are not only signed up to compete for the 2018 season but are also learning how to tackle the difficulties this not-so-easy pastime involves.

With participants receiving mechanical advice and tools necessary to avoid being out of a race, preseason rides offer an almost football-like practice in conditioning for competition.

If learning how to avoid falling into a group of rocks with a cactus plant is within a rider’s ambition, then one might want to learn how to fix potential other problems like a mid race broken chain, in order to compete. A Tuesday, August 7 clinic at the Kristi Mountain Sports shop in Del Norte offered participatory lessons in handling broken chains by mechanic Erik Suttles, followed by a team and coaches' ride around Lookout Mountain and a loop near the Rio Grande Hospital on CR 14. Both are south of Highway 160.

While the ride included some pavement on nearby residential streets, for the most part the route was the typical mountain terrain of dirt and gravel and not for the faint of heart.

The San Luis Valley Rattlers under the direction of Coach Brian Stevenson are a member of the South Division of the Colorado HS Cycling League, which also has a North Division.

Frisco, west of Denver, is the site of the beginning of the Colorado school mountain bike racing season in the Frisco Bay Invitational, Sunday, August 26 for the Southern Division of the Colorado Mountain Bicycle League. Overseen by the state High School Cycling Association, the overall parent is the International Mountain Bicycling Association, which governs rules for certification of coaches for high school age teams, for which training is a requirement.

The season continues Sunday, September 9 with the Cloud City Challenge at Colorado Mountain College in Leadville. Nothing stops on a dime. The third competition is the Chalk Creek Stampede on Sunday, September 23 near Lathrop. The final regularly scheduled meet for the South teams is the Haymaker Classic, Eagle, described as Race Pool and Ice Rink, Haymaker Trail.

For once in the schedule, the South Division competes on a Saturday, October 6, while the North teams on the Sunday afterwards. Two weeks later is the state championship, only for “Qualified Racers” specified “Qualification Required.” Presently, the Durango event is noted “Race Categories To Be Determined.” A plus for the Oct. 20 competition is an End of Season Picnic on Sunday, Oct. 21.

The 2018 team has numerous San Luis Valley sponsors and supporters—“Could Not Do It Without Them”: Generation Wild, Kristi Mountain Sports, Rio Inspire, SLVGO, 12 Hours of Penitence Mountain Bike Race, begins the list. Next is Tent Sponsor Del Norte Bank. “Top of the Podium” category includes Brown’s Septic, Del Norte Bank, High Valley Cyclists, Law Office of Mark Loy, LLC, Myers Trucking, and Roberts Group Real Estate. “Finish Line” supporter group includes Absolute Shine Auto Body & Paint, Haefeli Honey, Monte Vista Eye Care, plus Troy Plane State Farm.

Going back to those cited“Start Line” are Alpine Title Company, Gunbarrel Station, KSLV/KYDN, San Luis Valley Auto Repair, and San Luis Valley Rural Electric Cooperative. “Others Who Have Helped” are recognized: The Biking Viking, Del Norte Trails Organization, Outside Adventure Media, and GOCO (Great Outdoors Colorado). Bike donations have and are being made by Kathy Daley, Tedd and Candice Hennigh, Brink Messick and Katie Kowalski, and on initiative Jeff Stevenson.

One encouraging aspect of the Composite Rattlers existence in the ever-expanding sport, as assisting coach Erik Suttles explained, is the opportunity to compete and improve physical and mental talents by young students who in the past might have been hesitant to compete in other school athletics or competitions. The number of competing high school and middle school students in the state has expanded drastically since 2010, the first year for the Colorado MTB League, when the total number was 210.
A sophomore student now a member of the Rattlers said that in 2017 she went to several meets with her parents and saw relatives and friends ride, but she felt then it might be a little too much for her. She is happy now to be part of the team and take coaches’ and friends’ advice on how to her improve her own riding and talent in the events.

Check out https://sites.google.com/view/riogranderattlers