NCC Trail Blasters
CCAP Affiliate Team
Overview
2024 marks the second year of NCC's youth mountain bike racing program. This 12-week program focuses on race training and preparation including skills and fitness building and a 7-race series of cross country mountain bike races. Practices are twice-weekly plus 4 weekend cross country races and 3 weeknight short track races where we compete against a full field of other fun-loving junior mountain bike racers. Races are divided up by age groups and will be attended by the head coach, assistant coaches, and parent volunteers.
Experience & Expectations
The program is open to Northampton Cycling Club members that will be at least 10 by program start date and no older than 18 by 12/31/2024. We welcome riders with a range of speed and skill levels, but we want to emphasize that our program is geared towards engaged athletes who are motivated to improve their skills and fitness. Riders are expected to be engaged participants who are ready to be challenged at an appropriate level for their age group. Riders should be ready to climb uphill, ride for extended periods of time, spend significant time on singletrack and will be expected to come in to the program having enthusiasm and fitness, but maybe not the racing experience or advanced handling skills just yet. We expect the riders to work hard, focus, and have fun.
Practices
Note: Practices listed here are open only to those registered for the team and race series, but other Trail Blasters rides are still open to all!
Team Meeting (coaches, riders, parents/caretakers): Wednesday, March 20th - location TBD
Practices: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 5:00 - 7:00, March 26 - June 12
Practice Locations: We will aim to have consistent practice locations to make planning easy. These will be settled for the start of the season but may be modified based on trail conditions & how the team is progressing. Examples of practice locations include Sawmill Hills (Florence), Nonotuck Park (Easthampton), Earls Trails (Hadley), Bear Hole Watershed (Holyoke), or other locations within ~20 minutes of Northampton.
Completing team sign up
Once registered and paid on this page, you’ll receive a confirmation email with instructions and codes to join or renew USA Cycling.
If you have not already, please be sure to join NCC (or renew) with either an individual junior ($25 per child under 18) or family membership ($75/year).