Veteran and new mountain bikers roll through Chickasaw Trace Trails for first race

Steve Smail
23 of our 27 MS and HS cycling team members were able to compete on Sunday August 24th at Chickasaw Trace Trails in Columbia, TN. This race was the first of 5 competitions across Tennessee as part of the Tennessee Interscholastic Cycling League (TICL) series, part of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) league which now has more than 30 states competing in mountain bike races.
Returing to a familiar course to many of our veteran riders, MS and HS mountain bikers navigated a 4.1 mile loop once or twice, with conditions ranging from loose and dusty technical trails with many roots and rocks, to flat and smooth open field sections, along with 2 significant climbs on each lap.
 
16 HS bikers started and finished, and our most experienced riders competed in the JV2 category for 2 laps. Adeline Miller posted consistent 25/26-minute laps, good for 10th place in the JV2 Girls. Avery Savona, Charlie Blau, Aidan Harris, Caden Carrabba and Seth Hauser all were placed in the Boys JV2, with Savona riding our fastest 2 laps in 43:27 total. Charlie Blau was less than a minute behind and posted the team’s fastest single lap of the day at 21:11, but suffered a seat post malfunction which slowed his 2nd lap down. Harris, Hauser and Carrabba all posted strong 22 to 24 minute laps. Basil Broemel along with freshman Allen Chen and Charlie McNulty were placed in the JV3 category and did 1 or 2 laps, with freshman Chen posting an amazing 21:45 first lap before slowing on the second, and McNulty riding to our team’s only “negative split” 2 lap race of the day (a 2nd lap was faster than the first) 
 
In the girls JV3 race we had 7 USN jerseys dominating the start line, with Elsa Absi and Sylvie Mackler riding 2 laps to a photo finish alongside each other, finishing in 53 minutes and only 0.05 seconds apart at the finish line, gaining a 10th and 11th place finishes. Claire Dehner and Brianna Castro also pulled out 2 strong 29 minute laps on average. Asha Guha, Suzie Zhao and brand new rider Arianna Washington did one lap in 34-36 minutes each. Even without any seniors this young but deep HS squad placed 20th out of 29 teams, with team points coming from Miller, Absi, Mackler and Savona.
 
In the MS races, 7 teammates competed in categories defined by grade levels. Rosie Hauser and Barry Chen both did 2 laps, with Hauser suffering a flat tire on the 2nd lap but walked the bike to the finish line to secure some critical team points despite being out on the course almost 85 minutes! Chen had a great first race, posting super-fast 23 minute laps in a big and competitive 8th grade boys field. New riders Sarah Absi and Ella Murdock also had strong races with finishes to gain more team points. BMX crossover rider Emmett Cheney managed a sub-24 minute single lap for more team points, with new teammates James Barbieri posting a 25 minute lap and Julian Scheutz Sevin arriving to the finish line in just under 30 minutes, awesome performances for a first-ever bike race. Combined this small MS crew managed an amazing 12th out of 26 middle school squads.
 
As our skills and base fitness build, we look forward to the second race of the season in Jackson, TN on September 7th. Future races are in Gallatin on September 21st and then Johnson City and Chattanooga on October weekends.
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