A Typical Practice
=The Minnesota High School Cycling League season begins after the July 4th holiday. Once the official season begins the Edina-BB Mountain Bike Team will hold regular weekday practices every Tuesday and Thursday. A regular weekend practice will also be held on either Saturday or Sunday of non-race weekends, with the day varying depending of the race schedule of the Minnesota Mountain Bike Series. The Minnesota Mountain Bike Series is a non-NICA Summer/early Fall race series that many team athletes and coaches race. The team often rides at Theodore Wirth Park where there are many single-track mountain biking trails. Wet weather can close a mountain bike trail. If the Wirth trails are closed and weather permits the team will do a road ride instead. At the start of the season these weekday practice start at 5:30 PM and end at 7:30 PM. They are moved forward by 30 minutes in the Fall as the days are shorter. Weekend practices are held are various metro-area trail systems (there are several within 30 minutes of Edina). Athletes are grouped by ability for practices and each group will ride with one or two coaches depending on the size of the group.
A Typical Race
The first race of the season is typically late August or early September. The complete Minnesota High School Cycling League is comprised of eight races with each team participating in five events. Races are always weekend events with middle school races taking place on Saturday and high school races taking place on Sunday. The final race of the years is the State Championship and this is the one event that all teams in the league race. There will be time set aside to pre-ride the race course before all races.
Races are festive affairs. Each team is given a tent site near the start/finish of the racecourse. Teams set up tents and bike racks at these sites. The team has a food coordinator that works with families to ensure the tent is well stocked with food and beverages so that team athletes and spectators are fed. The team tent is a home base for athletes and parents for the day.
Races are festive affairs. Each team is given a tent site near the start/finish of the racecourse. Teams set up tents and bike racks at these sites. The team has a food coordinator that works with families to ensure the tent is well stocked with food and beverages so that team athletes and spectators are fed. The team tent is a home base for athletes and parents for the day.
