The newest sport offered to High School students in Glendale is
Cross-country Mountain biking. There is now an entire Southern
California League organizing races, coaching, and skills camps for high
school boys and girls (http://www.socaldirt.org ). The SoCal League
started last year with Glendale as one of the first cities taking part,
and this year it is growing with more students, more high schools and
more coaches.

So far, students from CV and Clark High Schools make up the team,
though it is a Glendale Unified School District team and students from
elsewhere in Glendale can join the team and come to practice. Young
cyclists with any level of skill are welcome; all that is needed is a
motivation and interest in getting better at mountain biking. The
volunteer coaches are experienced and have been trained how to improve
any cyclist’s skill and fitness. All it takes is coming to practice
regularly, and in no time students will be able to navigate the dirt
roads, trails and hills we ride on. There are both boys and girls on the
team and there are female coaches too.

The mountain biking season starts in January, goes till June, and there
will be 3 practices per week including a Saturday workout. There will be
four races in the Southern California area and then a State Championship
in Monterey which will include the Northern California schools. The
races are Cross-country Mountain biking which emphasize fitness and
endurance and do NOT involve the high speeds or dangerous stunts some
other types of race have. Competition is not required for any students
not interested in racing, but the racing events are so much fun that
most students take part.



The Glendale team has a web page on the internet at
http://gusdcycling.blogspot.com  The GUSD Composite club is
completely self-funded and volunteer driven. They get no money from the
school or state. Instead, funding comes from a combination of club dues,
sponsorships, and fundraisers. Anyone who is interested in joining this
sport or learning more, or supporting the team can contact Coach Banner
Moffat at bannermoffat@earthlink.net  , Coach Jan Babington (CV) at
JPeterson-Babington@gusd.net  , or Coach Carol Pettigrew (Clark) at
CPettegrew@gusd.net

Thanks to Banner Moffat and Matt Gunnell for this article.