MANKATO – At the squeal of an air horn, the bikÂers charged out of a startÂing gate, banked a right-hand turn and — legs churnÂing and tires clawÂing at a gravÂel path — pedaled up the face of an alpÂine run.
The rauÂcous, elÂbow-to-elÂbow start this past SunÂday at the Mount Kato Ski Area looked like a group of vetÂerÂan biÂcyÂclists, but unÂder the helÂmets were kids, at least one of them just 12 years old, takÂing on a 4-mile lap that sent them climbÂing and deÂscendÂing at punÂishÂing speeds.
"This is my life!" said a windÂed but smilÂing JoÂsie Welsh, a ninth-gradÂer at Robbinsdale-ArmÂstrong High School in Plymouth, moments afÂter takÂing seÂcond place in her race.
In a state where hills largeÂly subÂstiÂtute as mounÂtains, the club sport has grown with starÂtling speed across the state. In its inÂauÂguÂral seaÂson two years ago, the Minnesota High School CycÂling League had 151 ridÂers. Now it's at 550 kids on 41 teams stateÂwide.
"When we think of the stick and ball sports, there may be 40 kids on the team, but there's a lot of kids who don't get the court time," said Josh Kleve, the league's diÂrecÂtor and co-foundÂer. "In our sport evÂerÂyÂone has an opÂporÂtuÂniÂty."
The league's growth has been fuÂeled in part by its deÂciÂsion this year to alÂlow midÂdle schoolers to race. A surge of sevÂenth- and eighth-gradÂers reÂspondÂed, takÂing part in the league's fall schedÂule of five racÂes from Rochester to St. Cloud.
DeÂspite the growth, the sport still shows sign of its inÂfanÂcy. When ridÂers wear their team jerÂseys to school, "othÂer kids will say, 'I didn't even know we had a team,' " said Ted Siefkes, a midÂdle-school teachÂer and coach for the Independent School District 196 team.
Even the ridÂers are still catchÂing up. Anastasia AntoÂvich, 13, nabbed two first-place finÂishÂes in her first two racÂes this fall while racÂing for the 196 team, then in the next race fell to third beÂcause she slipped off her pedÂals durÂing a sprint for the finÂish line. Soon afÂter, she bought a pair of the cleatÂed pedÂals that lock to a cyclist's feet and are stanÂdard isÂsue in mounÂtain bike racÂing.
The push of young ridÂers inÂcludes at least one sixth-gradÂer, who qualiÂfies beÂcause he's 12 years old. Braeden Anderson, from Brainerd, regÂuÂlarÂly posts the fastÂest times in the ninth-grade racÂes. He did it aÂgain in Mankato, takÂing first place by 4 secÂonds.
"He's just a tiny guy," said his faÂther, Shaun Anderson, one of the coachÂes of the Cuyuna Lakes High School Mountain Bike Team. "It's fun to watch."
Trails exÂpandÂing
The cycÂling league's rapid growth has givÂen fresh moÂmenÂtum to mounÂtain bike trail-buildÂing proÂjects around the state, with new tracks or maÂjor exÂpanÂsions planned or underway in Duluth, at TheoÂdore Wirth Park, Lake ReÂbecca Park Reserve and at the Cuyuna Mountain Bike Trail System, the state's mounÂtain biking gem near Brainerd. The Cuyuna masÂter plan calls for tripÂling its 25 miles of trails to 75.
AfÂter a team formed in Austin this sumÂmer, volÂunÂteers helped creÂate trails around the city so the kids would have a place to ride, said Austin coach Spencer SalmÂon.
"Some of the resiÂdents wantÂed to build trails 10 years ago," but it nevÂer got the city's supÂport, SalmÂon said. This year, once it beÂcame known kids were going to be comÂpetÂing, a plan was quickÂly put toÂgether and 4 miles of new mounÂtain bike track were built on land owned by Riverland Community College.
"You've got to have the trails to help feed and foster the pipeÂline," Stillwater coach Annie Perkins said. "If it's there, peoÂple are going to do it. It's the whole chickÂen and the egg thing."
Stillwater, the state's largÂest team with 60 ridÂers, doesn't have a "super great, close sinÂgle track," to pracÂtice on, Perkins said, but the team has made small coursÂes at the high school fields, and they ride over stacked pallets and tires to work on techÂniÂcal skills.
Perkins said the sport has drawn Nordic skiÂers and downÂhill racÂers who use it for cross trainÂing. The elÂeÂment of danÂger apÂpeals to kids, too.
"They think it's cool," she said. "What's not cool about ridÂing in the dirt and rocks and ruts and it's kind of danÂgerÂous and you can skin your knee and you get blood?"
SevÂerÂal ridÂers at Mankato's race talked about their own crashÂes, most reÂsulÂting in miÂnor scrapes. It's a chalÂlenÂging subÂject for all high school sports: Some 1.4 milÂlion U.S. chilÂdren were seen in an emÂerÂgenÂcy room in 2012 for a seÂriÂous sports inÂjuÂry while playÂing the 14 most comÂmon high school sports, acÂcordÂing to data from the National SportÂing Goods Association and the ConÂsumÂer Products Safety Commission. Perkins said that, at least in mounÂtain biking, the goal isn't to take down anÂothÂer athÂlete.
"You're comÂpetÂing against yourÂself; yes, you're comÂpetÂing against the team and the clock, but it's not like you want to kill the othÂer perÂson. So we're not bangÂing heads," she said.
Draws all comÂpetiÂtors
GrandÂparents John and Gail Hill of Bloomington drove to Mankato over the weekÂend with grandÂson Luke for SunÂday's race.
"I thought it was a good sport for him; you're part of a team but your score is your score," Gail Hill said.
Luke Hill, 13, said he joined the team this sumÂmer, borrowing his sisÂter's mostly unused mounÂtain bike. Soon he was naviÂgatÂing hills at high speed.
"That's the funnest part," said the eighth-gradÂer at Bloomington's Oak Grove Middle school.
John Hill stood at the base of Mount Kato as lycra-clad racÂers sped past for anÂothÂer lap up and over the ski runs and into the woods beÂyond.
"It is amazÂing," he said. "How would you like to ride over tree stumps?"
Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329