This year, Myers Park High School initiated a new sport into its program consisting of many athletic teams, mountain biking. Originally, mountain biking had only been a school club, but now claims a spot next to over 31 other athletic teams as part of the Myers Park community. Students with any level of experience who are interested in the sport have an opportunity to be a part of the team, meet other bikers, and fall in love with the sport.
Ava Snowdon, a sophomore at Myers Park has recently taken to the sport and plans on continuing as a part of the newly established team. Snowdon watched her brother race last year and immediately admired how team-orientated and enjoyable the races were, including the team’s workouts during practice. “I started riding for fun, decided to work at a summer camp that my coach hosted, and eventually joined the team,” Snowdon explained.
An average practice with the team consists of workouts, riding down the Greenway in a pace-line, and “Hill of Death” hill climbs. At the beginning of the season, as well as during pre-race practices, there is a large focus on team building and goal setting. Members determine what the team hopes to achieve and what it will take for them to reach those goals.
As mountain biking has been picking up pace as a sport, there has been an extreme increase in sales for mountain bikes in the past three years. In 2020, sales of front-suspension mountain bikes grew by 150%, and full-suspension bikes grew 92%, according to market research company The NPD Group. It’s no surprise that mountain biking out on trails, away from other people, was a great source of entertainment and a way to leave the house during quarantine. Since then, the rate of bikers has continuously grown. According to Market Research Future, a 10% growth is expected in the market between now and 2027.
Despite the lack of mountainous terrain, the Charlotte area has many opportunities for mountain bikers. The Charlotte area alone has roughly 132 trails totaling over 273 miles in length, according to the MTB (mountain biking) project. One of Snowdon’s favorite courses is the Backyard Trail (BYT), a trail covering 1.8 miles just slightly off the path of the Sugar Creek Greenway. There are countless community parks, as well, which feature many of these trails, allowing easy access for those in the Charlotte community hoping to bike various courses.
Aside from trails, bikers can join one of the many mountain biking clubs taking place in and around Charlotte, such as CLT MTB, Dirt Divas, Tarheel Trailblazers, and many others in various parts of the state. Other common ways to get into mountain biking are MeetUp’s or Instagram and FaceBook groups, where you can find groups near you to meet up and hit the trails or ask questions for advice from experienced bikers..
Snowdon encourages interested riders to join the Myers Park team and get in on the fun. “You just gotta get out on the trails and start riding; you’ll meet people out there, talk to them, plan to meet up, and meet even more people!”
Upgrading mountain biking from a club to a sport will give the team advanced financial funding, school recognition, and a hopeful chance to recruit more interested bikers. Snowdon shares the team’s excitement and pleasure in seeing their sport become part of the school. “It’s inspiring to see that we can do what we want with the sport and that we have interest from high schoolers. It’s cool to see that (Myers Park) supports something that’s different.”