Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  Thousands of plains people scramble over our mountain bike trails every summer, searching for the perfect high-altitude Rocky Mountain experience of ascending and descending the steep paths through our recreational areas.

Local residents travel these coveted trails on a daily basis, some of them having started when they were barely off training wheels—a family event that has become a lifelong skill and pleasure.

Now these kids who are students in the Nederland Middle Senior High School are part of a team that is part of a league that is growing in the country. Colorado joined the National Interscholastic Cycling Team in 2012; NMSHS joined this year, and for a first-year sport has had a great turnout.

This has been NMSHS Assistant Principal Greg Guevara’s dream for years and now he and the coaches and the kids are in pedal-forth mode.

The NICA was founded in 2009 as a non-profit association that develops interscholastic mountain bike programs for student athletes across the country. Its mission is to provide leadership, services, and governance for local leagues; to produce quality mountain bike events; and supports every student athlete in the development of strong body, strong mind, and strong character through their efforts on the bike.

Looking to the future, the goal of the association is to develop mountain biking coast to coast by 2020. The NMSHS coaches say that this could be the perfect mountain sport for local kids, bringing them in at the beginning of a sport they could excel at in pro competition as they grow and succeed.

The high school will have the racing team and middle school will provide the development team. Coach Guevara says that the team needs bicycles and mountain bike gear; that some of these determined students are riding 30-year-old bikes and any donations will go a long way to helping this fledgling team grow.

This is a team that promotes athletic skills development, teamwork, professionalism, and respect for the community and environment. It encourages the sport of mountain biking with its benefits as a healthy, low impact, outdoor recreational lifestyle.

The association has set up comprehensive policies, rules, and guidelines that establish fair rules of play and codes of conduct as well as providing coach training and national standards.

The association is especially an advocate for the environmental conservation of natural areas and parklands, mountain bike trail access, and the development of sustainable trail systems.

Nederland is included in the North conference, 26 teams including Lyons, Boulder High School, Fairview, Golden, and a couple of teams in Wyoming. This could become a defining sport for our mountain schools.