This article is 6 years old

Mountain Biking: A Spin on Standard Sports

Photograph by Max Barmack The City of Berkeley is known for its trendsetting ways, but many are probably unaware that Berkeley High School is a pioneer when it comes to the sport of mountain biking.

Sports

Photograph by Max Barmack

The City of Berkeley is known for its trendsetting ways, but many are probably unaware that Berkeley High School (BHS) is a pioneer when it comes to the sport of mountain biking.

The Berkeley High Mountain Bike Team (BHS MTB) was the first high school team in California and possibly the nation. It was founded in 1998. Matt Fritzinger, a Berkeley High math teacher at the time, put together the team and was the original head coach. He also arranged the first races. In that time period, racing meant competing in a youth category during adult races, but not for long, because in 2001 Fritzinger created the NorCal School Cycling League. That year the BHS team won the championship and since then has faced rising competition, as there are now 54 teams. Fritzinger went on to build the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, (NICA) which Berkeley High’s team, as well as hundreds of teams in ten different states, are a part of. Since Fritizinger’s departure, the team has still had growth and success.

Currently, BHS MTB is an environment beloved by its eighty members. The team meets on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays. During their practices, they bike all over the Bay Area, in parks, and by the Berkeley Marina.

The team is a great way for students to get exercise and be in nature with each other. Kyra Teigen, a BHS junior who has been on the team for two years, spoke highly of her experiences. “I love being outside in the clean air and the trees. I can’t think of many sports where you are in nature all the time,” she said. Kahlil Gould-Bayba, a BHS freshman, felt similarly to Teigen. “I just have a really fun time when I bike because you get to go into nature and go places you don’t usually go,” he said.

For students who crave a break from the stressful academic environment of school, this team is a great way of relaxing and having wonderful experiences. Students who want to join the team are not required to have any experience at all. The team also offers loaner bikes so students do not have to own any of the equipment.

The environment on the BHS MTB is quite conducive to student bonding.

“I like how you can talk with each other and actually have a conversation while you’re riding.” Gould-Bayba said. Teigen also finds being on the team with other BHS students especially enjoyable, saying that many of her favorite people are on the team, and that she, like Gould-Bayba, finds that students really get to know each other while biking.

Malcolm Duncan-Graves, a BHS senior, says that one of his favorite parts of being a team member is all the people he has gotten to know during his four years on the team, saying, “My favorite experiences have been at races spending down time with my teammates.” The team competes in races, but winning and losing are not a large part of  mountain biking compared to the wonderful environment the team has cultivated. Overall, many agree that mountain biking is an incredible athletic opportunity accessible to Berkeley High students, and also a wonderful community.