She was riding fast, sweat dripping and heart beating fast as she was weaving between trees and getting down the hill. As the cowbell rang she raced to the finish and blew right past the finish line. This is the amount of excitement you get when mountain biking. Mr. Vennard who is the head of the mountain biking club has been mountain biking for a long time and coaches a team.
“I did not get the club together. Harleene Green Super Student got the club together. I know Harleen through mountain biking so she knew that I would be a good faculty sponsor. She came to me with the idea and I just did what I had to do as a faculty adviser to help her.” Said Mr Vennard. Harleen Green introduced Mr. Venard to MCL (a mountain biking league) and got him to become a coach. The end goal for the Atholton mountain biking club is to eventually get a Atholton mountain biking team into MCL.
Thomas Armes, a member of the mountain biking club, has been mountain biking for a while and loves to ride. Thomas says “ I would say the best time to mountain bike is anytime but winter. Going later in the evening or earlier in the morning is enjoyable because you can see the sun rise/set and there are less people out and about.” Mountain biking is only through terrain you’re never gonna have a flat surface. “ The best part about mountain biking is Riding through the terrain, because you are using the mountain bike for what it’s built for such as riding over logs, rocks, and other things on the trail.”
The place to ride for local mountain bikers is Patapsco state park. Harleen Green said it is her favorite place to ride because there are trials for advanced riders and beginner riders so everyone could ride. Mountain biking and normal biking are very different when it comes to physical demand. Regular biking you don’t really use anything but your legs, you’re just peddling and you’re holding onto your handle bars and that’s it. “Mountain biking is a whole different thing, you’re lifting up your bike to get over things, you’re leaning. You’re doing all sorts of things; it’s like a full body workout. When I come home form a big bike my shoulders are sore, my hands are sore, and my forearms are sore.“ said Mr. Vennard
Harleen Green who is a very skilled mountain biker says “I would teach body position on the bike because that definitely impacts everything in mountain biking weather your riding flat, getting onto a log, going uphill, and downhill it’s everywhere. I didn’t understand it at first but now that I realize it it’s definitely a key aspect for mountain biking. The club was meeting regularly but because of a recent rise in Covid cases the club has been put on pause. The club talks about mountain biking and come spring time the club will start riding together.
This shows how mountain biking is a very unique sport. Mr Vennard says “ It’s much more of a full workout rather than just using your legs, it actually takes a certain set of skills. It’s also a lot dirtier. You’re gonna come back muddy, possibly bloody, and very very sweaty and those are some of the things attractive about. It’s sort of gritty and cool because unlike road biking which some people like doing that’s a very tidy affair you have your nice color coded coordinatie outfit on you know that’s not mountain biking.”
atholtonnews.com 