RHINELANDER, Wis. (WJFW) – The Wisconsin Chapter of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association – also known as NICA – held the fifth race of their 2024 season at Camp Tesomas Boy Scout Camp on Sunday. Renee Griswold is the Wisconsin NICA league director says the goal is to help kids of middle and high school age to find community and be their best selves through mountain biking.
“We have 977 athletes competing from across Wisconsin,” Griswold said. “They are riding a brand-new course that was built for this event. And we’re just really happy to be here.”
While the Association has never been to Rhinelander, Griswold said the Northwoods terrain had everyone excited to get up to Rhinelander for a day of riding.
“The topography, the nature that we’re riding through,” Griswold said. “This venue itself, Camp Tesomas, is a Boy Scout camp and they have all of the amenities that we need. They have trails here already. They have space for camping, space for parking, all of the infield fun that we need. We can do all the activities we need to at this one big beautiful venue.”
Coming to beautiful new places like the Northwoods is part of what Griswold calls her “NICA why.” Which encourages athletes and coaches to ask themselves what they are riding for and why it’s important.
“For me personally, my NICA why is creating a safe space for our student-athletes and our coaches and our families to have new experiences,” Griswold said. “Everyone can do this to the best of their ability and make it their own experience and conquer their own challenges.”
The Rhinelander Northwoods Composite team also took some time to talk about what kinds of challenges they were expecting for Sunday’s races. And while they may only be in 7th grade, these kids came ready for a race on their hometown turf.
“Today…it’s a cold one, so we’ve got to stay warm,” Rhinelander Composite Mountain Biking team member Jase Houg said. “So, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be challenging for most kids but I feel like it’s going to be a good race.”
“It’s a very technical race…more technical than a lot of the other ones,” added Houg’s teammate Hans Sommer. “There’s some bigger hill climbs and more technical riding.”
When asked what their favorite part about mountain biking is, they said that anyone can find a welcoming community in the sport.
“There’s other trails, not just super technical trails or super trails that have a bunch of jumps. There’s also trails that are fun, flowy and just more fun to ride,” Sommer said. “And you’re out in the wild. Usually, you go around school and your friends are asking you ‘what’s the Rhinelander bike team?’ and you tell them ‘oh, it’s fun. You go out with a mountain bike and buddies and you go ride around on the trails,’” Houg added.
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