Mountain Biking, a sport that has surged in popularity across the state in recent years, has found a unique home in Central Virginia. Nearly every high school in the region now has a team, and competitions occur regularly. For years, the WAHS team has been hard at work shaping a biking trail, not just for their own use, but to share with many others. In early May, the team finally unveiled the course to many others.
On May 4th, over 600 bikers from all over Virginia and some bordering states came together to compete on the course. Spectators included, the event drew over 1,000 people to WAHS grounds. People of all ages and skill levels could participate in the monumental event. WAHS biker Kai Fusco said, “It’s going to be awesome to see so many people come and try out the trail we’ve been working on for so long.” Teams ranged from lower elementary girls to boys varsity teams. From 10 AM to 4:45 PM, races were going on nonstop. The team hopes this is just the start of their events and that WAHS can host more in the future.
Getting sponsorships from big companies as the Mountain Biking culture of the area grows will help. This time around, the team got a small donation from Sram (a premier bicycling company) to support the race effort. “It wasn’t a huge amount, but seeing our team get attention, and that people want to help us, is super cool.” Sram’s donation helped the team finish up the rougher parts of the trail, and helped outline the path for all the new bikers. As the program grows, hopefully, donations will too, and bigger, better biking events will become the norm at Western.
