Riding off-trail doesn’t only teach you strength and agility; it also teaches you to enjoy the little moments with friends. Mountain biking has become quite the popular sport, and for good reason. RHS sophomore Evan Poling shares his mountain biking journey.
“I’ve been mountain biking since I was a freshman, but I have been biking since I was six. It was a really big passion for me as a child, and getting to know people is definitely a great experience through mountain biking,” Poling said.
Mountain biking hasn’t always been an organized sport in Rolla and has just recently grown to become quite the competitive activity.
“The mountain bike association in Rolla is called Ozark United Composite. We started last year, NICA [National Interscholastic Cycling Association]. I think this is their fifth year in Missouri. They do it all over the nation in different states, some more popular than others, but Missouri is definitely one of the bigger ones, and it’s growing more and more each year,” Poling said.
NICA is a sports organization for mountain biking, and it’s for all ages and grade levels.
“It’s [organized] by grade. It’s six through twelve, and there’s something called classes. You do A, B, and C classes. So A, being the most critically challenging, and then C, being beginner. Each new year or new student starts in C. You have to climb the ranks. You have to go to C, then you have to go to B, and then A, and that’s by race, so you have to do that in three races just to get to A,” Poling said.
Although competitiveness may be a big part of mountain biking, it’s not the only thing inspiring these young athletes to race. The friendships and connections made along the way can impact greatly on these young riders.
“Obviously, everybody wants to win, but compared to last year, I’m just a lot friendlier on the trail. I usually stick behind second place or first place, and I just talk with them. I get to know them, and then we duke it out at the last one hundred yards or so, so that is very competitive, and I love to see that between us,” Poling said.
Poling has always been very passionate about biking, and thanks to the outside support of Dan Furman [owner of bike shop “Route 66,” as well as the man in charge of Rolla’s NICA chapter] , Evan and many other young bikers were able to turn that passion into a competitive reality.
“Dan Furman is the owner of the Route 66 bike shop in town. He introduced it to me after I brought my bike up so many times. He’s like, ‘Man, you definitely pour a lot of money into this bike … Well, if you’re gonna pour money into it, you might as well pour your heart into something that you love too.’ So he introduced me to NICA, which I was really interested in. And throughout a couple months of him introducing it to me, I joined it,” Poling said.
This unique sport is growing vastly, and it shows.
“Last year we had about one thousand two hundred people at each race. We had five hundred and ten or so racers. This year, we have five hundred and thirty, growing by twenty people. But in our league, Ozark United, it’s grown by ten to twelve people … the average person that shows up to practice is usually fifteen to eighteen. But throughout the entire league of Ozark United, we have twenty-three students. Compared to last year, we had twelve,” Poling said.
Evan Poling will compete one more time to finish off this year’s season. The competition will take place at a two-day tournament on October 25th and 26th. It will be held in Highlandville, Missouri, starting at 9 AM on Saturday and officially ending his season at 4:30 PM on Sunday evening with an awards ceremony.
