Photo by Sasha Love – HCMTB rider Nico Costanzo races down a turn in the JV1 boys race.

By Sasha Love, The Pepperbox

Humboldt’s local youth mountain bike team (HCMTB) kicked off the season last Saturday with a race just east of Monterey in Fort Ord State Park. 

At the event filled with riders from around Northern California, several HCMTB athletes surged into winning positions while battling grueling weather.

Intermittent downpours were a common occurrence throughout the day and the continuance of the race remained tentative until the racers took off.

“We were a little nervous about it [the race] because the forecast looked really intense, but it ended up that today [the weather] wasn’t horrible. We had a ton of super happy kids,” Vannesa Hauswald, Executive Director of the Norcal League said.

The girls’ race was the primary event impacted by the inclement weather, but that didn’t stop senior Sasha Love from claiming third place in the JV2 category, and sophomore Evelyn Seeman from coming in not far behind. They had slipped out on the muddy trails but were not deterred by their falls.

Sophomore Dinon MacIntosh once again impressed spectators by grinding up the sandy hills and reaching seventh in his competitive category, while Béla Randles came in eighth out of 73 riders in his first race with the team.

“I think it was a little bit better than I was expecting. I thought the downhill on that course was pretty nice and flowy and fun,” Randles said.

Several other HCMTB riders on the team also gave it their all last weekend including freshman Grayden Larson; Asa Jules, Sawyer Katri, and Nolan Kavanaugh as JV2 riders; and Nicolo Costanzo in the JV1 category.

The season looks full of opportunities for HCMTB, and riders will keep training this March aiming for a spot on the podium at the April 6 Exchequer race.

“We have the base, our kids are really strong and they’re not dropping off and so that’s the most important part,” head coach Errin Odell said.