Crank it UP! SoMont Youth MTB Team Performs Strong at First Event of 2018 Season

On Sunday September 23rd, 30 local MontCo-based youth mountain bike athletes performed strong at the first race of the 2018 Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League's season -- Grinnin' at Granite Hill event in Gettysburg, PA.

Photo credit: Brian Wasson

The SoMont roster includes local interscholastic athletes competing together, on one team, against other state-wide interscholastic cycling athletes and teams. SoMont youth athletes from Abington, Cheltenham, Jenkintown, Lower Moreland, Upper Dublin & Springfield squared up against athletes from across the state -- NE Philly, NEPA, Lehigh Valley, Great Valley and more, even as far away as Pittsburgh and Centre County! Over 450 youth athletes from grades 6 thru 12 competed in the event.

Wet conditions at the Gettysburg course, a new venue for the state-wide league, didn't dampen the mood of any athlete. The course was challenging -- muddy, slippery and a bit cool. But the athletes persevered, some taking the podium.

SoMont had 11 top 10 finishers and 4 podiums out of the 30 SoMont athletes who competed in the event.

Elkins Park Middle School athletes from Glenside, Cheltenham Township took 2nd and 4th in the 6th grade boys classification. This was the first mountain bike race for both boys!

Cheltenham Township scored another podium from a 10th grader with his 3rd place finish in the JV3 (one step down from Varsity) boys category. SoMont's podium was rounded out with a 3rd place finish by a Springfield High School athlete in the boys Freshman category. See podium photos below.

Head Coach John Raisch, a local Wyncote resident and 2016 team founder, couldn't be more proud of the team. "NICA, the national program teaches 'Strong Mind, Strong Body and Strong Character' along with mountain bike skills and endurance -- our team showed all of this and more this weekend. The conditions were tough, but we were tougher!"

Photo credit: Brian Wasson

NICA, the National Interscholastic Cycling League, is the governing body of the PA league as well as 20 other state-level interscholastic mountain biking leagues. NICAs program also stresses Inclusivity and Equality in their sport. SoMont Youth MTB is co-ed, with 8 females on the team of 40 youth athletes.

This weekend October 5 and 6 SoMont is headed to Johnstown PA for their second race of the season. SoMont will be Fair Hill MD, Pittsburg and Allentown PA to continue the season.

For more information, visit our website at www.somontcycling.org

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Founded in 2009, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) develops interscholastic mountain biking programs for student-athletes across the United States. NICA provides leadership, services and governance for local leagues to produce quality mountain bike events, and supports every student-athlete in the development of strong body, strong mind and strong character through their efforts on the bike.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League (PICL) is a non-profit 501(c)3 NICA Project League. The league was organized in 2014 with the goal to provide fun, safe, and competitive mountain biking opportunities for middle (grades 6-8) & high school students in the Commonwealth.

SoMont Cycling Youth MTB Team is a PICL sanctioned composite team, organized in 2016.  It is an independent youth mountain bike team in the Cheltenham, Abington, Rockledge, Lower Moreland, Upper Dublin and Springfield areas of southern Montgomery County. The goal of SoMont Youth MTB is to introduce boys and girls (6th to 12th grade) to the sport of mountain biking and to help them use the sport as a way of developing a new life-long athletic interest.  The team and coaching philosophy is to use cycling, and the mountain bike itself, as a way-of-thinking to transport our riders to a sense of adventure, exploration, excitement, friendship and good health.

Pennypack Park Pine Rd Cleanup

On Saturday Sept 29 before we hit the trails at Pennypack the team did a cleanup. The team picked 2 full bags of litter from the park. The time spent will be logged toward our Team Trail Corp credits.

Missed Out Ordering SoMont Supporters Gear? Never Fear!

The team purchased a number of additional items from the SoMont Supporters Store. If you are interested in any of the items below please contact Glynis Raisch at glyniseve [at] hotmail [dot] com.

Hoodie - Black
1 - Size Adult Large

$30.00

Short Sleeve Mens
1 - Size Adult Medium
4 - Size Adult Large
1 - Size Adult 2XL

$20.00

SHORT Sleeve Womens
2 - Size Adult Medium
2 - Size Adult Large

$25.00

SoMont/PICL 2018 Event Calendar including Lodging and Event Info

SoMont/PICL Event Calendar 2018 / LODGING + EVENT INFO 

Updated October 2, 2018.

• For the most up-to-date event info, please see the PICL website. 
• For lodging discussions and questions, visit the private SoMont Facebook Community Group. 
• Register for a PICL event on PitZone (no need to register for all at one time)

Race weekends are fun! The vibe at the events is upbeat, friendly, and exciting. The actual races take place on Sundays, but we highly encourage athletes to arrive by Saturday early afternoon to be able to pre-ride the course with the coaches (no riding the course on your own on Saturday). Some race weekends also include “Adventure” programming, which takes place on Saturday afternoon, requiring arrival by Saturday at noon or earlier.

Most SoMont families make a weekend of the races that are farther away, either camping together or staying in nearby hotels. If you have not made lodging reservations, we suggest you do so ASAP as many nearby hotels sell out early.

Very important: In addition to registering for the race(s) on PitZone, please also set your athlete's availability in TeamSnap for the pre-ride, race, and adventure ride (when applicable). This helps us immensely when planning for coach coverage, etc. If you are new and are totally confused by all of this, no worries… just ask one of the coaches and we’ll do our best to help you get things sorted out.

EVENT INFO



Oct. 6-7 / Johnstown -- Event info sheet

Johnstown is a great venue for spectators, as the race course winds back and forth, making it easy to see the racers at multiple points without having to go too far. Bring your camera!

There are two camping options for Johnstown. Many SoMont families are staying at Quemahoning Campground, which is about 20 minutes from the race venue and has good rates. There will also be tent and RV camping directly on-site at the race for $5/person on Saturday night (portable toilets only). Register for that camping here. Others will be hoteling it in and around Johnstown. 

Event location: Highland Park, 213 Playground Dr., Johnstown, PA 15904. Tourist suggestion: the Flight 93 National Memorial (9-11) is nearby, and is well worth a visit.

Oct. 20-21 / Fair Hill, Elkton, Maryland (Gallaher) -- Event info sheet

(Rescheduled from Sept. 15-16) This weekend will feature an Adventure course on Saturday afternoon and the regular race on Sunday. Students can participate in the fun Adventure course on Saturday, the race on Sunday, or both. Registration price in PitZone is $40 for either event or both (i.e., one price covers all). The venue is only about 1.25 hours from our area, so most will likely commute both days. If not, there are a lot of decent, reasonably priced hotels along the nearby I-95 corridor near Newark, Delaware. There is no camping on-site, but Lums Pond State Park in Delaware is a very nice park with camping, about 25 minutes south of Fair Hill. Event location: Fair Hill Natural Resources Management Area 300 Tawes Dr, Elkton, Maryland 21921

Oct. 27-28 / Pittsburg-Monroeville (Boyce) -- Event info sheet
> Hotel room block SOLD OUT

Although this race is called the "PA State Championships," note that it is just a normal race and any registered PICL/NICA athlete can participate. As the State Championships, the points for the high school-level races will be doubled (that's the only difference).

The Hampton Inn in Monroeville, Pa., is our designated team hotel for this race. As of 10/1 the hotel block is sold out, sorry. This hotel is VERY supportive of PICL; offers a good, hot breakfast buffet; has friendly cancellation policies; and last year had goodie bags for the kids, a bike wash station set up, etc. Reserve your room directly with the hotel by phone (412-380-4000; be sure to mention SoMont and PICL) or on the special hotel webpage set up for us.

This weekend will feature an Adventure course on Saturday afternoon and the regular race on Sunday. Students can participate in the fun Adventure course on Saturday, the race on Sunday, or both. Registration price in PitZone is $40 for either event or both (i.e., one price covers all). Event location: Boyce Park Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15239

Nov. 3-4 / Allentown (Jordan Creek) -- Event info sheet

SoMont is a "home team" for the Allentown race, and is expected to help with course setup and tear down and other tasks. We need SoMont family members to sign-up to help. Please make sure to note that you are from SoMont so we get proper "credit" for our volunteers. The venue is only about an hour or so from our area, so most folks will likely commute both days. Plenty of hotels in Allentown if you want to stay overnight. Event location: Jordan Creek County Park, 1701 Scherersville Rd, Allentown, PA 18104
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1. Grinnin’ at Granite XC – Granite Hill Campground, Gettysburg, Sept. 22-23
2. High Ground at J-Town XC – Johnstown – Oct. 6-7
3. Blur of Gallaher XC and Adventure Wknd – Fair Hill, MD – Oct. 20-21
4. PA STATE XC CHAMPIONSHIPS and Adventure Wknd at the Boyce Big Ring – Pittsburgh – Oct. 27-28
5. PA FINALS – Flow at Jordan Creek – Allentown, PA – Nov. 3-4

Give BOOTCAMP a try with Coach Dan's TryAd Personal Training!

Free TryAd Personal Training “Bootcamp” training session!

SoMont’s “Coach Dan” is also a Gold-Level team sponsor as owner of TryAd Personal Training. He’s kindly offering SoMont family members a free Bootcamp Session ($20 value) on Saturday morning, Sept. 29, at 9:00 a.m. Tryad Bootcamps are a fun, challenging, and inexpensive way to work out.

They are held in Pennypack Park, three minutes from Lorimer Park. Drop your kids off at practice that day and head over. No experience required! Dan is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with extensive experience in the fitness industry. He works with clients of all levels and abilities. As all SoMont athletes know, his dynamic personality motivates you to achieve your full potential. Additional dates may be available if you can’t make the 29 th .

Please RSVP directly to Dan at dan [at] tryad-pt [dot] com. Learn more about TryAd Personal Training BOOTCAMPs here.

Here's a video of the team doing BOOTCAMP during a rainy day practice!

SoMont Supporters Store now open!

Looking for new SoMont swag to wear at race events or practice? Check out the SoMont Supporters Store where you will find hoodies, tech shirts and tanks in youth, male and female cuts. Order now -- store closes soon!

https://artisticscreendesigns.tuosystems.com/stores/artisticscreendesigns-jul25-152249

All orders ship to Coach John for distribution sometime in early September!

Sustainable Cheltenham Award Given to Coach Danelle at Arts in the Park 2018

On Sunday, June 10 at Arts in the Park, Danelle Witkowski took home a Sustainable Cheltenham award for her commitment to healthy living, mobility, ecological stewardship and community engagement, which are 4 key pillars of Cheltenham Township's
Sustainability Plan.

Danelle accepted the award from Kurt Ahrens, Cheltenham's Environmental Advisory Council Chairman and Cheltenham Township Commissioner Anne Rappoport. She was nominated for the award by John Raisch, Cheltenham's Environmental Advisory Council Vice-Chair.

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Award Nomination Letter
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Danelle Witkowski exemplifies what it means to be steward of sustainable living.

To start, Danelle both lives AND works in Cheltenham which means her profession contributes directly to our local township. It also means she travels a short distance getting to work making her commute less impactful on the environment. To say that she "works" in our township is an understatement -- Danelle is a teacher and reading specialist at Cedarbrook. There she helps students with reading, and teaches other life-skills to some of the most impressionable in the township.

Danelle is an avid outdoors-woman. Her enthusiasm and commitment to nature, the outdoors and an active lifestyle is prevalent in everything she does. Danelle loves cycling -- both for recreation and for transportation. She regularly commutes to school by bicycle. In May of 2017 Danelle engaged her students on Bicycle To Work Day and challenged them to ride their bicycle to school, an activity once done regularly in generations past. Danelle's cycling offer to her students was extremely well received by her classroom and on that day had 15 students take her up on her offer. In doing so the school district acknowledged her accomplishment in a news article published shortly thereafter. The story was also picked up by a local newspaper publication in July of last summer.

To further demonstrate her commitment to the outdoors and education combined, Danelle takes her teaching skills to-the-trails and coaches for a local youth mountain bike team - SoMont Cycling Youth MTB Team. There, she instructs and trains youth athletes about cycling skills and endurance, readying them for competitive off-road mountain bike racing. Her commitment to the cycling team is a testament to her outlook on cycling as a lifelong athletic interest.

Danelle is also an environmental steward and caretaker of the trail networks in which she rides. She regularly spends her time in Pennypack & Wissahickon Parks participating in trail maintenance and clean up days, working to improve trails and make then more sustainable.

Additionally, Danelle is a newly titled member of Trek Bicycle's Woman's Advocacy Program, further demonstrating her desire to help our community, and particularly women and girls, develop cycling as a lifelong athletic interest.

Of the many goals encompassed by Cheltenham's Sustainability Plan, specifically Mobility, Healthy Living, Ecological Stewardship and Community Engagement,  I would like to nominate Danelle for a 2018 Sustainable Cheltenham Award.
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Congratulations to Danelle for being a Sustainable Cheltenham 2018 Award winner!

SoMont Frequently Asked Questions page updated!

Interested in SoMont but have lots of questions? We have you covered! 

Check out the fully updated frequently asked questions section here on the SoMont website. If you have additional questions about our program please feel free to message us on Facebook or through the website contact info section.

Sponsor Support Fuels Their Success

Dear Supporter of Youth Fitness and Character Development,

SoMont Youth Mountain Bike Team teaches southern Montgomery County girls and boys how to be conscientious, empowered, and self-reliant through the life-long sport of mountain biking. In an era where kids are opting out of sports in favor of more sedentary pastimes, SoMont’s program has grown exponentially, from 7 kids our first year (2016), to 27 last year, to a projected 40+ this coming fall season! We believe this is due to our focus on five core principles: Adventure, Exploration, Excitement, Friendship, and Fitness. And, most significantly, the fact that EVERY kid on the team participates, regardless of skill level. Our motto “No one sits the bench” says it all.

To help support this significant growth, we are looking for sponsorship partners for the fall 2018 season to join with us and help make the experience the best it can be for the kids and their families. Sponsorship is a great way to increase your company’s visibility, business, and community involvement. We work hard to provide you value beyond just putting your name on a shirt. We have an active social media presence and regularly feature our sponsors on Facebook, Twitter, at community events through signage, etc.

SoMont is entirely volunteer-led and is part of the National Interscholastic Cycling League and the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League. We are fully insured through these governing bodies, and our coaches undergo significant training and background checks. Just as our athletes vary in age from grades 6-12, so does their skill level. Our experienced and enthusiastic coaches introduce total beginners to the sport, while also helping develop more seasoned athletes.

Our program is now gearing up for the 2018 season and we need your support! Attached is our sponsorship overview, explaining the different sponsorship levels and the corresponding promotional commitment from SoMont. Youth athletes are tough on equipment, travel costs add up quickly, active kids eat a lot, and performance uniforms cost much more than simple cotton t-shirts. Your sponsorship can help us keep costs as low as possible to encourage more kids to participate.

Thank you for considering partnering with us as a SoMont sponsor! For more information, please contact us.

2018 Season Starts NOW!

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to say HI and welcome you to the 2018 SoMont Youth MTB season! We've been working hard behind-the-scenes since Jan 1 to get things moving and we are really excited about this season -- our 3rd! 

Welcome also to those of you new to SoMont and youth mountain biking.

I'll keep this first email short and sweet.

- Our pre-season and main event schedules are live on our website and in Facebook. Check out the dates and times either below or online. We hope to see you all at either the Keswick (this Saturday) or Circle Cycle kick-off events!

http://www.somontcycling.org/

- We are anticipating another season of growth this year as far as number of athletes . As such we are looking for your help with event planning, team coordination and other activities. If you are interested in being part of our new Parent Council, please get in touch with me. 

- We will be sending out a survey very soon to collect feedback and help guide us in 2018. Your feedback is important to us, so please fill this out when it arrives to your Inbox.

We are really looking forward to reconnecting with everyone soon. Let me know if you have any questions, otherwise we'll see you soon at one of our kickoff events.

PLEASE FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO ANYONE YOU KNOW THAT MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN JOINING THE TEAM!

1-2-3 SoMont M-T-B!

The SoMont Coaching Staff

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PRE-SEASON EVENTS

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Keswick Meet-N-Greet

Sat April 14, Noon to 3pm

Keswick Cycle Glenside

Circle Cycle Meet-N-Greet

Thu April 26, 6:30pm

Circle Cycle Bike Shop

MTBBQ PRESEASON KICKOFF: Meet-N-Greet, Beginners Clinic and Ride

Sat May 5, 10am-3pm

Lorimer Park

Philly PumpTrack Opening Day Jam 2018

Sat May 12, 10am

Philly PumpTrack

Arts in the Park Bike Corral Hosts

Sun June 3, 9am-4pm

Friends of High School Park, Elkins Park

Philly MTB Festival

Sun June 10, 10am

Salvatore Pachella Field

6839 Henry Ave, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19128

2018 First Official Practice

Sun July 1, 10am

Lorimer Park

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EVENT SEASON

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- Sept 8/9 Michaux Family Camping weekend

- Sept 15/16 Fair Hill (Maryland/near Newark, Delaware)

- Sept 22/23 Gettysburg

- October 6/7 Johnstown

- October 27/28 Boyce Park (Pittsburgh area)

- Nov 1/2 Jordan Creek (Allentown)

SoMont Cycling Youth Mountain Bike Team Gears Up For Third Season

The SoMont Cycling Youth MTB team, a youth mountain bike team founded in Glenside/Wyncote, is looking for youth athletes to join their team. The team has local promotional events this weekend Saturday April 14 at Keswick Cycle in Glenside and next week Thursday April 26th at Circle Cycle Bike Shop in Huntington Valley.  

SoMont (Southern Montgomery County) Cycling Youth MTB Team is a chartered composite team of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League (PICL) and the National Interscholastic Cycling League (NICA). 

Co-founders, Wyncote/Cheltenham neighbors and friends, John Raisch and Thuong Nguyen are mountain biking enthusiasts.  Raisch, a Rockledge-native and Abington High School graduate, grew up mountain biking in Lorimer Park while Nguyen, who grew up in Lancaster, became an avid Fairmount Park rider while earning his BA at the University of the Arts. 

Today, both are also fathers with children developing their own affinity for cycling. During the league’s inaugural season in 2016, Raisch and Nguyen planned and conducted learning experiences, training, and practices for the youth in Lorimer Park, Baederwood Park, Tookany Creek Parkway, Pennypack Park & Rail Trail, Forbidden Drive, and at the Philly Pumptrack.  Along the way, they picked up new team recruits and supporters. For the 2017 season, the SoMont Cycling Youth MTB Team attracted over 25 student-athletes, spanning grades 6 through 10,  from public and private schools throughout southern Montgomery County (Cheltenham, Abington, Springfield, Lower Moreland and other areas).  The team is also enthusiastically and financially supported by many community businesses.  “

Our athletes impress me every time we’re out on the bikes,” said Nguyen. He further added, ”Last year, their confidence grew off the charts, but, more importantly, they developed meaningful friendships. They’re just a great bunch of kids.”

“We have a fantastic group of dedicated community based sponsors, coaches, student-athletes and families. I am so proud of what we’ve collectively accomplished and I look forward to seeing our team race and represent Southern Montgomery County this season,” remarked Raisch. However, Raisch is boldly looking forward to this new season, “We are actively recruiting more student-athletes, preparing for a time when Abington, Cheltenham, Lower Moreland and other school districts adopt mountain biking as an interscholastic sport. This wonderful sport promotes physical and mental fitness, equality, inclusivity, and an appreciation of the great outdoors. We don’t think it gets much better than that.”

Founded in 2009, the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) develops interscholastic mountain biking programs for student-athletes across the United States. NICA provides leadership, services and governance for local leagues to produce quality mountain bike events, and supports every student-athlete in the development of strong body, strong mind and strong character through their efforts on the bike.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League (PICL) is a non-profit 501(c)3 NICA Project League. The league was organized in 2014 with the goal to provide fun, safe, and competitive mountain biking opportunities for middle (grades 6-8) & high school students in the Commonwealth.

SoMont Cycling Youth MTB Team is a PICL sanctioned composite team, organized in 2016.  It is an independent youth mountain bike team in the Cheltenham, Abington, Rockledge, Lower Moreland, Upper Dublin and Springfield areas of southern Montgomery County. The goal of SoMont Youth MTB is to introduce boys and girls (6th to 12th grade) to the sport of mountain biking and to help them use the sport as a way of developing a new life-long athletic interest.  The team and coaching philosophy is to use cycling, and the mountain bike itself, as a way-of-thinking to transport our riders to a sense of adventure, exploration, excitement, friendship and good health.

Learn more about the team at these upcoming promotional events:

Saturday April 14, Noon to 3pm

Keswick Cycle Glenside

408 N Easton Rd, Glenside, PA 19038

Circle Cycle Meet-N-Greet

Thursday April 26, 6:30pm

Circle Cycle Bike Shop

2525 Huntingdon Pike, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006

For more information please contact:

John Raisch, Director, SoMont Cycling Youth MTB Team

jraisch@gmail.com

215 704-1556

www.somontcycling.org

2018 PICL Leaders Summit

This weekend a number of SoMont coaches attended the 2018 PICL Leaders Summit. The league announced the 2018 schedule which includes the race calendar, new adventure events, summer camps and Teen Trail Corp. We'll be passing these details out soon. Coach John gave a presentation on How to Structure & Run a Mountain Bike Practice. You can have a look here
 

Happy Living in MontCo Features Team on Facebook

On September 7th we had a visitor to practice -- Jeff Chirico. Jeff is a realtor, Emmy award-winning reporter and social media publisher. His "Happy Living in MontCo" Page is his Facebook-based social media platform for all things Montgomery County, specifically the areas of Glenside and Elkins Park.

Jeff stopped by practice to learn more about the team. He caught a glimpse of one of our skills-based practices and conducted some interviews.

We want to thank Jeff for stopping by to learn more about the team. Check out his video below and be sure to LIKE "Happy Living in MontCo" on Facebook.

NICA Youth MTB League Thrives in VA - PA too!

PBS recently produced this great overview of youth mountain biking in Virginia. Pennsylvania, having started a few years after Virginia, has a similar story.