We Support Accessible, Multi-use Open Space in Upper Dublin Township

January 21, 2019

Mr. Derek Dureka, Parks & Recreation Director
Upper Dublin Township
801 Loch Alsh Avenue
Fort Washington, PA 19034

RE: Montco 2040 Grant Application for Conversion of Twining Valley Golf Course

Dear Mr. Dureka:

As  a team with athletes within Upper Dublin township, we fully support your township’s submission of a Montco 2040 grant application to assist with the conversion of the Twining Valley Golf Course property from a golf course to a park/preserve. While being built by the Upper Dublin community and with your residents in mind, the size of this site and the uniqueness of what is planned will be an asset for our cycling team and community as well.

Access to open space is the single most important factor contributing to the success of the SoMont Cycling Youth Mountain Bike Team.  Similar to how we use open space, parks and trails in adjacent areas, we anticipate our team community will take full advantage of this new regional asset while learning skills at the graduated bike park, becoming immersed in the beautiful natural landscape, riding the mountain trails and exploring the natural playscape.

We are 40 youth athletes and over 20 coaches across eastern MontCo with the goal of getting #MoreKidsOnBikes! We applaud your vision and commitment to this evolved natural space.

Good luck with this exciting endeavor and we look forward to the grand opening.

Sincerely,

John Raisch & the SoMont Cycling Youth MTB Team community

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To learn more about the proposed idea, click here.

January 2019 Season News and Update

Hello SoMont friends and family,

We are only 9 days into 2019 but I'm sure everyone is eager to hear what's going on with the team. :) I've had a few planning sessions with a few folks so I wanted to provide a quick update.

The big news I would like to announce is Danelle and Jason have accepted new Head Coach roles for High School and Middle School respectively (Danelle - HS, Jason - MS). As the team (both athlete and coach roster) grows, we need a bit more formalized structure. Danelle and Jason have both shown great commitment to the team over the past 2 seasons and have already demonstrated their ability to take this on. I'm not going anywhere and will be working closely with both of them on all of our programs. Please join me in congratulating them on these new roles -- both of them will have more to say about their roles as we move forward! More also on group structure later...

A full SoMont season calendar of events is below. Please keep in mind that some dates are tentative and/or subject to change. (These are SoMont events, not PICL race or adventure events)

We are currently looking for help in the following areas: Events, Registration and Sponsorship/Fundraising. If you are interested in helping in any of these areas please let me know.

A decision has been made that we will be practicing are more/different locations this season. Lorimer will always be our home base and we will have more than half of our practices there, but we'll also look to have at least one practice per week at a location other than Lorimer. We will also, at times, have HS and MS at different locations as well. Logistics and scheduling details TBD.

Some progress is being made on the Trails/TTC front. More on that when we meet in Feb.

For anyone interested in the whole Team Foster/Foster 100 events/causes please see the Facebook posts about the Team Foster 100 Ruff Ride where the SoMont MTB Community has a team -- all are welcome to join!

See you all soon and happy trails!

Coach John

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• Sat Feb 23 - Winter Warmer Social & Ride (tentative date, location TBD)
• Thu Feb 28 - All Coaches meeting (current coaches)
• Thu March 21 - New & Prospective Coaches Mandatory Info Session 
• Sat/Sun Mar 23/24 - PICL Leaders Summit
• Sun March 31 - Snowballs Chance Ride
• Sat April 13 - Keswick Promo during spring Sale (tentative date)
• Sun April 28 - LLWH
• Sat April 27 - Circle Cycle promo event (tentative date)
• Sat May 4 - MTBBQ and “TryIt Ride”
• Sat May 18 - DirtFest, Raystown (not a team event)
• Fri/Sat May 31/Jun1 - Team Foster Ruff Ride (not a team event)
• Sun June 9 - Philly MTB Fest (Also Cancer ride bike-a-thon)
• Sun June 16 - SoMont “TryIt Ride”
• Tue July 9 - First practice of 2019
• Sat July 27 - Nox day trip
• Sat Aug 17 - Batsto Practice, camping/water weekend
• Sat Sept 14 - Foster 100 (not a team event)