Are you ready for week 1?
Hello NICA families and athletes!
We are less than a week out from our first official practice of 2022! As we prep for our biggest season ever, we wanted to send a quick to-do list for the start of the season, as well as an update on our 2022 team kit (uniform) order.
Are you ready?
There’s a lot to keep in mind as we enter the first week of our season. Below is your short “to-do” list. Read further for detailed information about each item.
FOLLOW UP ON OUTSTANDING REGISTRATION TASKS: If you received an email from your team director, please follow up on any outstanding registration tasks (if you did NOT receive an email, you do not need to take further action) - ALL registration (via Driftless and NICA’s Pitzone) must be completed by next Tuesday to be eligible to practice.
TEAM COMMUNICATION: Please make sure you are subscribed and up-to-date on our Google Groups email list, and sign up for our text message notifications. We will use text messages to communicate last-minute practice cancellations due to weather, etc. See below for our inclement weather policies.
REVIEW PRACTICE LOCATIONS: Our practice locations and logistics have changed since last year. Please familiarize yourself with our practice locations and ALWAYS check the team calendar to ensure you are headed to the right venue! Our teams are split up for our early-season practices, so they will be in DIFFERENT LOCATIONS. It is important that you go to the right location for your team.
RIDER CHECKLIST: We’ve created this RIDER PRACTICE CHECKLIST to help your student athlete remember all the essentials for each practice. Please reference it often!
LAST-MINUTE BIKE CHECK: Double check your student athlete’s bike to make sure it is in good condition for the first week of practice. See below for bike basics.
RIDER SELF-ASSESSMENT: We are looking forward to getting to know each rider this season! To help coaches understand where everyone is at in terms of experience and comfort level, we are asking each student athlete to complete this RIDER SELF-ASSESSMENT form before July 19th. This will assist our preparation of rider groups and help us plan practices that are fun and appropriate for all of our athletes
ORDER YOUR TEAM KIT NOW: Who doesn’t love a new MTB jersey!? Our 2022 team kit store is now open. See below for more info!
WEATHER & NICA PRACTICE
To provide some further clarity on inclement weather policies: we will not practice in lightning/thunderstorms or if there is a steady rain forecasted, but we will host practice if there is only a light sprinkle or chance of rain predicted. All weather-related decisions will be communicated by 4 p.m. the day of practice, via text and email.
These decisions are three-fold: First, rider safety is always our main priority. Second, it is essential mountain biking ethic that we do NOT ride trails when they are wet/leaving ruts; if trails are wet or closed and we still host practice, we will do skills-related drills in grassy areas instead in order to minimize impact. Third, basic rider comfort is always a consideration. If we’re all going to be miserable, we don’t want to force anyone through a super-soggy 90-minute practice.
Remember, if practice is on, riders should come prepared with appropriate clothing and gear. Hot or cool, sun, wind, or light rain, please be ready to ride in all the lovely weather conditions that Wisconsin has to offer!
BIKE BASICS TO BE PRACTICE-READY
Next week student athletes will learn the “ABCDEs” which will empower them to take responsibility for the condition of their bike before every ride/practice (families, you can ask your rider what each letter stands for!) But before the season kicks off, we have a few more in-depth reminders about having a SAFE, practice-ready bike.
Remove kickstands - many folks are used to having a kickstand on their bike, but for trail riding, they pose a safety hazard and can damage you or your bike if you fall.
Double check that your bike meets minimum NICA requirements - wheel sizes less than 26” in diameter will ultimately be inappropriate and difficult to use once we hit trails in the coming weeks. Check that your rider’s bike has 26” or larger diameter wheels.
Look at brake-lever reach - many of our younger riders have smaller hands; one of the essentials of mountain bike riding is to have one to two fingers covering the brakes at ALL times. Most bikes are set up for larger hands. If your rider is struggling to reach the brake levers, you can adjust them so they fit more comfortably. If you’re uncertain of how to do this, a quick trip to a local shop will have it done in no time, for little to no cost.
Adjust seat height - Dang, NICA athletes grow fast! We often see low-riding seats at our first practice. While dropping the bike seat may be awesome for jumps (or maybe it just hasn’t been adjusted in a while and the 6th grader grew sixteen inches last winter) making sure riders have proper seat-post height will be essential to mastering skills required for technical trail riding. This applies to dropper posts in their fully-extended position, too!
There are always a lot of little details to dial in bikes at the beginning of every season! Here’s a great resource for tackling some of the issues mentioned above. If you ever have any questions, our coaches are happy to look at bikes before practice (disclaimer: we’re not mechanics so we probably can’t fix every problem on-site, but we can help diagnose or do easy fixes!)
Mount Horeb riders show off their team kits at Minooka in 2021.
TEAM KIT ORDERS
Our team uniform (called “kits” in cycling lingo) are now available to order via Pactimo. Jerseys are required for athletes who choose to race this fall. Riders have the choice of a tight-fit cycling jersey OR a looser, “free-ride” fit. Both are great options, it is up to the rider to decide which they prefer. There are also team shorts or bibs, as well as a “trail-style” baggier fit short. Riders are not required to order shorts, and may choose to wear a pair of black shorts of their choice. Riders from Waunakee and Mount Horeb are not required to order a new jersey, and can use last year’s jersey. Middleton riders (formerly Blackhawk) will need to order new jerseys for 2022.
Click here to learn more and order your team kit now. The team store is only open until July 20, and there is NOT another chance to order kits during the remainder of the season. Please see our kit info and FAQs page and order carefully!
If you have questions about what to order, or you need financial assistance, please feel free to ask our coaching/director team.
Coaches - you are welcome to order team kits as well! Pactimo pricing includes a NICA discount.
WHAT TO EXPECT FOR THE FIRST FEW WEEKS OF PRACTICE
While many of our more advanced riders are itching to get back to trails, the first few weeks of practice are an excellent time for us to review foundational riding skills. Even professional racers go back to the basics when training: all riders benefit from a review of the essentials. Additionally, younger or less experienced riders will look to our seasoned student athletes as role models and examples of skills! This is a huge benefit of all of us riding together.
Our coaching team will be refining some different combinations of rider groupings for skills practices in the first few weeks. The RIDER SELF ASSESSMENT FORM can help us begin this process.
THANK YOU TO OUR NEW COACHES AND VOLUNTEERS!
And last but not least: a massive shout-out to the new volunteer coaches who have joined us this year (including four new On-The-Bike 101 graduates from last week!) We are so grateful for you jumping in to help with our growing team! If you are not yet an official NICA volunteer and you are interested in riding along at practice, we would love to have you. Please contact team directors for information on how to join us.
