*Bike soccer at Thursday’s Waunakee and Middleton practice was a hit!*

Families - we’re at the point in the season where we will begin to transition from skills-only practices to trail riding practices. This means there are a few updates you need to know so that your rider is ready for singletrack (dirt trails)! Here’s an overview of what’s included in this week’s news:

Please attend the virtual parent meeting tonight at 7:30 if you have not been able to attend an in-person meeting after practice
Bikes need to be in trail-worthy condition or riders may not be able to participate
MIDDLETON/WAUNAKEE: Practice locations will change - see parking/drop off info for CXC location!
WAUNAKEE middle & high school athletes have an update regarding forms - these are due this week, no exceptions, or the school district will not permit athletes to participate.
Reminder: attendance requirements & rider agreement for Driftless MTB team athletes

Virtual Parent Meeting

This is the last of our beginning-of-season parent meetings we will host - if you haven’t had the chance to attend a stand-up meeting at the end of practice with your team, please plan to attend! Click here for the agenda and Google Meet link!

Trail-worthy bikes

Starting soon, we will be riding dirt singletrack trails for the majority of our practice time. If a coach or team director has spoken with you or your rider about their bike, make sure you have made necessary adjustments/changes to be ready to ride trails safely. This includes removing all kickstands, making sure brakes are in good working order, replacing worn tires, and having a bike with 27” or 29” tires. Riders will not be able to participate in practice if they arrive with a bike (or other essential equipment) that is not safe for trails.

Please let us know if you have questions or concerns about a bike, or if access to a trail-worthy bike is preventing your rider from participation; we may be able to acquire a loaner bike for the season.

New practice location! Important Drop-off information

Parents of Waunakee and Middleton MTB riders will be practicing at the CXC Center on TUESDAY this week, and we will continue to use this area as a practice location for ALL teams at some point this season. The CXC Center parking area can be accessed by taking Schwartz Rd SOUTH from highway 14 (just west of Middleton) - follow the road all the way back to the newly-paved road that leads you up the hillside.

This location has limited parking so we are asking parents to please drive up the hill to the upper parking lot, drop off their riders, and drive back down the hill to find a location to park. At the end of practice, please plan to pick up your rider quickly, and continue down the hill.

Reference the team calendar for the exact practice location and link to GPS pin for driving directions. Please note: Entering “CXC Center” in Google Maps will take you to the correct road, but it will appear that there is no driveway access. There is a brand-new paved road leading UP the hill to a small parking area. Please use the GPS pin in our calendar info to ensure you find the right location.

For those who are curious, you can find out more about the CXC Center (which is currently under development) here. It will continue to be an excellent resource for our teams!

Waunakee school district forms

As per coach Brad’s email last week, we received an update from the Waunakee School District Activities office that our middle school families will also need to complete the district’s sport waiver/health form and register for the mountain bike team through Infinite Campus. The forms to complete this paperwork can be found in the "school store section" in the main menu of Infinite Campus. The waiver form is an electronic PDF that can be completed online and submitted. You will still need to "add to cart" once you have completed the waiver/health form. Once you have completed the form, you can add the mountain biking team selection to "your cart" and then checkout.

Additionally, if any high school student athletes still have outstanding paperwork, please take steps to complete it immediately.

Intermediate school students (6th graders) do not need to complete any district paperwork.

As per the district, we will not be able to allow Waunakee middle school or high school athletes to participate in practice after this week if the district requirements are not completed.

As Brad noted, this year may still have a few WCSD items that pop up as we are still working with the athletic department on what parts of the school documentation overlap with NICA information and where the gaps may be - we are VERY grateful for your cooperation and prompt attention to these items as they arise!

One thing you can do to help us streamline is to reach out to the athletics office DIRECTLY with any questions you have about the school district paperwork and requirements. Please contact Jen Lockman at jenlockman@waunakee.k12.wi.us and feel free to CC Brad or Em on any correspondence.

Family & Rider Agreement Reminder

One final note for this week is to review our family and rider agreement that all participants signed as part of our registration process. Our coaching team would like to remind families of the following:

Attendance: Athletes are expected to commit to the team and attend an AVERAGE of 1 practice per week for the extent of their participation on the team (i.e., if a rider has a conflicting fall activity, but wants to participate only in the summer months, they need to attend an average of 1 practice per week from July through the end of August) We understand that there may be a week that riders cannot attend any practices; we simply ask that they make up the missed time by attending an additional practice at another time during the following weeks
Attitude: Mountain bike team is a voluntary activity, and rider attitudes matter. If a rider does not want to come to practice, please do not bring them to practice. As per the agreement, “Riders should have a growth mindset and positive attitude while at practice, with both themselves and others on the team. Our practices are more fun, more fulfilling, and more meaningful when everyone has the right mindset. If you don't want to be there, please don't come.”

*Our adventurous riders and coaches at Camrock on Saturday.*

Updates and fun team news!

It was a busy week for the Driftless community both in terms of our team events and other fun bike activities!

SATURDAY ADVENTURE RIDE: We had 20+ riders and coaches participate in the Wisconsin League’s first ever Adventure Weekend at Camrock trails. Riders worked together to navigate a course map and find orienteering checkpoints all over the park. Many thanks to our coaches who came out to volunteer at the event so riders could participate!
GRiT COACHES HIGHLIGHTS: We had seven female coaches attend our coach ride with Madison West GRiT coaches at Trek Trails to prepare for our Friday night ride series (see more info here!) AND we had two female coaches participate in their first ever WORS (Wisconsin Off-Road Series) mountain bike race at Nordic Mountain on Sunday! Nice work, Driftless ladies!

Families - feel free to share your MTB-related fun and highlights with us so we can add them each week!

That’s all for now - have an awesome week and we’ll see you at the parent meeting and at practice!

News for July 24-30