The Idaho Interscholastic Cycling League held its final event of the NICA season at Bogus Basin as mountain bikers from all over the state and beyond competed in the state championship.
Mountain bikers have to finish a two-lap course where they need to ride both uphill and downhill. Recent rainstorms made for a fast course going downhill, and that was just fine with Sun Valley High School freshman Henry Flynn.
"It was awesome, it’s a really hard race," said Flynn. "That uphill is really steep, but it was fun. The downhill was amazing, and the dirt is perfect right now."
WATCH | Check out the video to see the boys freshman race and the finish to JV2
Flynn won the boys' freshman race, and Wood River Valley had four riders finish in the top 10 of this race. Going into the state championship, Wood River Valley only trailed the Boise Brave for the overall standings.
"Hopefully, this race gets us ahead of them," said Flynn. "This was a good race, and it was fun. We have a really strong freshman team."
The vibe at mountain bike races is unique as riders become friends with the other members of their team throughout the season, but they also make friends with riders from other teams. Neighborhood Reporter Steve Dent's favorite part of the event was watching the parents climb the mountain to cheer on their kids.
"It is really good with people supporting each other out there," said Kelton Gines of Borah High School. "When I was racing, people were like c’mon keep going."
Gines did a jump for victory as he finished four seconds ahead of the next rider in the JV2 race. Gines uses the uphill portion of the course to build a lead, and he was able to hang on.
"I didn’t think I was going to have that much of a gap coming into the finish," said Gines. "I had to do that jump to give the people what they want."
At the time of this writing, the final results have not been posted, but they can be found here. The Bogus Basin race marks the seventh race of the season, but it's the only race where every team participates.
