The Tuscazoar Composite Mountain Bike Team is looking for new members to participate in its upcoming season, which will begin with practices in the summer and continue with races through the fall. The team will compete in the Ohio Mountain Bike League of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.
Mountain bike racing is a sport you can participate in for life, but the racers all have their own reasons for competing.
“It’s a lot of fun. It’s not really centered around results. It’s more to just have fun and ride your bike,” said Evan Lockhart of Waynesburg, one of the original members of the Tuscazoar Composite Mountain Bike Team. “You can make it about the results, but it’s all just fun.”
The team will celebrate its fifth season this year.
Lockhart considers practices and racing equal opportunities to have fun. Lockhart has been mountain biking since he was about 8 because his father was into the sport. He is in his last year of competition with the Tuscazoar team and plans to either be a coach or just keep participating in independent races, some of which are held at Camp Tuscazoar.
Simon Rankin of New Philadelphia has been a member of the team since its beginning. This upcoming season will be his last with the Tuscazoar team.
“I have been mountain biking for many years. I joined the mountain bike team after moving from Medina, Ohio,” Rankin said.
Rankin enjoys the competition.
“I find it fun to race against people of my skill level and to compete against strong riders,” Rankin said.
He also began competing in the sport because his father rode mountain bikes. Prior to joining the team, they rode the trails at Camp Tuscazoar and saw a flyer on the billboard for the team. Rankin plans to continue competing in mountain bike racing in the future.
Racers from fifth grade to 12th grade are eligible to join. The team practices on Monday and Thursday nights at Camp Tuscazoar.
“It’s real low key. Just get out, do a couple laps, have fun and go home,” head coach Denny Simon said. “It’s not like most sports where you’ve got to try out for the team. You start every race and just get out and ride.”
There are no tryouts, and everyone is allowed to ride on the team. During the season the team practices four times each week. Two practices are at Camp Tuscazoar, and members also do two practices on their own.
One requirement to be a member of the team is to have a helmet.
“Everything they need, we can help them get. I’ve got a bunch of bikes at my house. Our sponsors donate all kinds of stuff, so if they don’t have anything, we can probably take care of everything they would need,” Simon said.
Parents would be responsible for the annual $155 registration and insurance fee to the National Interscholastic Cycling Association and a fee of $50 to participate in each race, but in the past two years, sponsors have donated the race fees to the riders.
Race dates for the 2025 season are as follows:
—Bike Packing Adventure June 21-22 at Lake Hope Park.
—Time Trial Aug. 9-10 at John Bryan State Park.
—Race Aug. 23-24 at West Creek Reservation.
—Race Sept. 6-7 at Bailey’s Trail System.
—Race Sept. 20-21 at Hueston Woods State Park.
—Race Oct. 4-5 at Camp Tuscazoar.
At the end of the season, the Eastern Regional 12 state championship race is in Maryland for the athletes who qualify.
Mountain bike racing is a family sport with brothers and sisters competing, and sometimes parents help with coaching.
“It’s a lifelong sport. And how many sports can a parent really do with their kid?” Simon said.
Many families bring a recreational vehicle and spend the weekend together at a race.
“People get to go to different venues. They have their bikes. They sleep. They ride all day. And it’s a good, healthy exercise, which is rooted in the more you work and the more you ride, the faster you’re going to get. It teaches the kids good values,” Simon said.
Students can join from any county, but the team would like to add more local members.
“We want to build our core more. We’ve got about 12 kids from Tuscarawas County, and we’d like to get it up to around 20,” Simon said.
Anyone wishing to join the team can email Simon at dsimon@tuscazoar.org.
