On Wednesday, October 6th, Kent’s mountain biking team hosted a big race, facing off against Hotchkiss, South Kent, Trinity-Pawling, Berkshire, as well as Indian Mountain School.

“We have some of the best trails of the schools here,” captain Christian Green ‘22 said. “There is an A, B, and C course at each track,” Green explains. “The A courses are the hardest, and the C riders are usually for beginners, and the rankings are decided not by your time, but when you cross the finish line.” For each level, A, B and C, there is a separate podium for the fastest three riders to cross the finish line.

Talking about how the team practices before a race, Green mentions that they just decide before they leave what trail they are going to take and bike around there. Green also hopes that we at least make it on one podium at every race, but it’s difficult to control what happens: “every race we’ve had at least one rider have a flat tire,” he says. “Last race, Oscar Wang, our fastest rider, had two flats 30 seconds into the race.”

As the fall season continues, we hope to see the mountain biking achieve their goal of being on the podium and becoming an increasingly popular option for students looking to try new things. “We’re all improving a lot. I only started last year, and I feel a lot more confident now,” Green said.