Hutch for the Win! (and More)

Race two at Fancy Creek State Park in Tuttle Creek was a barn burner and a feature event for the community of Hutchinson, with Hutch Composite – Disciples of Dirt, Mountain Bike Team. Beyond the three podiums that the team got to sit on at the end of the weekend was a weekend full of overcoming weather and riding conditions, to come away glued together as a team.

Let me set the stage for you. Fancy Creek is a wonderful trail that has a little bit of technical, a lot of flow, and a lot of fun. The venue itself is wonderful for family camping and serves as one of the highlight spots for us to gather around the camper van and celebrate a team supper.

Nestled into the trees at the bottom of a large hill and up against a large body of water, this camping and gathering space allows the teammates to run around disconnected from screens and enjoy fun games together, like tag, ghost in the graveyard, and things like that. For those who like to fish, they gather their poles and off to the shoreline they go. For others, it’s a great chance to sit around in some camping chairs, share some hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, and maybe a few cold beverages.

Haydon and I arrived at the space on Friday night and claimed our camp spot for the team. The whole weekend hinged on the storms that were forecast, yet gambled against by the organizers. Only days before the event, the chances of cancellation due to rain was very high… but we forged forward.

As we camped Friday night, not much sleep was to be had. The thunder, lightning, and cyclic deluge of water from the heavens had us gathering up our stuff Saturday morning, expecting the worst.

As we volunteer for track setup, our impression of the slop around us was evidence that we would not ride. We checked in at the race trailer at the yet-to-be-built pit area, and to our surprise… GAME ON!! We set up the infield while other teams of volunteers set up the trail markers – by walking the trail. We did not want to ride bike in the mud, on trail.

The gamble was that the standing water and sloppy mud parts would subside over the morning.

Pre-Ride

NICA Kansas Organizers did a masterful job of reconstructing a schedule that kept multitudes of laps from tearing up the course, but still gave the riders a chance to experience the layout of the course before competition.

Normally, we pre-ride the courses with smaller groups of riders broken into speed and capability to let them see the course and practice different features before their competition event. In this case the organizers determined that each team would leave together as one group, separated by a little bit of space and time, and they would each get one lap of the course to preview any features or layout.

These types of laps take a little bit of patience, as there tends to be a bottleneck around the features. If you keep your perspective in check and you look for opportunities to grow in your skill set, this can be a great time and a great learning experience for many of the team members.

For those who struggle with fitness, this is a great way to get out on the trail and sample some riding without having to do laps at a race pace.

Team Supper

Post pre-ride, everybody takes a moment to chill and get their stuff together. Then we meet around the camper van at camp and cook a meal for the whole team. The meal is generally something simple. Hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, chips, Gatorades, waters, and some beverages for the adults, but Hutch has another winning bonus on the team… one of the coaches is an award-winning microbrewer.

It almost feels like a throwback in time to watch a bunch of kids from the ages of 5th grade through senior year in high school run around, play tag, play Ghost in the Graveyard, hide and seek, all the things, without screens.

As these are family-friendly events, there are also a lot of junior siblings who come to the races. One of the most endearing traits, at least with the Hutch Composite Disciples of Dirt team, is the care with which the younger siblings are brought into the group. It’s always amazing to watch how nobody is left out.

Raceday

Sometimes it seems like 6:30 in the morning comes too quickly on a Sunday. We get up. We heat up the grills, and we start to put breakfast together for the team. Typically, we feed the team protein pancakes, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, orange juice, milk, and the normal fare.

By nine o’clock in the morning, team members are headed to the pit zone, where our head coach, Ethan Ward, puts together the day’s strategies. Each racer has their own goals. Some are focused on completing a lap in a race. Some want to make sure they get two laps. Some race in classes that will allow them to qualify for three laps, provided they finish within a certain amount of time for the first two laps. These are all things that we as coaches have to consider with each student. Racing with Hutch Composite is not always about winning the race. It’s about building students and riders with character and helping them meet their individual goals.

To be clear, the trail was still completely wet. The rocks and the roots on the path were very slippery, and piloting a lap without falling down would be a challenge in and of itself, let alone in light of competition.

The team’s first podium came early in the day, as Ben Woodcock drove through the mud near the front of the pack. He earned a solid 5th-place finish, just 42 seconds behind 4th place. The day’s top results can be seen at the NICA site – CLICK HERE

The rest of our younger riders proved solid in the mud as well. A huge shout-out to Riley, who had apparently fallen down, as we saw him covered in mud while he rode through for his next lap. Keeping your head together in competition and continuing to forge forward are the building blocks of character. And this day was full of that.

Ryker, Kellen, Brock, and Levi all had their challenges to overcome as well. These kinds of conditions can tax you mentally and physically, but also bring forward mechanical obstacles as well. The coach team was super proud of the boys as they returned to pitzone, but there was a tinge of discontent in the group. Things were harder than usual and it was showing.

Stories of being hit, cut off, knocked down were floating around the pit… but here’s the thing. The trail was slippery. Keeping a stable line or working with other riders in the mess was going to be more “interactive” by nature. A quick chat seemed to put some of that back in perspective as there is a difference between an unintended line change (slip) and a purposeful block. Plus… it is racing.

No GRiT this Weekend – But the Ladies Shine

Normally, there is a section of riding that is for female participants only. This weekend, due to the weather, the GRIT ride was canceled, but they still held GRIT activities like bracelet making and crafts.

The Hutch composite Disciples of Dirt Team features three girls in the high school classes and one who is still in grade school. All four knocked it out of the park for the weekend. Let’s start with Mali.

Mali is our newest teammate, but is showing very strong signs of being a super capable mountain biker. She took off in her race, worked her way in with the pack and continued for her first lap eventless and staying in position. As she came up the start finish line, which was an uphill muddy slog of a pedal, she was able to move over to the right side of the front straight, where the most traction was, and continue into her second lap.

Maybe it was her lucky new grit bracelet, but she had a flawless two-lap race and really couldn’t ask for a better showing at her second event with Hutch Composite. Jacayla, her mother, is one of the coaches who works with the team, and the addition of these two ladies to the Disciples of Dirt has been amazing.

In the high school classes, it was Libby, Kinley, and Ava. All three ladies showed a level of commitment that was admirable. While Libby might not like seeing this in print, she was quoted on the first lap as saying, “I think I might throw up”. She went from that to taking her third lap after qualifying with a great time in her first two laps. Post-race, Libby said she really started to feel in the zone during the second lap. And she said when she ended the second lap, there was a man standing at the exit with his arms folded – right after Sarah (staffer)said she should do another, and she figured, why not take a third lap?

Both Kinley and Ava finished two laps in their races, and both exercised different strategies. I’m not sure if Ava watched a couple of the earlier races to see kids running their bikes on the front straightaway, but that was a tactic that Ava used. No shame in the game, as this is a very common practice in other sports like cyclocross. If you expend less energy by pushing the bike through mired obstacles, it is better to push the bike than to try to ride the bike. Kinley, on the other hand, stayed in the saddle and muscled her way through the mud.

Congrats to all the GRiT ladies.

The afternoon races close out the events with the high school boys. This season, we have a great variety of boys in these classes. These races can be anywhere from two laps to six laps. And if we incorporate the use of a feed zone for handing up nutrition to the athletes while they ride. It can become a lot to sort out and strategize. This is where the expertise of head coach Ethan Ward really comes to play.

Kye, Ashtun, Collin, Will, and Haydon got warmed up and ready for their respective events. The races kind of launch in a reverse type of order, meaning varsity goes first. Haydon is our varsity rider. Then they have JV1, JV2, JV3. These are all classes to differentiate a rider’s skill level and experience. This is a new format for this league this season. It used to be derived by grade year.

I spoke with Hayden directly before the event, and he said his personal goal was to run mid-15-minute lap times for five laps. And if he could qualify for the sixth lap, he would take that sixth lap. while by appearances it looked like there was a bit of a struggle in that reviewing the times after the event showed that Hayden was able to meet his goals and finish the five laps.

Not only that, but he got to make a new friend in the race named Colton from one of the competitive teams. They had a calm fifth lap riding together and actually talking to one another, and then had an out-of-the-saddle drive to the finish, up that muddy finish line. Haydon managed a tenth-place finish as Colton had just edged him out at the line for ninth place.

Kye, Ashtun, and Will all ran solid events and finished without mechanical incident. To see firsthand different members of the team all put forth their best efforts is a rewarding sight indeed. The course got worse as the day went on, and it rained right before their event. So even though the rain was a light rain, it was still an added layer of wetness on top of an already sloppy course.

The Showstopper – Collin

This was going to be a story about what I thought was a flawless ride. I have since been corrected. Part of what we are seeing when we see Collin in competition is the fruits of his labor. Collin shows up for every extra conditioning ride, every practice, and practices outside of organized events as well. Collin is very committed to excellence in this space.

This work that Collin has done gives him a sense of confidence on the bike to perform at a very high level, along with a heightened level of fitness. He not only worked his way through the JV3 group, but also crept into JV2, JV1, and into the varsity lineup as well, as he completed four laps within his race.

Collin brought home his Specialized in first place.

At the end of the weekend, I was having a conversation with Coach Ethan, and Ethan told me that Collin did not have a perfect race. In fact, Colin hit a tree while out on the trail and lost his glasses. He had to dismount his bike, go get his glasses, get back on his bike, and still manage to pull off lap times that would be podium-competitive with JV1. We are looking forward to seeing what Collin can do with the rest of his year.

How to Get Involved?

If you have a child between 5th and 12th grades in school, and want to give them the times of their lives… check us out. We have loaner bikes for people who are not equipment-ready but have an interest.

If you appreciate the mission of the team and the energy it brings our community, and are in a position to help, we have a donation page on our website and are very open to commercial sponsorship opportunities. We need more kids on bikes!