Rules for Riders

Avoid Illegal Trails

We ride the trails that are legal, no exceptions. Placer County is blessed with open space, fire roads, singletrack, and hiking trails in an abundance that most other places can only dream of… we are allowed access to the trails we ride only because of the hard work that others have already put into bike trail advocacy. If you want more singletrack trails to ride, work with the coaches and parents to get involved with a trails advocacy group. Riding illegal trails because they suit your personal taste better puts ALL local mountain biking at risk. Riders caught riding illegal trails will immediately lose team riding privileges.

Treat each other with Respect on and off the bike

Write a short text about your service. Highlight key benefits for potential clients.There should be nothing but support between all riders regardless of skill level or gender. Negative comments about team members will not be tolerated.

Always wear a helmet

No one wants to be sitting around for a month waiting for a concussion to clear up, let alone having someone spoon-feed you for the rest of your life. Even if you are the brother of a competitor sitting on a bike in the parking lot before a race, you must have a helmet on at all times. This rule applies to Coaches/Parents/Guardians/anyone associated with the team as well. Additionally, riders at league races caught without helmets, except on trainers, will be docked 25 points and/or disqualified from a race.

These rules exist solely to help keep our right to ride as a team. You as an individual rider can hop on a bike and ride anytime and anywhere you choose, but that is not the point of riding with a team. You ride with a team so that you can regularly ride with a group of friends, improve your skills, learn from more experienced riders, ride new trails and routes, help less experienced riders get stronger, and enjoy the thrill and nervous excitement of racing in as safe an environment as can be expected. The coaches, ride leaders, and parents give you this privilege on the condition that you make a personal commitment to follow the rules below:

Show trail courtesy!!

When riding on Public Lands please keep the following in mind:

• Always yield right of way to other users

• Stop for horses and ask the rider how to proceed

• Respect other trail user groups (and teams)

• Control your speed

• Do not litter

• Say Hi to all users!!!

Volunteer for local groups and events

Woodcreek MTB is an important part of the local community, and our voice and numbers carry weight in the communities where we live. Whether going to meetings on Placer County open-space usage, or getting information out to the team on which local politicians support the team’s trail access agenda, each Rider and family member can have lasting local impact.

Ride safely and stay with your ride group when on rides

Mountain biking is a dangerous sport, and riders are exposed to situations and elements that are difficult to control. The best way to minimize danger is to ride within your limits and stay with your ride group. If something bad does happen, you can get immediate assistance from ride leaders and team mates for first aid, mechanical breakdowns, and perhaps food and water. Some rides take us hours away from home, out in the wilderness, and safety demands that we ride within our skills and as a group. Riders that purposefully leave their ride group without checking in with adult Ride Leaders or Coaches during the ride will lose their privilege to ride and race with the team. Riders who regularly ride beyond their skills and encourage others to do the same will also lose their privilege to ride with the team. Leaving a ride early to make it to jazz band practice is fine, just make sure that you let an adult Ride Leader or Coach know BEFORE you leave the group so that we are not looking for a mangled bike and unconscious rider off of a Salmon Falls cliffside in near-darkness.

The NICA rulebook contains a great deal of information, and reading it helps parents and Riders understand the need for some of the team rules above, how the races are run and scored, and a host of other rules and regulations that are helping high-school mountain biking grow into a mainstream sport: http://www.nationalmtb.org/wp-content/uploads/NICA-Rulebook.pdf

Familiarize yourself with the NICA rulebook

Communicate with your parents, ride leaders and coaches

Communicate with your parents, Ride Leaders, and Coaches when you are not feeling yourself physically or mentally – generally the adults around you are not good at reading minds, and over-communication is better than guesswork. Let them know how they can help you, when you need it!

Mountain biking is one of the best sports there is. It is excellent low-impact aerobic exercise that you can do for a lifetime. You can cover more ground and see more cool stuff than with any other sport – at least that is the belief of the team!

Have Fun!!