Middle, high schoolers on team for mountain bike racing event at Boyce Park in Plum

Middle and high school students from the Plum, Gateway, Springdale and Franklin Regional school districts are gearing up for a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Mountain Bike Racing Series event Oct. 16 at Boyce Park in Plum.

Races will begin and end at the soccer fields on Deever Road off of Pierson Run Road. The first one starts at 9:30 a.m.

The Boyce Park course for the event, incorporating trails, is a little more than 5 miles.

Different races will range from two to four laps of the course, with the longest, the varsity boys race, covering almost 21 miles.

“The organizers are working around the clock to bring a fantastic event for our youth and the surrounding communities,” said Jim Pottinger, coach of the Pittsburgh East Composite Mountain Bike team. “There will be hundreds of student racers and hundreds more spectators. It's sure to be great.”

Julian Zucco, team member and Plum Senior High School freshman, said his group has been training for the event for two months.

“It's always fast and it's always challenging,” said Julian, 14. “You can go on trails that are really steep and hard to climb, or you can go on trails that are downhill. You get different levels of riding, depending on what you want to do.”

There are at least 12 riders on Julian's team.

“I like the team. Everyone's cool,” he said. “I've talked with other students. They're interested but need to buy equipment for the club.”

The Boyce Park course offers climbs, a few log ramps, a mile-long single-track descent and a big trail climb in the third mile, according to race documents.

This event is the third of five in the series held by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League in its first year.

The first race was at Oesterling Farm in Marysville, the second at Jordan Creek Park in Allentown. More than 150 racers participated in each.

Julian said he did not race in those contests because of lack of time to prepare, but he is anxious to take on Boyce Park.

“I'm racing with people my age,” he said. “It's challenging and fun because there's always someone faster than you, so you want to get faster than them.”

Julian has been mountain biking since age 8. He has a message for people considering the sport.

“It's fun and the scenery is beautiful. The more you practice, the better and faster you can get,” he said.

More information about the league and its series of races is available online at pamtb.org.

Michael DiVittorio is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-871-2367 or mdivittorio@tribweb.com.