Team says September event will honor Schindler’s legacy

Dr. Richard “Dick” Schindler made a huge impact on the Austin Cycling Team last year and now the team has a chance to honor him in a huge way.

Austin was chosen by the National Interscholastic Cycling League to host a state meet for this coming season, and plans are in the works to construct a mountain biking course this summer at Todd Park.

“[The meet] is a huge testament to his personality and the memory of him,” head coach Spencer Salmon said.

Austin’s mountain biking team formed last year and Dick was an avid supporter and helper. Dick died last October from a biking accident while he was on his way to clear bike trails near Riverland. He pushed for Austin to hold a meet within the next couple years, but unfortunately passed away before that could happen.

Belita Schindler, Dick’s wife, has been helping the team with planning and preparing to build the course.

“Dick was so instrumental in getting the team started,” Belita said. “They sort of scheduled it in his honor.”

The meet is set for Sept. 20 and is one of five mountain biking meets held around the state this season. About 700 high school bikers from around the state will come to Austin to compete on the new trail. On Sept. 19, competitors are invited to test out the track.

“It’s a big deal for Austin,” Belita said.

Though Coach Salmon is excited about the opportunity, there is still a lot of work to be done before the race. The team and volunteers have yet to begin construction on the course, though they plan to begin within the next couple weeks and have it completed by mid-August.

After the completion of the course, the team will get to practice on it for about a month before the competition.

“It’ll provide better training,” said Salmon. “We’ll have an actual track to train on.”

The Todd Park trail will be west of the softball diamonds on land that Hormel owns.

Volunteers will build the three and a half mile long trail, which will include twists, turns, bumps, rocks, roots, and a couple small bridges.

Austin’s mountain biking team is offered for grades 7-12. Since it is a club team, no one is attached to the school formally.

A kickoff meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Ruby Rupner Center at the Jay C. Hormel Nature Center. It will be open to the public, and Minnesota League officials will be present and provide information about the project and how to get involved with the construction of the trail.