On a word, Austin’s mountain biking team took off across the landscape, heading for a new addition to their course behind Riverland Community College’s west campus Tuesday night.

The new addition was a simple bridge that crossed what loosely could be considered a creek, but nevertheless, it was something the team could attack, a lot like their first season competing in mountain bike racing in Minnesota.

“We’ve seen [the team] grow significantly,” coach Spencer Salmon said as he watched his team of nine ride past. “Austin didn’t even have this trail. Lots of people have been very interested and liking it.”

The first year for the team is nearly wrapped with one last race a week from Sunday on Oct. 26. You don’t really need Salmon’s confirmation that the first year has been a success. Watching the kids as they practice is enough. It’s an enthusiasm that’s helped spread the program from a point where nobody was signed up this past spring.

And while nine, on the surface, doesn’t seem like a lot, for Salmon it’s optimism.

“That’s as many as Rochester had their first year and they have 100,000 people,” he said. “It’s a nice number to work with.”

He’s also seeing optimism in the results. While he and other volunteers haven’t put an emphasis on placing, his team seems to have taken a different approach. His middle school riders are currently fifth in Division II — the middle school division —with a chance to move up even further.

“That’s exciting, unexpected,” Salmon said. That prompts them even more to look towards next year.

“Next year we’ll be competing in that category again and they will all be eighth-graders,” he said of their experience.

That first race

Salmon’s goals from the very beginning were to just get kids interested in racing. Finishing a race was another goal, but placing was an added benefit. He wanted the steps to be small, rather than letting them try to make giant leaps.

The first race unexpectedly helped him and his team with that goal.

Race No. 1 was scheduled for Salem Hills in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota. But the site had to be changed when they realized that race had gotten too big.

Five hundred kids were registered and so parking became an issue. This required the site of the race to be changed to Buck Hill at the edges of Burnsville and Lakeville, Minnesota.

Anybody driving into Minneapolis/St. Paul from the south on Interstate 35 will know Buck Hill as the ski resort hugging the interstate. Just by observation, one can tell it is an imposing course.

“It’s a technical course,” Salmon said. “It’s kind of the standard for how hard a course it is. And it was a hot day. It was our biggest learning experience.”

It was certainly an eye-opener for the team.

“It was a lot tougher than I thought,” said Dillon Kelly, 17. “Especially that first race.”

The challenge became evident pretty quick.

“We did two pre-race laps the first day and that was a big mistake,” Salmon admitted. “We were pretty tired.”

 The big nine

For the nine competitors, it’s been a growing love, admitted by several. Competitors like Kelly have been biking awhile, and so it seemed like a natural fit. Others weren’t so sure.

“My friend Anna Mitchell, she’s on the team,” 12-year-old Whitney Walkup said. “She talked me into it. I was interested less and less over the summer, but realized it would be fun. She motivated me.”

Newcomer William Kahle, who joined just two weeks ago had a similar experience.

“I came out to watch friends,” he said. “They motivated me to join. I watched one of the races and it was awesome. I wanted to join.”

And that’s how this first year has been marked as a success. The power of word of mouth.

Once more kids started joining and others began getting involved, resolving apprehension Salmon had early on.

“I was a little worried, especially parent involvement,” Salmon said. “A lot of parents weren’t sure about getting in a car and driving so long on weekends, but they’ve all been thrilled about it.”

It’s also changed minds as to what’s been expected and yet the team still continues forward, excited about the next new bridge, bump or trail.

“It’s been good, but very tough,” said 15-year-old Noah Aakre. “It’s different than I thought. I didn’t think it would be as many miles as it’s been, but no trail is easy.”

 Community

One of the strongest components of the team is community involvement.

Often times it’s not just the students practicing.

“Lots of people have been very interested and liking it,” Salmon said. We’ve had [Rydjor] employees coming out to ride with us. To me it’s huge. People who don’t even have kids are helping and we have Parks and Rec behind us.”

It’s what Salmon and organizers have always wanted and hoped for, but ultimately it’s the kids that are making it worthwhile, and perhaps one simple comment during Tuesday night’s practice sums up everything so far; when Aakre responded to a teammate: “I finished, that’s all that mattered.”