You can find members of the Lycoming Composite Mountain Bike Team riding around throughout the area. Visit their Facebook page and you’ll see plenty of photos and videos of the team riding and practicing in various locations. They go all around, and it speaks to the amount of cyclists in the area.
The Lycoming Composite Mountain Bike team and its members know Lycoming County is a great place to be involved with outdoor recreation and saw a surge in interest with mountain biking that came after the COVID-19 pandemic happened.
“We have terrific trails, gravel and paved roads to ride, and we are surrounded by public lands and park. Not only do we ride on the trails, but we also maintain them,” Lycoming Composite Mountain Bike team coach Jon Scholnick said. “Our team, like others across the state, do hundreds of hours helping keep our public lands open for hikers, cyclists, equestrians and other users.”
Plain and simple, Scholnick and his group want to help get more kids riding bikes.
“To accomplish this, we aim to provide a fun and safe environment to learn and practice this sport. We empower young people by teaching the fundamental skills of mountain biking so they can negotiate any trail they might encounter,” Scholnick noted. “While they gain fitness and strength, they also build strong minds, knowing they have the ability to conquer challenges they face on the trail or on the race course. Racing is open to all athletes. We like to say that nobody sits on the bench. Everyone gets to play.”
The Lycoming Composite Mountain Bike team is going to host a statewide race for the Pennsylvania League on September 7-8. The event will draw more than 750 athletes and families from across the Commonwealth for this weekend of racing.
The coaches on the Lycoming Composite Mountain Bike team have dedicated hours building trails for the race course on the Penn College Earth Science Center property.
“There will be races for middle school student athletes (grades 6-8) who are registered with our league. We also will have races for high school student athletes for freshmen, junior varsity and varsity,” Scholnick said. “Boys and girls compete equally, riding the same distances. Hopefully this will become an annual event that brings student athletes to our area and shows them the educational and recreational opportunities at Penn College and in our region.”
While the Lycoming Composite Mountain Bike team rides throughout the area, they also ride and participate at Rider Park. The park was created as a gift to the citizens of the county. Which is something the mountain bike team utilizes.
The team has hosted events in the past at Rider Park, including a scavenger hunt on mountain bikes and an evening ride with star gazing.
“It’s a park for the citizens of Lycoming County to use for recreation purposes. Mr. (Thomas J.) Rider really believed in recreation for health purposes, getting out and hiking and just enjoying nature in general. He thought it was very beneficial,” Rider Park manager Sara Street said.
“It was created for everyone that lives here locally,” Street added. “There’s over 10 miles of trails, there’s four vistas. It’s open year-round, which is pretty nice.”
The Lycoming Composite Mountain Bike team is involved with the National Interscholastic Cycling Association and was established in 2016 as one of the original teams in the Pennsylvania League. The team was established by Joseph Tavani and Jeremy Rusczyk.
Scholnick started coaching in 2021 with the team when his son joined.
“Our state league is part of a national movement that has built a groundswell of interest in mountain biking. In fact, most of the US Olympic Mountain Bike Team are graduates of the NICA program,” Scholnick said.