President's Note

GRiT participants with the Pennsylvania League. Photo: Aaron Puttcamp

With our Fall season in full swing, it has been an incredible opportunity for me to visit our leagues and connect with the community. The enthusiasm, dedication, and professionalism I’ve seen by NICA league race staff, coaches and volunteers is extremely impressive. It is obvious that our community takes great pride in our work to get #morekidsonbikes and has great respect for one another. My hat is off to every volunteer who devotes so much time and energy to getting our athletes outside and active. I look forward to visiting more leagues and connecting with our community in the coming weeks!

As many of you may know, NICA was one of the first grantees from the newly-formed Rapha Foundation. Through their support, we will be able to strengthen our NICA Girls Riding Together (GRiT) program, to have 33% female participation by 2023. A portion of the Rapha funding is going directly to our leagues to support GRiT initiatives at the local level. To distribute these funds, we requested proposals from Leagues for what they thought would be the most effective ways to recruit and retain female coaches and female student-athletes. We received requests totaling $110,000, and worked with a review panel comprised of the NICA GRiT Program Manager, NICA Grants Manager, a student-athlete and GRiT Ambassador from Pennsylvania, and a coach and GRiT Coordinator from Texas to review and make recommendations on funding the proposals. It exciting to see the ideas the leagues will now be implementing and what our Leagues will be able to achieve with this support from the Rapha Foundation.

This, combined with the spirit and dedication I’ve been experiencing firsthand at NICA League races makes me confident and optimistic about the future of NICA GRiT and the ability of us to achieve our goal to get #moregirlsonbikes together!

Best regards,

Steve

What's New Across America

NICA Race Events September 7-8

NICA's Biggest Weekend Yet!

Earlier this month we celebrated a HUGE milestone for interscholastic cycling with NICA's biggest participation weekend in history. The weekend of September 7-8, over 10,000 student-athletes participated in NICA activities across 13 different leagues! Congrats to everyone on a great weekend and a big THANK YOU to all the coaches, volunteers and parents who support all our student-athletes!

Female student-athletes racing in the Idaho League. Photo: Adam Haynes

Rapha Foundation supports NICA's Efforts to get #moregirlsonbikes

In May 2019, the Rapha Foundation was announced with the mission of building a better future for the sport of cycling by inspiring, empowering and supporting the next generation of racers. NICA is proud to be one of their inaugural grantees. Funds from the Rapha Foundation will be used to further NICA's Girls Riding Together (GRiT) program to increase female recruitment and retention across all NICA leagues and programs. Read more about these efforts HERE.

Bozeman NICA Team at the Cross Cut Classic

Biking in to your Best Self with Montana's Bozeman Team

The Montana League kicked off their inaugural season this August and has been making waves ever since! Not only did Montana have one of the largest inaugural races - they had over 30% female student-athlete participation! We caught up with Molly Bowman and Heidi Makoutz of the Bozeman NICA team to find out how they're getting #morekidsonbikes - check it out HERE.

New NICA Kits Available!

Spruce up your cycling wardrobe this fall with a new NICA kit! These limited-edition kits highlight 10 years of #morekidsonbikes with a fun new design in both road and mountain options. Order today as these will only be available for a limited time - order today HERE!

Help us show NICA’s impact!

You know how much impact mountain biking has on your community, now we need your input to show the data behind the impact! We are continuing our partnership with PeopleforBikes to study the economic impact NICA Events have on the communities that host them. Please take 5 minutes after each race weekend to complete the following SURVEY about the weekend’s event. Your participation is greatly appreciated and is providing your league valuable data to help promote mountain biking in your community!

Trek and Bontrager NICA Student-Athlete Purchase Program

Trek and its retail partners are proud to offer NICA student-athletes and Level 2 and 3 Coaches special pricing on Trek mountain bikes and Bontrager helmets and shoes! Click HERE to find your local Trek retailer!

Dial Your On-the-Bike Nutrition with CLIF!

Looking for some guidance on how to properly fuel your adventures on the bike this fall? Our friends at CLIF Bar have your covered! Check out their new guide HERE to learn how to fuel before, during and after any cycling adventure!

Club Ride NICA Discount and Gravel Give-Away

Don't miss your chance to enter Club Ride Apparel's 2nd Annual Gravel Giveaway Fundraiser! Enter HERE to win a custom gravel bike and entry to the 2020 Dirty Kanza - with proceeds from the fundraiser benefiting NICA! Hurry as this ends 9/30!

And wait -- there's more! For a limited time, Club Ride is again offering the NICA community 25% - visit https://www.clubrideapparel.com/ and use code NICA25 when you check out to get 25% off your order!

NICA in Your Neighborhood

Here are some snapshots of what's been happening across our 27 leagues so far this year!

Do you have a great photo worthy of inclusion in a future issue of NICA News? If so, please email to media@nationalmtb.org and you may see it published! And don't forget - when you're posting your photos to tag @nationalmtb #morekidsonbikes for a chance to see your photo in NICA News!

@emma_hurst with @idahomtb gets inspired and motivated by her amazing teammates!

@donnaellsworth and the 2019 Havasu Mountain Bike team are looking super rad and ready for race season!

@yrayelizabeth93 was super stoked to win her first NICA race with the Minnesota League!

NICA races are about having fun for @somontmtb student-athletes in the Pennsylvania League!

@henry_s_mtb was stoked to take the win at the Virginia League's season opener!

The @bozenicateam had a great time at the Lolo Lift Off!

NICA.NationalSponsors.NICA-version-footer-9.18.19 1