Practices may occur during hot temperatures and/or forecasted storms.
To mitigate the impacts of heat, we will oftentimes go to a location with shade, higher elevation, and/or breeze. Other techniques are sometimes employed, such as ice water misters and fun water gun games. Student-athletes should always come properly hydrated to each practice, carry adequate water for the ride, let a coach know if they are feeling overheated, and rehydrate after practice.
Riding bikes in the rain is quite fun and will not cancel or interrupt a practice or race event so long as doing so will not damage our trails. Rain gauges throughout town are monitored to check local saturation.
The following lightning protocols are in place for the safety of our team:
- Practice may be canceled, delayed, or end early if lightning is occurring in the practice area or is confidently forecasted to arrive based on ACA and PUSD weather policies. It is critically important that parents do not leave until your student is checked in since you are responsible for your student until that acknowledgment is complete. Parents should also monitor TeamSnap notifications in the event of practice ending early.
- We may switch practice locations in an attempt to avoid a storm’s path or have access to safe shelters like indoor buildings should the weather turn harsher than forecasted.
- We may occasionally practice indoors at the school or YMCA if a weather event can not be avoided or mitigated. These practices are still important to attend since we will cover topics like bike maintenance or work on cardio and watch race course POV videos in the spin room.
- We will occasionally practice a quick wilderness first aid drill on how to quickly but safely dismount from your bike and crouch down in the event of an unexpected lightning storm. We do not anticipate ever experiencing this, but it is a great skill for every mountain biker to have.
Please also note that practice locations are oftentimes limited due to a wide variety of constraints, including other teams or groups using various trailheads/trail networks, weather patterns, coach-to-student ratios, etc. Practice attendance is always encouraged to maintain skills development for the benefit of both the individual rider and the team as a whole. However, parents can always decide to have your student-athlete skip based on weather conditions.
