Frequently Asked Questions
Our club is open to boys and girls in grades 5-12 regardless of age, from any school in the Greater Rochester area.
No problem. Reach out to us on our contact form. We can almost always accommodate new riders. The more riders we have, the better.
It costs nothing to belong to RYCC, however you will need to be registered with NICA NY. The cost of NICA NY is $300 per season, which includes insurance while riding with the team during the NICA season and it includes race fees for all 5 NICA spring races.
A limited number of scholarships are available (see below). If a youth rider wants to participate in races (up to 5 per season) they would be required to have an RYCC race jersey, which is $30-$40. RYCC also has its own team insurance to cover off-season activities; donations are always appreciated to offset this expense.
Yes! As a non-for-profit organization we raise funds, apply for grants and seek sponsors to offer either partial or full scholarships to cover NICA registration and race attendance participation.
Our NICA season is from December through June. We practice 2 times a week. One Thursday evening and one morning on the weekends either Saturday or Sunday. Typically, the winter practices are on Sunday and the warmer weather practices are on Saturdays. Practices are held at various locations including Vault Rochester, Bay Park West, Tryon Park, Dryer Road Park or Ontario County Park. The practices at Vault Rochester are a 45-minute cycling class. Practices are for 1 1⁄2 hours.
We visit Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike in Cleveland, Ohio twice during the colder months. We recommend families plan to stay overnight. We do not coordinate travel or hotel accommodation.
We continue to ride in the summer and fall for fun rides, however the group rides are less frequent and completely optional.
We understand many youths are involved in multiple activities and while we always want you to be at practice we understand if school commitments conflict. We use the app Spond as our main communication tool. We ask that you update your availability in a timely manner so our coaches are properly prepared for our practices.
RYCC has a limited number of mountain bikes available for youth to utilize during the season. An Equipment Loan Agreement must be signed by a parent/guardian. We recommend that you provide your own helmet, however a limited number of helmets are also available to loan to youth riders.
Yes! RYCC fields a composite team made up of of kids from multiple school districts. Unlike other middle-school and high-school sports, membership is not tied to a particular school district. Home-school kids are welcome to participate in our club rides and our official races. Mountain biking is an excellent sport for home-schooled kids.
NO! RYCC welcomes all levels of riders to our club. Just want to make new friends and go for a ride and have fun? Great, come ride with us!
AWESOME! RYCC is has a proven Developmental Training Rides (DTR) program for youth that want to race more seriously and competitively. Racers have an additional practice on Tuesday night that focuses on developmental training rides (DTR). On our other club rides, we split into groups based on skill and intensity, so you’ll be able to push yourself to excel.
Race distances and difficulty are based on your grade. Middle school race distances are between 6-9 miles. High school race distances are between 8 –16 miles typically. As the five race season progresses, so does the course difficulty at each race.
NICA NY races across the entire state, from Long Island to Naples, NY. Overnight stays are often required to attend these races. We do not coordinate travel or hotel accommodation, however we do provide you with recommendations from camp sites to hotels. RYCC hosted a race in June 2024 and 2025 at Ontario County Park and we hope to do in the future.
The races are cross-country style races with a significant portion of the track being singletrack through the woods. The courses generally require moderate level technical skill. Each age group and gender are started separately, but multiple groups may be on the course at the same time with a staggered start.
The races are timed. Riders complete as many laps as they can before the predetermined “cut” time. No one may start another lap after the cut time has passed. All riders may finish whatever lap they are on when the cut time occurs. Finishing the most laps in the shortest time wins.
Unfortunately, RYCC does not currently run summer camps for mountain biking. Our coaching staff are volunteers who run the club activities around our day jobs. But NICA NY does offer one sleepaway camp during the summer that RYCC members are eligible to attend.
RYCC and NICA NY will occasionally offer formal on-the-bike skills clinics. Members will be notified of these as they are scheduled.
Our NICA coaches are certified to be either a Level 1, 2, or 3 coach. The training includes courses in risk assessment, concussion protocol, abuse training, etc. Level 2 coaches and up are also First Aid/CPR/AED certified and receive On-The-Bike certification from a NICA certified coach. All coaches undergo a background check.
We welcome any interested party in becoming a coach to meet up with our Team Director and Head Coach to explore this opportunity. We also offer scholarships to coaches to offset their expenses of registration and training, because we believe you shouldn’t have to pay to volunteer! Coaches need to be at least 19 years old.
ABSOLUTELY! We have many roles within the club where we need support. Types of activities include organizing team meals on race weekends, updating our website/social media sites, running our apparel sale, fundraising and more!
We kindly request that all our families support our fundraising efforts whether it be by attending events, promoting the activities among your family or friends or helping with organizing the activities.
YES! We volunteer regularly with Genesee Regional Off-Road Cyclist (www.mygroc.com) to work on trail improvements throughout our riding area. We also volunteer at the Wilmot Warrior Weekend by working at a course water stop.
Girls Riding Together (GRiT) is a NICA initiative to get more girls on bikes. RYCC has GRiT coordinators that plan rides for the female identifying coaches and riders throughout the year.
Because we ride in conjunction with an interscholastic sports league, we have strict grade-level requirements for our youth athletes. But if you’re looking to get into mountain biking in Rochester, there’s another great program called ROOTZ that might be just what you’re looking for.