Given that the nature of the sport promotes social distancing, members of the Sedona Schools Mountain Bike Club have had an easier time staying sharp amid the COVID-19 pandemic than athletes in other sports. Recently, though, they’ve also been able to get out and do some rides with their teammates.

The club adheres to the regulations of the Arizona Interscholastic Association and with that, can’t hold official practices. But the members of the team have been anxious to get out on their trails with their teammates. To that end, one rider, Carter Pedersen, an incoming eighth-grader at Sedona Red Rock Junior High School, took it upon himself to arrange a late afternoon ride — which the club dubbed a “Carter ride” — on the afternoon of Tuesday, July 21.

“I just wanted to get out here and ride with the team and get going with racing, get practices going,” Pedersen said. “And start to work harder and find new people to ride with.”

During the pandemic, riders on the team have mostly gone on rides with family members. In Pedersen’s case, that meant riding with a teammate. His sister, Leah, an incoming sophomore at Sedona Red Rock Junior High School, is entering her second year with the Sedona Schools Mountain Bike Club.

Leah acknowledged that having a teammate living under the same roof has kept her motivated.

“I’ve been riding around with my brother a lot,” Leah said, “Just making sure that we keep riding together — that helps me motivate myself a lot. Instead of just riding alone.”

A lot remains up in the air around this season. If the current schedule is kept, the first race will take place at Fort Tuthill County Park in Flagstaff on Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 13. Of course, amid the pandemic, that remains very much up in the air.

Phil LeBlanc, one of the team coaches, noted that races usually feature roughly 1,200 riders. That will force event organizers to get creative with how races are started. He also pointed out that since teams often have to travel so far, race weekends also generally include camping — which isn’t always friendly to social distancing.

Beyond the logistics of the races, LeBlanc added that some of the more common elements of riding and coaching are not plausible this year.

“The challenges are keeping social distancing,” he said. “You obviously can’t ride with a mask on. That’s a challenge. So we’ve got to make sure that we keep our distance from each other. No hugging, no high-fiving. So when we do an obstacle and the kid does a challenge and overcomes the challenge, we can’t give him a high-five. Which is kind of a drag. So we just have to encourage them with our words.”

Assuming the season does go off, different members of the team have different goals. Ben Metzger, a Sedona Red Rock Junior High School seventh-grader, is looking forward to the races and hopes to gain valuable experience on the trails. Carter, meanwhile, hopes to finish on the podium in his group, which would mean a top-five finish for the season. That’s a contrast to his sister. Leah noted that a season ago she spent too much time comparing herself to other riders. This year she’s more focused on enjoying the riding, improving as a rider and letting the results fall where they may.

Skyrah Wilmer, a home-schooled freshman, has already shown immense improvement over her previous two years on the team. Wilmer said that she spent a lot of time crashing in her first year. In her second year, things got better. This year, she’ll be stepping up a level and is eager to meet the challenges that come with that.

“I’m definitely looking forward to the racing,” Wilmer said. “I think it will be a lot more challenging. I’m doing more miles. I’m going to be a freshman. Freshman have to do two laps instead of one.”

LeBlanc added that as a part of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, the Sedona Schools Mountain Bike Club can accommodate any kids from 6th to 12th grades who want to join the team, even if they don’t have bikes of their own.

He additionally stated that the club’s purpose is not to race, but to have fun, adding that the races aren’t even mandatory.

“Just ride, just have fun with us — just try it,” LeBlanc said. “We’re a fun bike club that happens to race. It’s not the other way around. We don’t race first. We’re not race specific. We’re fun specific. And we’re dedicated to helping kids get on bikes. … There should be no reason that a kid can’t enjoy riding a bike. That’s all it is. Kids enjoying bikes. It’s kind of simple. It’s camaraderie and having fun together and a safe encouraging environment.

“I’ve made a lot of friends,” Leah added. “It’s such a great environment. It’s so much fun. Everybody supports each other.”