by Lisa Schauer 
A day after its official ribbon-cutting ceremony, the new Rock & Roll trail at Cacapon State Park was broken in by over 200 student athletes on mountain bikes.
West Virginia Interscholastic Cycling League organized the race of middle and high school students representing 18 teams from 14 counties.
“It’s a fun, flow-y trail,” said coach Sarah Elkins of Greenbrier County, as she cheered on her team, the Valley Hellbenders, at the trailhead.
“The trail was built around rocks. It has a fast layout, with lots of long berms,” said Elkins.
High school boys are ready at the starting line for the final heat in the NICA mountain bike race at Cacapon State Park on Sunday.
The last NICA race was held at Big Bear Lake in north central West Virginia, where the course is very technical, according to Elkins.
“The trail at Cacapon is brand new, and suitable for all riders,” said Elkins.
“These are the best facilities,” said John Little, whose son Cam set the course record at Big Bear, and was now competing at Cacapon.
“We didn’t get him into it, he got us into it,” said Little of mountain biking. The family really started getting into riding after COVID hit, according to his wife, Kris. She says their son likes competing against himself, and has fun even when he loses.
