2001-2002: The Beginning
Officially, the Redwood High School Mountain Biking Club started in 2001. It was just a group of 10 or so students (3 of whom were girls) who met in Patchen Homitz's room at lunch once a week. The club was mainly just a place to hang out and they went on about two or three rides the whole year. No one even considered racing.

2002-2003: Champions!
In 2002, the club was filled with a bunch of enthusiastic freshman as well as returning members from last year. This is where the actual bike team begins. Paul Ippolito, a Redwood Teacher and expert mountain bike racer, came to one of the meetings and suggested that the students may be interesting in competing in races. Later on Patchen received a poster for the Norcal Racing League and also became interested in the concept of a high school mountain bike team. Eventually, Paul and Patchen take several students to a Billy Cross race in the fall and again in an eight-hour race at Billy Cross. Paul and Patchen then propose that the club turn in a mountain bike team. This is where it gets a bit dramatic folks: at the first official sign-up meeting for the team, Patchen drew a line on the floor and said, "The students who can commit to two practices a week and five out of six races this season stand on one side of the line and the students who cannot commit stand on the other side of the line". The students who committed became the 2003 league champions.

2003-2004: Growth
This year the team doubled in size to 23 students with the addition of two girls. Julia Violich became interested in the team and then decided to become an assistant coach. The team made history by winning the most points ever in a Norcal race at TBF in Folsom. However, we came in strong second to Drake High School in the league championships at Walker Creek Ranch.

2004-2005: Development
Again the mountain bike team grew to accommodate a total 35 riders with nine girls. This year the team began to change how things worked and started to integrate outside coaches (parent volunteers and members of the community) along with Julia to their training. We came in second to Nevada Union High in the league championships at Granite Bay.

2005-2006: Establishment
The team roster of 30, dmoniated by Junior class riders, included just two seniors. A total of seven girls raced, one in Varsity class, one as a Freshman, and the rest in Junior Varsity. The team was led by Julia Violich, with the help of semi-pro racer Olivier Bock. Redwood High finished 3rd overal behind Drake and Nevada Union at the Championship race at Boggs Mountain.

2006-2007: Overcoming Adversity
The 2006-2007 season was marked by the return of coach Patchen Hormuz. Patchen & Julia led a team of 30 riders, almost half of them Seniors. Although Redwood started strong, it was a tough year with injuries and technical affecting the race season. Redwood High still finished 4th at the State Champioships.

2007-2008: The Unwritten Page
The 2007-2008 season is unfolding. Will this team of 30 riders, with a strong mix of returning upperclass riders and promising Freshman, come together and perform to their highest potential? Stay tuned....

 

Mountain biking is hard so we train hard. Twice a week we have a spin class or a ride for about an hour and half on average. During this time, we work our butts off preparing our bodies and minds for races. Every Sunday we go on rides around Marin County for about 3 hours or more. On rides, we mainly focus on technical skills, maintaining effort through long rides, and building toward race preparedness.

 

Mountain biking is a sport where you try to best yourself and that's why there are no losers on the Redwood High School Mountain Biking Team. Each rider tries his or her hardest and that's what we want. It doesn't matter how fast you go, it just matters if you try your best and support your teammates. We don't cut people for being slow on our team because we believe that hardwork and determination is what really matters.