January, 2025

Starting Line

Happy New Year! Time to kick the season into high gear.
- January 16th - First race meeting! All new racers and parents are required to attend, all are strongly encouraged. In this meeting we will review race weekend requirements, volunteer opportunities, and answer any questions you may have. 6pm - 7pm at Trek Lamar.
- January 18th - Post Practice party at 1821 Ashby Ave, 78704. After practice on Saturday the team will gather at Conrad's to mingle and answer questions about the season and the upcoming races. Food and beverages will be provided. Come meet the team! Noon - 2:00 pm.
- January 22nd - Category Petitions are due to Maroons coaching
- February 1st - Our first race is the Candy Rush in Sugarland. This is a fun, fast, flowy race.
- February 22nd - Our second race will be Millican in College Station. This race will be a fitness test.
Thanks to everyone who came out to the Travis Country Jingle Bell Ride. Fourteen maroons safely shepherded > 160 neighborhood riders for 13 miles across our Travis Country! The evening was a huge success, thanks to everyone who came out and represented the team - it was perfection.
If you haven't picked up your Team Kit or socks, we will have them after most practices.
Hoodies, T-shirts, and beanies will be available for pick-up early January. We will also have these after some practices.
Be sure to follow our Insta, YouTube, and join our Strava Club. We have some real talent on the team for videography.

SHEGWAT Spotlight

To quote the 90's rap visionary, Ice Cube: "You better SHEG yo' self, before you wreck yo' self"

This month, we’re spotlighting ‘A' - Air .

All riders need to check the pressure in their tires before EVERY ride. One pound of air can mean the difference between a trustworthy hookup or a washout or pinch-flat. Your tires will leak about a pound of air each day.

If you're running tubless tires (you should be), you'll need to maintain your sealant to keep your tires inflated and avoid trailside flats on a ride or in a race. In the winter you should check your sealant levels every 4-6 weeks. In the summer - every 3-4 weeks. Even if old sealant still sloshes around and shows on the dipstick, if the sealant's volatile compounds (usually ammonia) have flashed off, the sealant isn't useful anymore and needs to be replaced.

If you don't have a reliable home floor pump, get some ideas here.

Practice Pulse

Fitness and Flow!

"Slow is Smooth, and Smooth is Fast..."

December's practices were great. All our PODS are progressing very well and we're seeing some great strides from our riders. Color me impressed.

With the season's first race coming up in 1 month, we're going to start focusing riders on venue-specific techniques.

We will be working on fitness and flow, finding ways to maximize speed, minimize braking, and pump every chance we get to prepare for the Candy Rush at Sugarland outside of Houston. Maroons may practice in gnarly rocks, but we're going to squeeze every ounce of free speed from all the whoops and pumps at Sugarland this year!

We will be focusing on sustained efforts and fitness to make sure our athletes have the ability to hold an effort for 5/10/15 miles without suffering from fatigue. These first 2 courses should not test our rider's technical ability but we want to be sure that all of our athletes can hold their pace for their entire ride so they're able to meet their goals.

Don't worry, on March 8th NICA will be providing some rocks so y'all can stretch your tech-legs a bit ;)

Coaches' Corner

Congrats to our new Level 2 coaches: Cindy, Joel, and Stephen! Matt, Steven, Mike, and Dave are on the way - get that First Aid and CPR wrapped up Maroons!
Good times were had on December's Coaches' ride. Make sure you're there for this month on January 25th!
PODS leadership has really found it's footing. Coaches should reach out to the Head/Assistant Head coach if they have any questions on training features to use with their PODS. Be sure to use the Tech Check app to find interesting problems for your athletes! It's brand new, so please tell us how you think it can be improved.
The secure coaching site is seeing a good amount of traffic - feedback is appreciated coaches!. NOTE: only current, verified Maroons coaches are able to access these coaching links. Curious about coaching? Here ya go!

Questions: info@ahsmtbteam.com

Website: https://www.ahsmtbteam.com

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