Mountain biking was first included into the Olympic Games in 1996, and for the second consecutive year the Olympic Day celebrations included a mountain bike event organised by Mike's Bikes for the T&T Olympic Committee. Some 60 mountain bike riders from age six to 60 converged on Samaan Park in Chaguaramas for this event last Saturday. First off was the One Lap Fun Lap, a concept first suggested by the Northern Rangers mountain bike Club, an opportunity for all, regardless of age or ability, to ride the trails as a non-competitive group for the pure love of the sport. Mountain biking has exploded in popularity in recent years, and the need to re-open trails in Chaguaramas that were cut by mountain biking enthusiasts years ago, was the catalyst for the birth of the Northern Rangers mountain bike club.
What began as an informal collection amongst regular mountain bikers to clear these overgrown trails grew into a mailing list of 80 riders with more than 50 riders contributing to the effort. In January 2012, the club was formed with an interim committee of seven that drafted the club's constitution. An application was made to the T&T Cycling Federation to register the club, and final approval was received in May. The vision of the club is "to develop environmentally sensitive mountain biking in all its forms for all levels of ability in T&T." One of the main objectives of the club is to facilitate the growth of mountain biking in T&T so that the sport can achieve a fair and transparent ranking system putting the framework in place for forming a national mountain biking team to compete at an international level.
Results
Girls 6-9
1 Miranda Frost
2 Kaya Beadle
Boys 6-9
1 Ryan De Arbreau
2 Darren Rostant
3 Johnathan Aqui
Girls 10-12
1 Arianna Agostini
2 Jada Nimblet
Boys 10-12
1 Jean Marc Granderson
2 Darian Nimblet
3 Andrew Darwant
Adult Course
Sport
1 Jason Gooding
2 Christian Hospedales
3 Nicholas Hospedales
Veterans 50+
1 Brian Sellier
2 Carl Williams
Open Female
1 Maria Gooding
2 Kimberly Lewis
3 Rosehannah Hartley