Practices: In general, excepting race weeks, the team practices 3 times per week (Monday 6 – 8 p.m., Thursday 6 – 8 p.m., & Saturday 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.). The times are adjusted throughout the season as available daylight dictates. Mondays are usually a skill based session at Lodestone Regional Park. Thursdays are a trail ride/skill session at places such as Herriman and Corner Canyon. Saturdays are trail rides at venues such as Eagle Mountain or Park City.
Team Communication: WGC uses the TeamSnap app to handle all team communications (rides, practice schedule, who’s bringing what food to a race, etc.). Once a rider joins the team a team manager will send a sign-up link.
Parent Involvement: Parent involvement is critical to the team’s success.
- NICA expects all parents to volunteer at a race at least once throughout the season. Volunteer opportunities for each race can be found at the Utah League’s Website.
- We also need team help on race days. Team site setup and take-down, food, feedzone, etc. are important tasks.
- Ride leaders & sweeps: Parents are needed to serve as ride leaders and sweeps. Ideally we would like to have a leader and a sweep for each group of kids (e.g. Junior Devos, JV, Varsity). All volunteers (parent or otherwise) who wish to ride with the team are required to be minimally NICA Level I certified. Click here to see what this means.
- More parent involvement means the coaches have more time to coach.
Required Equipment:
- Mountain Bike (well maintained and in good working order). NOTE: you do not need a $5000 bike. Buying an entry level or used bike can save lots of $$ and can then be upgraded as the rider’s skill and/or interest increases. Tires, forks, and pedals are the best places to start, they need not break the bank and they can provide substantial performance improvements. Talk to a coach for recommendations.
- Bike Helmet (proper fit and in good condition).
- Gloves (preferably full finger).
- Closed-toe shoes (sandals are not allowed). Stiff soled shoes are the best as they help to prevent arch fatigue and they improve the rider’s ability to apply force to the pedals.
- Water bottles and/or hydration pack.
- Spare inner tubes (even if you are running tubeless).
- Hand pump or CO2 inflator & tire levers.
- WGC team jersey (required for races only).
Recommended Equipment:
- Eye Protection.
- Multi-tool.
- Floor Pump with pressure gauge (improperly inflated tires is a huge cause of flats).
- Tubeless ready wheels and tires (less weight, allows for running at lower tire pressures, and better flat prevention. Can you say Goat Heads!).
- Tire Sealant for those running tubeless.
- Medications.
- Sunscreen.
- Nutrition (proper fueling can make a large difference in performance both race day and at practice).
- Bike cleaning tools & chain lube (a clean & lubed machine is a happy machine).
- Cycling clothing.
NICA Pit Zone: The Pit Zone is where you register your rider, pay NICA fees, register for actual races, etc. You can only get to this via an email invite which needs to be sent by a team director. For insurance and liability reasons, riders must be registered, payed, and identified as “practice ready” in the Pit Zone before they are allowed to participate in any team rides or practices.
Costs/Fees:
- NICA Fees: click here to see NICA and Utah League fees.
- Team Fees: Aside from the NICA fees there is a WGC team fee as well. We use this money to defray costs such as team registration, drinks & snacks for race day, tubes, etc. WGC Team fees ($230) are due no later than June 1st and checks can be made to either “West Granite Composite” or “Nolan Harris”.
- Team Kit: A WGC team jersey or t-shirt is required for racing. T-shirts usually cost around $20 and bike jerseys cost around $70.
We highly recommend you look at both the NICA National and the Utah League websites.
