In the fall Ashland Devo offers two programs that operate within the Ashland HS Mountain Bike Club - one is cross-country and the other is gravity-focused. Beginner riders are welcome with the cross-country group known as the Vultures, while more seasoned riders can advance into Gravity if they are highly skilled but don’t love cross-country style riding or racing.
Everyone participates, nobody sits on the bench, and there are no cuts!
While Gravity’s primary (race) season is actually springtime, the mountain biking club operates only as a fall sport. Gravity riders generally earn their descents by climbing, but with less focus on speed riding uphill. Moreover, descending skills are highly sought after and the group will regularly “session” challenging trail sections to hone them. Occasionally the group will even get to shuttle and ride only downhill. Some riders participate in Downhill or Enduro races - most of which take place “offseason” in the spring.
Vultures Practices -
The fee for this without racing is $400. Practices start in June, skip July, then resume in August and continue through mid October. Practices are normally Tuesday/Thursday 5-7pm. Most practices are in Ashland but we also occasionally cycle around the region at venues such as Mountain of the Rogue in Rogue River, Forest Park in Jacksonville, and Prescott Park (Roxy Ann Peak) in Medford.
Gravity Practices -
Practices run once per week for 8 weeks beginning the week of Sep 8th (day TBD/probably Mondays). Cost is $330. Riders can expect to learn cornering techniques, pumping, jumps/drops, technical terrain, and racing techniques. Venues will include the Ashland Watershed, Mountain of the Rogue, Forest Park, and at least two private property airbag sessions.
Vultures Races -
Optionally, families can sign up for NICA race weekends. This year’s race venues are Prineville, Mt. Bachelor, Klamath Falls, Newport, and Salem. Races run every other weekend from late August to mid October.
There is a separate fee on top of the Devo fee of $300 for racing. Both programs together, which most people choose, totals $700. An option available, but one that is rarely selected, is to self-train or practice another sport and only show up for races. This would cost only $300. Take a look at this 2 min video to see what it’s all about - What is the OR league?
More About Vultures Races -
The races are family friendly outings in glorious locations with free onsite camping offered for those who enjoy that. It is racing, but it is only as competitive as you want it to be.
The race atmosphere with NICA is magical. Everybody gets to participate, so no one rides the bench! We are a particularly positive and encouraging team that cheers for not only our teammates but all race participants.
We make an effort to foster a cooperative team environment where we stretch and warm up together and cheer each other on. Like most teams we bring a team tent with warming fires, food and water, bike maintenance support, and team camaraderie.
We help each kid develop their own goals, which need not be performance based but can be adventure based, even attendance based, but are ideally process-based.
Race courses are loops of approximately 5km and 500’ of climbing per lap and are generally on green trails. 6th graders will do 1 or 2 laps, depending on how fast their first lap is. The fastest high schoolers do 4 laps. Race fields are anywhere from a handful to 50 per wave. Total daily riders usually run around 200.
6th graders race 6th graders and so on until around 8th grade when some riders move into one of the 4 high school groups.
Middle school boys race waves begin at 8:30am, all girl race waves begin at 9:45am, while high school boys waves begin at 11am. Each grade-specific wave begins 2 minutes after the previous wave with the oldest going first. Awards are usually about 1:30-2:30pm. There are both
north and south conferences (we are in the south conference with K Falls, South Coast, Umpqua Valley, Eugene, Corvallis, Bend, and Prineville). North and south conferences alternate racing on Saturdays versus Sundays with 2 exceptions...the first and last races are statewide on just one day, with the final race being a state championship. One has to ride 3 races to qualify for the 5th and final race, which carries its own additional fee. Last year the fee was $40. Total fees to do everything would be $740. The NICA/OICL race schedule can be found on the OICL webpage.
Scholarship application HERE Register HERE
Vultures Fees/Registration Summary:
● DEVO season fee = $400 (This covers the insurance during practices, jerseys, race day
nutrition, equipment, gear, awards, end of season party, coaches pay, etc)
● NICA season fee = $300 (This goes straight to NICA/OICL, and covers costs for the
races, training for the coaches, and insurance at the races)
○ The Team Director will send you an invitation as soon as you register for DEVO
● NICA state championship fee (optional) = $40
Vultures Timeline for 2025
● May 5th - Registration opens
● June 10th - First practice
● June 26th - Last June practice
● Aug 12th - First Aug practice (TBD)
● Aug 23rd - Race 1
● Sep6or7-Race2
● Sep20or21-Race3
● Oct4or5-Race4
● Oct 19th - State Champs/Race 5
● Oct 25th - Season Wrap Up Party/Ride
Google Calendar HERE