Gotta keep the arms warm!

Our new threads! ;)

The red strip showing H&S will be going down the sides of the jersey.

What do you think??

First Practice Recap

Great first practice everyone!  We got ALOT accomplished in a short amount of time.  The Glendale coaches were impressed with you all and made several comments to me about you!  They complimented on your energy level as a team and your eagerness to learn.  Not bad compliments coming from a team going on its 3rd year!  It's YOU who will make this team what it will be...and my opinion, based on what I saw, is that the sky's the limit!!!
Thank you to everyone for arriving on time and bringing the necessary gear.  It took a little bit to get things situated in the morning which made the early 9am meet time crucial.  The first practice is always the hardest in terms of hammering out minor details.  Now that we all know what to expect for a practice there's no doubt it'll be smooth sailing!  From this point on there's no need to meet at the school.  We can meet right at the practice spots from here on in and just ride. 
On that note, our next practice will be this Saturday at 8am at Hahamongna Park once again.  We'll be going over a few more basic skills type stuff...all while avoiding the infamous thorn field!  We'll also be getting in a little more singletrack action as well!  So it helps to mentally go over the lessons you learned this past Saturday so you can build upon them as we move along. 
Lessons we went over Saturday included:
-Bicycle nomenclature
-Braking dynamics, i.e., difference in stopping power between front and rear brakes.
-Gear selection and the problems with "cross-chaining"
-Body position going uphill/downhill
-And of course...How to change out a flat tire!!!...or 5... :)

So let's get there on time this Saturday.  We can ride for a couple of hours, then you all have the entire day left to relax or do whatever.  That's the advantage of an early practice!

Oh and remember, this is YOUR blog so feel free to post on here.  There's no such thing as a dumb question.  Chances are someone else on the team is probably wondering the same thing.  So feel free to post away.  An open dialogue of communication is another GREAT way to learn!

Take care and good luck with finals! 

Your coach,

Mauricio

Welcome!

Hello everyone!
Welcome to our new team blog site!  We've come a long way since the idea of starting a high school mountain biking team in Burbank came about.  The pieces have slowly but surely been coming together and we are now set for our very first team practice this Sunday!  An awesome group of student-atheletes from John Burroughs High School have stepped up and accepted this awesome new challenge.  They will go down in history as the original members of Burbank's VERY FIRST High School Mountain Biking Team!  The So Cal League is here to stay and this team is set to make its mark in history come this spring...and will undoubtedly have a blast doing it!!  Thank you for following our team.  A special thank you goes out to our sponsors who have made this all possible for us.  Our sponsors are who definitely make our tires go round!
Please stay tuned for team updates as they come.

Thanks,

Mauricio Barba
Head Coach