SOUTHAMPTON — The Glendale Ridge Vineyard in Southampton is home to one of the most acclaimed wineries in the Pioneer Valley.
Located on a quiet back road with spectacular views of Mt. Tom in the distance, the vineyard occupies several acres of sweeping land that, naturally, make it a perfect place to grow vines, but also, perhaps unexpectedly, an ideal setting for a bike-racing course.
That’s exactly what took place on Wednesday at the Vineyard ‘Cross Race Series as members of the Northampton Cycle Club’s Trail Blasters Youth Cyclocross Racing Team, plus numerous adults, traversed the vineyard’s challenging yet gripping terrain for up to 45 minutes.
Ross Krause, the Blasters’ head racing coach, has seen participation numbers consistently improve within the Blasters squad since starting the program four years ago. But suddenly, popularity has skyrocketed.
“We probably got like 15 kids on the team that fall and it’s grown steadily every year since,” Krause said. “This year, it seems like it’s exploded and we’ve got, I think, 40 kids on the team now.”
The Blasters fall under the NCC’s organizational umbrella, which runs several different rides ranging from recreational group rides to the racing teams, where both children and adults participate in separate divisions.
Because of the NCC’s wide reach, Krause said word has spread naturally about the Blasters’ program, which welcomes children ages 9-19.
“I have to give a lot of credit to what Northampton Cycling Club has been doing for youth programming, year round for several years now,” Krause said. “It just keeps casting a wider and wider net and bringing in more families.
“We don’t make any big, active recruiting push,” Krause added. “It’s just the families are all talking about it and getting to know each other and forming friendships and I feel like it’s those friendships that are really driving the growth.”
Cyclocross, in particular, is an attractive avenue because it’s essentially a toned down version of mountain biking. The course at the vineyard was mostly over grass, but did feature some loops in the woods and even wooden barriers that required riders to momentarily dismount, and run through the barriers with their bike in hand.
Similar to a cross-country running course, there were noticeable elevation changes sprinkled throughout the course as well that added just enough complexity to offer riders an engaging test.
“You look at the course here, this is pretty typical of a lot of cycling cross races,” Krause said. “Unlike mountain biking, they can get a little intimidating where it’s really rocky in the woods and logs and little drops… you don’t encounter that so much here.
“I think that makes it really accessible and it’s super fun to watch too,” Krause continued. “The kids get into cheering each other on, the families are into it because you can see your kid, usually in several spots and the laps are 10 minutes or less so it keeps people pretty engaged with it.”
Krause said the racing team practices twice a week with one day focused more on the technical aspects of the sport, such as proper dismounting technique, while the second day is usually geared toward a lengthy ride that builds their stamina and endurance.
While the Blasters participate in a Spring and (currently) Fall Cycling Series, it’s essentially a year-round commitment as November-February is really the only downtime.
The Vineyard ‘Cross Race Series is just one of various racing series in the Pioneer Valley. The River Valley Series hosts a weekly race, primarily on weekends, on different courses around Western Mass. There’s also the NCC’s Hydra Cross Race and the Northampton International Cyclocross Race, all signaling that the demand is there for competitive racing.
“It’s become a hot-bed of cycling, of like all sorts of disciplines, which is pretty cool,” Krause said. “One thing we have going for us in New England is there’s density of population, so there’s enough people to rally around a niche interest like cycling… but some of it just feels like chance.”
“I actually grew up here in the valley and I remember as a teenager, seeing really big group rides out in the valley and I got to meet people that were mentors to me that were racing and they got me into it and taught me the ropes,” Krause said. “And those folks, a lot of whom are still here, drew other people into the area [saying] ‘you should come here, we’ve got beautiful backroads, beautiful scenery, places to ride.’ Then you start to build that culture around that.”
The Blasters’ Fall season will run until Nov. 7. For more information on the team, visit the NCC’s webpage.
