P’ville Mountain Biking Enthusiast Forming Local Student Team

Growing up on the flat plains of Long Island’s South Shore, mountain biking wasn’t an option for Bob Dillon. The thought of a mountain biking team was never a consideration.

Now, Dillon, a 48-year-old Pleasantville resident, is looking to make it a reality for high school students around the village.

Dillon is forming a village mountain biking team to compete in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) this spring, which is open to all students in grades 9-12. This is the first year the NICA is holding races in New York and Dillon wants Pleasantville riders in both of the inaugural season’s two races.

“I’m an avid mountain biker myself, somebody tipped me off about (the NICA) and I said, ‘Oh, how cool would that be to have as a kid,’” Dillon said. “I just figured in Pleasantville we have to have a team.”

At first, Dillon contacted the Westchester Mountain Biking Association (WMBA) and local bike shops in the area to see if they were planning on forming a team. But after receiving no indication that one would be started, Dillon has taken the lead.

“If no one else is going to do it than I’m going to make it happen,” he said.

Interest has been circulating with more potential racers than Dillon anticipated for the first season. He was initially hoping for four or five participants. He now estimates that at least 10 racers want to compete and thinks it’s possible even more could join as the word continues to spread.

One of Dillon’s three assistant coaches, Brian Kelly, said when Dillon approached him he thought it’d be a great idea to have a team for the high school students and the rest of the community. His son, Benjamin, a 17-year-old Pleasantville High School student, is one of the members.

“I do a lot of road racing so I think this will be kind of cool for him to get out and try something that he can also do in competition,” Kelly said.

Because the league is not associated with any athletic governing body related to New York school districts, an announcement couldn’t be made in school. With that roadblock in place, Dillon is relying on spreading the news of the team through word-of-mouth and posters around the community.

One advantage Dillon knows he has over other communities with mountain biking teams is the access to Graham Hills Park, the county facility off Route 117, right in Pleasantville’s backyard. While other mountain bikers have to travel distances to find a suitable course to train over, racers on the team can ride their bike to the park’s trails in little time. With close proximity to a well-maintained trail, Kelly said multiple practice sessions can be arranged.

“Because we’re so close to Graham Hills we can just go,” Kelly said. “We can have different groups going at different times so everyone can get practice in.”

The two races this season will be held once spring arrives. The first is at Sprain Ridge Park in Yonkers and the second race will be in the Catskills.

Racers that participate have to maintain at least a 2.0 GPA to remain eligible. At this point, Dillon said he’d rather limit the team to any boy or girl who lives within the village but if young riders from neighboring communities express interest, he’d be happy to have them.

“I just think it’s a great sport,” Dillon said. “It gets kids outside and off Xbox and video games. It gets them outside and in touch with the environment and it’s fun.”

Interested racers can contact Bob Dillon at PleasantvilleMTB@gmail.com.