Nearly 1,000 mountain bikers will race in Modesto’s river park. How to watch and help
Close to 1,000 young mountain bikers from central California will descend on Modesto for two days of races.
They will take place the weekend of April 9-10 in Tuolumne River Regional Park. High school students will compete Saturday, middle-schoolers Sunday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day.
The public is welcome to watch the races and to volunteer, said Darin Jesberg, head coach for a local team and one of the race organizers They are urged to get there on their own bikes due to the limited parking.
This is one of the regional contests this year for the NorCal Interscholastic Cycling League. Riders will come from a 15-county zone stretching from Tuolumne in the northeast to San Luis Obispo in the southwest, including part of the Bay Area.
The Modesto course is a five-mile loop starting near the Ninth Street Bridge and stretching out to the area of John Thurman Field. The dirt paths have moderate elevation changes along the river.
The races will require closure of Morton Boulevard to through traffic between Ninth Street and Yosemite Boulevard from Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon.
Volunteers are asked to sign up by Wednesday. The tasks include parking, time-keeping and assisting the course marshal.
Jesberg is a deputy chief for the Modesto Fire Department and a longtime cyclist. In 2019, he started the Modesto Composite High School Mountain Bike Racing Team. Its current members will compete at the upcoming event.
The season began for this region with Feb. 26-27 races at Exchequer Mountain Bike Park near Snelling. A March 19-20 event near Monterey followed. Regional semifinals will be April 30 and May 1 and the finals May 21, all near Clear Lake.
The results so far are at www.norcalmtb.org.
This story was originally published April 2, 2022 at 6:40 AM.
