*If racing isn’t your jam, check out our popular spring cyclocross series and weekly recretional mountain bike rides throughout the riding season (April through October).

2025 Season Information (2026 season information to come) 

Northampton Cycling Club’s youth cyclocross racing program focuses on a local series of races (The River Valley CX Series) and a few other local events. The season includes twice-weekly team practices (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and 7 race days. Program dates, locations, and details below.

We welcome riders with a range of speed and skill levels, however we want to emphasize that our program is geared toward athletes who are ready to be engaged in practice and improve their skills and fitness for a season of racing. Riders are expected to be motivated and ready to be challenged at an appropriate level for their age and skill level. Riders should be ready to climb uphill, ride for extended periods of time, spend significant time on trails and grass, run for short distances, and will be expected to come in to the program having enthusiasm and a base level of fitness, but maybe not the racing experience or advanced handling skills just yet. We expect the riders to work hard, focus, behave, and have fun. We will spend time at the start of the season setting expectations around behavior and commitment and ask that parents help us reinforce these expectations.

This is a great way for motivated kids to get out and try their hand at cyclocross racing, or gain some new skills and fitness if they already have experience! Practices will focus on strategy, skills, faster-paced riding, and will be tailored to our team’s needs. Races will offer multiple age groups and will be attended by trained coaches and parent volunteers.

Participants must be Northampton Cycling Club members with a cyclocross racing age 10-18 (age as of 12/31/2026) who are ready to learn, work hard, and compete. Acceptable bikes include cyclocross, gravel, or mountain bikes.

>>Register here<<

Team Practices

• August 19th - November 6th
• Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00 arrival, Practice Runs 5:15 - 7:00 This may shift earlier as daylight necessitates
• Tuesday Practice: Southampton and Easthampton locations (skills / cyclocross specific work)
• Thursday Practice: Holyoke and/or Hatfield locations (gravel endurance ride)

Race Schedule

• River Valley Series Race #1 Sunday, 8/24/2025 Blunt Park CX / Springfield, MA
• River Valley Series Race #2 Sunday, 8/31/2025 NCC Hydra Cross / Holyoke, MA
• River Valley Series Race #3 Saturday, 9/20/2025 West Hill Shop / Putney, VT
• River Valley Series Race #4 Sunday, 9/28/2025 Kilowatt Cross / Northfield, MA
• River Valley Series Race #5 Sunday, 10/19/2025 Treehouse CX / South Deerfield, MA
• Cycle-Smart Northampton Weekend: Saturday & Sunday 11/1 - 11/2 Northampton International Cyclocross Northampton, MA
• Optional: Various September & October Races

Some team members also may attend more races in the Northeast in September and October and the USA Cycling National Championships in Fayetteville, AR in December

All races will have youth categories for our team and plenty of racing opportunities for adults and younger kids too! We plan to make the races a fun time with food, cheering, and friends!

Coaches

Our head racing coach is a licensed USA Cycling coach and all our coaches are SafeSport certified and have years of experience running youth cycling programs. All of our coaches are background checked and SafeSport certified; most also have First Aid and CPR certification and have years of experience running youth cycling programs.

Ross Krause
NCC Trail Blasters Head Racing Coach
rkrause@nohobikeclub.org

I have questions!

• I’m not sure if my child is ready for this!
• Do we have the right bike?
• We have other sport or extracurricular commitments that may interfere.
• I’m not sure we can afford the program or race fees.
• What is a racing age?!

Feel free to reach out to head racing coach Ross Krause if any of these ring true or you have other questions (use the ‘Contact Us’ link below).

Register to be part of the team and pay the program fee on our BikeReg page.

River Valley Riot, not NCC club sponsored but aligned in mission, vision, community.

For riders looking for a dedicated race series and season, there's the local River Valley Riot (grades 5-12) and River Valley Rumble (grades 2-4) New England Youth Cycling (NEYC) teams. NEYC is a youth program consisting of over 30 teams across all five states in New England and more than 900 athletes participating throughout the season. The season will start with practices in late March and will consist of six races; three in May and three in June with practices twice a week in Northampton or surrounding towns. The Riot race team is led by Ross Krause and the Rumble team is led Justin Glaze. Please reach out to rivervalleyriotteam@gmail.com or rivervalleyrumbleteam@gmail.com for any questions you may have.