For the 2018-19 season, including photos, contact info, and more, click here.

For future years, note that the Monterey County Bicycling Resources directory includes Bicycling Monterey’s most current contact information for the Lightfighters and others.

In the post below, learn some history and other details about Monterey Bay Lightfighters. Click the following link to download a PDF about the team: Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite 2018.

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Summer 2018 Lightfighters’ buzz includes: Alex Akins and Cameron Stewart: Monterey County teens competing in Tour of Ireland.

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The Lightfighters are the recipient of the 2017 Team Spirit award for the NorCal League!

At the 2017 California High School Mountain Bike State Championships, Stefan Hubrik took first in the Sophomore Boys D2 competition, and Nathan Davis took fifth place in the Freshman Boys D2 competition. See Monterey County Teens Bike: at the 2017 California State High School Mountain Bike Championships and elsewhere.

The official League designation for the team formerly known as Monterey Composite is Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite Mountain Bike Team.

Fall 2017 will be the start of the Lightfighters’ sixth year in the NorCal League.  Don’t delay, contact the Head Coach so you’re ready to join the Lightfighters next fall. Contacts are listed in Section 7a of Bicycling Monterey’s 32-section directory, Monterey County Bicycling Resources Directory / Bike Community Leaders.

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Congratulations to the young women and men of the Lightfighters for another successful season and a first place team finish at the California State High School Mountain Bike Championships in May 2016!

Kudos also to team sponsors for supporting these Monterey County youth. For 2015-16 season, these included ‪HER Helmet Thursdays spot The Wharf Marketplace, local bike shop Peninsula Bike Works, and Fluid Nutrition. 

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The NorCal High School Cycling League, established in 2001, and the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, founded in 2009, are the regional and national organizations under whose guidelines Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite operates and is sanctioned. Visit the NorCal and NICA websites for detailed info about League teams.

Who can be on the Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite team?

• Team members are 9th-12th graders from any Monterey County school that doesn’t have a mountain biking team. That includes students from any Monterey County public, private, or homeschool, including unschoolers and students in independent study programs, unless your school has a mountain bike team.
• The only Monterey County 9th-12th graders who aren’t eligible to be on the Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite team, as of Fall 2015, would be students of Palma School and Salinas High School, since both Palma and SHS have a team their students can join.
• Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite training rides and other meet-ups are usually on the Monterey Peninsula. However, this is a welcoming, inclusive group for high school age students from anywhere in the county who want to be on a mountain bike team. If you are from North or South County, Salinas, or elsewhere and have transportation to get to team activities, you are very welcome to join!
• Girls are encouraged to participate on this co-ed team.
• There are no tryouts, and all experience levels may join.
• High school mountain biking is a sport where no team member sits on the bench!
• [9/19/18 update from a second-year team member’s parent: “It is true that all kids are welcome to join. However kids who have no experience at all on a bike will struggle to keep up. This is a fast-paced high school composite team.”]
• NorCal works to create a climate for high school racers that includes to “Develop an awareness of what it is to be an amateur athlete that is both gracious and respectful to their community,” “Promote the value of cycling to our community as a mode of transportation and as a lifelong sport,” and “Foster a responsible attitude toward the use of trails and wilderness.”  Click here to read more on NorCal’s  About page.

Active recruiting for Monterey Bay Lightfighters Composite begins in early fall, with an introductory meeting to be scheduled for a Friday evening in mid-October.  (Official team year, and insurance coverage, commences October 15^th .)

• After 13 years of coaching youth (see history below), team co-founders Mark Kintz, a Monterey Composite head coach, and Patty Kintz, an assistant coach, will step down to a less active role for the 2015-16 season.
• A continuing head coach, James Lawrence, will be in charge.
• James will be assisted by Todd Roberts.
• [May 19, 2017 update: For the season beginning fall 2017, the new head coach will be Todd Roberts. See Section 7a of Monterey County Bicycling Resources Directory / Bike Community Leaders for contact info.]

New team members are welcome and encouraged to contact James Lawrence now so they can join in October 2015!

• This being a racing team, not a riding club, starting early in the training season is critical.
• While latecomers get the coaches’ best efforts to help them prepare for races, the season goals of latecomers have to be substantially modified, as compared to their teammates who’ve been riding months and months.
• A team member starting in October allows them the full measure of training and social benefits of being on a race team, so don’t delay!

If you might like to be part of the 2015-16 seasons’s sign-ups, or if you have questions…

Contact

Current contacts are listed in section (7a) of Monterey County Bicycling Resources Directory / Bike Community Leaders.

Everyone is welcome to come out and watch the races.

The info below, which includes more history about the team, was previously published in 2014.

History of Monterey County’s high school cycling teams

The first high school biking team of any kind in the county was, to my knowledge, Calvary High School’s–the school now known as Trinity High School, located across from the Class I coastal trail.  Although the bike team from that local Christian high school is no longer active, you can still see the school principal biking to worship! Click here.

Part of the Calvary family are avid cyclists Patty and Mark Kintz. They coached a homeschooled mountain bike team, the Monterey Bay Kingfishers, who competed at Sea Otter Classic and other events.

The birth of Monterey Composite

Patty and Mark are continuing to coach high school youth:  Kingfishers has rebranded and expanded to welcome other high school students whose schools have no team.  What a welcome addition to Monterey County: The Monterey Composite High School Mountain Bike Team, with head coaches Mark Kintz and James Lawrence, and assistant coach Patty Kintz.

With the exception of Salinas High School Cowboys Racing Mountain Bike Team, which is the first organized public high school team in the county, there are no other high school cycling team opportunities at this time. [Update: Palma School now has a team too.]  That means Monterey Composite could begin to get a lot of requests to be part of their team!

Who’s invited?

Monterey Composite is a welcoming, inclusive group for high school age students countywide who want to be on a mountain bike team. Students are welcome from any Monterey County public, private, or homeschool, including unschoolers and students in independent study programs.

There are no tryouts, and all experience levels may join. However, be aware that for the current season, team activities commenced  in October, and new participants were accepted through mid-January for 2013.

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May 2014 updates:

• Fall 2014 will be the start of Monterey Composite’s third year, and its third year in the NorCal League, as confirmed with James Lawrence. Congrats, Monterey Composite!
• Team members are 9th-12th graders from any Monterey County school or home/unschool that doesn’t have a bike team.
• New team members are welcome and are next encouraged to join up in October 2014. Starting in October allows the full measure of training and social benefits of being on a race team.
• Everyone is welcome to come out and watch the races.

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They would especially love to encourage more girls to participate!

For more info, contact the Head Coach. Contacts are listed in section (7a) of Monterey County Bicycling Resources Directory / Bike Community Leaders.

This being a racing team, not a riding club, starting early in the training season is critical. While latecomers get the coaches’ best efforts to help them get ready, their season goals have to be substantially modified, as compared to their teammates who’ve been riding months and months.

Missed the Monterey Composite pre-season invitation? Click to see their 2012 flier, and contact them to get on a list for their future notices. Note that although the flier stated “Monterey Peninsula,” high school students countywide are welcome.

If you might like to be part of the next season’s sign-ups, or if you have questions, contact the Head Coach.

For gals and guys

As of January 2013, the Monterey Composite High School Mountain Bike Team is made up of one Carmel High School student and seven homeschoolers.

All boys? No way! The team has two girls, and six boys. Hey, Monterey County teen girls:  Let’s get those numbers up next season–contact the team and see about signing up!

NorCal League, NICA, and our local high school teams

The NorCal High School Cycling League, established in 2001, and the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, founded in 2009, are the regional and national organizations under whose guidelines Monterey Composite, and Salinas High Cowboys Racing, operate and are sanctioned. Visit the NorCal and NICA websites for detailed info.

NorCal works to create a climate for high school racers that includes to “Develop an awareness of what it is to be an amateur athlete that is both gracious and respectful to their community,” “Promote the value of cycling to our community as a mode of transportation and as a lifelong sport,” and “Foster a responsible attitude toward the use of trails and wilderness.”  Click here to read more on NorCal’s  About page.

Let’s go to the races!

Come on out and be inspired by watching the next races! Monterey Composite’s 2013 race season begins with a NorCal race on February 24, 2013 at East Garrison–where you can expect to find the entire southern half of the NorCal league! 

Night training

Monterey County’s NorCal teams are fortunate to have a safe setting for night-training, even though since Fort Ord is closed at sunset, it’s all pavement.  Miles of Class I guardrail-protected bike/multiuse path, and Fort Ord Dunes State Park, offer great places to train, even during the evenings. (See tips for biking in the dark.)

Other special mountain biking ops for youth in Monterey County

Want to perhaps be inspired for future high school team riding with Monterey Composite, or Salinas High? Here are two special opportunities:

1. Girls can mountain bike with Olympian Lea Davison and her sister, Leah Davison, for one, two, or three days at the annual Little Bellas Day Camp in April at Sea Otter Classic. Both local residents and visiting girls are welcome.
2. Boys and girls, teens and younger, are invited to Monterey Off Road Cycling Association’s annual “Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day.”  This is a free event and normally happens in October.

Related info on this site

Are you a teen, or younger person, not interested in racing? There are other local bicycling activities for youth.

See the Children and Teens section of this site (access it above the banner anytime).  There you’ll find the following and more:

• Bicycle culture and youth
• Kids biking to school–in Monterey County and elsewhere
• Bike maps and related help
• California bike laws and personal safety–with tips for kids
• Teaching Children Well:  Bike safety and bike tech education
• Children Celebrate Cycling at the Sea Otter Classic
• Shawn Carden–a Salinas teen’s whose love for BMX riding has taken him on many travels
• Safe Routes to School–and elsewhere:  Complete Streets Act
• Safe Routes to School resources in Spanish
• Back to the books–and bikes (tips mostly geared to older students in Monterey County)
• Intergenerational Ride to Fort Ord Dunes State Park (new annual Bike Week activity)
• Bike Parking, Security, and Storage
• Bicycle Security
• North Monterey County teens are among a group of teens working to build healthier lifestyles for youth. See who attended the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Scenic Trail network meeting in Watsonville, and learn why.
• Besides biking info, you’ll also find a few other youth-related resources on this site. See Barbara Coloroso’s visit to Monterey County–“Kids Are Worth it!” Included at that link are teen and Spanish/English free materials on “The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander.”

Consider that many kids in our county can’t afford bikes; maybe you can help!

To support or create more youth biking opportunities in Monterey County, see “Salinas youth and others for bikes:  Bikes make life better.”

Archived notes

As of January 2013, the Monterey Composite High School Mountain Bike Team is made up of one Carmel High student and seven homeschoolers. All boys? No way! The team has two girls, and six boys. Students who’d like to join later can contact the team about future opportunities.