Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

Salida Sage Kitson celebrates after finishing Sunday's High School Mountain Bike League state championships.  RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post

By Jason Blevins, The Denver Post

CASTLE ROCK — When mountain biking math teacher Fred Maxwell dreamed up a knobby-tired bike team at his Salida High School three years ago, three kids joined. The next year, there were 15, with several students showing up riding rusty 10-speeds in blue jeans and batting helmets.

On Sunday, the 292-student school's mountain bike team — now at 21 students, roughly the same size as the Spartans' football team — placed four kids on the podium at the Colorado High School Mountain Bike League state championships in Castle Rock.

The strong Sunday led Salida High to second place behind 1,800-student Boulder High. With first-place state titles in junior varsity girls and sophomore boys, a second-place state title in varsity girls and second- and third-place titles in varsity boys, Salida is an unlikely powerhouse among the 2-year-old league's 30 teams.

Read more about the town's support for the high school mountain bike team and see a slide show of teen riders, including a mountain biker from Cheyenne Mountain High School.