About Us

About Us

The Sandpoint Trailblazers "composite" team had its first year in the "fall season" of 2021 with the Montana Cycling League which exists under the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA).  The team exists to serve youth in the Sandpoint area who would be in 6th - 12th grades as of September.  Practices will be held during NICA's "Fall Season" from July - Oct.  Races start in late Aug.  Visit the "Join the Team?" link to find out more about the team/season/races.

The Backstory

In 2019, Alec Thaete, who was passionate about starting a youth bike racing team in our area, took on the task of creating a team and joining the Washington Interscholastic Cycling League.  In the process of gathering interest, Mike Martz came alongside Thaete and began working together to form a team.  Unfortunately COVID put an end to the season that spring of 2020.  Due to the impact of COVID in the Washington area, the upcoming spring 2021 season wasn't looking too promising, so Thaete decided to put the team on pause for a season.  During that down time, Martz was exploring youth bike racing options and realized that the NICA based Montana League held their races on the western end of Montana, much closer to Sandpoint than the Washington league.  Martz and Thaete discussed the league options and ultimately Martz took the lead in joining the Montana League for Fall 2021, the team's first season.  Matt McOwen joined, bringing his experience from another NICA team.  As the seasons have progressed, more parents and experienced riders have joined as coaches bringing the coach total to 14+ for the 2024 season.