In 2022, one NPSD student was interested in mountain biking. Discovering that there were no bike clubs/teams within North Penn, her family contacted several other teams in the surrounding area. The amazing coaches and riders at Phoenixville Inferno, an established and growing team, welcomed this 'outsider' with open arms, showing her the same love and kindness as any of their own team members. She started practicing with them as an Independent Rider, and before long, her father registered as a coach and started tagging along. They then told an NPSD neighbor and friend, who also joined Inferno. And as North Penn membership started to grow, so did Inferno!
In 2023, Inferno expanded well beyond its original Phoenixville area. It now included a significant population of riders from the Methacton and Norristown areas (forming a new "Inferno East" team), as well as riders from the Perkiomen Valley area (forming a new "PV Inferno" team). North Penn membership remained stable but these Independent Riders were joined by even more 'Indies' from the Souderton area - all proudly riding under the "Inferno" flag!
In 2024, as word spread and Inferno continued to grow, the Perkiomen Valley School District introduced mountain biking as a PVSD club sport, absorbing PV Inferno and rebranding it as the Perkiomen Valley Vikings. Additionally, continuing to spread love and kindness, Inferno also informally adopted the Renaissance Academy Knights (a Phoenixville charter school team). Perhaps most exciting of all, was that the interest in youth mountain biking was gaining serious momentum in the Eastern Pennsylvania area, and North Penn membership increased significantly. And towards the middle of the 2024 season, we approached the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Cycling League about forming our own team.
2025 was the inaugural year of PICL's newest team: North Penn MTB! We proudly introduced youth mountain biking to the North Penn area and picked up several new riders and coaches. As a 'junior' team, we practiced along side our good friends at Inferno, and received plenty of additional support from MKOB and league representatives. As our season progressed, we also started a conversation with the North Penn School District about the possibility of introducing mountain biking as a club/activity within the district.
In 2026, the North Penn School District introduced mountain biking as an NPSD club sport - expanding upon an already impressive list of activities available to students. Building upon the success of last year, we will continue to ride with several other MKOB-supported teams within the league, and are looking forward to adding even more riders and coaches (as well as sponsors). 2026 is going to be an AWESOME YEAR for riding opportunities for North Penn!