Pedals clank and gears shift as he breaks out of the starting gate. The smell of freshly disturbed dirt fills the air and the ground ahead of him becomes a blur as he dashes through the rocky path. It is the combination of sweat and the wind blowing through the holes of his helmet that keep him cool in the harsh heat of the sun. “On your left,” he calls out as he makes his way up the ranks.

Junior Jacob Hopson placed 21st in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association state mountain bike competition with his team, the Amarillo Yellow Jackets, April 29 in Comfort, Texas. He ended the season ranked 20 in the state.

“Your nerves are high when you are about to start,” Hopson said. “Your adrenaline is rushing, and you’re standing there, bouncing your legs, wanting to get out on the trail. I love it, because you see so many different things while testing your skills and how fast you can go. I just love the adrenaline. It makes you start feeling things and makes you want to go faster.”

The team competes in several locations around the state and often competes against hundreds of students from their division.

“In this last race, I got 21st,” Hopson said. “It was my worst race, honestly, but it being the state championship, everyone was pushing a lot harder than they normally do. This was also my most consistent race, with each lap between ten seconds of each other.”

The Amarillo Yellow Jackets are an Amarillo area composite mountain bike team who compete statewide against other teams around the state in the NICA. Students between the ages of 11 and 18 of all skill levels are welcome on the team. Riders on the team are encouraged but not required to compete in the league.

“A lot of dads who have students on the team have stepped up and started coaching a little bit, like my dad and Collin Coker,” Hopson said. “The team has grown quite a bit, and we have up to 25 racers now. Just about everybody right now that is on the team is racing.”

Hopson has been cycling since he was 11, and he has competed in the NICA with the Yellow Jackets team for three years. Hopson said he intends to compete throughout high school and afterwards.

“NICA has not allowed younger students to race until recently, so I was not able to start racing until my freshman year,” Hopson said. “I will probably have to go pro if I want to go any further, which would take a lot of effort on my part. I’ll have to get quicker, and work up my endurance, but I intend to do that anyway,”

Along with Hopson, junior Cameron Brown also competes on the team, and the two have been racing together for two years.

“Cameron Brown and I are the only people in Canyon who ride for the team right now, but we have a lot of riders from Amarillo and Bushland,” Hopson said. “We’re trying to get some people from Dumas and Panhandle to come ride. There are also some younger kids who come and ride with us sometimes, but they don’t race.”

The team practices at Pitcher Pump southwest of Amarillo on Thursday evenings from 5 to 7:30 p.m. They also practice in Palo Duro Canyon on Sundays, varying in time depending on the season.

“Each grade has a category from sixth grade all the way to 11th grade,” Hopson said. “From sixth grade until sophomore year, you ride as normal and then after that you’re either JV or varsity. The JV does three laps and is made up of juniors and seniors, and varsity is the top level guys.”

Students can earn physical education credits, as well as opportunities from competing with the team depending on their rank at the end of the season.

“The team overall got fifth place in the league out of 34 teams,” Hopson said. “We did pretty well this season.”