RECAP – 2025 Brazos River Park – Sugar Land | South

RECAP – 2025 Brazos River Park – Sugar Land | South

Sugar Land Race Thumb

Official Race Weekend Photos

Our race weekend photographers are 100% volunteers! They share their talents because they love the heart of NICA. Their photos are for sale for $5 each on SmugMug.
All proceeds go towards the GRiT Scholarship at the end of the season which provides new bikes to help get more girls on bikes!

Special thanks to Red Family Photo and Piers Hendrie for their generosity and talent!


Help Us Improve!

Many thanks to you and your family for participating in the Texas league! 

We are kindly asking anyone who participated in this past weekend’s event for a few minutes of your time to provide feedback! If you did not attend or participate in our event, you may kindly ignore this email.

Why is your feedback and response to this survey important?

  • Our post-event surveys help us understand how our events contribute to the local economy of host communities. This helps our leagues across the country to advocate for new venues and generate local support for their events. 
  • These surveys also provide a place for your thoughts, kudos, and suggestions for NICA league events, and results are shared with your league leadership.

The survey takes between 3-5 minutes to complete. We’re grateful for your time and your thoughts!


Saturday

Saturdays at race weekend are all about fun, and Sugar Land delivered the perfect backdrop. After a week of rain, the skies cleared just in time, welcoming teams with warm weather and great conditions at Brazos River Park. We need a huge SHOUT OUT to FBMBA for their support in helping us come up with a great race course and for hosting us this weekend on their home trails.

The day started with team pre-rides, giving athletes a chance to familiarize themselves with the course. In the infield, Adventure games kept the energy high, while TC Screen Printing unveiled the official Season XIV merchandise, drawing plenty of interest from teams and families.


Texas NICA Gear Swap

Gear Swap

The community spirit was on full display as the Student Advisory Cabinet hosted a gear swap, where families donated gently used cycling gear to be given away for free. It was a great opportunity for riders to pick up essential items and support each other.


GRiT

One of the biggest highlights of the day was the GRiT ride, an all-female lap around the racecourse. The GRiT tent was a hub of activity with carnival games and a welcoming space for women and girls interested in mountain biking. At 3 p.m., 94 women lined up to ride together, making it one of our largest GRiT rides yet.


Texas NICA RideLens Official Sunglasses

Ride Lens

Another exciting addition to the event was RideLens, a new sunglasses brand started by two current NICA student-athletes from the Bulldogs team. Jack and Daniel’s passion for cycling and entrepreneurship was inspiring to see, and their booth was a popular stop throughout the day.


Sunday

Sunday was all about racing, and despite the wet conditions leading up to the event, the pace was nothing short of blistering. Riders came ready to push their limits, and the fastest varsity athlete (Corbin Gudgell, Houston Composite) set an incredible tone, clocking a 20 mph first lap—an impressive feat on any course. Corbin could also be found on Saturday in the infield playing bike soccer – proving you can have fun AND be fast.

This race weekend also marked an exciting milestone for Texas NICA. For the first time ever, 5th graders lined up to race, showcasing the continued growth and development of youth mountain biking in the state. It was inspiring to see these young athletes take on the challenge and gain their first race experience.

The growth of Texas NICA was evident not just in new race categories, but in the sheer number of athletes participating. 381 riders took the start line, a significant jump from last year’s 249. The increase in participation reflects the strength of the league, the dedication of our student-athletes, and the commitment of coaches and families who make these race weekends possible.

With exciting performances across all categories, Sunday capped off an unforgettable weekend in Sugar Land. See complete race results below.