They ride before school. They ride after school. They ride when the weather is perfect—and when it isn’t.
Around the Heber Valley, Team Soldier Hollow riders have become a familiar sight: a colorful pack of young mountain bikers grinding up a climb, racing down a singletrack trail, or rolling together toward their next challenge. Based out of the Soldier Hollow Discovery Center, the team trains anywhere ther’s trail, putting in the miles that eventually show up on race courses across Utah and beyond.
But ask the riders what keeps them showing up to work hard, and the answer isn’t simply racing. It’s the team itself—and the confidence, friendships, determination, and love of the outdoors that grow along the way.
The team’s mission is simple: “Developing Champions in Sport and Life.”
“Here in Heber Valley, we’ve got a high school team, but the Soho program is more like a competitive club,” explains Head Coach Scott Preston. “Some are doing different races to prepare them for the NICA (National Interscholastic Cycling Association) season, and then there’s a more competitive aspect that’s focused on a national and even international level.”
That range is part of what makes the program unique. It can serve as a bridge between seasons for high school athletes competing in the NICA circuit, a place for dedicated young riders to take their training to the next level, and a competitive pathway for athletes with aspirations reaching far beyond Utah.
Perhaps most importantly, it brings riders of different ages and abilities together through a shared love of cycling.
More Than a Summer Sport
For many young cyclists, mountain biking can look like a seasonal sport. Team Soldier Hollow takes a different approach.
The team generally begins training in January and wraps up its formal program in late May, using the winter months to build strength and fitness before the trails are ready.
“When we first started, I don’t think any kid on the team had really ridden more than 25 miles before,” says Senior Sports Manager and Head Elite/ETG Coach Gerrit Garberich. “Within the year they had ridden 100 miles.”
Winter training at the Soldier Hollow Olympic venue includes Nordic skiing, strength training and indoor riding, with more time on the mountain bikes as conditions improve. Skiing provides valuable cross-training while giving riders a break from the repetitive stresses of cycling.
The group typically gathers three or four times a week, with additional individual training based on each athlete’s goals and commitment. A typical winter week might include lifting, skiing, and a longer weekend ride. Once spring arrives, the ski day becomes another mountain bike day.
And because Soldier Hollow’s trails can hold snow well into spring, the athletes take advantage of trails throughout the region, traveling to places such as Utah Valley University (Wasatch Campus), Park City, Deer Creek, and Provo when conditions are better elsewhere.
The training is serious, but it is never all work and no play. Team camps are a big part of the experience, allowing athletes to get away, pile on some miles, and, just as importantly, spend time together. This year, the group traveled to California, where riders trained on a velodrome, completed long rides, and visited Disneyland. “It’s like you do something crazy hard together, and it makes it easier,” says Garberich. That shared experience is a recurring theme. The hardest days often become the best memories.
Building a Team, Not Just a Race Result
There is no shortage of competition in mountain biking, but Team Soldier Hollow places just as much emphasis on creating a positive culture.
Team-building activities can be as simple—and hilarious—as an icebreaker in which athletes rotate through speed-dating-style conversations with each team member. Other activities are more intentional, such as an exercise involving a large rope where athletes share something positive about one another before opening up about something vulnerable.
The goal is to help young athletes recognize the people around them as teammates, friends, and supporters. That culture becomes particularly important when the training gets difficult. One of the group’s favorite concepts is what Coach Preston calls “Big Mo”—big momentum. The idea is straightforward: small efforts add up. “You put in a little effort today, and it compounds, and it snowballs into bigger and better, each time,” Garberich says. “But you’ve got to put in that effort today!”
The coaches encourage athletes to think of their progress as stacking bricks. One workout may not seem significant. One ride may not feel transformative. But over time, those individual efforts create something substantial. Eventually, an athlete looks back and realizes just how far they’ve come.
Dream Bigger Than You Thought Possible
That progress has been dramatic. Athletes who once wondered whether they could compete at the varsity level are now racing nationally and internationally. Riders who had never imagined completing an endurance race are tackling 50- and 100-mile events.
“Dream big,” Garberich says. “Because what you might think is a big goal today can become a small goal really fast.” That philosophy has already produced some remarkable results.
At the Whiskey 50 in Prescott, Arizona, Team Soldier Hollow riders took on a demanding 50-mile backcountry singletrack race. At Leadville, athletes faced several days of racing and thousands of feet of climbing each day. Others tackled a 150-mile road race through Utah and into Wyoming.
At the national level, the team had an extraordinary showing in Roanoke, Virginia, with multiple riders finishing among the top competitors in the junior field.
And then there was the moment at Soldier Hollow when Jude Marsden won a Pro Cup race in a Team Soldier Hollow jersey. “Winning a Pro Cup race for the first time in a Soho suit was…pretty exciting to see,” Preston says. “It was special.” For the coaches, however, the medals are only part of the story. The significance is clear. In Preston’s words: “It’s not just about the bike,” he says. “It’s about life.”
A young athlete who learns to climb through a brutally difficult race—sometimes tackling more than 10,000 feet of elevation gain—endures exhaustion and finishes something that once seemed impossible gains more than fitness. They gain proof that they are capable of doing hard things. “It gives them the confidence to know, ‘Hey, I’ve done something hard, and I can get through this,’” Preston says. “Whether it’s in a relationship, whether it’s a job, whether it’s high school, college…whatever it is.” He describes the experience as building a “suitcase of courage.” It’s a pretty great thing for a kid to carry into the rest of life.
A Team for the Whole Community
Despite the elite aspirations of some riders, Team Soldier Hollow isn’t exclusively for the next generation of professional cyclists.
The program includes middle school athletes as well as master riders in their 50s. Some adults participate through remote training plans while still joining the group for rides, camps and events. At one point, riders ranging from eighth-graders to 55-year-olds came together to ski, train and race as a team. That inclusivity reflects something the coaches love about mountain biking: there is room to begin wherever you are.
And the sport’s accessibility is one reason mountain biking has exploded across Utah. The state now has thousands of young riders participating through the Utah NICA League, a dramatic increase from its early days. Trails and cycling infrastructure have expanded alongside that growth, giving kids opportunities to ride practically from their own neighborhoods.
In the Heber Valley, that accessibility is particularly evident. A young rider can pedal to the new Southfield Park pump track, ride local trails, and gradually progress into increasingly challenging terrain.
The community surrounding the sport matters, too. “Having the parents involved in a lot of ways makes a huge difference,” Preston says. That family involvement is certainly true for the Prestons. Scott and Karilyn’s shared passion for cycling has been woven into their family life for more than two decades. “It’s where we first met. It’s changed our families,” Preston says. “It’s changed me personally…It’s changed my girls. And it’s changed a lot of these kids.”
Watch for the Pink and Blue
The unmistakable Team Soldier Hollow jerseys are more than a fashion statement—they’re a rolling invitation to pay attention. The design took countless iterations, but the final result has accomplished exactly what a team jersey should do: stand out.
Around the Heber Valley, those jerseys have become a calling card: Come and join something special.
And there is plenty more to watch for. Soldier Hollow will host the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series, September 19–20, and will continue hosting the World Cup annually over the next several years. That creates an extraordinary opportunity for local athletes to experience world-class racing practically in their own backyard.
This year, high school athletes will have an opportunity to race on the same weekend as the professionals, while the team is already looking ahead to having local U23 athletes competing at Soldier Hollow. The goal is ambitious: within the next few years, Team Soldier Hollow hopes to see a local athlete step into that international spotlight.
Given the team’s track record, it’s hard to bet against them. But perhaps that is exactly the point. Team Soldier Hollow isn’t simply chasing podiums. It is teaching young people to chase possibilities. “It’s about having fun together,” Preston says. “It’s about accomplishing your goals. It’s about becoming better than you were yesterday.” And yes, winning is fun, too.
But the real victory is what happens along the way—the friendships, the confidence, the grit, the miles, the laughter, the sore legs, the impossible climbs, and the moment an athlete realizes that the thing they once thought they could never do is now simply the next challenge.
So, the next time you see a pack of pink-and-blue checkered jerseys flying down a Heber Valley Road, give them a little extra room—and maybe a big cheer.
They’re not just riding.
They’re building momentum.
TEAM MANAGEMENT:
Scott Preston, Head Coach | Gerrit Garberich, Team Soldier Hollow Senior Sports Manager and Head Elite/ETG Coach
Karilyn Preston, Team Support | Melanie Lake, Strength Coach
