There are over 85 clubs at SJHHS, but one stands out among the rest: the Mountain Biking Club.

The club accepts members from any grade and skill level, from freshman to senior beginner to expert.

The club president is Addison Simis, a junior at SJHHS, and the teacher advisor is Matt Ahmer, who teaches world and US history. Their club meetings are on every Friday at lunch in room H112.

The members enjoy all kinds of mountain biking, from cross country riding to downhill racing, and the club is looking to expand its member diversity.

“We are always looking to diversify and are hoping to find female riders that would like to join the club. We also affiliate ourselves with the Ladera Ranch Lions Mountain Bike club to support and mentor younger and newer riders that may potentially want to join the club when they get to high school,” said Simis.

The club members aren’t the only ones who enjoy mountain biking, the club advisor does as well.

“I offer my room every Friday. I have gone on occasional rides with club members here and there. And of course, just encouragement to keep this cool thing going,” said Ahmer.

It’s not all about riding bikes either. Members also focus on making stronger friendships.

“Since the meetings are pretty regular,” said Ahmer, “it ends up being a cool lunch hang out every week where the members and friends talk about upcoming races, where they want to ride over the weekend, new bikes and trends or just everyday stuff as most of them seem to have become good friends.”

Members also participate in activities outside of school. “Most Fridays we get together and go for a fun, local ride after school,” Simis said. “Also, some members of the club compete together in the NICA SoCal High School Mountain Bike Racing league in the spring.”

As an extracurricular activity, the club members can participate in racing leagues like the one mentioned by Simis.

Environmental conservation is another extracurricular activity the club members participate in. To help the environment and fellow riders, they do trail work to help preserve and maintain local trails.

“We occasionally participate in volunteer trail work and environment conservation with local IMBA chapters,” said Simis.

Originally, the club started when a couple of the early members set out to bring a mountain biking team to SJHHS.

“The club was originally set up to find a way to bring a team to SJHHS,” said Ahmer. “A few of the club members and their fathers set out to get that ball in motion. It proved to be a monumental task and at first was a little disappointing to the club as it looked like it was just out of reach.”

The obstacles were no match for these bikers, however. “[Students] Addison and Aidan and Mikael continued to meet every Friday in my room, develop friendships and add to the club,” Ahmer said.

The early club members were able to get involved in a racing league which helped strengthen friendships between them and their families.

“Friendships with the families grew as some of the races required campouts before, and some of the riders have gotten really serious into mountain biking and racing,” Ahmer said. “All through this though, the club has continued to meet and grow.”