Three tracks

Mild, Medium and Spicy: the heat scale the team already knows. Heat sets the mix of skills and fitness work in a practice. Everyone is on one team, and riders can move up the scale any time they are ready.

Mild

Newer riders building confidence and basic skills.

Main focus: Fundamentals, confidence, riding a full practice
Skills work: Every Tuesday and much of Thursday
Thursday push: Game-based bursts of 20 to 30 seconds with long rests. Hard time in the block: up to 5 min. Fast and fun, not exhausting.
Saturday: 60 to 90 minute guided ride
Own-time riding: Not expected
Success looks like: Skill levels gained; finishing rides and races with a smile

Medium

Riders with solid basics who want to ride trails well and get fitter.

Main focus: Trail skills and steady fitness
Skills work: Every Tuesday, a short primer on Thursday
Thursday push: 3 to 5 efforts of 2 to 3 minutes, equal rest. Hard time in the block: 8 to 15 min. Hard but controlled, about 7 out of 10.
Saturday: 90 to 120 minute ride
Own-time riding: Optional: one easy ride
Success looks like: Skill levels plus benchmark gains

Spicy

Competitive riders training for race results.

Main focus: Fitness and race performance, with skills kept sharp
Skills work: Tuesday helping teach newer riders, plus skill maintenance
Thursday push: 4 to 6 efforts of 3 to 5 minutes, or 6 to 8 of 1 to 2 minutes. Hard time in the block: 15 to 25 min. Hard, about 8 to 9 out of 10.
Saturday: 2 hours or more, with race-pace segments from September
Own-time riding: Expected, following the Spicy plan
Success looks like: Benchmark gains, pacing, race results

Skills and fitness by month

Share of coached time, suggested starting points. Skills fade and fitness grows as the season moves toward racing.

Skills Fitness

Mild

July

80%20%

August

70%30%

September

60%40%

October

50%50%

Medium

July

60%40%

August

50%50%

September

40%60%

October

30%70%

Spicy

July

40%60%

August

30%70%

September

25%75%

October

20%80%

See the numbers as a table

Track	July	August	September	October
Mild	80 : 20	70 : 30	60 : 40	50 : 50
Medium	60 : 40	50 : 50	40 : 60	30 : 70
Spicy	40 : 60	30 : 70	25 : 75	20 : 80

Thursday push block

Starting points; coaches adjust to the rider.

Track	Push format	Hard time in the block	Effort
Mild	Game-based bursts of 20 to 30 seconds with long rests	Up to 5 min	Fast and fun, not exhausting
Medium	3 to 5 efforts of 2 to 3 minutes, equal rest	8 to 15 min	Hard but controlled, about 7 out of 10
Spicy	4 to 6 efforts of 3 to 5 minutes, or 6 to 8 of 1 to 2 minutes	15 to 25 min	Hard, about 8 to 9 out of 10

How riders are placed

Week 1 Thursday is an assessment day: a timed short course that shows each rider’s skills without the risk of singletrack.
Coaches combine that result with the rider’s own stated goals and set provisional tracks in week 2.
Tracks are confirmed in week 3, and the benchmark retests in weeks 8 and 16 are the moments riders can move up.
Every week keeps a mixed-track moment, the Tuesday huddle and skill stations, so the team stays one team.

Ability groups let rides match each athlete’s pace, but they can limit team interaction and stir bad feelings. Having experienced riders help across tracks, and letting riders move up freely, are the two main safeguards.

Spicy own-time plan

Two short rides and two brief strength sessions a week. A menu with a log, not a mandate.

Monday	Rest, or 15 to 20 min strength and mobility
Tuesday	Team skills practice; lead a station for 20 min, then ride the applied block
Wednesday	Own ride: 45 to 75 min easy, conversational pace, on trail if possible
Thursday	Team push day, the week’s main hard session
Friday	Rest, or 15 to 20 min strength and mobility. Rest fully the day before a race.
Saturday	Team long ride or race
Sunday	Optional: easy spin or a second own-time ride, 45 to 60 min easy. Never hard back to back with Saturday.

Starting guidelines

Total riding: about 4 to 5 rides and 4 to 6 hours a week including practices. A NICA team coach reports that four rides a week is plenty to develop fast kids in a healthy way.
About 80% of ride time easy, with hard efforts kept to roughly 20% or less, in line with common endurance practice. Thursday holds the week’s main hard session; a second short hard segment is allowed on Saturday from September.
At least one full rest day each week.
Strength and mobility is bodyweight: squats, lunges, step-ups, planks, hip and thoracic mobility.
Eat and drink during every ride longer than an hour.

The Spicy contract

A rider joins Spicy by agreeing, with a parent, to log rides in a one-minute form (date, ride type, minutes, effort from 1 to 10, how they feel) and to check in on Tuesday. The log is what lets a coach adjust the plan; it is not a grade.

When to cut back

Persistent fatigue, poor sleep, falling performance, unusual mood changes, or pain, especially during a growth spurt, means swap the next hard session for an easy ride or a rest day, and tell a coach. Adolescent growth can temporarily disturb coordination and body control, so a skills dip during a growth spurt is normal.