Spokane family competes and wins national mountain biking competition

Something extraordinary is happening on the mountain bike trails and gravel roads across Spokane County and on a vegetable farm in Medical Lake.

Last week, the Sproule family sent their three teenagers to the 2025 USA Cycling Endurance Mountain Bike National Championships to compete with the fastest kids in the country. It’s a sport that combines the fitness to grind up steep hills and the handling skills to zip down serpentine trails littered with rocks and roots – all at a race pace that brings the body to its maximum heart rate and pain tolerance.

Isaac Sproule, 14, won his race July 18 to claim the coveted Stars and Stripes Jersey worn by champions.

His family and coaches said they didn’t necessarily expect Isaac to win the 13-14 age category, but they weren’t surprised, either.

“He is very, very dedicated,” said Tom Ryse, who coaches with Team Booger, which sponsored the Sproule’s trip to race venue in Roanoke, Virginia. “The morning of the race he was very focused.”

Ryse knows what it takes. He won the USA Cycling championship for cyclocross racing in 2022.

“It’s good to see such a good kid win,” Ryse said, “and it was fun watching him go cross the finish line.”

Isaac ended the race of about 8 miles blazing ahead by more than 23 seconds.

“It was pretty significant,” said Lauri Sproule, Isaac’s mom. “He came across the line and there was no one in sight.”

“Being in first, there’s a lot of motivation for me,” Isaac said. “If you’re first at a national championship, you don’t want anyone to catch you, because then you’d be in second at a national championship.”

Getting passed by a smiling and polite Isaac on the trails of Beacon Hill and Riverside State Park is something many Spokane riders have experienced – perhaps with the exception of his brother Aaron Sproule, 18.

Aaron competed in one of the most competitive categories, men ages 18-23, and placed 19th, an impressive showing as a first-time national championship racer against competitors whose athleticism is beginning to peak, Ryse said.

And sister Ellen Sproule powered through her laps as a 16-year-old, placing 12th.

Despite the impressive finishes, Isaac and his siblings remain humble and look to the future.

“I guess it just means that I’ve worked hard enough and accomplished something I’ve wanted to accomplish for a while,” Isaac said. “And then next year, I’ll be racing 15-16. That’s a higher category, so I’ll be closer to the youngest.”

Frank Burns, head coach of the Inland Northwest Composite mountain bike racing team, has witnessed the Sproules’ transformation as good riders to exceptional racers, to Washington state champions and now national champions and contenders.

“Somebody asked me if I had expected it,” said Burns, who also leads the youth cycling nonprofit Bikes Are the Answer. “I said I never expect kids to win nationals, but I am certainly not surprised.”

While the three siblings were racing across the country last week, parents Dan and Lauri stayed home to harvest from their family farm while watching live updates on the races.

“They’ve put in so much time, it’s fun to see it pay off,” Lauri said. “We were all out there harvesting and watching. There was a lot of hooting and hollering.”

The Sproules grow a variety of vegetables for farmer’s markets, and Lauri said all the kids in the family help out. After returning from the competition, they all worked together to harvest on Wednesday.

“I think it’s taught us a lot of work ethic, how to work hard and enjoying pushing yourself,” Aaron said.

Also growing that work ethic was Kevin Bradford-Parish, an accomplished Spokane bicycle racer turned personal coach. He put the Sproule racers on a rigorous training program that they said help them acheive their racing goals.

“The family has incredible discipline in everything they do,” said Bradford-Parish, who has won national championships in short track and cross-country mountain biking some 20 years ago.

Dan and Lauri said he also discussed how to balance success with goals and life.

“Be respectful. Have the heart of a champion. And make sure you have fun,” Bradford-Parish said. “They are special people.”

Along with the competitive spirit and physical strength it takes to excel at mountain biking at a national level, Ellen also called it a mental battle.

“In racing, it’s kind of like who’s faster, who’s stronger, but it’s also a lot of who has the ability to just, like, push through the pain,” she said.

Along with Isaac’s first-place win, Dan and Lauri were just as proud of Aaron and Ellen, as the older categories are often more competitive.

“We’re really pleased, really proud of the kids,” Dan said. “Considering that they haven’t been at it very long, I would say that they did really well competing at a national championship where you pretty much have the best of the best there.”

Ellen first competed in a short track race, which is higher intensity and shorter than cross-country races, often lasting only 20 to 30 minutes. She placed 21 out of 43. She was unhappy with the result and set a goal to place in the top 15 for the next race, which she did.

“I make a goal, work toward it and achieve it,” Ellen said. “I think because it was so important for me to reach my goal, that it helped me get the pace I got.”

Aaron said that in his category, he sometimes has the opportunity to compete with mountain bike racers who competed in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.

“It’s definitely humbling and I’m not anywhere close to beating them, but it’s pretty cool,” Aaron said. “I get to compete against some of the best riders out there.”

The three siblings all look forward to continuing to compete, with Aaron’s biggest goal being to one day compete in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

The family first began mountain bike racing in 2023, but casually biked before that as a way for them all to hang out together.

“It’s important for us to find something outside of the farm for our family to be involved in, so that it doesn’t just, like suck us in,” Lauri said. “One thing we liked about biking is, not only is it fun, but it’s something that the kids could all do at the same time. It’s kind of a community sport.”

Aaron said that in the summer he works around 30 hours a week on the farm, along with anywhere from eight to 20 hours riding his bike. The siblings agreed it can be tricky to balance work and training sometimes.

“I feel like we have a pretty balanced schedule, though, for the most part,” Aaron said. “There’s a lot of community with the team, so the biking and the social life are combined a lot of times.”

Burns, the coach for the Inland team, said the Sproules are so advanced that the best advice he can give them is, “Be sure to smile and have fun.”

“That’s about the level I can coach these guys now, because they’re doing so well,” he said, adding that the Sproules’ success at the national championships highlights Spokane and its inclusive biking community.

“Having a bike community that allows people to connect and go to whatever level they choose, from just having fun up through nationals, is really cool,” Burns said.

The Spokesman-Review’s John Stucke contributed to this story.