The afternoon sun, blinding and intense, beats down on dozens of riders, painting the rocky path in a swath of yellow. Hundreds of wheels whiz past, flinging clouds of dust into the thick summer air. Riders struggle to maintain their balance as they plunge down steep, winding trails. Amidst the fray, senior Rajas Apte pedals intensely on his mountain bike, adrenaline coursing through his legs as he races upwards. 

Rajas enjoyed riding his bike with friends from a young age, but it wasn’t until after the pandemic hit did he start taking mountain biking seriously. During lockdown, he got into the habit of going out and riding his bike in between Zoom meetings, kickstarting his love for the sport. As his skills progressed, he started biking competitively in his freshman year. 

“Biking helped me think a little more individualistically,” Rajas said. “When you’re racing it’s you alone. You can still be there for your teammates without sacrificing your own race. That’s important, especially in academics, when I’m studying. When I have a test coming up, my friends will want to hang out, but you have got to think about yourself and what your goals are and you have to put yourself first.”

Placing fifth in his first racing season, Rajas kicked off his mountain biking career with a strong start and has pushed himself to further improve over time, placing second at another race in Sonoma County and landing within the top ten at the Surf City Cyclocross last year. Though Rajas bikes competitively, the sport also serves as a calming outlet for him to enjoy himself and sightsee off-season.  

“It’s a really cool way to connect with the community because with most sports, if you’re at practice, you can have fun and talk with your friends,” Rajas said. “But you also really just got to buckle down. There’s really no such thing as a chill practice. Whereas with biking, if you’re off-season, you don’t need to grind all the time. You and your friends can just pack your bikes up, ride around somewhere and go for 50-100 mile rides, get food, ride to the coast — there’s just so many things you can do and so many places you can go.”

Described by friends and mentors as a cheerful presence, Rajas maintains positivity not only with mountain biking but also in his daily life. As a member of the varsity water polo team this year and formerly part of the junior varsity team, Rajas brings energy to the team with his optimistic attitude. Water polo coach Dr. Victor Adler, who has worked with Rajas since elementary school, cherishes his infectious enthusiasm. 

“Rajas does his own thing,” Dr. Adler said. “He’s always got a smile. I really feel even just walking around, you see him, you feel the positive energy.”

Last year, Rajas decided to dedicate himself further to mountain biking, taking a pause on water polo to fully focus on training for races. Each day of the racing season, he would bike for hours, adhering to a strict personal training regimen. Close friend senior Ruhan Sahasi noticed Rajas’ increased commitment to the sport, admiring his consistency.

“When he’s driven to get something done, he does it well,” Ruhan Sahasi said. “He can be very motivated by the right things.”

Naturally, training for races comes with its difficulties. In order to prepare for biking cross country, Rajas mainly focuses on building fitness through riding long distances at low speeds. Such training can be tedious at times, but Rajas keeps his sights on the bigger picture. 

“It takes a toll on you when you’re just riding and riding for three or four hours and not going very fast,” Rajas said. “When you’re riding alone and you’re not even getting the adrenaline, you have to just remember, ‘why am I doing this?’ It’s all about that end goal. As you get closer to the season you’ll see that endurance work start paying off. You’ll be able to out sprint other people, you’ll be able to beat people up to climbs and all of a sudden that’s when the validation comes.”

Mountain biking has offered Rajas the opportunity to travel all over the globe for races, competing at not only various spots across California, but also in scenic small towns in Italy, France, Switzerland and more. At some of these courses, such as the one Rajas biked at Les Gets, France, the course can become very steep and bumpy. Riding at high speeds over these paths is a feat that requires a strong level of confidence. Senior Caio Cammer, Rajas’ close friend and water polo teammate, finds inspiration from Rajas’ fearlessness in his passion for biking. 

“He is not afraid of anything,” Caio said. “He has no fear in his eyes, which I admire because he does a lot of things that I would be too scared to do.”

Having faced a variety of both physical and mental roadblocks throughout his biking career, from physical challenges with tough terrain to mental struggles while training, Rajas now views the experiences he has overcome as life lessons. For himself, Rajas believes it remains important to have confidence in one’s abilities not only within biking but also life itself. 

“You have to trust your coach, trust your skills, trust what you’ve been taught and what you’ve learned,” Rajas said. “When you’re on a hillside so steep you can’t even walk down, you don’t even have the choice of backing out. If you’re just going to get stressed out about something and try and run away, you will get hurt. The safest way out is to trust your instincts and make it down that trail.”