Chris Tetreault
Class of 2010
Pete McNulty has always been known as a unassuming WHS student. Usually flying below the radar, he does not make any major waves. He does well in his classes, plays basketball on the courts after school, and has a core group of friends . What you wouldn’t expect from the quiet senior is during the summer and on weekends, he travels Northeast America in search of rugged terrain upon which to ride his mountain bike. Beyond the indecipherable face of Pete McNulty there is an extreme side, that achieves fulfillment whipping down a dangerous mountain path at speeds close to 60 miles per hour.
At seventeen years old, McNulty has spent the last few years of his life mountain bike racing competitively for Team Drop, a sponsored team that carries about nine members. In the 2009 season McNulty’s best placement was third on July 11-12 in New Hampshire. The rest of his races he consistently placed in the top ten.
To most, mountain biking does not come to mind as a common high school sport. Mcnulty’s venture began about four years ago when he took a trip to Vermont with his dad and tried the sport. Buying a bike for himself, he knew that the sport was something he truly wished to pursue.
Although the sport can be lost in obscurity amongst others today, its extreme nature presents a different sort of exhiliration than your everyday american past-times. “The best parts are the thrills involved and the mindset I get in while on my race run, you just don’t get that in baseball, or football” said McNulty. Courses often consist of jumps, bumps and other roadblocks to make the run more interesting and challenging for experienced riders.
Unphased by the endless onslaught of roughage, McNulty has managed to make a name for himself not only here at Walpole High School, but across the nation as well. Traveling all along Northeast America, he has raced in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “I hope to take a trip out west next year to Colorado or British Columbia, Canada” said McNulty. “The chance to travel is reason enough to stick with the sport” he also explained.
Although finishing his senior year of high school, the future is yet to be determined in regards to his sport of choice. After two years of success and learning, McNulty plans to continue to better his skills and hopefully continue to excel race after race. As the time passes, Walpole High School can look on as one of it’s own pushes for success in such an exhilarant and rare sport.
