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This past Mountain Season was a great time to be on the WVU Cycling Team. After many hard fought races we were able to win our conference, Atlantic Coast Collegiate Cycling, for the eighth straight season. Our toughest competition this season came from North Carolina State University and Virginia Tech. Thankfully, we were able to retain our title as champion. Before the races started, the team had to do some recruiting. Our recruiting is done mainly from the website which shows all meeting times and locations, group rides, and other events that members of the cycling team are participating in.
The season officially started with a race held by Appalachian State University, unfortunately the team was unable to attend because WVU Cycling was promoting road racing in West Virginia, putting on the State Championships in Philippi. So we kicked off our race season at West Virginia Wesleyan College a week later. Nine team members traveled to this race, all posted very good times, including a first place finish in the Women’s A short track race. One racer unfortunately dented his bike and couldn’t finish all the races that weekend. Everyone, especially those who had never raced before had a good time racing their bikes that weekend, and to make it even better, we won all three races.
The next race was our home race at Big Bear, home of a nationally known 24 hour race. Our cross-country race was actually a 6-hour endurance race that was open to the public as well. We had about seventy people show up to race even though it was about forty degrees that morning. Teams of two competed in this race. At this race we had our usual competitors from NC State and VT, but there were also teams from Penn State University and William & Mary. This race didn’t turn out quite as we would’ve liked, NC State and PSU beat us in the points series with some really strong finishes in the women’s categories.
Later that afternoon, the teams headed to the WISP for the Dual Slalom race. This is a gravity event, and we had some pretty amazing gravity racers show up for this event. Our racers placed first and second in the Men’s B category, but it just wasn’t enough. NC State beat us 316 to 309.
On Sunday we returned to WISP for two more races, a short track and a downhill. The short track race was very good, with the winner of the Men’s A race being the only racer from West Virginia Wesleyan College. One of our racers placed third in the Men’s A category. Then it was time for our final race of the weekend, the downhill. This is another one of the gravity events, so we had a good showing for this race. Yet again, our downhill prowess showed with us only giving one position in the top three to a racer from ASU who is an international downhill racer. So our home race weekend didn’t turn out quite as well as we would’ve liked. We won one out of our four races with NC State, our biggest rival, winning the other three. With this weekend being dual conference races they were given a 25% bonus, so there were a lot of points that need to be made up in the coming weeks.
The next weekend had only one race, which was a good thing because of the four races last weekend. This time we traveled to James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. The race was a very challenging cross-country race. We had eight racers travel for this event. The course was a 9.5-mile loop with the Men’s A having to do three laps. We came out on top this weekend and started to catch up on those points that NC State gained on us, despite being outnumbered by NCSU.
The next weekend, the fifth race of the season, was a big one, NC State’s race weekend. We had no choice but to bring as many racers as possible. We couldn’t afford to let them win all of their races. We sent eleven racers, four of which were female, on the long journey down the Raleigh, NC. They defiantly wanted to make it a tough weekend with a cross-country race and a short track on Saturday, and a second cross-country race on Sunday. The first cross-country trail was full of fast rolling hills, elevated wooden paths and a small jump sections. The short track was made up of fast laps of a roughly one-mile loop. For Saturday, NC State won the points for the cross-country, but WVU’s 11 racers skills were enough to defeat NCSU’s 17 including a pro cyclo-cross member in a close battle 500 to 529. NC State won the points for Sunday’s cross-country race, as only two of our racers stayed for that race being worn out from the dominating and long drive.
Being conference champions, and generally having awesome race courses we were the conference championship race promoters. However, an issue with our gravit courses required us to swap weekends with VT and give up half the championship races. So now it was our turn, again, to hold a race weekend. This weekend contained four races again, and this time the gravity events were championship events. Saturday was spent at WISP. Sixteen WVU racers showed up to compete in the short track, downhill, and dual slalom. The day began with the short track. For the short track race, we took first place finishes in four out five categories. This was a really good way to start the weekend. The second event of the day was the downhill race. We had first place finishes in all four categories, beating out the pro racer from ASU by just 1 second. By this time we knew that it was our weekend, we were beating our competitors in both numbers and as always, talent. The third and final event of the day was the dual slalom. Again, we won two of the three categories, with very close finishes. By the end of the day there was no doubt that we were getting all the points for these races. With the championship gravity events having a 50% bonus on points for this weekend, we were able to make up on those early season loses. We won the gravity championship for this season.
Sunday was our cross-country race. Again, it was held at Big Bear. This race was also open to the public as a fundraiser for a racer who had wrecked in a WVMBA race earlier in the season. We had eleven racers show up for this race. NC State, feeling the pain from the previous day, only had four racers at this event, so there was no doubt we would be getting points for this race. Big Bear’s trail isn’t an easy one. It is full of technical sections with many climbs. With this being our home trail there was no excuses, just results. Our second race weekend ended up being even more amazing than any of us could’ve expected. Having won all 4 races that weekend, we were nearly tied in the conference going into the final weekend, but VT had a chance if they dominated all of their home races, they could pull the upset.
Finally, the championship races at Virginia Tech. The points race between NC State and us was very close, and the team was becoming nervous of whether or not we can pull it out and keep our title for the eighth straight season. The weekend in Blacksburg had three races, a hill climb, short track, and a cross-country race. We sent ten racers to Blacksburg, including a rider who hadn’t raced yet this season. VT brought a lot of racers to compete, as we expected. We could only hope that they were just for show. Before the weekend, we were worried NCSU would try to outnumber us, but we were relieved when they had less than us at registration. VTs members weren’t weak by any means taking 1st in the hill climb time trial, forcing us to settle for 2nd. They won out in the night time, under the lights short track too, making us a little worried about the next day.But we were able to win the cross country event, when NCSU’s riders put a gap between us and VT, giving us the advantage and the team championship title.
It was another great year to be a mountaineer. From team meetings, to group rides to races a good time was had by all, and many new people were able to experience what mountain bike racing is like. We traveled far and took in some great trails and sites. The most important thing however is that we couldn’t have done it without the support of our school and our sponsors. On behalf of the entire WVU Cycling team we would like to thank those people and companies who made it possible for us to have another amazing season of Atlantic Coast Collegiate Cycling mountain bike racing!
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