Collegiate
MTB Nationals
Banner Elk, North Carolina
Story & photos by Andrew Mueller
DOWNHILL
As a Boone, North Carolina local, I’d been looking forward to this event eversince it was announced that it would be held at Lees Mcrae in Banner Elk. However, I wouldn’t have guessed that I would
be breaking my collarbone in July on the very DH course I was supposed to be
racing collegiate (for Appalachian State University) on in October. Nor did I expect that the slimy, snot-covered
conditions (that led to my incident) would retreat into hiding for nearly three
months, only to return just in time for every collegiate downhiller to race on.
Fast-forward
to Friday of DH practice and qualifying.
My friend and I are standing in 4 inches of wet leaves, watching riders awkwardly stumble through the wet rocks and roots. While a few fast riders come through, it is overwhelmingly clear that
many were not prepared for what several inches of rain can do to an east-coast
downhill course. I cringed as I watched
riders struggle with conditions that I personally knew could send you off the
mountain on a stretcher. Not
surprisingly, among the fastest riders we saw in qualifying were NC locals like
Ben Hulse of Lees Mcrae and Mike Thomas of Appalachian State. While there were plenty of other good riders on the mountains,
you gotta give up some love for the locals.
With no sign of clearing conditions, on Saturday morning it is questionable whatkind of shape the course will be in for the day’s racers. I get dragged out of bed before sunrise by myroommate (aforementioned Mike Thomas), saying we have to be at the mountain by8:00 AM. Despite my grogginess, I’m ofsound enough mind to remember to pick up a case of Natural Light for idealspectating conditions. After all, it is
a collegiate race. In dense fog, we walk
up to the top of the course to cheer and take pictures. As you can see, little has changed on the course since the day before. The top of the course is among the fastest
sections on the mountain. The start
immediately throws you into a fast, straight, downhill rock section. While it looks rough from below, on the bike,
the rocks disappear behind you nearly unnoticed and most of the riders seem to look
good at the beginning of their runs.
The rest of the course, while notoverly steep, remains rocky and slick until almost the very bottom, where a 30+
second sprint finished out the course. The lower rock sections are among the
most fun on the course. After bashing rocks for over 3
minutes, the final sprint can be quite exhausting. While
I do make it down to the lower sections of the course, by that point in the
morning I seem to have found myself much more in “belligerent cheering mode”
than “photographer mode”.
Men's Downhill Results
Division 1
1
Cody Wilderman - Fort Lewis College 4:02.030
3
Eli Krahenbuhl - UWYO Cycling Team 4:05.669
Division 2
1
Phil Ott - Northern Michigan Cycling Club 4:11.952
2
Chris Bateman - WWU cycling 4:14.120
3
Brandon Turman - Colorado School of Mines 4:17.240
4
Mike Howse - Mesa State Cycling 4:19.693
5
Michael Thomas - Appalachian State U Cycling 4:25.529
Women's Downhill Results
Division 1
1
Sage Wilderman - Ft Lewis College 5:16:088
2
Sarah Elworthy - Ft Lewis College 5:20:834
3
Karin Hanzi - Cal Polly San Luis Obispo 5:27:077
5 Neven Steinmetz - Univ. of Colorado-Boulder 5:52:159
Division 2
1
Ashlee Robinson - Warren Wilson College 5:54:768
2
Leana Gerrard - Western Washington Univ. 6:00:875
3 Christen Boyer - Colorado School of Mines 6:26:537
4
Robyn Embrey - Sierra Nevada College 6:40:335
SLALOM
Sunday’s slalom action is exciting,despite a damp and obviously slower course than usual. While still damp, the weather has changed
from foggy and wet to sunny, windy, and chilly.
Here we see two riders from Colorado School of the Mines racing on the middle
of the course. Slalom seems to have a more relaxed
atmosphere than the previous day’s downhill event. The talk of the crowd was of what may have
been the most massive party Banner Elk police have ever had to deal with the
night before. I overhear several riders
joking about still being drunk in slalom qualifying. This type of stuff is what really sets apart
the atmosphere of Collegiate racing versus that of other racing. Perhaps the most entertaining part of the day
was watching East vs. West races between Lees Mcrae and west coast
schools. The crowd roars with cheers
after each North Carolina Victory.
Men’s Slalom Results
Division 1
1 Cody Stagner - Lindsey Wilson College
2 Weston Pope - Lindsey Wilson College
3 Erik Nelson - Northern Arizona University
4 Kyle Hickey - UVM Cycling
5 Chris Shewmake - CU Cycling
Division
2
1
Geoff Fryer - East Tennessee State University
2 Alexander Lewis - Warren Wilson College
3
Deider Barrick - Colorado School of Mines
4
Patrick Hurley - Warren Wilson College
5
Michael Thomas - Appalachian State University
Women’s Slalom Results
Division 1
1 Neven Steinmetz - Univ of Colorado-Boulder
2 Sarah Elsworth - Ft Lewis College
3 Ashely Grubb - Ft Lewis College
4 Danae York - Univ of Colorado-Boulder
5 Samantha Hadley - Lindsey Wilson College
Division
2
1
Leana Gerrard - Western Washington Univ.
2 Jamie Bourgo - Michigan Tech Cooper Country
3
Ashlee Robinson - Warren Wilson College
4
Christen Boyer - Colorado School of Mines
5 Myra Dyer - Colorado School of Mines
In
both watching the races and browsing the results, I definitely noticed a strong
turnout from Colorado, with schools like Ft. Lewis, Colorado School of the
Mines, CU, and others. In addition to
this, North Carolina schools like Lee’s Mcrae and Warren Wilson had large
numbers of competitors. While
Appalachian State only had a few riders, I was glad we at least had someone to
send to Nats, especially considering it was on the home track.
Overall, despite overwhelmingly
sub-optimal riding conditions for this area, the weekend was a definite
success. I had a great time meeting
riders from all over the country and watching sweet bike racing in my own
backyard. I was definitely excited to
hear that the event will be returning to North Carolina next year. Hopefully this time I’ll be able to ride and spectate, as well as take some
out-of-towners out on some of the other great riding the High Country of NC has
to offer.
Photos courtesy of Neven Steinmetz
The chairlift takes 36 minutes to get to the top.
Shuttling was madatory for the weekend.
DH Bikes had to be washed thoughorly after every practice run!
The Univ of Colorado Gravity Girls. 2 were DH virgins,
and one is the D1 Women's ST National Champ!
Leana (Gerrard) and Neven (Steinmetz) might be close rivals on
the track, but they know how to throw down and have a good time
together off the bikes!
Univ. of Colorado's Chris Shewmake warming up for DS, the epic even that
lasted from 8am to 5:30pm!
Division 1 Men's DH podium, National Champion: Cody Wilderman (Ft Lewis College),
2nd: Chris Shewmake (U of Colorado), 3rd: Eli Krahenbuhl
Chris Herndon was the invited speaker at the banquet. He was
nervous as hell, but had some great words of advice for everyone!
Costumes for the banquet are not optional for anyone cool!
Phil Wheeler's favorite activity of the weekend,... eating some damn good
southern FRIED food at Prissy Polly's (2x!)
