By Chris Baddick

The CU Cycling team is going into the 2012 season with a new program, new coaching staff, and a renewed drive to win the National Collegiate cycling title.

The Stazio Criterium being held on March 11 is the student teams’ biggest fundraiser – unlike most local events, all profits raised from the entry fees at this race will go towards helping the team cover the cost of racing in the 2012 Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference. The support of the Boulder cycling community is needed to help put CU Cycling back on the top of the podium and reinstate its claim as the number 1 collegiate cycling program in the US.

Through the hard work of the student officers who run the non-profit team, permits and licenses have been acquired to bring back this legendary course to the Boulder cycling community. As the first race since the re-integration of the ACA with USA Cycling, the CU Cycling team is expecting a large turnout. With field limits set at 125 riders per category, registration at www.prerace.com is advised.

Photo Credit: Eszter Horanyi
CU MTB member Sam Morrison leads a group at nationals

By: Eszter Horanyi

In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, the University of Colorado mountain bike team dominated the collegiate scene winning several National Championships in a row. At the 2003 Mountain Bike National Championships, they suffered a heart-breaking loss in Angel Fire, NM., to Fort Lewis College and have only been able to bring home one mountain bike national title since then. The team has suffered from a series of years with single-year coaches, coaches who were unable to dedicate themselves fully to the team, or no coaches at all. As any student run organization, leadership changed frequently and continuity was lacking. This year, things changed when FasCat Coaching, based out of Boulder, came on board to help bring the CU team back to its powerhouse status.

FasCat joined forces with the CU team a few weeks into the fall mountain bike season with Jason Hilimire taking on mountain bike coaching responsibilities. He found a team that he describes as ‘a good group of kids who just needed a point-person. They didn’t have much organization or structure.’ Hilimire explains that while the A-riders were fairly self-sufficient, it was the beginners who benefited most from having a coach present to answer simple questions, such as ‘Where do we register?’ Meanwhile, more experienced riders could benefit from information on race strategy and training. Historically, the collegiate programs that succeed are those that have a strong coach turning ordinary athletes into strong leaders who then pass their knowledge down to the next generation of cyclists who will take over leadership positions. When this chain is broken, strong teams begin to falter.

After a successful nationals where the team finished a close second to Fort Lewis College, Hilimire is looking to the future, citing recruitment, team dedication, and structure as requirements to grow the team and defeat Fort Lewis.

Recruiting the next generation

By Eszter Horanyi

Sam Morris during the XC course

After a long season of racing in the Rocky Mountain Conference, the University of Colorado Nationals Team traveled south to Angel Fire, NM for the 2011 Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships. The team had some of the strongest riders and most depth that it’s had in years and was gunning for both individual national titles as well as trying to dethrone Fort Lewis College in the overall team omnium competition. Racers were greeted with a winter snowstorm on Wednesday night that dumped nearly 8-inches of snow on the mountain. This immediately turned buff trails and a rocky downhill track into a giant slip-n-slide. With sun forecasted for the weekend, racers were ready for all conditions, from snow to ice to mud.

The women’s team was the first to line up for the XC on Friday morning. The 5.5-mile course was still frozen for the first lap as Katie Sodergren, Claire Bensard, and Diedre York all stayed within striking distance of the leader, Lauren Catlin of Fort Lewis. Disaster struck Sodergren on the second lap when a crash on the slippery course led to a lost contact from the eye and lost contact from the lead group. York and Bensard continued to chase and ended up on the podium in 4th and 5th. Racing in her senior year, this was Bensard’s first Nationals podium, and as author of this article, I’d like to point out that four years ago, I totally pointed to Claire as doing big things in cycling in the future. Ashlee Wilson, newly upgraded to A’s placed 10th. She will also do great things in the future. I’ve got my money on it.

By Eszter Horanyi

Photo Credit: Eszter Horanyi

With the collegiate mountain bike season reaching the halfway point, teams vying for a shot at the national title are starting to pull out their fire power. Members of the CU Cycling team descended on Hartman Rocks in Gunnison this weekend for the Conference Championships and showed that while Fort Lewis College may exceed them in numbers this year, the team is not lacking talent or motivation.

Always consistent and fast, the women’s endurance team once again proved that they were a force to be reckoned with. In the short and fast short track, Deidre York, known as one of the best XC descenders, put her skills to use on the bermed descent down Collar Bone Alley, visibly riding the trail faster than any of the other women in the race. Katie Sodergren put in a valiant effort to chase her teammate, closing the gap between the two on the climb each lap but was unable to shut it down by the last lap. Abby MicKey and Claire Bensard finished 4th and 5th. The men also packed a 1-2 punch with Sam Morrison getting the best of teammate Kevin Kane.

Morrison was back at it on Sunday in the XC, out sprinting Gunnison native Dylan Stucki from Fort Lewis College. Brad Berger, newly upgraded from racing his single speed in the B’s and on a geared bike for the first time in a while put in a strong ride to finish 5th. Sodergren and York led the charge for the women again finishing 2nd and 3rd capping off a weekend of impressive rides from the team.