The Annual High School Cross-Country

Mountain Bike Racing Camp

The 2015 camp took place August 5th to August 9th in Gunnison, Crested Butte and the surrounding areas of the beautiful upper Gunnison River Valley in Colorado. Check out the video of this years action below:

The 2015 Camp sold-out very quickly and we were unable to bring some great riders to camp, to be on our email list announcing our 2016 camp, please send us an email: dwiens@western.edu. Thanks for looking into Western State Colorado University and our camp!

Huge Thanks to our coaches for 2015:

Dave Wiens – Andy Shabo – Bryan Dillon – Ellie Atkins – Kirsten Paulson – Justin Barr – Caleb Woodworth – Jason Holton – Jari Kirkland – Jason Stubbe – Jenny Smith – Susan Demattei – Heidi Shabo

Preston Adams dropping Field Goal. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Fantastic early season snowfall has allowed Crested Butte Resort to open many of the “interior steeps.” While Horseshoe, Monument and the West Wall are token once the rest of the mountain opens, these are still great pitches for getting the legs ready for the big stuff as more snow falls. Since these photos we’re taken, the North Face and Glades have opened, too.

Western Mountain Sports skiers Ingrid Brose and Connor Michael checking out the early season steeps on Horseshoe at Crested Butte. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Connor Michael shredding down towards Field Goal drop. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Blake Payton greasing a rail in the Jib Park with the village of Mt. Crested Butte below. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Connor Michael ripping some nice carves down the steep and fast groomer, International. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Western Mountain Sports skiers scoping lines. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Ingrid Brose spreading her wings as she airs off Field Goal drop. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Preston Adams dropping in. Photo by Dave Sugnet

A TALE OF THREE BACKFLIPS….

Matt Martell training a backflip in Paradise Bowl at Crested Butte. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Mountain Sports ski coach and 2013 Collegiate Slopestyle National Champion, Dave Sugnet, sends a backflip between spectators.

Connor Michael getting ready to put down the landing gear on a big backflip. Photo by Dave Sugnet

Rocky Mountain Conference Collegiate Regional Championships plus all categories Open Race

Sunday November 17^th 2013

Come watch the best collegiate cyclocross racers from the Rocky Mountain Conference go head to head for the conference championships. Western, Fort Lewis, CU, Mines, Mesa, CSU, Adams, they’ll all be in attendance and chomping at the bit to mix it up on the best cross course in the state.

Then, throw your leg over your cross bike, mountain bike or townie and mix it up with your friends, enemies and neighbors in the all-comers public race. Beginners to pros, there’s a place on the starting grid for anyone who want to check it out.

Schedule

10:00am – Noon – Course open for preriding/inspection

Noon – 1:00pm – Rocky Mountain Conference Collegiate Regional Women’s Championship (45min)

1:00pm – 2:00pm – Rocky Mountain Conference Collegiate Regional Men’s Championship (55min)

2:00pm – All-Comers Open Race (open to everyone; beginners to pros) (45min)

3:30pm Awards

Registration

Registration will be held in the lobby of the lower level of the University Center on the Western State Colorado University Campus from 10am to 1 pm.

The Start/Finish will be near the patio area on the south side of  the University Center.

Click HERE for Location Map

Cost

USAC Regional race $30

Open race category $10

Course

The course is about a mile long and weaves and undulates throughout the campus. Obstacles include French Stairs, Dutch Sandpits, Baltic Barriers and Steep Swiss Hills.

Rules

Typical cross rules will be used. No barends on mountain bikes.  Any bike style is welcomed (townie prize may be given). If you are a Western student that has not paid dues to the club and want to race for the school the entry fee will be the cost of a USA cycling one day license and registration cost.

Contact Race Director Alex Alleman with questions: alexander.alleman@western.edu or 970-241-1469.

After staying the night in Boulder, Colorado, the team flew out Wednesday morning to Asheville, NC to meet up with the van and trailer that was going to take the team to Beech Mountain for the races. (Big shout out to Caleb, Eddie, Gabby and Justin for making that drive to bring everyones bikes and gear, even through hitting a deer near Topeaka!). Once settled into the team condo, everyone began installing race faces. The first thing in the morning, with temps hovering right at freezing, the team went on a windy, bone chilling pre-ride to check out the courses. For many, it was the first time they had ridden east of the Mississippi. Freshman, Peter Noon, from Fairbanks, Alaska said, “My gloves got wet washing the bikes after our ride. The 15 minute ride back to the condo was torture! My hands were freezing.”

Nationals officially began on Friday and the team woke up to…no surprise…snow! It was an early morning for those who were racing the Short Track discipline. The race started at 9am, so riders needed to warm up early but also stay as warm and dry as possible to be able to compete at the highest level. The course was challenging and getting a good start was critical as once the field was spread out in single file, riders can find themselves far from the front of the race. The course was hilly with sections of  grass, which was greasy and slippery due to the snow and ice. Junior, Graham Ruhmann, and Senior, Angela Vitulli, were Western’s top finishers, both coming in solidly in 7th place.

Finishing out day one, Western’s gravity riders rode qualifying runs for the Downhill discipline. The Downhill course was icy and snowy; a bear of a track! After the sun went down, the team had a big family style dinner and then everyone hung around the massive great room in the condo telling stories and playing games. Nationals is serious for certain but after a long, hard day, the team enjoyed each other’s company and relaxed before the busiest day of the event.

The team woke up on Saturday morning looking forward to a full day of Cross Country and Downhill racing. The Cross Country race kicked off the day and the five mile loop began with a steep, leg-burning hill right from the starting line. This led into a long section of twisty, technical singletrack through a thick forest. Ice, wet roots were everywhere eating unskilled riders. It was challenging for riders to maintain both traction and speed through this, the trickiest part of the course. Then, the terrain changed to fast and flowing trails to finish the loop. The men did three laps while the women did two. Both the men and women placed three riders in the top 25 ensuring firm team placings in the Omnium. The Western men took third while the women were fifth. Up next was the Downhill!

Red Bulletin writer, Angus Powers, describes Downhill racing: “Consider doing the quarter mile sprint while simultaneously calculating complex math equations and juggling a few tennis balls.” Or, in the conditions at Nationals this year, blasting through a gnarly rock garden covered in snow, mud and ice at max speed with scores of spectators screaming, making you push your limits just a little bit more. Due to all of the icy banked turns and sketchy, technical rock gardens, simply laying down a clean run would earn a fast time. This proved to be easier said than done. The top section of the track was one giant rock garden, while the lower half featured high-speed corners, jumps and a rock sender to the finish line. The huge crowd at the gnarliest rock section captured the real festiveness of Collegiate Nationals.

The Western men had all three riders finish in the top 20 with two in the top 10. Senior Owen Tulip had his eyes trained on winning the Division 2 Downhill title and pulled out all of the stops on his run. Unfortunatley, a crash would relegate him to 31st place. However, Cody Scott and Caleb Woodworth were 7th and 9th respectively, and the three riders combined scores put Western 3rd place for the day among Division 2 Schools. Consistency was the theme for the Western ladies as all three riders, Ellie Atkins, Carmen Smith and Zoe Smith all finished in the top 20. The ladies from Western combined for a 4th place finish in Downhill for the day.

First up on Sunday, the final day of the competittion, the first ever Team Relay took place. USA Cycling has added this intriging endurance event to the Nationals weekend and additional points for the Omnium were up for grabs. While local NC squad and reigning national champs in Division 2, Brevard College, had a stranglehold on first place in the Omnium, the battle for 2nd was hot between two Colorado schools. The Mountaineers were sitting in 2nd place going into the Relay, but Rocky Mountain Conference rival, Colorado Mesa University, was just a few points behind. The relay track was half of the Short Track that connected to the downhill section of the XC course. The lap took about five minutes, and it was an all out, leg burning sprint the whole time. Graham Ruhmann, Peter Noon, and Angela Vitulli made up the relay team. Noon and Vitulli had put the team in 9th prior to the final anchor leg and Ruhmann pushed the final lap hard, passing four riders on the climb earning the team 5th. However, Mesa took 2nd in the Team Relay and that result lanuched them past Western into 2nd and firmly in the driver’s seat with just the Dual event left.

The Dual featured off camber, grassy turns that challenged riders from start to finish. Owen Tulip led the men with a 7th place finish, while Woodworth and Scott would notch consistent 11th and 14th place rides. The Western men took 2nd but Mesa finished just behind in 3rd and were still sitting in 2nd in Omnium. It would be up to the ladies to overtake the team from Grand Junction and the girls from Western did not disappoint. Ellie Atkins and Carmen Smith both finished in the top 10 and Zoe Smith was solidly in the top 20 earning the lady Mountaineers 3rd in Dual while Mesa languished in 7th.

Once the dust had settled, or rather, once the mud had dried or frozen, Western ended up with 617 points to Mesa’s 605, taking 2nd in Omnium by the smallest margin. Those 12 points that were the difference can be found in every result from each of the Mountain Sports athletes from Gunnison.

To go out with a bang, one of Western’s riders, Jeff Sabatka, ate his way to victory in the Grape Nuts eating challenge at the final award banquet where he ate more Grape Nuts than anyone else and walked away with a giant box of the crunchy cereal!  An interesting way to finish a fantastic weekend of racing for sure!

Click HERE and scroll down for complete team omnium results from USA Cycling for D2.

Click HERE for complete results by discipline.

Click HERE to see team photos on facebook.

Click HERE to see Pinkbike’s complete coverage of the events.

Photo Credit: Gojammedia.com and Zoe Smith

Western shares the final podium with Brevard (stars and stripes), Colorado Mesa, Warren Wilson College and Mars Hill University

Ellie Atkins, Angela Vitulli and Zoe Smith

Graham Ruhmann racing in the snow in North Carolina

Graham mid race.

Western rider Andrew pinning it in the downhill

At the end of the DH race corse, riders had to fly off of a solid drop to the finish. Spectators packed in this area as it was the spot to yell your lungs out at the riders telling them to send it! With the ground muddy, riders were barely holding on and sliding into the next corner to the finish. This was defiantly the spot to be.

Western rider Justin Barber

Western rider Banks Kriz

Western rider Kyle Berry

Western rider Andrew Arnold

Western rider Justin Barr

Awesome weekend of racing for the WSCU Bike Team! To see results for the Red Feather Lakes Race, click here. For the Gravity Slave race in Crested Butte results pro results, featuring our very own Coach Eddie Cohn, and a full video on the race, click here.

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Come check out Collegiate Mountain Bike Racing! No experience necessary buy you will need a bike and helmet.

• Download PDF Flyer here!