It has been a few weeks since Collegiate Nationals, though it could easily have been a year. The Cycling Owls do not officially race in the off-season, and many team members have been catching up on sleep, school, and focusing on things that were put off during bike season. It already seems like it has been ages since we traveled the south in the lovely little bus. But moving on: some riders have managed to continue to find time to ride, and a few intrepid souls even managed to haul themselves to a race last weekend.

The Swank 65k Mountain Bike Race is classic, old school mountain bike racing. Held in the middle of Pisgah National Forest, the race starts with a ½ mile running start before heading out for 38 miles of pain. Now, 38 miles might not seem like much for a biker, but the Swank features over 8,000 vertical feet of climbing, and some of the toughest descents in the southeast. It is, in a word, brutal.

Tallulah Winquist, Nina Otter, Josh Cooper, and Matt Williams all lined up, ready to ride, run, laugh, cry, crash, bleed, and suffer their way all the way to the finish line. Both Tallulah and Nina put in valiant efforts, but succumbed to exhaustion and mechanicals before the finish. Collegiate racing is poor preparation for 30 minute long climbs and g-narly rock gardens on wicked steep descents. Tallulah DNF'd after flatting, and then having to hike back down a mountain to fix her it; somehow riding her bike back up the climb didn't seem like a great idea after that. Nina made it up the biggest climb of the day, Farlow Gap, and down the treacherous backside, only to loose a bolt on her cleat. She had to ride 20 minutes off course back to the start/finish to fix it, and by then, well, she was ready to be done. Still, well done for the women. And they'll be back next year.

The men had slightly better luck. Matt did manage to get lost once and crash twice, but his body and bike weren't any worse for wear. He absolutely drilled it up the Farlow Gap climb, cruising by recently crowed National Champion Tristan Cowie and a couple of pros en route to a second place finish. Josh also rode well, finding a consistent tempo on the courses many climbs. He hung in to finish inside the top 50. Well-done Wilson riders.

Other News
Despite this being the off-season, the team has been up to a few things. Last week we had a team gathering to eat some great food, relax, and get some training tips for the winter and spring from head coach Art Shuster. Last week also marked to beginning of weekly group rides on campus every Thursday at 4:30.

On Sunday the Owls headed to Alexander Park to do some trail work. About ten riders showed up to help clear the way for a new trail, but we ended up going ahead and just building it. By early afternoon the team had built a couple hundred yards of sweet new single track, which we promptly rode before heading out for some well earned pizza. Good Stuff. Check out some photos of the trail day in the photo section, and stay tuned for more updates throughout the spring.