USA Cycling collegiate road national championships takes place this weekend in Grand Junction, Colorado. This got us thinking back to all the fun times we had as collegiate racers. Here are a few of our own favorite stories, plus some anecdotes from pro racers that rode for their schools back in the day.
Brent Bookwalter, BMC Racing
The “naked crit” at collegiate MTB nationals was definitely one of the wackiest memories I have from collegiate nationals. Whether it was how serious some riders took this unsanctioned side event or the inevitable crashes which you can imagine left a mark, this “event” was one of a kind and for better or for worse, unforgettable.
Ted King, former pro rider on Cannondale
It was a frigid and snowy 2004 collegiate nationals — albeit mountain bike nationals — in Seven Springs, PA. I was always friends with the UVM team since they were just up the road from me in Vermont. Keith Jennings was a buddy on the team and appeared to be having a pretty good race. The next lap that I saw him he’d dropped way back in the field and he was riding up the climb towards me … without a jersey on! Bare chested! I learned afterwards that he’d broken his saddle, the rails remained atop the seatpost, and he wrapped his jersey around the rails for a little buffer for the entire rest of the race.
Todd Wells, SRAM/TLD/Scott
I think it was 1996, I was going to FLC and we were headed to a road race down in Albuquerque, NM. It was spring and one of the first races I was doing with the road team. We were loaded up in one of those 15-passenger vans and the gas was getting pretty low. There aren’t a lot of gas stations between Durango and Albuquerque so you really have to pay attention to your fuel.
The light had been on for a while but we were getting really close to the station when the van started sputtering. Finally the van quit but we still had a big roller to get over before we could make it to the downhill and coast into the station. Most of the team jumped out while we were still moving and started pushing. One guy was driving, most of us were pushing and one guy was surfing on the roof like “Teen Wolf” (movie from the ’80s). We made it over the top and managed to coast in to the pump. I think the guy on the roof surfed it all the way into the store. It was awesome.
Spencer Powlison, VeloNews news director
Ted’s story from mountain bike nationals brings back some memories — I think I wolfed down a dry bagel after that race because I was so bonked. But my funniest memory from that weekend actually involves the UVM team as well (hm, coincidence?). At the banquet, the UVM guys and gals (but mostly guys) dressed up as a football team, since it was Halloween weekend. One of their riders, Dan Vaillancourt got on the podium, and he was dressed as a referee. During the awards, UVM executed a carefully choreographed stunt where one rider went deep, caught a pass, and then was absolutely leveled by a third UVM kid in front of the entire crowd. Vaillancourt blew his whistle and threw a penalty flag. END SCENE!
Coryn Rivera, Sunweb
I think this was my freshman or sophomore year at Marian University and if I remember correctly we were going to the Purdue MWCCC regional road race weekend. We traveled in a touring bus run by Star of America, but our bus was more commonly known as “The Death Star”. Our main man bus driver was Gary (RIP), but that weekend we had a sub bus driver. We spent all day having fun and racing. Making endless PB&Js to keep us running throughout the day and taking naps on the floor or in the overhead compartment (if you were skinny like Neal Forbes and David Yohe). It was also a very clear rule to not drop #2s in the bus toilet also … otherwise you’d be bobbing for apples. After a long but fun day of racing we packed up the bus and got ready to head home for the day, I got in my seat and got ready to settle in and get some studying done for the road trip back. I remember hearing the engine rev up and the bus try to move, but I looked outside and noticed that we weren’t really moving. It had rained the last couple days and then everyone realized that we were stuck in some soft mud. We tried to get everyone off the bus, unload all the heavy equipment like tents an coolers, try to get some traction under the double axle by putting some branches and cardboard in front of the tires … still nothing. We even resorted to gathering everyone at the back of the bus and trying with all of our might to get it to budge out of the hole the spinning tires kept digging. Nothing. We ended up hanging out for 3-4hrs waiting for a boom truck. Of course it was a weekend and the truck had a hard time finding our location. Turns out we had plenty of time to study and mess around including karaoke on the bus with the driver’s mic. And of course we had reached our daily quota on PB&Js so we began to have some hangry college kids. We tried to get Jimmy John’s to deliver to us at the park we were at but thankfully at that moment, the boom truck finally came in to save us … so much for a good excuse to miss classes the next morning. But at least we never saw that bus driver ever again.
Fred Dreier, VeloNews editor in chief
It was conference championships at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and I was racing the “C” race for UC Santa Cruz because I was so dang slow. I attacked on the road course’s one big climb because I was feeling jumpy and got the gap. I put my head down and rode as hard as I could for the next 10 miles solo. I looked behind and didn’t see anybody, and feeling like a total badass, I decided to stop pedaling and coast across the finish line like a real champ. Just as I was about to cross the line these two U.C. Berkeley guys caught and passed me because I was showboating. For the rest of the race weekend people talked about that dumb dumb in the “C” race who snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
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