Celebrating an amazing year, overlooking the Great Salt Lake and the Wasatch Mountains.

What an amazing year for Mars Hill Cycling. In 2011-2012, we competed in all four national championships, winning two national titles and landing on national championship podiums 15 times! We end the year as the #1 ranked D2 team in the nation for the second year in a row. It hasn’t been easy, though: We’ve faced bumps in the road, crashes, and disappointments, but our experiences as a team along the way prove we are stronger together than we could ever be alone. We are humbled by the support we’ve received from all quarters: the college, official sponsors, quiet donors, and an awesome local cycling community. We thank all of you for making these incredible experiences possible.

Here’s some insight on our recent trip to road nationals in Ogden. We went there to give our best possible effort and defend our team omnium title from last year. Although we didn’t repeat, this nationals was without a doubt our best team performance to date. The effort, heart, and dedication the entire team put into preparations and performances at Ogden was spectacular. They rode to 7 national championship podiums over the weekend. When you’re on 7 of 9 possible podiums, you know you’re doing something right!

Breaking bread together at the Browning Mansion.

We arrived to an ultra clean and friendly Salt Lake City on Wednesday morning, ate lunch at a vegan cafe, and then headed up to Ogden to check into the Browning Mansion where we held down the fort. The Browning Mansion was built by the son of the famous gun maker over 100 years ago and has been completely restored by its current owners. At over 6,000 square feet, there was plenty of room for everyone and most had their own beds and rooms. The restoration included details from floor to ceiling that we’re artistically impressive, a modern chef’s kitchen, a film screening room with an amazing collection of DVD’s, a fitness room, and an amazing backyard that included a state of the art propane grill, hot tub, and outdoor heater. We thought we’d already won something before we even lined up for a race. The house was that amazing.

The women rocked the TTT to 2nd place on Zipp Firecrest wheels.

On to the races: the first was the TTT on Antelope Island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. While we didn’t see any antelope, we saw a big herd of bison during warmup the day before and could only hope that they would stay off the road during the next day’s racing. That was not the case during warmup, however, when an errant bison or two occasionally wandered onto the course. On race day, the bison kept their distance, and the women performed to expectation, securing the silver medal with only three women. The men put in a solid effort and claimed a strong 3rd place.

Mariske Strauss was in the mix from the first to the last corner in the criterium.

Heading into the next day’s criterium, we had some work to do to overcome overnight omnium leader MIT. In the women’s race, Klara Rossouw was the victim of a hard crash that required precautionary measures, including a neck brace, back board, and a ride in the ambulance. After examinations and a few x-rays, she was released with no serious injuries but some substantial road rash and contusions. While this was all happening on the side of the course’s long start/finish straightaway, Mariske Strauss was attacking (with sideward looks of concern as she passed Klara prone in the gutter each lap) with two from MIT and Steph Cucaz from King College. The MIT women attacked the breakaway shortly thereafter and left Strauss in no woman’s land while Cucaz drifted back to the field. While she would never regain the leaders, Strauss held onto a 10-15 second lead over the chasing field for the final 15 laps of the race, only to be caught in the last 50 meters to end up 9th. So close! Steph Bunnet ended up 10th after patrolling the front the entire race to assist Mariske’s solo effort.

Sebastian Scherf gets called to the criterium line as the SECCC Champion. He’d represent that title well by taking 2nd and the silver medal.

In the men’s criterium, it was also fast and furious from the start. Moving up through the field on this eight corner course was very difficult. Eventually five riders created a gap with about 30min left to go in the 75min race, including Mars Hill’s Sebastian Scherf, Cumberland’s Ryan Sullivan, Colorado Mesa’s Patric Rostel, a rider from Brevard, and one from the US Military Academy. The major teams were represented so this looked good. A few laps later, Brevard and USMA were dropped, leaving three strong men to battle it out for the win. Scherf had won every points prime he had contested, so it looked like it was his race to lose. But when Rostel attacked from the front just after Scherf’s pull at one lap to go, he opened up a gap and maintained it to the finish. Scherf edged Sullivan at the line just in front of a hard charging field. Scherf’s points for 2nd place combined with his prime points put him in first place in the individual omnium. In addition, the team was now within striking distance of overcoming MIT for the team omnium, trailing them 320-312 in points. With the next day’s road race our best event on paper, we were confident that we could pull off the repeat.

The women getting ready to do work before the road race. And work they did.

The women’s RR started first. Our goal was to place second in team points to MIT. Obviously, we were going to try to beat them, but we needed to be honest about both their overall strength and having more riders to score points. Plus, Rossouw was hurting big time from her crash in the criterium, so the realistic goal was to go for the individual win with Strauss and collect enough points to earn second place team points and put the men’s team in position to beat the MIT men by a few spots in the RR. The first part of the plan worked perfectly. Strauss rode to a fine second place, and Steph Bunnett rode with fervor up the 6 mile climb and then beat her small group for a great 8th place. Rossouw battled in pain the entire day and was able to pull off an impressive 17th despite her war wounds.

The men looking confident and relaxed before the road race. The calm before the storm.

The men were excited for the RR and the challenge ahead. We had Scherf leading the individual omnium, so his job was to cover those riders near him to defend that lead and win the individual omnium. Corey Davis and Chad Capobianco were our designated climbers and protected until the final climb. Based on their power/weight, we figured they had equal chances of landing on the podium with the other claiming a likely top ten. Maitland Jones, Michael Robinson, and Tim Jenkinson were our designated workers, ensuring that our top guys could conserve energy to unleash it all on the final climb. In order to win the team omnium, we would need to beat MIT by at least two places in the RR’s team points. We felt confident in our ability to pull it off. We had ace climbers who train in the mountains and were hungry for the race’s final climb. While MIT has strong riders and a wind tunnel on campus, we understood that power/weight would be a much larger determiner than aerodynamics in the road race’s final 6-mile climb. While we understood we needed to beat MIT, our focus had to be on doing our best race as a team, and then let the cards fall where they may.

View of the carnage in the road race’s opening miles. Not good.

It was an excellent plan but certainly didn’t account for a major pileup in the first three miles of the race. After a 1k neutral roll-out, the attacks started going left and right at speeds of 30-40mph, assisted by a tailwind. Who knows what exactly happened, but likely a touch of the wheels near the front of the 100 rider field resulted in nearly half the field going down. Those of us not racing had jumped in the van as soon as the field left to get to the feed zone, and it wasn’t long before we came upon the scene: the road was completely blocked with riders, some finally starting to mount a chase after a long gone peloton, others wandering around dazed, and quite a few still laying on the ground. Two broken collar bones, several destroyed carbon bikes, a broken carbon fork that had impaled one rider’s forearm, and a rider going into shock with injuries yet determined. Two ambulances and a fire truck on scene, traffic backed up for a mile in either direction. Seventeen riders abandoned on the scene, including our Michael Robinson who hit the deck too hard to continue with possible wrist and hip fractures. Our protected riders, Davis and Capobianco also hit the deck hard, needing mechanical assistance including new wheels. Davis would later need several stitches post-race. Both continued and found themselves in a 10-rider chase group that did a TTT for nearly 25 miles before finally regaining contact with the main field.

The crash was particularly damaging to our chances as our key riders had to burn many matches to regain. MIT was a bit more fortunate with five of their riders escaping the crash unscathed, although I think one had to abandon. Cumberland had Sullivan back with our guys in the chase, so both of our teams suggested to the peloton that it would be fair to give those riders who could continue a chance to regain contact. After all, the crash had affected nearly every team and there were still 80 miles to race. We didn’t want this incident to be the deciding factor of the race when the big climb at the end would certainly sort things out evenly enough. Yet one team in particular decided that it was an opportune time to attack and attack again. All of their riders had made the front group. Racing is racing, and part of racing strategy is taking advantage of whatever weaknesses you can exploit. But there are unspoken rules concerning fair play and sportsmanship. You don’t attack someone’s crash or misfortune, but then it’s often difficult to assess the context in a rapidly changing situation so we must give the attackers the benefit of the doubt. Eventually, the field agreed to let one go off solo and not chase him, which ended up creating a scenario that just burnt the attacking rider and also allowed for the chase group to catch since the field wasn’t concerned about one rider going the distance alone.

The D2 road nationals podium. Congrats to MIT for winning. Super proud of the SECCC for having three teams on the podium.

With Davis and Capobianco back in the main group, as well as Sullivan from Cumberland, the race proceeded to focus on the final climb. In the interim, Davis had the additional misfortune to have rear flat tire, punctured by an open safety pin that he must have picked up in a subsequent pass through the big crash site. He got a spare and chased alone like a demon. I think he truly discovered what he could actually muster from his entire body, mind, and spirit. It was an amazing effort to regain the field, and that chase showed what he’s truly capable of, and I think it surprised him. The effort did of course take it’s toll, and Davis didn’t have the legs to contest the final climb with the leaders after having to spend more than a third of the race chasing to regain the front group. Capobianco rode to his finest result ever to finish 20th, an excellent result for a freshman who burnt many matches regaining contact after the big crash. Scherf would come in next, losing his individual omnium chances but still securing a spot on the final podium. The MIT men rode a great race, finishing four men in 18-25th place and securing the team omnium title for their team. Congrats to them; they deserved it.

Mars Hill wins the overall omnium for 2011-2012. Our major goal of the year. Many others not pictured played important roles.

Again, this was Mars Hill’s best nationals performance to date. No regrets here at all. The team rode with smarts, passion, heart, and unending effort. Can’t ask for more than that. The crashes and incidents are a part of bike racing, and it was our turn to deal with them. Losing the team omnium to MIT doesn’t sting at all. Besides being excellent racers, they are good people and their team leader, Katie Quinn, made a point to find our team van to check in on our riders and to make sure we were all okay. That is the mark of a deserving champion.

Mars Hill, however, did win the year-long omnium championship that takes into account the points earned throughout the season at track, mountain, cross, and road nationals. This year, USA Cycling presented a big trophy to the teams who proved strongest throughout the entire year. We won in D2, and Fort Lewis College won in D1.

A highlight of the team’s road nationals podiums:

1st Team Omnium, 2011-2012 National Rankings
2nd Team Omnium, Road Nationals
2nd Women’s Road Race, Mariske Strauss
2nd Men’s Criterium, Sebastian Scherf
2nd Women’s TTT
3rd Men’s TTT
3rd Women’s Individual Omnium, Strauss
5th Men’s Individual Omnium, Scherf

Final National Team Rankings 2011-2012

An all around athlete, Harnden competed in collegiate swimming and cross country running, too. She’s also an avid back country skier. When not in athlete mode, she enjoys baking cookies and creating shenanigans, two things every cycling team needs more of! A native of Ontario, Canada, Harnden brings another cultural perspective to the team, which now has riders from six different countries.

Harnden will join Mars Hill as a junior and focus her studies on Integrated Marketing Communications.

Welcome to the team, Catherine!

Now that's a BIG check! We couldn't do what we do without the amazing support we receive.

It’s time for road nationals again! And we’re ready to defend our national titles from last year. Hard to believe it’s been a year. Competing in 4 (now 5 with BMX) disciplines and racing all 4 national championships really helped speed things along. Plus, we promoted mountain bike and cyclocross races, volunteered for Carolina Youth Mountain Bike League and Trips for Kids WNC, helped the City of Asheville with its successful bid for CX Nats in 2016, and somehow found time to study! Here’s a brief update on what we’ve been up to these last few weeks of road season:

We had our big film fundraiser last week at Asheville Pizza and Brewing Company. It was the 4th year we’ve held it there, and the folks at APBC have been so supportive of the team. Besides screening two sick mountain bike films, we raffled off a pair of Industry Nine wheels, and introduced some of our sponsors to the crowd. Spin-Tech Training, First Light Solar, and The Organic Mechanic were all on hand to present the team with gigantic checks. While the college throws a bunch of dough into our program, we’re always more ambitious than our budget so we depend on the support of team sponsors and the local community. Everyone has been so supportive. Thank you! Other sponsors recognized at the event: BioWheels, Hearn’s Cycling and Fitness, Raw Revolution Energy Bars, Neo Burrito, ABRC, DeFeet, ProGold, TrainingPeaks, Celtic Sea Salt, and the Madison County TDA.

The 2012 SECCC road champions, 3rd year in a row. Congrats to King College and Cumberland for making us sweat.

The racing these last few weeks of road season at Dalton State, Clemson, and Brevard has been intense. Several of the teams in the SECCC have really stepped up, so it’s been a battle for every point at every race in order to win the conference championship. In the end the team came from behind to clinch the conference title ahead of King College by just 6 team points, 672-666. Cumberland was a strong 3rd. The smart money bets that there will be 3 SECCC teams on the D2 podium in Ogden next week.

Recently, the men’s TTT team has been the one to beat, winning decisively at Clemson and then taking the conference title at Brevard. The women also won the D2 TTT at conference.

In the road races and crits, Mariske Strauss showed that her dirt skills translate to the road by winning several events with the super domestique support of Klara Rossouw and Steph Bunnett. Lacey Douglas, Yolanda Colon, and Laura Rice provided strong backup too.

For the men, Sebastian Scherf was the standout, winning four races including the conference championship road race. Again, he had strong support from the rest of the team: Tim Jenkinson, Corey Davis, Michael Robinson, Chad Capobianco, and Maitland Jones.

Our developing riders also had a great season. Barry Wilcox strung together a number of podiums in his freshman year in the B’s. Both Jake Dixon and Jake Mills (the Jakes!) showed tons of improvement in the C’s with each new race. Laura Rice nailed a couple of podiums in her first road races ever in the B women to complete an amazing first season of racing.

All in all, it took every rider on the team to accomplish our #1 goal of the road season: win conference championships! Now we’re preparing for nationals in Ogden. The competition will be tough, for sure. Just getting to Ogden is tough, period. But we’re bringing our A game. We’ll keep you updated on Facebook and Twitter.

Hudson takes on Sam Willoughby at Grand Nationals last November.

Hudson will help lead, mentor, and build the team’s BMX and gravity mountain bike squads. Hudson brings years of experience in gated events: he started racing BMX at 9 , turned pro at 16, has competed in over 100 pro main events, and made the final at the 2008 USAC BMX Championships in the Elite category. Hudson is proficient on the mountain bike as well, consistently making the finals at the Fontana Southridge Series, including a couple of wins.

Hudson on the top step at Fontana Southridge pro 4x.

Hudson looks forward to contributing to the team’s growth and breadth of experience by teaching newer riders the intricacies of the gate, an all important factor in BMX and gravity mountain bike racing. Hudson has taught over 100 clinics and gives regular gate clinics at local practice nights in Phoenix, Arizona.

While Hudson brings strong experience and mentoring capabilities to the team, he also looks forward to continuing his personal growth in the sport while getting a college degree. We’re excited he chose Mars Hill. Hudson will focus his studies on political science.

Welcome to the team, Alan!

]]> http://marshillcycling.com/2012/04/08/poster-for-film-fest/feed/ 0 marshillcycling Film fest poster2012 http://marshillcycling.com/2012/04/01/pat-mcquaid-to-visit-mars-hill/ http://marshillcycling.com/2012/04/01/pat-mcquaid-to-visit-mars-hill/#comments Mon, 02 Apr 2012 03:20:59 +0000 marshillcycling http://marshillcycling.com/?p=2240 ]]> We are very excited to announce a visit to Mars Hill  by Pat McQuaid, the current president of cycling’s international governing body, the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The cycling community is quite familiar with McQuaid, who has served as president of the UCI since 2005, a rather controversial period. Recently, McQuaid has come under fire for topics ranging from women’s rights in the peloton to the proper height of socks. McQuaid promises to speak to these topics during his April 19th visit but will focus on how grassroots efforts impact the sport’s international growth.

McQuaid discovered collegiate cycling while searching for his roots at Mars Hill College's Southern Appalachian Archives.

Yet McQuaid’s visit to Mars Hill had nothing to do with cycling, at least initially. On a search for ancestors who immigrated to the US from Northern Ireland in the 18th century, McQuaid discovered that family on his mother’s side had first landed in Pennsylvania and then migrated south to the North Carolina Piedmont region looking for cheaper land. They eventually settled in Western North Carolina not far from Mars Hill, which he discovered when reviewing documents at the Southern Appalachian Archives housed at the Ramsey Center on campus. It was in an email exchange about these documents that McQuaid learned that Mars Hill had a cycling team.

At first, McQuaid was astonished to learn that American colleges had cycling teams–apparently he hadn’t heard of collegiate cycling yet! And while we’re proud to be the ones to inform the president of the great things all of us in collegiate cycling are doing, we’re even prouder to announce that McQuaid, in conjunction with his visit to the Southern Appalachian Archives, will visit Mars Hill to talk about the growth of cycling worldwide and how collegiate cycling can be an important factor in cycling’s long term development.

McQuaid is scheduled to visit on April 19th, exact time and location to be announced. We want to make sure McQuaid’s talk is free and open to the public, so stay tuned as we determine the best venue for this exciting event.

For now, please direct all inquiries to hmoran@mhc. edu before April 1st.

Dyer claimed a bronze medal at track nationals.

Dyer’s racing experience stretches across disciplines as well as international borders. Dyer raced cyclocross in Belgium with the US National team as a part of their EuroCross Camp. He also raced with the national team in Germany and Switzerland as part of the US National Team’s Euro Mountain Bike Camp.

Leading at an elite cyclocross race.

On the track, Dyer rode to several top-5 placings at last year’s national track championships in Frisco, TX, including a bronze medal in the scratch race. Dyer was recently invited to participate in the opening day festivities at the new Giordana Velodrome in Rock Hill, SC, and placed 4th in the points race against an elite field. On the road, he has a feared sprint but can go the distance too, as he demonstrated with a top-15 result at last summer’s national road championships in Augusta, Georgia.

With Kyle Knott at the Giordana Velodrome's opening day. A changing of the guard.

Off the bike, Dyer spends time giving back to the cycling community by teaching kids about helmet safety and bike skills and has participated in cyclocross clinics for kids. Dyer recently graduated from high school early with a 3.4 GPA. He’s from Valdese, North Carolina, and is the son of Sonni and Sandy Dyer, who run an endurance coaching business, Studio 7 MultiSport.

Welcome to the team, Jeremiah!

It's all about the kids! Dyer answers questions at a clinic.

Possinger joins Mars Hill for fall.

Mars Hill Cycling is excited to announce the signing of Jake Possinger, a senior at Crestwood High School in White Haven, PA. Jake will initially join our mountain bike and cyclocross teams. Jake won the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Super Series as well as the 2011 Pennsylvania State Mountain Bike Championships. He also finished 2nd in the PACX cyclocross series last year.

Jake has been racing bikes for the last three years and is currently a member of the Cedar Bike Team out of Scranton, PA.  He also brings to the team a diverse background off the bike that includes membership in the National Honor Society and competition in track and field. Jake is an accomplished mechanic who wrenches for Pocono Biking. He’s also an avid runner, cross country skier, and hiker.

Possinger brings depth and talent to Mars Hill's mountain and cyclocross teams.

Before joining Mars Hill in the fall, Jake will focus on winning the Mid-Atlantic Super Series and the PA State Championships for a second year in a row with a goal of qualifying for the 2013 National Mountain Bike Championships held in his home state in the Lehigh Valley.

Welcome to the team, Jake! We plan to announce another exciting addition to our men’s roster very soon.

Addy is national champion on the track

Mars Hill Cycling is delighted to announce the addition of junior cycling phenom Addy Albershardt to the team for next fall. A recent graduate of East Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, Addy brings international and professional experience to our growing women’s team.

Addy is a member of the NOW and Novartis for MS team, which competes nationally on the professional women’s cycling circuit. Addy is a current national champion on the track in the team and individual pursuits, and she also placed 2nd at last year’s national road time trial championships. These results earned her the right to compete at both the World Road Championships in Copenhagen and the World Track Championships in Moscow in 2011.

Representing the US at the World Championships

Addy recently completed the 2012 Women’s Tour of New Zealand as part of the US National Team, which was won by teammate Eveyln Stevens. The team placed 2nd overall in the team competition.

While Addy’s cycling ability brings a boost to our cycling program, we’re equally excited about the well-rounded perspective Addy brings to Mars Hill College off the bike. A strong student, accomplished musician (violin, cello, piano), and engaged community member, Addy exemplifies the caliber of student Mars Hill is especially excited about joining our college community. This spring she will travel to Haiti on a mission trip to offer support to those still recovering from the earthquake.

Keep up with Addy’s racing, travels, and adventures at her entertaining and insightful blog: addyalbershardt.blogspot.com.

Welcome to the team, Addy!

With help from teammates, including Michael Robinson (on right), Sebastian Scherf took the men's first win of the season.

The Mars Hill team raced at Cumberland University over the weekend, netting the men their first victory of the season in Sunday’s criterium around Titan Stadium in downtown Nashville, TN. Sebastian Scherf finally got the opportunity to sprint for the win and didn’t disappoint, clearly taking the sprint from a four man breakaway that formed in the closing laps of an open, fast, and very windy race. Tim Jenkinson helped set up the winning move and then took the sprint for fifth out of the second four man group. The race was a battle amongst six strong teams, including large squads from King, Lees-McRae, Brevard, Clemson, and of course Cumberland. Mars Hill was represented in every move and craftily set up a perfect tactical scenario in the final laps.

Klara Rossouw took the field sprint for 3rd in Saturday's road race.

Other strong results from the weekend included Klara Roussow’s field sprint win in the road race for 3rd in the A women, beating a Lees-McRae leadout train and strong sprinters from the King team as well. Timothy Jenkinson infiltrated the break in the road race and also claimed a podium position in 3rd place. In the B men, Barry Wilcox made the breakaway too, and claimed a strong 5th place. The C men ran into a little bad luck when both were taken out in separate crashes. Both are okay and ready to return to action.

In the TTT, the Mars Hill men lost to Cumberland but their fast time was enough to claim 2nd over Lees-McRae and Brevard. The women claimed 2nd in the TTT with the LMC women taking the victory.

See full results Here.

The team’s next race is at Dalton State on March 17-8.

Thanks to all our Sponsors!