ANGEL FIRE, N.M. - Union College opens competition at the NCCA Mountain Biking National Championships Friday in Angel Frie, N.M. and will vie for a national title through Sunday.

The 16-member team will participate in a variety of events, and it is easy to get lost in the cycling jargon if one is not familiar with terms such as the gravity event, downhill, mountain cross or even short track. A non-traditional sport can be confusing.

So, to help the uninitiated out, here is a comprehensive guide for the NCCA Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships.

First, the course at Angel Fire will be at a high altitude, exceeding 11,000 feet – nearly four times the altitude in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky.

The weekend begins at 7:45 a.m. Mountain (9:45 Eastern) Friday with the short track competition. Short track is an all out attempt to ride fast around a course that is less than a mile. The track at Angel Fire is a three-minute course with many technical elements and short steep climbs. All racers start out together, but the slower riders are pulled out of the race once they are lapped by the leaders. The men’s race will be 25 minutes plus two-laps, while the women’s is 20 minutes plus two laps.

After a hard morning of racing, the Bulldogs will have little time to relax before heading over to the mountain cross course. First, riders race the clock and try to have the fastest time as possible. The fastest and slowest racers will race head to head in a row of four. The official counts down, five, four, three, two, one … Riders ready. Go! The gate drops and the racers take off down a steep desent to the first jump.

Depending on skill level, the riders will either roll or jump the obstacle. The two fastest racers down the mountain advance to the next round, the others being eliminated and placed. The racers continue to compete against one-another with the fastest receiving lane choice.

Skill, bravery and luck are all factors that tie into this event. Union sophomore Ryan Sickles is one of the racers who will be challenged by a long weekend of racing. Sickles has made vast improvements at every conference race, getting faster every weekend. His gravity points in dual slalom and downhill helped the team secure the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference Championship.

"Most people forget this technical course held a World Cup race just over a year ago, and with the cross country course climbing up to near 11,000ft every lap, everyone's going to know who's on form,” Sickles said. “I believe the hardest thing for us [racers] is going to be transitioning smoothly between the four different events, yet keep that competitive national-level edge against individual event specialists."

Saturday at 8:00 a.m., the Bulldogs will start the cross country race at the base of the mountain. The course consists of 70-percent single-track and 30-percent fire roads. Single-track is a trail that provides room for a single file line. An Angel Fire, it is a climb from 8,000-11,000 feet of elevation. There will be some sections that are too steep to ride, so the Bulldogs will have to get off the bike and run occasionally.

Racers will only be able take water from the support area at the bottom of the mountain. The athletes are responsible for carrying any tools they may need during the course of the race. If a racer has a flat tire, then they must fix it with no outside assistance. The women’s event is a two-lap race (approximately nine miles) and the men’s is three laps (over 13 miles).

At 9:00 a.m. Sunday, the cyclists will board the ski lift with their bikes and prepare for a long, cold ride to the top of the mountain for the downhill event. Downhill is a gravity assisted race against the clock. Racers leave at one-minute intervals, traveling down the face of a mountain as quick as possible.

The course designer comes into play by making the course as difficult as possible. Their role is to slow the racer down and challenge their technical abilities. The induction of “rock gardens” and steep “drops” are features that are often added. A rock garden is a long stretch of large, often angular rocks, that slow down the rider. Drops are consructed with large rocks, logs or creek beds. These features are often sorrounded by trees or followed by sharp turns, making the landing a difficult proposition.

The person with the fastest time down the hill is the winner. A typical downhill bike has about eight inches of front and rear suspension or “travel”. The suspension absorbs bumps in the trail and provides cushion over drops or jumps. They weigh around 50 pounds and have powerful disc brakes for increased stopping power.  Unfortunatly no Bulldog has a true downhill bike, which makes the task of getting down the hill more challenging.

Racers from all over the country come to compete at the NCCA National Championships. Union is focused bringing a team title home for the bulldogs. 

"With our efforts at nationals last year, I feel confident that our team is much stronger and can bring the National title back home to Union," Sickles said.