Race Report from head coach Shelley Olds:

The team traveled to Grand Junction, Colorado for the last race of the Collegiate Mountain Bike Season at the USA Cycling National Championships. Everett Radock was the only member of the team to make the trip, and he came away from the experience gaining lots of lifelong lessons about adversity, perseverance and resilience. 
 
The racing began with a day of mandatory pre-riding of the four courses that he would tackle while contesting the individual omnium event. This meant he would first have to suit up in full protective gear with his downhill specific bike to practice the Dual Slalom course without gates. This is a super-fast, 20-second single-track course that sits side by side with an identical track, which you race against another rider to see who can get to the bottom the fastest. It requires walking your bike up a steep slope at high-altitude and then ripping down the course against another rider, only to do it multiple times over again. 

After the Dual Slalom practices were done, Everett rode the ski lift to the top of the Powderhorn Mountain Resort (~10,000ft elevation), where he would walk down the two-mile track used for the Downhill Race later in the week. The purpose of the walk is to preview the course so  you know what to expect, preparing you be able to go as fast as possible, and reduce the risk of injury.
Finally, at the end of all that he switched into his basic team uniform without protective gear and hopped on a simpler bike to pre-ride the XCO course. This was a two-mile lap with ~500ft of climbing that would be raced two days later over six total laps. During the pre-ride, he could also look at the short section that would be utilized for the XCC race he would compete in on the final day of racing. 
Adversity struck at the end of a long tedious day when Everett's primary bike suffered a mechanical malfunction and the rear wheel shattered into two parts. We didn't have any spare equipment with us, so we begged one of the local colleges (one of our rivals in fact) to help us out. The Colorado Mesa University team was extremely gracious and gave us a wheel that Everett could finish the week of racing on. Thank you, CMU!
 
Championship racing began on Thursday with the Dual Slalom. Everett was required to do a couple more practice runs, this time with the start gates up, before his actual qualification run. To qualify for the finals, he would have to finish in the top 32 out of 52 riders. We knew this wouldn't be easy, since DS is not his focus and we don't ever get to train on this type of course, but he did his best and finished in a solid 42nd place just shy of qualification for the final. 

Next day was the XCO, Everett's main event. He was on a list of 86 riders who would take the start, but one of only five others that would get called up to the line by name and not by college. He earned that privilege by winning the ACC Conference title with consistent and stellar performances all season long. 

Everett recalls the start of the XCO as an exciting dive into the unknown. Having never raced at elevation before, this would be a new experience, and he wasn't sure how much he'd be affected by having less oxygen in the air.  Sitting on the front line, he felt his nerves dissipate and there was a sense of acceptance and gratitude for having this opportunity.  From the blow of the whistle the field was off to a fast start. Everett had his best race start of the season, holding strong in the top 10 among some of the best in the world. Working to maintain this momentum Everett dug deep and very quickly understood the cost of pushing too far past the redline at high altitude. Trying to recover from the effort, he dropped his pace and felt his breathing get sharp while his heart rate increased. With heavy legs he was holding on as best he could but very quickly drifted back in the pack. After a painful next few laps Everett finished 51st, walking away with a lot to learn from the experience, yet still proud of the start effort he was able to hold before elevation got the better of him. 
 
A few hours after XCO there were the mandatory downhill pre-rides in which riders lock in their line choice before the next day's race. Already fatigued from the earlier race, Everett rode the lift to the top of the mountain and completed his two laps at a conserved pace to play it safe but get still be ready to lay down his best race pace lap the next morning. 

Adversity struck again when, after some precipitation rolled through the resort the night before, the organizers didn't feel comfortable sending the racers down the planned track and last minute pivoted to a less technical trail. With one required practice run on this new track, we quickly got to the resort. After the first run it was clear rain had rolled through, with mud the consistency of peanut butter covering most of the resort. The decision was made to use a different bike than originally planned in order to better navigate the new conditions. Confident that this was the right call, Everett made his way up the lift for the final time to be ready for his Downhill Final start time of 12:37pm. 

The race should take about five minutes to complete in normal conditions. Coach Shelley was waiting at the bottom of the slopes and checking the live results over the internet. She quickly realized that too much time had passed and went to find out if Everett had broken his bike again and was unable to finish or if he had crashed and been brought to the medical tent. Unfortunately, the second scenario was true. Radock had been unexpectedly bucked from his bike and flown over the handlebars, hitting a rock with his head on impact with the ground. This left him unconscious, thankfully only momentarily, and ski patrol was with him to assess his injuries right away. He was brought down the mountain on a four-wheeler and brought to the hospital shortly after to be examined further.
 
It wasn't the way that Radock had hoped for his week of racing to end, but it is unfortunately a big part of our sport, crashing. Athletes ride the limit constantly of what is doable and what is not and the consequence is falling but ultimately learning. We are thankful to all the people who assisted us in making sure that Everett was ok and taken care of immediately after the crash. We are extremely grateful for the job that his full-face helmet (required by the sport's governing body for any racing or practicing of this event), did to protect his brain. 

Everett's CT scan was negative, and we head back to Roanoke, Virginia with a feeling of humility and great honor to have been there representing Roanoke College at such a prestigious event. The lessons we learned about both resilience and generosity and will stay with us forever and we will pass them on as best we can.
 
Thanks for reading.
~Coach Shelley