[snowforner15]

which colleges would be good for biking? area and team wise. im up in chico ca and love the area but just want out.

how do college cycling (mountain) teams work? which has the most established and committed of the uc school? i want to go to sb


looking at
ucsb, ucsc, ucsd.. cal poly

if i get some cash for out of state
oregon, oregon state, colorado-boulder,, U arizona, U washington

 

[dogonfr]

Track down Berkeley Mike on the Nor Cal forum. He's the local High School Coach & is very helpfull. :cornut:

 

[matt]

I've heard Boulder has a pretty good team and is surrounded by good DH, but I guess there isn't much really closeby? I dunno, hearsay... Just about everyone says that Boulder is like the yuppiest community in the world. But I haven't been there so this is all internet BS.

 

[hab1b]

I've heard Boulder has a pretty good team and is surrounded by good DH, but I guess there isn't much really closeby? I dunno, hearsay... Just about everyone says that Boulder is like the yuppiest community in the world. But I haven't been there so this is all internet BS.

Boulder CO i would not say is yuppie.. its really Hippie. As for biking.. well it snows so not ideal for a hardcore biker.

 

[snowforner15]

ya i was thinking pnw( oregon and washington) defiantly not year round though and in the summer ill mostlikely come back to cali so dont know if that would be for biking.. plus takes a chunk out of the bank account (parents') went up to eugene and its a chill community though..
what have you heard about UC sb and sc's cycling teams

 

[matt]

Boulder CO i would not say is yuppie.. its really Hippie. As for biking.. well it snows so not ideal for a hardcore biker.

Alright, just going on what some people on the intraweb have said.

How far is it from some solid downhill riding though? Is it like completely flat there? I always see dirt jumping and pump track pics from there, but never anything else....

 

[matt]

ya i was thinking pnw( oregon and washington) defiantly not year round though and in the summer ill mostlikely come back to cali so dont know if that would be for biking.. plus takes a chunk out of the bank account (parents') went up to eugene and its a chill community though..
what have you heard about UC sb and sc's cycling teams

I was thinking about Cal Poly San Luis Obispo... Looks like some awesome riding down there and they have a pretty good team. I was also looking at Santa Cruz, but I don't know how good their team is, or if I even care?

I don't think I would really want to go to the PNW. I know they have some great riding (and I've ridden some of it), but just not my kinda environment.

 

[ebxtreme]

For DH, check with Western Washington University in Bellingham. Great local trails, an hour from the shore and 2.5 from Whistler. The local cycling scene there is very strong and the trailbuilders have been stepping it up several notches the past few years. Also, about 45 minutes from Mt. Baker so lots of good boarding/skiing in the winters.

Cheers,
EBX

 

[ScottJensen]

come to poly. im a first year mechanical engineering student here. i live up in the bay are and am here for school. was really skeptical about coming here instead of a uc (sb and sd). weve got a pretty damn good cycling team (so i hear. dont do much road personally). and the mountain team isnt to shabby either. i didnt race this yr but next ill be doing dh and prob 4x. theres TONSS of killer trails all within about 10 mins of campus to. so there easily accessible from the dorms. depending on your major, that should play a big role in what school you choose. the 2 uc's i got into (sb and sd) both have engineering programs, but with poly being one of the top rankin undergrad progs in the country, i figure ill get more for my money here. not including the fact that companys come here looking for engineers, before they go just about anywhere else. (like Berkeley etc). something about book smarts vs practical know how/hands on exp.

 

[snowforner15]

For DH, check with Western Washington University in Bellingham. Great local trails, an hour from the shore and 2.5 from Whistler. The local cycling scene there is very strong and the trailbuilders have been stepping it up several notches the past few years. Also, about 45 minutes from Mt. Baker so lots of good boarding/skiing in the winters.

Cheers,
EBX

hows seattle? isnt that U wash campus? not really stoked for a big city but heard its nice.. or maybe tacoma...

 

[matt]

For DH, check with Western Washington University in Bellingham. Great local trails, an hour from the shore and 2.5 from Whistler. The local cycling scene there is very strong and the trailbuilders have been stepping it up several notches the past few years. Also, about 45 minutes from Mt. Baker so lots of good boarding/skiing in the winters.

Cheers,
EBX

Not to try and sounds like a [email protected], but I rode in Bellingham this summer, and honestly wouldn't want to go to school there. From my impressions, it wasn't that exciting, and the riding that I did(Galbraith, stuff on Chuckanut) was pretty tame, IMO, and I think it would just get boring quick to ride that often. Was a hell of a ride up that fireroad for the short ride down Evo and whatnot.... But I did enjoy the trail on Chuckanut waaaay more than stuff on Galby.

I know there are other trails up there that are of questionable legality, but from the ones I have seen pics, etc of I still don't think it would be worth it. I guess it just wasn't my style. I'm into bigger mountains and rockier terrain, with some jumps and stuff thrown in, too, and Evo and other trails were mad flowy, but they just were more all mountain/light freerideish, again my opinion. But, even with the shore close and whistler not too far I would want a bit heavier riding nearby me.

 

[DanD]

Alright, just going on what some people on the intraweb have said.

How far is it from some solid downhill riding though? Is it like completely flat there? I always see dirt jumping and pump track pics from there, but never anything else....

Ya man, Colorado is flat as a pancake.

 

[DHidiot]

If you're into engineering, go to Cal Poly. If you're into being involved with the school MTB team, go to Cal Poly. If you're into doing shuttle runs on long rocky trails and partying your frigging tail off and screwing blondes by the beach, go to UCSB.

SLO is in no way lacking of good mountain biking. If I had to pick one town on the west coast to live in to ride without much commuting to do so it would be there hands down. Their team is (as far as I can tell) the largest, best organized and best supported team of all the Cal State and UC schools.

In comparison, UCSD has jack **** for mountain biking, especially near the school. UCSC has a lot of dirty hippies and didn't have the best DH riding but would be absolutely killer for XC and trail riding. I visited all these schools before settling on UCSB, but partially regret choosing it over Cal Poly since I got into both of them. I dismissed SC and SD immediately after visiting them if that tells you anything.

 

[ThunderBringer#1]

Son lets be serious

Chico State is the way to go for good people and good riding. And you know this man!
But I know how it is if you grew up here, aim for schools in Colorado, those kids always win Nationals

 

[downhillross13]

im going to uof Oregon next year and hope that there is some good riding. anyone know??

 

[ebxtreme]

hows seattle? isnt that U wash campus? not really stoked for a big city but heard its nice.. or maybe tacoma...

UW is a great, but massive school (Pac 10) in a big city. Great urban riding nearby, not near trails other than collonade - which is a new park going in under the freeway. Everything else is a drive away.

If you'll have a car at school, there's great xc and FR trails within 30 minutes (seen a video on youtube recently?). Most FR stuff is on the DL and the builders take great strides in making sure gapers don't easily find them. If you don't mind throwing dirt and can keep your mouth shut, it's usually not that hard to figure out locations out or to get peeps to show you around.

Cheers,
EBX

 

[ebxtreme]

Not to try and sounds like a [email protected], but I rode in Bellingham this summer, and honestly wouldn't want to go to school there. From my impressions, it wasn't that exciting, and the riding that I did(Galbraith, stuff on Chuckanut) was pretty tame, IMO, and I think it would just get boring quick to ride that often. Was a hell of a ride up that fireroad for the short ride down Evo and whatnot.... But I did enjoy the trail on Chuckanut waaaay more than stuff on Galby.

I know there are other trails up there that are of questionable legality, but from the ones I have seen pics, etc of I still don't think it would be worth it. I guess it just wasn't my style. I'm into bigger mountains and rockier terrain, with some jumps and stuff thrown in, too, and Evo and other trails were mad flowy, but they just were more all mountain/light freerideish, again my opinion. But, even with the shore close and whistler not too far I would want a bit heavier riding nearby me.

No worries. Yeah, Galby is intentionally intermediate level from a DH standpoint as it's on private land and the owners (Trillium) have final say over what goes on those trails. I was just there last weekend and hit everything on my Reign, so I definitely think a DH bike isn't necessary up there. The fact that the owners are even allowing those for the public to ride is damn cool if you ask me. There's a new line being put in right now and I'll be curious to see if it passes their inspection because there's several big hips and gaps in the trail. The other bennie of B'ham is that you can ride Galby, Larabee or Chuckanut from campus so no need to have a car. Not far away for other XC is Anacortes and Blanchard Mt.

There are several areas near B'ham that are, as you say, of questionable legal status and have much bigger stunts and are significantly steeper. It wound't take someone long in town to be shown those, but you'd have to get in the right circles.

As for the shuttling of trails, there's an area that is shuttleable towards Mt. Baker, but many of the best trails in the PNW aren't shuttleable as are some areas on the shore like Woodlot and Fromme. Good friends who've built some of these trails do so on purpose. Again, this keeps out a lot of the people that aren't willing to expend the effort to get to the trails which, from a builder's standpoint, is a good thing. Less traffic on the trails and less gapers, but the riders that ride them have a greater appreciation for the work, tend to be more respectful and are often more skilled riders. Anyone that rides fromme and seymour regularly knows what I'm talking about.

For truly big mountains, B'ham is an hour from the Shore, ~3 hours from Kamloops, 2.5 hours from Whistler..... Drop a PM over to Teague who goes to WWU and rides Whistler several days a week and ask him about riding big mountains. I think he said he got something like 30+ days in the park last year. Not many colleges in the states where you can do that.

Cheers,
EBX

 

[techrider]

I know it is on the other side of the country, but at Michigan Tech, we have trails on campus that include xc trails, and dirt jumps. The university also owns a ski hill and there is a DH course on it in the summer. The local area has hundreds of miles of trails and hosts numerous races throughout the summer. In the past, the bicycle club on campus has hosted Collegiate races including xc and gravity events.

The biggest drawback is that the trails are covered with snow from November through late April.

 

[SylentK]

To clarify on the whole Boulder scene, both of the above statements are true. You'll never see as many yuppies or hippies than in Boulder. Often, they are the same person, and they don't even know it. Boulder should definitely be visited, but think about it before you decide to live there. Their cycling team is always top ranked, as is the ski team. There are plenty of xc trails within riding distance, but for DH/FR stuff you'll need a car, cuz CO's flat. *rolleyes*

If I could do it all over again (picking colleges and "careers"), I'd have a good discussion with my parents wealthy-er friends. What college(s) did they go to? What major(s)? Why? How'd they get into their field? Keys to success? Major pitfalls? etc... I'm not saying what I'm doing now isn't letting me live, but it would've been a HUGE help to hear advice from someone who has already been there and made it.

In 20 years from now are you going to be glad you picked a school based on the amount/level of riding nearby? Does it matter in the grand scheme of things?

 

[Gman]

How come there's no love for the east coast?