For the 2016 edition of Collegiate MTB Nationals, I ended up being Stanford's sole representative, despite my best efforts to convince others to join me. Thankfully, I found some connections with the MIT cycling team and ended up sharing a condo with them and the RPI team at the venue in Snowshoe, WV. Since the venue was the same as last year, and I flew into the same small airport, I had a slightly easier time navigating my way through Charleston upon arrival (after my cheap red-eye flight) and managed to get on the road to Snowshoe pretty quickly - it's a long drive, and I really needed to arrive with some daylight left to pre-ride the courses.
After a beautiful 4hr drive through remote West Virginia, I arrived at the resort with a few hours of daylight remaining. I assembled my bike in record time, through on my brand-new kit, and went out to join my new friends in pre-riding the courses. The weather was perfect for riding - low/mid-50's and mostly clear skies. Unfortunately, that would be as good as the weather would get for the whole event; the defining factor this year was shitty weather. After the usual registration and rider-meeting formalities, I reveled in a hot shower, hot food, and (half of) a bed. The racing would start first thing the next morning, and the forecast called for freezing rain.
After a beautiful 4hr drive through remote West Virginia, I arrived at the resort with a few hours of daylight remaining. I assembled my bike in record time, through on my brand-new kit, and went out to join my new friends in pre-riding the courses. The weather was perfect for riding - low/mid-50's and mostly clear skies. Unfortunately, that would be as good as the weather would get for the whole event; the defining factor this year was shitty weather. After the usual registration and rider-meeting formalities, I reveled in a hot shower, hot food, and (half of) a bed. The racing would start first thing the next morning, and the forecast called for freezing rain.