Most people associate the Durango area with scenic vistas in the San Juan Mountains, white water rafting on the Animas River, or riding the Durango & Silverton narrow gauge railroad.
Durango has another claim to fame, however, in that is home to what is arguably the top collegiate cyclingprogram in the nation at Durango’s Fort Lewis College.
While on vacation in Durango, I found some spare time in between mountain biking and road cycling to interview the staff who manage the Fort Lewis cycling program.
The Fort Lewis College cycling program, which was started as a club sport in 1994, is now considered the gold standard in collegiate cycling with 19 USA Cycling Division I national individual championships in mountain bike, road racing, cyclocross and track racing plus multiple team national championships.
Jason Pierce, an Assistant Professor of History at Angelo State University, was a member of the inaugural FLC Collegiate cycling team in 1994.
“When we started the cycling team, most of the students were already cyclists since the sport was huge in Colorado and Durango in particular,” Pierce said. “Several strong riders had chosen to relocate to Durango, and attending Fort Lewis was a great way to appear to be doing something productive while spending as much time as possible riding.”
“At the first-ever collegiate world championships in 1994, we dominated the races, putting four riders in the top 10 of the Men’s A category.”
Collegiate cycling is a club sport at a university, meaning that it’s a student organization. Students who wish to compete do so at collegiate cycling events sanctioned by USA Cycling (usacycling.org/collegiate).
The Fort Lewis College cycling club, which typically has about 120 members per year, is a unique blend that meshes a student club with professional-level coaching and equipment.
The coaching staff for the Fort Lewis team includes two full-time former professional cyclists and several other part-time elite-level cyclists who manage the cycling program and coach the male and female student athletes.
Program manager and head coach Dave Hagen, a Fort Lewis graduate, raced professionally with the Yeti mountain bike team. Strength/conditioning and ladies coach Elke Brutsaert is a former professional downhill mountain bike racer who has a national championship on her resume.
In addition to the Fort Lewis cycling staff who manage and coach the team, student-athletes are mentored by the many professional cyclists who live in the Durango area.
This high level of coaching expertise both enhances the image of the Fort Lewis program and ensures that student athletes learn from professionals who have competed at a high level in the various cycling disciplines.
“We go beyond just generic training programs for the student cyclists,” notes Brutsaert, the strength/conditioning coach. “We work with students to develop individualized programs that address strength, balance and cycling-specific fitness.”
Students compete in cycling disciplines such as mountain biking, road racing, track racing, cyclocross and (beginning in 2013) BMX. Many of the team cyclists will compete in multiple disciplines throughout the year.
FLC cycling team members are also able to ride top-level equipment because of support from the community, industry sponsors and funds raised by the student club.
The overall annual budget for the cycling program is in the six figures, with a combination of state funding, local funds raised by cycling club activities, and finds from sponsors and supporters.
Fort Lewis also awards 10-15 cycling scholarships each year to promising cyclists who the staff feels will be the next generation of top collegiate racers.
Fort Lewis has a rich tradition of graduating students who go on to become elite professional racers. Alumni from the college’s cycling program have ridden for top professional teams and won multiple national championships.
Academics are also important, since students have to maintain good grades to be eligible to race as a team member.
Dave Hagen, FLC cycling program manager and head coach, says that student cyclists do well academically.
“Our cycling team members are above average academically, their GPAs are fourth among all collegiate sports at this college, and we have a very high graduation rate,” says Hagen.
Hagen says that the students are attracted to Fort Lewis because of several reasons.
“In addition to the strong academic reputation of both the college and our cycling team, the proximity to world-class trails and road cycling routes in the surrounding mountains is a big draw,” Hagen said.
“Student cyclists also come here because of the close-knit community that we enjoy with the professional cyclists who live here.”
As you drive through downtown Durango and up on the mesa to the Fort Lewis campus, you’ll see bicycles parked everywhere and students riding their bikes on city streets, bike paths or on the trails that surround the campus.
Pierce, an FLC alum and former cycling team member, notes “I think having a variety of club sports such as cycling is important for any university. All students have athletic talents, even if it’s not in traditional sports like football or baseball.”
“From the ancient Greeks through the British in the nineteenth-century and up to now, people have realized the importance of educating and conditioning both the mind and the body. We need to encourage students to do both.”
Ride On, San Angelo, and remember — Fort Lewis College’s cycling program is a great example for other institutions to emulate.
Upcoming Events
- Aug. 17: Southland Shuffle, roadlizards.org
- Aug. 24: Armydillo 10K and 2-mile, roadlizards.org
- Sept. 5: Road Bike time trial,sanangelobicycleassociation.com
- Sept. 7: Comanche Warrior triathlon, visit bigspring.com/pages/comanchewarriortriathlon
- Sept. 7: Let It Go 5K, roadlizards.org
- Sept. 14: Run to Remember, angelo.edu/asufit
- Sept. 21: Family Day 5K, angelo.edu/asufit
- Oct. 2-Oct. 30: ASUFit cyclocross series, angelo.edu/asufit
