While they might not receive the same adoration and fame as the athletes on the Oregon football team, the men and women who comprise the Duck mountain biking club team are just as fearless.
 
Only instead of being tackled by 250-pound linebackers, the cyclists have to deal with imposing obstacles like rocks, trees and jumps as they race down mountain trails at speeds eclipsing 30 mph.
 
“It’s very dangerous,” coordinator Zephyr Glass said. “Everybody that I know who’s mountain biked for a while has an extensive list of injuries. Just the day before yesterday I slit my chin open. Biking is definitely dangerous.”
 
But it’s the inherent risk and rush that comes with that type of danger that draws many to cycling.
 
“Personally, that’s kind of what attracts me to the sport,” Glass said. “You get that adrenaline rush because it is very frightening and very scary.”
 
Club co-coordinator Scott Elbert added, “Pinning it down a giant mountain slope as fast as I can go is one of the greatest adrenaline rushes next to skydiving. I just love trying to control a bike on completely inhospitable terrain.”
 
Despite the interest of several students, the University didn’t have a mountain biking team until last year when Glass realized others shared his passion.
 
“Well, it kind of happened just because I kind of met a few other mountain bikers here that kind of had the same interest in racing and biking as I do,” he said.
 
Before they could be considered a team, Glass and his fellow mountain bikers had to find a coach.
 
They didn’t have to look far.
 
A former member of the Israeli National Cycling Team, Gilad Gozlan was coaching the Oregon road cycling team when Glass approached him about taking over the reins — or handles — of the newly formed mountain biking team. It didn’t take much to convince Gozlan to take the position.
 
“I’m a pretty passionate mountain biker, so I really tried to get some road people to ride mountain bikes with me (when I was coaching the road cycling team),” Gozlan said.
 
With a coach and team coordinator in place, the mountain biking team received approval from Oregon’s club sports office in April. That was too late for the Ducks to enter competitions last year, so members eagerly await the start of their first race season this spring.
 
The team has already started training, working out as many as five times a week. In addition to weight lifting, the cyclists take on trails to learn how to conquer the rocky mountain terrain.
 
“We work on very small skills,” Gozlan said. “We go out to a trail and literally study the course. We take a corner and study it we say, ‘OK, this is how we need to take it.’ Then we just do it over and over again until you can do it really fast and connect to next turn. You work on skills, and then take that and make it into speed.”
 
With that kind of consistent training in place and a group of committed cyclists, Golzan foresees some of his riders earning spots on the podium on race days.
 
“Yeah, for sure,” Golzan said. “The guys who are actually in it on our team now are kind of hard core. They’re already riding.”
 
But the ultimate goal for Golzan, Glass, Elbert and the rest of the Oregon mountain biking team goes beyond participating in national competitions. They also want to help mountain biking grow in popularity at colleges in the northwest.
 
“Ultimately, I want this team to be recognized on a collegiate level, traveling to races on the west coast, and holding races in Eugene on our personal race track,” Elbert said. “I would love to see the team grow to a have at least 40 members, with team rides happening at least three times a week.”
 
The team welcomes new members. No experience is necessary.
 
“We’re accepting anybody and everybody,” Glass said, “as long as you have a bike.”
 
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