By Emma Bouthillette 

Staff Writer

Brad Perley cycled up hills and back down, through mud and dodging rocks during the U.S. Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals Oct. 24 to Oct. 26. By the end of the weekend, Perley had claimed third place in the cross-country race and second in the short track competition. 

Perley, 19, of Kennebunk, graduated from Kennebunk High School and is now in his second year at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, N.C. He began mountain biking at the age of 12 and started racing shortly thereafter. 

“It was a unique sport and sounded like a cool thing to do at the time,” Perley said. 

Some of his favorite Maine spots to mountain bike include areas in Kennebunkport, various snowmobile trails and Bradbury Mountain in Pownal. 

By the time Perley had to make a decision about where to attend college he was dedicated to cycling. When he visited Lees-McRae during the summer of his junior year in high school, Perley said he knew he wanted to go there, especially since cycling is the premiere sport at the school, with 60 of the 900 students who attend the college on the cycling team. 

Perley said this was the second year the college hosted the U.S. Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals and the event drew participants and spectators from across the country. 

“There was no shortage of talent at the race,” Perley said. 

Perley said he raced against the winner from the previous year — Ben Sonntag from Fort Lewis College in Colorado — who won again this year. The cross-country race took cyclists around a five-mile outdoor loop of rough terrain five times, the top contestants completing 25 miles in less than two hours. Knowing Sonntag was favored to win again this year, Perley said he made it his goal to keep up with him. His plan paid off, with Perley finishing only two minutes behind Sonntag. 

“Being able to do the races was a big goal for me,” Perley said. “To place how I did was a little unexpected.”

Perley did not come in second and third without practice though. While he determines how much to ride depending on the day or time of year, Perley estimated he trains about 15 hours a week. He said he works closely with his team and coaches, with private training from Lees-McRae cycling head coach Brian Sheedy. 

“It is nice to be working with someone who knows what they are doing as a former pro-cyclist. He has a strong endurance-based workout with harder training for races and he knows how to balance all that with rest,” Perley said. 

The combination of college and cycling is different than what Perley remembers of high school, he said. With cycling a priority, Perley said he was not as connected in high school with his classmates. 

“Mountain biking is my favorite, and first love, but I’ve grown to love all aspects of cycling,” Perley said. 

While he said he still spends a significant amount of time cycling, there are a lot more people at Lees-McRae with similar interests and cycling has given him a chance to meet more people in college. 

Perley said he is focusing on college level racing, but hopes advance his racing career in the future. Last year he said he participated in nearly 40 races, five of which were with the Lees-McRae team. 

With the end of the fall mountain biking season near, Perley said it is time to transition his attention to the next season’s sporting event — cyclo-cross. The cyclo-cross season extends through the beginning of winter, and entails riding over various ground conditions with obstacles that may require cyclist to quickly dismount and carry their bikes to pass, he said. 

Aside from cycling, Perley is attending Lees-McRae to earn a business degree. He said he has not made a definitive decision as to what he wants to do after graduation, but is interested in small business. 

During his summers, Perley said he worked at Cape-Able Bike Shop.

He said working closely with bike shop owner Brandon Gillard gave him insight as to what running a small business is like, and while he has thought of opening a similar bike shop, he is keeping his future plans wide open.