Athletes tame mountain paths> Leavitt, Rudnicki ride bikes to Eaton championship finishes

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Megan Leavitt wheeled her Mongoose Hilltopper SX out of her family’s garage in Glenburn. Andy Rudnicki’s Proflex 756 was already parked on the Leavitt’s driveway when Leavitt and Rudnicki decided to give impromtu tours of their mountain bikes.

“My bike’s not as fancy as Andy’s,” she said. “He’s got toe clips for his pedals and I don’t. I’ve got grip shift but I only have front suspension.”

Both Leavitt and Rudnicki know their way around bikes, which came in handy when they decided to participate in a mountain biking racing series at Eaton Mountain in Skowhegan that took place from May to October.

And although they only competed in five of the six races in the series, Leavitt and Rudnicki won the girls and boys championships, respectively, in the 11-15 age group. The championships were based on the number of points the entrants earned for their finishes.

Both are freshmen at John Bapst in Bangor and both play for the Crusaders soccer teams – Leavitt for the girls varsity and Rudnicki for the boys junior varsity.

Leavitt and Rudnicki learned about the series after the first race, so they only rode in five competitions. They called the five-mile course “very challenging,” but once they completed their first race, they both knew they wanted to come back for the next one.

Leavitt had the girls championship almost wrapped up from the beginning.

With just two or three other girls entered in each race in the series, there really wasn’t that much competition for the athletic Leavitt. She snowboards in the winter and plays softball in the spring. Leavitt would have gone out for the John Bapst’s basketball team, but she said she wants to concentrate on school this winter.

Leavitt loves the thrill of snowboarding and mountain biking, but she said there is another reason she has gotten into those sports.

“There aren’t that many girls who are into snowboarding so that’s why I do it,” she said. “I think sports need more women. By me doing it, I think it proves many people wrong.”

Like the mother of the boy who was in front of Leavitt during the second race in the series. When Leavitt tried to pass the boy, his mother called out, “You’re not going to let a girl pass you, are you?”

“I passed him anyway,” Leavitt said with a smile. She finished fifth out of 25 bikers that day.

For all of her success in the series, Leavitt has done little training on a bike. Her parents helped clear the carriage trails behind their house so she could ride on paths like those she would face at Eaton Mountain, but she mainly depended on soccer practices to keep her in shape for the biking.

“[Bapst soccer coach David Hyatt] likes us to do a lot of running,” Leavitt said. “We do about three laps a day. So that’s all I did.”

Rudnicki’s title was more difficult to obtain. He never won a race, but got two second places, one third and finished fourth twice. He earned the title because he rode in five races, where most of the boys competed in just one or two.

Rudnicki has been riding for several years. He has competed in races at Sugarloaf and Camden. Last year he did no training, but this year he went on rides organized by Pat’s Bike Shop in Bangor.

“They are all faster than me, so that forces me to go faster,” Rudnicki said.

Rudnicki said he’d like to see more girls in the sport, too. but when he brings up mountain biking, most girls have a less-than-enthusiastic response.

“Most of the girls I talk to say, `Well, my bike’s not that good,”‘ he said. “They don’t seem that excited.”

Both Leavitt and Rudnicki said at least two women they know – their mothers – have gotten more interested in mountain biking.

“My mom brings the first aid kit, but she lately she’s been telling me to go faster,” Rudnicki said.

“It seems like I’ve seen more injuries on the soccer field than in mountain biking,” Nancy Leavitt said. “Plus, we’d rather have her on a bike than hanging out somewhere.”

Leavitt and Rudnicki were both introduced to the sport by their fathers, who both mountain biked for recreation. Howard Leavitt took Megan to watch the Widowmaker race at Sugarloaf last August. As soon as she saw the race, Leavitt said, she wanted to try the sport.

Rudnicki’s father, Jim, bought Andy mountain biking magazines.

Howard Leavitt is Megan’s mechanic. He checks the chain on her bike after each race, adjusts the gears and checks the bike’s balance. Nancy Leavitt goes to all the races.

Rudnicki’s cousin, Jon, who plays for John Bapst’s varsity boys soccer team, is Rudnicki and Leavitt’s manager and gives moral support. Rudnicki’s brother, Tom, finished in second place in the series.

“It helps that our parents and families are there. Some kids don’t have that,” Leavitt said.

Even so, Leavitt and Rudnicki said they have seen kids whose parents have pushed them too hard in mountain biking. Some parents, they said, spend a lot of money for a new bike but the rider still doesn’t do well.

“You can’t race because someone else wants you to,” Leavitt said. “Our dads want us to race, but they don’t push us. They’re there because they are supporting us.”

And, Leavitt and Rudnicki confess, they are lucky that their parents are willing to drive the 14-year-olds to races. Next year, Leavitt and Rudnicki don’t care how they get to Eaton Mountain – just as long as they can compete in the series.

“This time,” Rudnicki said, “we’ll do the first race, too.”