Pack in Action: Taylor Wins Gold on Colorado Trails

Growing up outside Charlotte in the small town of Monroe, he chose to join the Wolfpack as an Industrial and Systems Engineering major. While at NC State, Taylor could often be found at the Wellness and Recreation Center, either working or as a participant. Upon his graduation in 2012, he moved to Richmond, Virginia for work and met his future wife. In his free time, while his wife trained for triathlons, Taylor discovered road biking.

“I had done all sports growing up. I did almost every intramural sport at NC State. I did CrossFit competitions and was pretty heavy into that in Richmond. That was my identity, so I always loved the competitive aspect,” said Taylor.

Though he quickly developed a passion for biking, his style preference soon changed. “I went to the Charlotte Whitewater Center. That was the first time I got a true mountain biking experience and I was like, ‘Whoa!’ So I came home, sold the road bike and bought a mountain bike within the next week,” said Taylor.

Taylor relocated to Fort Collins, Colorado in 2017 and quickly became enamored with all the outdoor sports in his new mountain home, including mountain biking, hiking, camping, skiing, four-wheeling, fishing, water sports and his newest endeavor, bow hunting. Of them, mountain biking took the strongest hold on Taylor: “I just really got into it. I always loved going fast and so I met some other guys that did this style of mountain biking called enduro.”

Enduro is a competitive mountain biking sport consisting of timed downhill sections and untimed mandatory uphill stages that test riders’ endurance and technical abilities. One-day events typically include 3—5 timed stages on single-track mountain trails where riders can reach downhill speeds of up to 30—40 miles per hour.

With high speeds and technical trails, the sport poses some potential safety risks. Taylor shares, “I’ve taken some pretty good falls. I’ve taken a jump, landed weird and it shot me right into a tree. I’ve landed on my front tire and done the full cartwheel over the bike. I’ve broken my helmet and got plenty of scars on my shins and knees from trying to cut some stuff pretty fast.”

Taylor’s wife encouraged him to enter a local enduro race series near their home. The four-stage series took place on different trails each week, with Taylor placing fifth, first and fourth in the first three races of the series, respectively. It would all come down to the final race to determine a winner.

“The final week was on a trail called Uncle Nazty and fed into a trail called Hooligan. These are the most technical trails in Salida,” Taylor shares. “That trail was awesome. I love that style, that speed. There’s a lot of rock drops, jumps, and loose areas you’ve got to be cautious of.”

With a time of 5:40.8 on the downhill section of the course, Taylor finished more than eight seconds faster than his nearest competitor to take home the overall gold for his age group.

Despite his competitive success, Taylor is tempering expectations of taking the enduro mountain biking world by storm. He says he enjoys the camaraderie of biking with friends and trying out the large, difficult, technical trails. The sport also fits his desire to live a healthy, active lifestyle.

“I feel so much happier when I’m able to go out and mountain bike. I know if I want to do that, I’m going to have to be physically fit. Especially with racing, to have the strength and mental clarity to make real time adjustments and decisions as you’re on the trail going 20 miles per hour on some pretty technical lines,” said Taylor.

As an NC State student, Taylor began working for Wellness and Recreation as an intramural sports basketball and flag football official before transitioning to member services for the remainder of his college career. He now works remotely for Siemens Medical as an internal lead management consultant. Of his time as a student employee, Taylor says Wellness and Recreation made a large impact on preparing for his career, especially in his role with change management. 

“I always recommend to people, if you haven’t done any kind of customer service, that it really adds to how you interact with people in the professional and personal world,” he said. “College students reffing college students always provides some fun interactions. Dealing with the conflict and how to mitigate certain situations taught me a lot about how to interact with folks in my world. When people bring up frustrations, that’s like something I dealt with at member services. Trying to listen and process makes you understand what needs they do have and how we can help incorporate them into the services that we provide.”