Queen once said, “I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like.” And James Bailey agrees.”I have so much fun and I don’t care what else is going on,” Bailey, the sophomore psychology major said. “I don’t have to worry about anything. I just ride.”

But Bailey’s love of biking goes beyond rides to campus from his BucRidge apartment and through the woods.

Bailey is a member of the ETSU mountain bike team, a team that won’t be found on the official ETSU athletic Web site, a team that doesn’t offer scholarships or actively recruit. Mountain biking is a club sport at ETSU.

However, the university’s bike team is a member of the Southeast Collegiate Cycling Conference, which includes schools from all over the Southeast such as Florida, Clemson and Georgia Tech.

Of the four disciplines in mountain bike racing, downhill is Bailey’s favorite.

“I like it because it has the most jumps and rock gardens [rocky areas in the track] and is more technical,” the Clarksville native said, ” … and I’m not the best cross country rider.”

Bailey says he thinks he is much like Michael Phelps.

While on land both are awkward, but when Phelps is in the water and Bailey on a bike, both are made for that sport.

Bailey’s bike appears too small under him, even with the seat all the way up.

His knees swing wide with every pedal to avoid hitting the handlebars and seem like they have no leverage to produce power. But he makes it work well, not by riding down the hill, but by forcing and willing his bike to the finish line with brute strength.

Bailey, who raced in the B Division last year, has moved into the more skilled A Division this year.

Moving into the A Division did not come without work.

During the summer and the mountain bike season, from late August to mid-October, Bailey rides about 10 hours a week, he said.

“He rides all the time,” said Alex Kuhne, a 20-year-old, sophomore. “He’s always on his bike riding around campus, riding on the trails.”

And all that riding and practicing paid off.

“Last year at Clemson, my first year racing, I got fifth in the ‘B’ race,” Bailey said. “The course was fun and I knew I wanted to do downhill after that race. This year I moved to ‘A’ and did well. I think I’m the most competitive in downhill.”

However, riding and jumping bikes isn’t a new thing for Bailey.

“I’ve always ridden a bike but I started riding mountain bikes when I was 14,” Bailey said. “I would build ramps and ride off them. But I didn’t get serious about mountain biking until I was 18. I bought a nice bike, a Cannondale Rize 4, and worked at a bike shop in Clarksville.”

Those nice bikes don’t come cheap.

“We have a few sponsors, like Morewood, Yeti, SixSixOne and Kenda, that gives us stuff at cost,” Bailey said. “So that helps out a lot.”

When it was time to decide where to attend college Bailey said his decision was easy. “When I was at orientation, I saw a poster for the bike team I wanted to be on it,” Bailey said. “ETSU is one of the very few schools in the nation that has bike courses on campus.”

Now the wiry, 6-foot-5-inch downhill mountain biker is in his second year of collegiate racing and already in the highest division.

His height, however, is not necessarily an advantage, says Bailey.

“Most of the other riders are shorter,” Bailey said. “That’s why my favorite rider is Steve Pete. He’s 6-feet-2-inches. It’s nice to see someone out of the ordinary doing well.”

Mountain biking isn’t Bailey’s only passion when outdoors. He also rock climbs.

“They had a work study at the [rock] wall in the CPA,” Bailey said. “I hadn’t climbed before but I thought it would be fun, something not behind a desk.

“So I took the job and started climbing when the [rock] wall wasn’t busy and really enjoyed it.”

His size 14 feet, which provide a stable base on the ground, look as if they don’t belong near a pair or rock climbing shoes, and don’t seem to be able to hold is frame on the wall, but somehow, they do.

His long arms seem to reach to the top of the 40-foot tall wall in one stretch. All this length and movement from such a tall, long body doesn’t seem to fit into the rock-climbing world. But while balanced like an up-side-down triangle on one toe, Bailey gracefully and carefully scales the wall.

“He’s not your average climber,” said a co-worker. “He’s tall. He can reach places most people can’t. But being tall adds a bit of a balance issue, but with practice he can work on that.”

Although Bailey did not qualify for nationals at Northstar in California this season, five other riders at ETSU did, and Bailey has one specific goal for next season.

“I want to qualify,” Bailey said, “and race downhill at nationals next year.

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