Career on the Rocks

by Michelle Simmons

October 1, 2009

Jake Davidson ’10 counts among his bikes in “working condition” one road bike, two mountain bikes, a cyclo-cross and a campus bike.

A need for speed seems to run in the Davidson family.

“My grandfather has always told stories about being called in at the last minute to run a relay or the 100-meter hurdles,” says Jake Davidson ’10, grandson of Hall-of-Famer John “Milt” Davidson ’33. “Of course, he mentions the Penn State game, too,” (see Page 12), when the Red Devils beat the Nittany Lions.

Instead of legging relays or hurdles, however, the younger Davidson rockets over roots, rocks and gravel in mountain-bike marathons. His races have ranged from five-mile short-track courses to rugged 100-mile treks.

Davidson began riding competitively five years ago and consistently finishes in the top 10 in his category, Men 19-24. In 2008, he placed second in the U.S. Mountain Bike National Championship in Mount Snow, Vt., and third in the 2009 Escape from Granogue competition in Delaware.

“For me, it’s about the adventure,” he says. “You get to travel all over the place and meet interesting people.”

This summer, Davidson’s race schedule began in Massanutten, Va., and ran north to State College, Pa. He tracked west to Granby, Colo., in July for the national championship, where he placed 13th in the cross-country and 11th in the short-track competitions out of hundreds of riders. Mount Snow, Vt., was his next destination, and then home to Pennsyl-vania for his final four races.

Between races, he teaches mountain-bike skills at a summer camp for elementary- and middle-school students through his former high school in West Chester, Pa.

This summer also marked Davidson’s first serious tumble—one that resulted in multiple stitches—when he went out for an “easy” ride with a friend after returning from Colorado. It had rained all day, and his rear tire skidded across a wet log.

Down he went—“my face firmly on a mossy rock … and my knee through a sharp pointy rock.” Davidson shrugs it off but acknowledges that he’s been fortunate so far. “I can ride again. That’s all I care about.”

A geology major and former president of the Dickinson Geology Society, he often observes rocks and formations while racing. He’s especially interested in volcanoes and would like to conduct field research for a year before heading to graduate school. His ideal destination—Iceland.

During his sophomore year he helped Visiting Assistant Professor Meagen Pollock with a research project analyzing samples from the island, and he’s fascinated with its singular characteristics. 

“The geologic setting is excellent for study,” he says. “The volcanoes are active, and there’s a lot of mystery about Iceland.” He also admits that he wouldn’t mind biking over the country’s jagged terrain.

Hoping to balance a career in geology with professional racing, Davidson explains that the top marathon racers peak in their 30s, so he has a lot more training and competing ahead of him.

But the ultimate challenge and reward, he says, remains “the race itself—the course, the weather conditions, how you’re feeling. With mountain biking, you’re on your own, in the woods. You just go.”