Franklin teen Colin O'Neil has been riding a bicycle nearly all of his life, but his accomplished journey on two wheels is just getting started.
In September at the 2023 USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike National Championships in Auburn, Ala., O'Neil earned first place in the men's 17-18 division, completing the 40-mile long race in 3:05:24.
The Franklin High School senior has played football and basketball and has been seriously competing in cycling for five years in races across the country, including winning multiple state championships in middle school.
Preparing for this year's race meant training around 16-18 hours a week for months, managing his diet and mentally preparing for the long-distance competition, which was more than double the distance of his usual races, all while being a high school student.
Some of that training occurs at his Franklin hilltop home on a large wooded acreage which is also used by other student mountain bike athletes from across Williamson County.
17-year-old Colin O'Neil rakes leaves from mountain bike trails at his Franklin home in 2023.
“It's a lot of tactical stuff and like pacing yourself and making sure you're feeling right,” O'Neil said. “It was this whole new thing that I hadn't done before, but I jumped in the race and ended up winning it.”
O'Neil said that one of the challenges of racing bikes is all of the variables such as being slowed down by a crash, dealing with changing weather conditions and the various skills of other high-level competitors.
“The five guys I was worried about were all together, so I was like, ‘Okay, it's coming down to a sprint finish line,’ and I knew that morning that if it's a sprint finish, it's my race to lose.”
O'Neil said that his latest accomplishment, as part of the East Tennessee-based Gravity Academy Racing team, has fueled him to go even further.
“It was really motivating more than anything, because I was just like, ‘Okay, I do have what it takes,’” O'Neil said. “There's a lot more work I need to do, but this is definitely a sport I want to keep putting my life into.”
Now he's hoping to compete for a world championship title in 2024, with a long-term goal of racing for Team USA in the Olympics.
O’Neil's parents are both cyclists who said that they are proud of their son's “discipline, focus, determination and drive.”
“Cycling is a very hard sport to be competitive at this level,” O'Neil's father, Craig, said. “Watching him make all the sacrifices with his diet, wake up early, do the long rides, and train in the bad weather all to be the fastest is very inspiring.”
“Cycling has given him skills that he will carry through life on and off the bike,” O'Neil's mother, Kim added. “We cannot wait to see what God has in store for his future.”
17-year-old Colin O'Neil poses for a portrait at his Franklin home after winnning a national mountain bike racing title in 2023.
“Colin is one of those athletes that as a coach you dream about coaching,” O’Neil’s coach Doug Sharp told The News.
“He has that perfect mix of passion for the sport, work ethic, and natural talent. While his Marathon National Championship is a great milestone in his career, I believe the future holds even more for him.”
According to the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, mountain biking has been growing among interscholastic high school sports, but the sport is still young, having started some 60 years ago.
Earlier this year, the City of Brentwood entered into a partnership with the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Southern Off-Road Bicycle Association to construct a mountain bike trail in Marcella Vivrette Smith Park.
O'Neil said that as competitive mountain biking grows in popularity the United States, especially among student-athletes, he hopes it serves as an inclusive and supportive sport with healthy competition.
“When you make each other better, everyone gets to be the best racer and human possible.”
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