Vandal Esports Cycling invades the land of the Broncos

When the opportunity was offered to join Boise St in the inaugural Esports Cycling, we jumped at the chance to kindle up an old rivalry. This was a chance to be on stage with one of the giants in collegiate esports. In fact, it became a chance to go to their home turf and snatch victory from a these giants.

Half an hour before the contest started, the Vandal cycling team was in one corner stretching, while Boise St was in the other corner getting last minute instructions. The founder (Frank Garcia ) of Smash Cycling was on site along with his wife and some of their staff to watch the first in-person event on their platform. Frank will be casting the event along with Jacob, a seasoned caster who is a top-notch talent for Boise St.

There are 4 maps that we were given access to for practice and there is a 5th surprise map added in. We started off on Cycligent City for the first course where Wayne Ebenroth Jr (ShinyShoes) took the early lead. 2km into this 10.4km first map, all 3 Vandals had put some distance between them and their Bronco competitors. As the first course progressed and we approached a couple km to go, the Vandals had established a nice cushion, with Wayne holding over a 4 minute lead over 2 of the 3 Broncos. The Vandals finished top 3 to take a commanding lead after the first map.

The 2nd map (Smash Sport Paris) was a 3 lap 1.3 mile course that doesn’t allow for as much separation. It is a city course with a lot of hills and sharp turns, and requires higher technical skill. Two laps in, Vandals were holding 1st, 2nd and 4th, with Kaz (Terracota) chasing the only Bronco who seems to have a shot at taking serious points. Wayne Jr took 1st once again in the map putting themselves in a really commanding lead less than half way through.

The 3rd map was the Sun Road Smash which is a 2 lap 6.2 mile map. This was an interesting map because there are a lot of power ups including speed boosts. Just 1km in, Carter of the Boise St team took a 7 second lead over the 3 Vandals trailing shortly behind. He managed to bump that up to a 25 second lead over Wayne Jr and about 40 seconds over Amelia and Kaz as they entered the 2nd lap. In the end, Carter was able to hold off the Vandals to take a 1st place finish for the Broncos.

Map 4 was a 3 lap 1.8 mile course with a lot of obstacles. Amelia was in 1st place after the first lap with Carter close behind. Wayne Jr and Kaz were only a couple seconds behind Carter. In the 2nd lap, Amelia unfortunately took a spill and Carter was able to pull ahead. He was able to hold the lead through the final lap once again taking 1st place.

The final surprise map is called Fantastic Alien Sea which has a lot of hills and turns. It is a 2 lap 3.4 mile course. As the bikers got into the course, the scenery was a floating course that looked like a combination of Rainbow Road from Mario Kart with scenery from Avatar. On this final map, Amelia again started off with the early lead and the 3 Vandals were doing a fantastic job of drafting off of each other. Heading into the 2nd lap, the 3 Vandals continued to dominate with over a 30 second lead on the next Bronco. In the end, Wayne Jr pulled away for 1st place in the final event.

Final score was 561 to 216 Vandals over the Broncos! They were great sports in taking the L and we were grateful for them hosting the event. I can’t recall the last time UI got a victory in anything over BSU, it was fantastic witnessing this win. Witness the broadcast in it’s full here.