Battered by winds and rain, the UCSB men’s club cycling team competed this weekend against teams from five other colleges in a cycling meet hosted by Stanford.

Matthew Post, a second-year rider with the club, placed in the top 10 in the “B” class cross-country course on Saturday, a 16-mile race that demands a great deal of fortitude from both riders and bikes.

“The course starts out with a long, steep climb, followed by a steep, narrow technical downhill and a rocky technical climb,” Post said. The technical sections require a lot of mental focus and a lot of skill to control your bike at top speeds. It’s very physically demanding, and very hard on your bike.”

Rain began to fall during the first eight-mile lap, causing further problems for riders.

“A lot of riders got off their bikes and ran them up the hill on the second technical climb,” Post said. “There were a lot of crashes and mechanical failures.”

No other Gauchos placed in this weekend’s races, but the young team placed a number of riders in last week’s races at Cal Poly, San Louis Obispo, including a first-place finish in the “C” class dual slalom by Robbie Stewart. The club cycling team will continue its season on Nov. 17 at avis.