In this past year, we have gone from one UTC racer to four who have raced their first races his year. Altogether there is a dedicated group of 10 solid riders, who will be racing next season in anything from mountain bike, cyclo-cross to road races.
Our goal is to build a group of students who can pass on their knowledge and further build the Collegiate Cycling community and the reputation of the UTC team for years to come. Furthermore, I hope that we can make an impact in the community by bringing more students into the cycling community by helping them to find the means by which to ride. It is far too often the case that many students who otherwise could have had promising college athletics careers do not begin to ride until later in life and subsequently miss out on many great years of training and racing with a dynamic team such as ours.
Collegiate Cycling is a unique experience. Collegiate cycling does not give money awards, but instead championships and pride taking away the negative effects of racing for money. This allows the extremely unique experience of being hotly competitive during a race and yet coming to support each other after the finish line. The collegiate experience is one of networking and camaraderie different than one would find in most competitive situations. Cycling is an amazing sport and lifestyle; I wish to introduce this to more students and not only build a foundation for the future of cycling in general, but build for the future of collegiate cycling in particular.
To attain these goals I have been working one on one with riders to help refine their skills during our weekly group ride to help establish team enthusiasm and knowledge base. I have also put together booklets with tips and training suggestions specifically geared toward new riders in order to help them to join the group as seamlessly as possible. I also work closely with the Main St. Bicycle Co-operative and encourage all my riders to become member so that they not only know how to ride their bike but know how to maintain their bicycle and have a working knowledge of their machine. Students who show they are committed by racing and training are awarded according to their involvement. This not only keeps students engaged but promotes more enthusiasm as word spreads among the student population. I am in the process of putting together a handbook for those who will follow me as the future coordinators for UTC Cycling in order to keep UTC Cycling strong and organized in a comprehensive manner. Most importantly I am seeking sponsorships to help us attain funds for travel, entry fees and equipment so that we are better prepared to represent UTC in the Cycling community.
We as a team have already come a long way this past year. We started with one racer, no jerseys and no support. To date we have 7 riders who have raced this season, 6 raced their first race; we competed in 5 collegiate races, and over 15 USFC races. We have accumulated 6 first place finishes, a 4th place, two 5th place, a 9th place finish, three 13th place finishes, and multiple top 20. Also, four of us completed the 3 State 3 Mountain Century together, and most importantly we are finally acknowledged and respected as a group. UTC Cycling is constantly gaining both increasing student interest and creating interest in the community.
