Collegiate Cycling :

Cycling is a club sport at Bucknell, offered to both men and women who are full time students of the university. As a club sport, the team is operated and managed by the students of the club under the supervision of a faculty member and Bucknell's recreation services. Although the sport of cycling has become very popular in recent years, it is not a NCAA sport, and is not a varsity sport at most colleges in the United States. Even the biggest of teams in collegiate cycling are offered by their university as club sports.

Collegiate cycling teams and the NCCA - the National Collegiate Cycling Association - are overseen by USA Cycling, the governing body of all competitive and professional cycling in the United States. All collegiate cycling teams belong to a conference based on their location. Bucknell is part of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC), the most competitive and well-managed conference in the United States.

Collegiate cyclists spend their season competing for a spot as a team or as an individual at the Collegiate Cycling National Championships. Nationals are held every year and bring together the best teams and riders from all conferences in the United States.

About the ECCC:

The ECCC offers team-oriented collegiate cycling and includes teams from Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. The ECCC road season begins the first weekend in March and continues until the beginning of May. Racing categories are offered for men and women of all capabilities and race experience. Men's racers can choose from four categories: Men's A-D; meanwhile, there are two women's categories: Women's A & B.

The category system is designed to offer competitive racing for riders of all abilities. The categories make it possible for first time racers to compete with riders of similar experience. After successful results in a category, riders will often move up to the next category. More information on the category system, nationals, and collegiate cycling can be found on the ECCC's website (http://www.eccc-info.com).

Cycling at Bucknell :

Bucknell has enjoyed many years as a successful team in the ECCC. The team fields riders in all ECCC categories and is made up of riders of many different levels. The team fields a number of experienced racers as well as riders who had never raced before they started competing at the collegiate level. Members of the team excelled in many different sports in high school other than cycling: cross country, lacrosse, soccer, rugby, baseball, hockey, and track to name a few. Each year, the team grows as first year students, upperclassmen, and many first time cyclists decide to take up cycling.

A Typical Year:

The cycling team is active throughout the entire academic year. Experienced racers often continue their racing seasons through the summer and into August and September, however, most new riders use this time to get introduced to the sport of cycling. Fall is a great time to learn the roads of the area, put on some base miles, and learn the many nuances of the sport. Experienced riders take the fall semester easy - long, slow miles are the best. This also makes it a great time to introduce new cyclists to the sport without the fear of not being able to "keep up". The more base miles that a rider puts on in the fall, the more prepared they will be to begin training during the spring semester. The cycling team also plans activities during the fall to get to know the interested riders and newer members.

At the beginning of January, preparation for the cycling season truly begins. Hard training begins both indoors and out. It is not unusual to see the team riding even when there is snow on the ground! Much of our time, however, is spent indoors weight training and riding stationary trainers. The team owns a number of trainers that can be used by team members.

The ECCC season begins the first weekend of March and includes races every weekend until the end of April. Around 300 cyclists show up to each race, every weekend. The 2005 road season looked like this:

• March 5-6th : Rutgers
• March 12-13th : Penn State, Reading PA
• March 19-20th : Columbia & Princeton
• March 26-27th : Bucknell & Lehigh
• April 2-3rd : Penn State, State College
• April 9-10th : Boston Beanpot Weekend
• April 16-17th : Army Spring Classic
• April 23-24th : Vermont/Dartmouth
• April 30-May 1st : University of New Hampshire (ECCC Championships)
• May 13-15th : Nationals at the University of Kansas

Bucknell Cycling puts on their own race - the Bucknell Cycling Classic - every year during the spring season. This is a great time for parents, supporters, cycling alumni, sponsors, and the riders themselves to celebrate and show off the sport of cycling to the University and the Lewisburg community. Almost 300 cyclists are expected every year, as well as numerous fans and students.

Another alumni/parent activity is the Bucknell Cycling Parent's Weekend Ride in October. The Bucknell Cycling team leads a ride through the Lewisburg countryside as a chance to spend time with anyone interested in cycling and Bucknell. This is a great opportunity for prospective students, parents, and local cycling enthusiasts to meet the team.