Written by Carol Newton
Here at Colorado College, we pride ourselves on having over 70 clubs and organizations with which to get involved. We have Wasabi and Strata, the ultimate Frisbee teams. We have Amnesty International, the Health Professions Club, and GlobeMed. But have you heard of CC Cycling?
Co-captained by juniors Xan Marshland and Tasha Heilweil and sophomore Haley Bates, the CC Cycling team is often overlooked due to lack of media coverage. However, sometimes the best opportunities are those that are less publicized. Ever looked out over the Front Range and yearned to visit? Or gotten excited about road racing? What about simply wanting to ride around Palmer for an hour or so with some friends? Described by the co-captains as a “loose-knit community of people interested in pursuing biking fun,” the CC Cycling club does it all: competitive racing (both mountain and road), block break trips into the Front Range, bicycling in the area for a few hours, and everything in between.
That being said, one of the captains’ favorite parts of the cycling team is the opportunity to travel over the weekends. Almost every race is a travel day or weekend, with day trips to Boulder and Denver, as well as overnight trips. During these excursions, the typical accommodations are camping in a parking lot at the base of a ski lift with the other competing schools in Colorado, which allows the team members to meet people from other schools.
While CC Cycling is an organized club, it functions slightly differently than some of the more time-intensive clubs on campus. The captains’ method of encouraging people to bike is to allow people to choose how much they want to participate. Due to their own experiences with biking over the years, the captains want to avoid pushing people too hard to the point of burning out. The aim is to allow people to experience cycling in the form and duration that keeps it enjoyable. When I met with them, the captains also wanted to dispel some fears that they’ve found are often deterrents for joining the team: the fear of not having enough experience, not wanting to pursue the sport competitively, and the financial investment.
While it is true that it can be intimidating to join the cycling club if you aren’t an experienced biker or if you don’t wish to compete in races, the captains stress that a large part of the club is composed of people riding solely for the social aspect or for a personal challenge. According to the captains, it is also possible for those who don’t have experience to get into racing. Bates emphasized that the majority of people who race for the team have never raced before—it is not necessary to have biking experience, solely excitement about racing. In her experience, those who decide to try racing end up coming back, because the best part of being on the team is spending weekends with people excited about biking, exploring Colorado, and challenging themselves. Those that have little experience with biking in general are also welcome. Marshland especially enjoys taking all skill levels out for rides and watching the incredible amount of progress made in just a few hours. CC Cycling covers the whole spectrum, from serious competitors to those who solely want to enjoy riding a bike.
Another barrier to getting involved is, well, the bike. While it is true that if you want to ride, a bike is necessary, but it is also possible for those new to the sport to rent a bike for a block break to check out the scene. More serious bikers will want their own bikes so they have more flexibility with riding. But, just as equestrians must get gear to ride horses and soccer players must be equipped with cleats to play, the purchase of a bike is an investment, and for those that love biking, it’s a good one.
The club meetings vary per block and depend on what’s happening within the different biking seasons, but the club as a whole generally meets at least once a semester, and Bates often has those that compete meet once a week during the racing seasons. Instead of “biking practices,” or organized group rides, informal rides are organized through social media platforms such as Facebook and GroupMe. People post about where they are riding, what level of difficulty they are attempting, and the duration of the ride, and others can join in. This allows people to choose their level of participation in cycling.
While the club does appear more relaxed than some in terms of commitment, the captains do have big dreams for the future. They hope to gain publicity outside of CC by sending more people to nationals in both road and mountain biking. The more outside attention the team gets, the more sponsors get involved with the program, which means that the club is able to offer more support to club members to offset costs of equipment. This year the team was excited to gain outside support when it sent freshman Jordan Ellison to Track Nationals and Bates to Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals. With a good turnout from people interested in biking and talented athletes alike, Bates, Heilweil and Marshland are hopeful that next year even more people will go to nationals and attract more attention from sponsors.
If you are at all interested in competitive racing, mountain biking, simply riding your bike around with a group of friends, meeting new people, or exploring Colorado, check out the CC Cycling team. You can get involved through the Colorado College Cycling Facebook page, which will get you connected with other students interested in cycling.
“We live in such an awesome place to bike; we promise that people who are doing it are having more fun than people not doing it,” said Marshland. Don’t miss out on this incredible opportunity to make new friends, see more of Colorado, pursue biking competitively, and explore biking as a new passion.