college racing

[majorpat]

Is our future in college?

Long story, short. A few years back, I helped a couple local kids get going with cycling. Both XC runners but were interested, knew I rode and asked to go for some rides.
Now, they both ride much faster than me, and race for their college. One races at Cornell, so U checked out the ECCC (eastern collegiate cycling conference) website and this looks to be a sector of the biking world that is taking off, big time. At most east coast races, they have races for A through D mens fields and three for women, including an introductory race. I have been aware of college racing for the last decade but it looks like a place that the "community" should focus some effort. These kids are the future of cycling in the USA. They may not produce the next (insert tour contender name) but they will open up the sport to many individuals for the long term.
I guess I am jealous because cycling was pretty fringe in the 80's when I started (and much more so for some of you who were riding in earlier decades) and the college racing scene is now for real.
So many times, racing feels exclusionary to new riders, preventing many from truly getting into cycling. The college model seems much friendlier, not like a bowling league, but better than the normal race scene.

Hopeful,
Pat

[Lanternrouge]

I raced in college and it was a great experience. Collegiate racing is definitely a great pipeline because it's a much more supportive atmosphere and everyone involved seems to have a lot more in common, most likely since they're going to the same school. Collegiate racing has produced a lot of great riders. I would guess USA Cycling might be making more of a priority in the future since Mark Abramson was heavily involved in collegiate racing.

[Ti Designs]

Having coached the Harvard cycling team for 8 years, I would certainly agree that college racing is the easiest and best way to get into the sport. From the outside you would think it would flop, it's the northeast where it's dark, cold and snowing all winter. The first race is the first weekend of March in New Jersey. How is that going to work??? The secret is the support of the teams, experienced riders bring in the new riders, it becomes fun when it's a team event. The team then asks the seasoned riders to take on more responsibilities. Not only do they race, but they also put on the race weekends. Take a look at the Beanpot race weekend for this year, all of the contact people are also racers on various teams.

With such kind words you're probably waiting for a but - and I have a big but. College teams don't have the same budget that sponsored teams have. Many of the teams have picked up sponsorship, but much of that is to cover equipment - you should see what some of the new riders show up on! You would think that a team like Harvard could afford a coach or two, but you would be wrong. Most of the coaching in the division is done for the love of the sport or to pay forward the help that they got. I've made this point many times before, but if you want to be truly involved in cycling, don't spend all your time reading about the pros in europe, work with a new rider and watch you they can become given the right guidence.