Bicycling club pedals onto campus

The Augustana Student Association (ASA) recently approved the Biking Vikings as a campus cycling group at Augustana. Sophomore Colin Richards will serve as president of the group. The goal of the group is to form an official competitive collegiate team.

"I think it will be a good place for people to exercise and meet new people," Richards said. "Cycling is a great way to stay in shape, and nothing forms better relationships than hanging out after a long, tough group ride."

"The club is for anyone, seasoned rider or someone who just bought their first bike. Within the club will be the competitive team," he said.

Recreational services director Mark Hecht believes that cycling will positively affect Augustana students as it will provide an opportunity for those interested in cycling to join others with similar interests.

"This often times serves as a motivator to get folks exercising," Hecht said. "Many of us are more motivated if we have someone to cycle with."

The official name of the club is the Augustana Cycling Club: The Biking Vikings. There has not been any advertising so far. Richards said that he is going to e-mail flyers to the members, but is unsure about funding.

Junior Ian Blue is a member of the group and is looking forward to start biking more. "I think biking is fun, and it keeps you healthy," Blue said. "In the group we will be using road bikes, and the plan is to bike different loops that take you outside of town."

"I wanted to help Richards get this started because we have not had a biking group at Augie before. It is also a cool sport, and all my friends are doing it," Blue said.

The group has not yet scheduled practices or trips, but the planning is moving forward.

"We started the planning of the group this year, and we are probably going to do some more organized planning next year," Blue said. The most important thing now is to make the biking group identified and make students interested in the club. We already have twelve members."

 The club is going to start with one practice a week, probably on the weekend, and they will start off going 25 miles. Their ambition is to become stronger and be able to bike faster. They will start competing in races next year, but this year they will focus on practicing.

"I think biking is good for every person, although skills help taking it to a next level, where you can race faster," Blue said.

The whole idea about forming a cycling club started when Richards started talking with some friends about it. They thought that there should be a club for cycling here, so he contacted Jeff Venekamp, director of student activities.

Hecht said the clubs are based on student interest and passion.  There have not been students wanting to organize a cycling club before. "To start a club you have to go through four steps: A student willing to lead it, have a informational meeting, create the interest and meet with me, and the last step is to get the club going," Hecht said.