Troy Kelleher
Staff writer
Start pedaling; bikes are back in a big way at North Central.
In an effort to attract new members, the College’s cycling club is focusing on casual bikers with fun events and relaxed rides.
“The main goal for us is recruitment of new members and trying to keep everyone active throughout the club,” said junior Mike McGrath, the club’s president. “We try to get new people and old members out on rides; I really just want member to enjoy the weather and get some exercise while doing it.”
McGrath says that the club is planning several events for next year, with none of them finalized as of now. He’s particularly excited about an idea for an unprecedented event on campus, one that would utilize the campus’ free bike rental system in a fun, new way: a Red Bike race.
“It would be some kind of short race on your red bike, probably somewhere on south campus,” said McGrath. “We would set a start and end point, and have people shoot for their best time for that distance.”
Cory McCleave, secretary of the cycling club, plans to make the race a festive event for the fall season.
“Since it’ll probably be around Halloween, we might have a ‘best costume’ competition,” said McCleave, who mentioned his hopes to see a rider in a “giant chicken suit.”
“They’d probably get a sweet gift card,” he added.
The competition, which has not been finalized, may have gift cards for the top three male and female finishers as well as special prizes. With bike sprint races and costume contests, it’s clear that next year’s bike club is focused on a casual audience.
“We want to get a wider audience, a foundation,” said McCleave. “To do that, we need to access the more casual side of the club and promote that end of it.”
The club meets twice a week, with a Saturday morning ride and a weekday evening session. The two rides, according to the club’s president, carry two vastly different tones.
“Saturday mornings are geared toward avid cyclists, while weekday bike rides are for casual bikers, for someone that wants to get outside,” said McGrath.
While the two bike rides are open to anyone–with a helmet–willing to join, the expectations are significantly higher for Saturday mornings. The cyclists typically meet between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. to travel to a bike shop in St. Charles, Ill. on a 40-mile round trip. The trip typically lasts about four hours, most of the time spent on roads. While McGrath recommends road or hybrid bicycles for the Saturday trips, he says that any type of bike will work for 20-mile weekday excursions.
“Anyone with any sort of bike is welcome on that one,” said McGrath. “We go slow enough, it’s a much more casual ride and we never leave anybody behind.”
Students are getting behind the Cycling Club’s new focus on casual riders.
“I’d give it a try, as long as it’s something a new biker could handle,” said Ken Hoffman, a sophomore at North Central who recently began cycling. “I could see myself trying the Saturday night rides.”
“I’d never heard of the club, but I could see myself trying the race,” said Kyle Reiling, a sophomore at North Central. “The costume competition could be really cool; I could finally whip out my banana suit.”
While McCleave has completed the 40-mile bike ride multiple times, he plans to bring more cyclists to the club with a low-pressure option on Saturday evenings.
“I don’t always want to feel like I’m racing when I’m biking,” said McCleave. “Saturday evening would be a relaxed ride that anyone could do.”
For more information about North Central’s cycling club, visit http://cardinalnet.northcentralcollege.edu/student-life/get-involved.
