Cruisin' USA

Even without training wheels on their bikes, the Tufts cycling team has managed to forge through adversity and compete at a high level in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC). With the first competitive mountain biking season in Tufts history now completed, the coach and the riders are looking forward the spring road racing season.

This fall, the team had four races, occurring over nine days of racing. Highlights included a 13th place finish at the UMass race and eighth at a race two weekends ago at Plattekill Mountain in New York, hosted by BU and Northeastern. While no one from the squad made nationals, such expectations were not set in place from this essentially first year program.

"When I first got here, there were only three or four guys on the cycling team," sophomore mountain team captain James Gronek said. "Now there are five guys who consistently race, not to mention the other fifteen or so who race with us during the week but don't compete. Our program is definitely making strides."

Of the five riders who competed in races this fall, there was one freshman, two sophomores and two seniors. The one freshman, Charles Pace, put in a strong performance at the Plattekill race. He competed in both the dual slalom and downhill events and finished near the top in both.

"A lot of the riders had never raced before and are getting into cycling for the first time," said Mark Abramson, head coach and conference director.

But it was not only the freshmen newcomers making a difference. Senior Chris Gagnon was the only Tufts rider to compete in the A class, the best of the four classes. He finished near the middle of the pack most of the time, but in the process set a good standard for future Tufts riders to reach toward.

In preparation for the competitive season, the team rides every day except for Sunday. The Fells, a ten minute bike ride from campus, provides a mountain biking course for the squad to practice on. This is a 3,000 acre area which surrounds route 93 and is complete with trails, fire roads and other suitable obstacles. For the road season, they gear up on a thirteen mile path that starts in Arlington and stretches through Lexington and Concord.

"Believe it or not, there is some killer riding around here," Abramson said.

Outside of riding, the team does its share of weight training and cross country skiing to prepare itself.

At Tufts, cycling sits at club sport status, much like at every other school. Cycling is in fact a club sport at every school, largely because it is not a sport sanctioned by the NCAA. But would the team like the sport to achieve varsity status?

"I like it the way it is set up now," senior road racer Sam Dangremond said. "This way, we can set up rules and do things without all the bureaucracy."

Abramson agreed.

"With cycling as a club sport, the students get a good opportunity to work on their leadership skills," he said. "They are the ones who organize the tournaments. They're the ones who get the sponsors and the alumni donations."

But there are those who could tolerate the move from club status to varsity status, but still enjoy the system as it stands.

"I think it would be awesome if we were varsity", Gronek said. "While school money covers the hotels and gas money, all the equipment is our expense. But, we would be restricted as to how many people we could have on the team if we were varsity. As a club sport, the more people we have the more fun we have."

Whether these riders are varsity or not, they approach their sport with the same amount of vigor. In late March, they will host a race on our campus, bringing their energy and enthusiasm to a home course.