Move over Lance Armstrong. The Tufts Cycling team is taking the east coast by storm.
The team, which is comprised of 16 active racers and some 30 students who practice with them, started its season in the beginning of March and will continue to race through mid-May. The team has seen its enrollment increase to a record number of students this year, and the skill and experience level has risen with the numbers.
"We are looking at more team success and our best year ever in terms of talent and people," co-captain Anna Kaltenboeck said.
The Tufts Cycling team is a university club sport and one of over 50 schools from the East Coast participating in the ECCC, the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference.
The conference showcases a diverse range of schools, ranging from large Div. I schools like UConn and Syracuse to smaller Div. III Bates and Babson.
"We compete against all different levels," sophomore Katie Dunn said. "Some NESCAC schools, some Ivies, some Div. I programs - basically any East Coast school with a cycling team we compete against."
Despite such stiff competition, Tufts has already made a name for itself.
Two weekends ago, junior Olivia Jaras won the B division at the Princeton Orangle Criterium race, boosting her up to the A division and bringing some bragging rights to the Tufts team.
"Seeing [Jaras] win was definitely a highlight for all of us so far this season," junior Jonathan Sonis said.
For the men's cycling, there are four divisions - A, B, C and D - of competition, while for women, there are only A and B. The A divisions are often comprised of professional level cyclists and top Division competitors.
Despite the team's success, the club sport flies mostly under the radar at Tufts.
"Many people don't know about the team unless you have cycled before," said Sonis, who has worked at a bike shop for the past six years but only began racing competitively when he came to Tufts. "Since cycling is a sport that's not that popular, it was hard to find people to ride with. But now, it is great to have people who all are into the same thing."
The team's co-captain Abe Gissen agreed.
"This year the team has not only become more of a team but also a group of friends who work out and ride together," he said.
But this relaxed atmosphere stops at the water's edge. Although cycling is a club sport where riders aren't required to attend all practices, most do. Typically there are two days of hard practice during the week and three recovery days, with races every weekend. When the weather permits, the team will go for morning rides twice a week. These excursions, generally around 30 miles, are replaced by spinning sessions in Gantcher Center in bad weather.
While the team does not have an official coach, Dr. Michael Ross, a '91 Tufts alumnus, serves as its off-site training coach. Ross, a cycling enthusiast who runs a cycling training Web site, checks up on the team and gives input about training regimens.
"We all are really serious about what we put into cycling," Dunn said.
Dunn, a sophomore from Rochester, New York, just began riding last May and has fallen in love with the sport.
"My parents have always been big into cycling and triathlons and I have always been into riding horses," said Dunn. "Last year was the first time in 13 years that I didn't own a horse, and I was looking for something to do, so I decided to join the cycling team. It was one of my best college decisions."
Olivia Jaras, a junior cyclist called Dunn, "a monster cyclist," and hopes that she will move up to join her in the A division.
In addition to being one of the top cyclists, Jaras is also the race coordinator for the team, which means she is responsible for booking races and making sure that everyone is ready and that everything runs smoothly.
Jaras herself has been racing for four years and is part of the New England Triathlon Team development squad. When she came to Tufts she joined several different teams to keep up with her training, including the swim team, the cross-country team, and of course the cycling team.
"[The cycling team] has such a family feeling to it," Jaras said. "Because it is a club sport, you don't have the pressure that you would on a varsity team. You put into it what you want."
The team has competed in seven races so far, with one of the most important, the Boston Beanpot, coming up this weekend at Tufts. Known as a "criterium" race because it is the most technical, the race is a two-day event taking place this Saturday and Sunday, when the course will loop around Professors' Row.
Dunn said criterium races are intense.
"[They are] very fun and very fast, but has hard turns and a lot of people falling off their bikes," she said.
Sweat, blood and high-speed racing? Sounds like a Tour de Tufts.
