Ah, Spring! It’s a time of growth, a time of warmth, and a time of breaking out from the cocoons into which we’ve locked ourselves for the past half year. Many students take this time to get things tidied up for the summer, while some take advantage of their newfound ability to get inebriated without dying of hypothermia on the crawl home. In a way, especially as a townie, the latter is a sight familiar enough that it brings me excitement by association: more drunk kids in the streets means winter is nearly over!
Now, it’s only January, so it might sound like wishful thinking to be obsessing over the sight of green this early, but the Cycling Club needs time to get ready for the racing season as it starts up right after Spring Break. The Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) starts up with races in March and April, giving everyone the perfect warm-up for a big summer of more intense events. As a whole, collegiate racing exists primarily to be fun, which is a wonderful break from the dangerous burnout potential provided by most serious weekend warriors. Races are usually not taken too seriously, and prizes aren’t usually awarded for performance in a single race, but it’s always a nice break to be racing against a full peloton of similarly financially disadvantaged college kids instead of a brigade of dentists. This provides a nice level playing field for people to spar with each other, and it really catches the attention of Team USA.
Another unique element provided by collegiate cycling is a more well-rounded team dynamic. Predictably, students are separated into teams based on their schools, and, unlike most professional circuits, it’s important for each school to have pretty good results across the board with each of its racers, in contrast to a professional team that might have half a dozen men working for the victory of one chosen leader. It promotes teamwork and cooperation in a sport that requires an absurd amount of it, and it’s helping a community grow that otherwise isn’t very popular among younger Americans (thanks, Lance). It’s an opportunity for people to goof off on bikes, watch their friends make each other hurt, and appreciate a sport that deserves a reboot in our culture. Penn State’s team is extremely excited to make its way into this coming season, and we even have hopes of taking home the ECCC Cup at the end of the year, which is an experience we’ve missed having for a while.
You have a great sense of humor that comes through very well, and that makes your writing style fun and interesting. Great job!