spring racing

Coverage of the Belgian spring races gets me all kinds of excited about racing. Who's going to be the first wearing a Ship jersey to bring home a win?

The forecast Tuesday is for temps in the 40s with sunny skies. The first step to winning the big ones is winning in your own backyard. Hoorah for the TNR!

...

Congrats to Pete, Aaron, and Tom for their top 10 rides this weekend at Navy. If only we could get Aaron to believe there's no shame in drafting...

Anyway, a promising beginning to the new season!

Navy Crit.

Well we had a great day to race at Navy. Sunny with a light breeze and 40's. I raced the C race which started out hectic on the first lap when a UMD rider went down on the front for apparently no reason and two VT riders immediately attacked while everyone else was slowing down. As soo as we got around the crashed rider we started hammering again, but it seemed like nobody really wanted to take a pull so I took several long pulls at the front. According to the countdown of someone from UMD we were pulling the VT riders in. They had a 15 second gap, then a 10, then a 7. I was taking another turn on the front pulling when I hit my pedal coming out of the sharp corner going onto the front stretch of the course and went down. I was a bit more upset about my torn leg warmer and handle bar tape than my brushburned leg and butt because bikes don't heal on their own. Anyway I lost contact with the chase pack and had to do some battling of my own with just 9 laps to go. I passed several riders on my own and then caught a UMD rider who was ahead of me. We were able to work together to pull back several more riders before the end of the race and I was able to outsprint him to the line as well which felt good. I finished 10th out of 25 and felt pretty good about it and confident that had I not gone down would have been sprinting up front for the finish line. Also some props. go out to Thomas Robson who got fourth in the C race and had a great ride.

Aaron raced the B's and looked very strong for the race. He also did a lot of pulling on the front which might have cost him some places on the finishing lap. He finished with the main field and rode very well.

I will try to post some pics on the blog once I get them from the photographer.

2011 tree & farm race - RESULTS

Last Saturday's Tree and Farm Race was a lot of fun. Ten riders put on their underwear of fortitude and thanked Lady Nature for the opportunity to get blown around a bit (steady winds of 15-20 mph w/ gusts around 35 mph according to weather.com). In response, she treated us to blue skies, mild temps, and...lots of wind. It was a good time.

As I said, ten riders started, six finished the entire course. JM repeated his victory of a year ago, having followed my move within the last kilometer on the stair-step uphill finish and then easily holding me off after we distanced the others.

The race for third was more exciting. From what I could gather, Alex and Pete bridged up to Carney as he tried to chase down Jon and I, then Pete edged Alex by inches in the sprint to the line.

Seventeen year-old Alan (on a campus visit to Shippensburg from Correy, PA) pulled in for sixth, the proud recipient of the Limp Chicken Award for the last-placed finisher.

Your 2011 results:

(1) Jon Marshall
(2) goat
(3) Pete LoBianco
(4) Alex Roberts
(5) Mike Carney
(6) Alan Royek

Non-finishers (but still awesome for coming):

Christopher Woltemade
Rider Big E
Chris Townsley
Cody Wertz

I'm sure the wind scared off many. Jon and I counted 17 folks who probably would have, had everything worked out, been there besides the 10 that were. But that's springtime in south-central Pee-Aay...

Half the starters; 5/6 of the finishers.

2011 podium.

Alan proudly displaying his limp chicken.

what it means to be a competent bicycle racer

Wade of cyclingtipsblog.com made a nice little post the other day linking Maslow's stages of learning with general racing competence. I liked it enough that I thought I'd quote it here.

1. Unconscious Incompetence

   The individual neither understands nor knows how to do something, and does not recognizes the deficit. An example of this might be someone giving racing a crack for the first time. He might be fit but still does not understand how to bike race. The best place to introduce someone to the race environment would be in D-grade.

2. Conscious Incompetence

   Though the individual does not understand or know how to do something, he or she does recognize the deficit, without yet addressing it. This would be after a few races getting comfortable in D-grade and then racing in C-grade. This is a pack of cyclists who have a good fitness base but still learning the major details of how to bike race and the skills required. Things are still being learned such as how to roll turns properly, how to corner, where to position yourself.

3. Conscious Competence

   The individual understands or knows how to do something. However, demonstrating the skill or knowledge requires a great deal of consciousness or concentration. Now we’re getting into the B-grade level of racing. Everyone who is good enough to be out there is committed to racing. Many people’s ambition is to make it into A grade but there is still lots experience required to put what has been learned into practice.

4. Unconscious Competence

   The individual has had so much practice with a skill that it becomes “second nature” and can be performed easily (often without concentrating too deeply). He or she may or may not be able to teach it to others, depending upon how and when it was learned. This should be the skill level of an A-grade cyclist. An A-grade cyclists should know how the game is played, the tactics involved, and not have to second-guess details such as cornering, positioning, attacking, counter-attacking, the direction of the wind, echeloning, holding your line, etc.

The "grades" Wade is referring to are how amateur bike racing is organized in Australia. From what I gather, it's more of a self-policing category system, unlike the more institutional USA Cycling category system here.

I like Wade's application of Maslow's model to cycling. However, I believe a distinction should be made between what I'll call race survival skills and race winning skills. Race survival skills are more or less technical in nature, easier to achieve competence in, and you don't necessarily need to race that much to get there. These include skills such as drafting, pace-lining, echeloning, cornering, holding a wheel when you think you have nothing left to give, how to close a gap, knowing how to eat and drink in the peloton, knowing when to eat and drink to survive the race, and countless other things you just learn by doing a lot of riding with others. Race winning skills are less technical and more nuanced in their application, and are thus harder to learn. These include skills such as positioning, attacking, counter-attacking, when to burn matches and when to save matches, how to race with teammates, how to race without teammates, etc.

The distinction between these two types of skills is important, I think, because the four levels of bicycle racing competence that Wade describes seem, at first, to map nicely onto the D-A category system in US collegiate racing, where D fields are comprised of novice, USAC Cat 5 riders, and A fields are comprised of elite, USAC Cat 1-3 riders. However, upon reflection, I think the comparison is a more appropriate typology only for race survival skills. Race winning skills, well, that's another matter. While every pro cyclist is likely fully competent in race survival skills, there surely is a great deal of variance in race winning skills (one reason I suspect directors are so adamantly opposed to the elimination of race radios--they want control over in-race tactical decisions because they don't trust their riders' judgment). And I think an argument can be made that some riders are natural racers, which is to say that they seem to have an innate gift for reading a race, attacking at opportune moments, conserving when attacking would bear no fruit, etc. These riders can't really explain how they do it and may be only vaguely aware of the difference between themselves and others in the first place. However, like any skill, no matter the rider's disposition, education and practice can make him or her better, whether that person is the equivalent of a tactical moron or race-reading genius.

Education and practice. With emphasis on the later. Unless you are orders of magnitude more fit than your competitors, wins will not just fall in your lap (and if they do, you're racing below your category). In bicycle racing, to win you have to try to win.

And, in my opinion, that speaks to one of the great ironies of bicycle racing--that those trying hardest to win the race often finish amongst the last in the standings. You see, once a cyclist reaches some standard of competence in race survival skills (and requisite fitness), it's not really that hard to hang on for a top 25 percent placing in any race. Race conservatively, and with minimal effort you'll find that's easy. But to win, you have to be willing to risk colossal defeat. So it would seem that the limiters to winning (if you're counting) include being willing to risk personal pride. And it may be useful, at least from the racer's perspective, to think of a race as having one winner and n-1 losers. No second place. No top 10s. There is just a winner and a lot of unhappy losers.

So that comfortable (and respectable) top 25 percent placing? Screw it. Exhaust your matches winning or lose big trying.

2011 tree and farm race

Announcing...

SHIP CYCLING'S SECOND ANNUAL TREE AND FARM RACE

FEBRUARY 19, 9:00 AM

Location: Meet at Southhampton Township Park near Shippensburg.

Description: Forty-nine miles gallivanting around southwestern Cumberland County.

(Click here for an interactive map w/ elevation profile.)

This "race" (we'll probably only end up really racing over the last 5-10 miles or so) is our annual unofficial kickoff to the collegiate season. The ECCC starts its season on the first weekend of March, but since the ACCC generally runs a race on the previous weekend, The Tree and Farm Race goes off on the third weekend of February.

Usually cold, usually windy, sometimes snowy, completing this course is no Sunday stroll. The route offers a survey of wonderful riding southeastern Cumberland County has to offer, with a survey of Mennonite farm lands, Pennsylvania game lands, and the edge of two Pennsylvania state forests.

Unless you plan on never leaving the wheel of someone who knows the course well, you'll want a cue sheet (provided at start) tied to your top tube. The course meanders along all manner of rural farm road, peppered with two sections of loose cinder rail-trail and about a half mile of double-track (if the snow is clear, otherwise we'll take an all-paved detour around these sections), though nothing is too intense for standard 23mm road tires at typical pressure. What with the weather and the terrain, it's our way of giving nod to the spring races across the pond.

And if you're not game for the whole thing, don't worry, the course offers plenty of opportunities to bail and head for the comfort of home or car. (However, packing your own map is recommended.)

The "race" starts at Southampton Township Park. It finishes at the top of Strohm road (the high point of the TNR course) at the "M & M Roofing" sign.

A view of the finish from the rider's perspective. The finish is at the white elbow sign which reads "M & M Roofing."

PAST WINNERS

2010: Jon Marshall (1st), Dr. Goatesauce (2nd), Tim Cusick (3rd) ... limp chicken award (last-placed finisher): Rider Big E.

***IMPORTANT***

We call this a "race," but it's really just a bunch of guys and gals out looking for a good time on a cold Saturday morning. We race, yes, and there's usually a little something fun for the first finishers, but there are no entry fees, no waivers, and therefore no whining if something bad happens to you while on this ride (like you crash and break your carbon frame or someone insults your girlfriend). If you're the kind of person that doesn't play well with others, please don't come. This non-event event is for non-fun-haters only.

For more about Ship Cycling, please visit us on the web.

Who has goals?

So I was riding today and thinking how much I am ready for Spring as my fingers and water bottle were equally frozen, and I began to think that it is time to post up some goals for this season. The first race is coming up in about two weeks so the moment is just about upon us.

Goals for the season and beyond:
1. Do not get dropped in the first crit. of the season at Navy.
2. No just sitting in the pack and being satisfied to finish with the main field.
3. Attack during every race.
4. Win a road race and a Crit.
5. Have enough teamates at a race to work together as a team.
6. Move up and be competitive in the B field.
7. Have fun every weekend no matter the outcome of the races or the weather, etc.
8. Gain enough cycling fitness to significantly improve my triathlons.

Hopefully everyone who is planning on racing this year is thinking about some goals for the season,so post them up so I am not all alone.

tnr, 1/25

We had a great turnout for today's TNR. Nine riders total. Last week's special Thursday edition of the TNR drew eight. And since not everyone who came last week was there this week, we've actually had a total of 12 unique riders at the TNR so far. That's something approaching critical mass.

And that's awesome.

So this is how it went down... A warm-up lap, then a lap of trying to ride a tight pace line. And then, on the third lap, we randomly picked a couple of guys to play rabbit, gave them a 30 second head start, and gave the rest of us about four miles of undulating terrain to catch them. (The terrain element is important, because if the road were a straight shot, flat number, all bets would be on the chasing hoard. But as the terrain is varied, keeping the chase organized and tight is more of a challenge.)

On the fourth lap we did the same thing, with two new rabbits. Three of the four rabbits beat everyone else to the line over the two tries.

Anyway, some pics...

Zach, Brian, Aaron, Tom, Jon, Garrett, & Conroy
(Courtney and I are missing from this picture...me, because I'm taking it,
and Courtney because she had headed home by this point.)

Time to start getting psyched

So here we are moving quickly toward the end of January with another semester of quality education ahead. That can only mean one thing; road racing season is almost among us. Since I am so excited, I spent some quality time at work on Tuesday before my night class checking out each race and trying to decide what a good schedule for our team might look like. This year a lot of the races in the ECCC are pretty far away and I am up for some driving, but some of the races in the ACCC look really good too. So here is what I came up as far as some ideas for hitting as many races as possible this season.

Feb. 26 - ACCC Navy Crit. - Ship to Annapolis, MD 2hrs. 23 min or 133 miles

March 5 & 6 - ECCC Rutgers Circuit race and Crit. - Ship to Piscataway, NU 3hrs 29 min or 190 miles

March 12 & 13
Option 1: ECCC Columbian and Stevens in NY City and Northern NJ - I am not really excited to drive to this area because of traffic, tolls, pain in my butt drivers, etc.

Option 2: ACCC George Washington U. - Ship to DC 2hrs. or 110 miles - my first choice of races for this weekend.

March 19 & 20 - ECCC Philly Road race and Crit. - Ship to Philly 2hrs 37 min or 146 miles

March 26 & 27 - ECCC RPI Circuit race and Crit. - Ship to Troy, NY 5hrs. 48 min. or 339 miles -Iam feeling a road trip for this weekend plus the nine turn crit. looks rediculous.

April 2 & 3 -
Option 1 - ECCC Boston U Road race and Crit. - Ship to Boston 7hrs. 42min. or 435 miles - Not feeling the road trip on this one plus the two races are 66 miles apart once you get there.

Option 2 - ACCC James Madison University - Ship to Harrisionburg, VA 2hrs 22 min. or 144 miles - sounds like a winner to me

April 9 & 10 -

Option 1 - ECCC Yale Road Race and Crit. - Ship to New Haven, CT 5hrs. 21 min or 297 miles - I am feeling this road trip as well because the road race looks like a lot of fun, or pain, depending on what you are into.

Option 2 - ACCC WVU - Ship to Morgantown, WV 2hrs 54 min. or 170 min.

April 16 & 17

Option 1 - ECCC Dartmouth Crit and UNH Road Race - Ship to F-ing far away 8hrs 24 min or 769 miles - The crit and road race are 92 miles apart on top of that.

Option 2 - ACCC Virginia Tech - Ship to Blacksburg, VA 4hrs 38 min or 283 miles - Half the driving, holla. This option sounds good to me.

April 23 & 24 - ECCC Regionals Penn State - Ship to State College 2hrs 5min orf 84 miles - Definitely excited for regionals this year. The crit is on frat row so I am if I have a mechanical or get lapped I am stopping for an adult beverage.

So that is my thoughts on the schedule. We are allowed to race in other conferences which is nice for us since we are basically the southern most ECCC school. The only downside is that we won't be scoring points if we place out of conference. This should not be a problem unless we suddenly get a team that is going to have a bunch of people racing who are also going to be competitive and scoring points in A & B races.

If you are on the team and plan on races put in your input. Also, I assume that the schedule will be discussed tonite at the meeting.

Underwear of Fortitude

So, I got out today for some of these SST Intervals. It definitely required me to HTFU and I could have used some of this so called underwear of fortitute that Goats was talking about. I did man up for 75 min. of riding though by the end I was having trouble braking and shifting because my hands were so called. Also, I had the joy of being thirsty since the water froze in the nozzle of my bottle. All in all I did feel awfully manly when I was done my workout. Hopefully it will be a tad warmer for Saturday's long ride.

Training Begins Tomorrow!

I am finally starting my training tomorrow and I can't wait. When I started my time off from the bike three weeks ago I was so glad to be away from it. Last season was great but it was a long one.

Yet this past week I could hardly keep my hands off my bike. I cleaned it the last two days and before that I was finishing up writing my training plan for the next several months. I'm hoping this plan will fix my extreme lack of power generation in efforts over a massive ten minutes (maybe less)! This will be the first year that I will be trying to stick to a training plan. Hearing Tim, Scott and Hunter at the Peaks presentation got me thinking that I really should try one out. It should be interesting and I am excited to see if I can get myself to ride 15 to 20 hour weeks repeatedly. Yet the thought of not only upgrading to a Cat II but also doing well in a 1/II/III race is an excellent motivator.

I even rode the rollers tonight to make sure I hadn't forgotten how but only for five minutes (I'm trying not to ruin my plan before it even begins). I put the rollers between my door frame and really only had to shoulder the door a few times to stay upright (success)

Oh and I saw this picture today - perfect technique

next friday's road skills practice

cultural education

the new ship cycling website

Yup. New. Shiny and new.

If you haven't yet, mosey on over and take a look.

Suggestions for improvement? I'd love to hear them.

Want to link to the site? Please use http://webspace.ship.edu/cycling/

cycles of life

Awesome.

For background on the film, visit Vimeo or CyclingTips...

what I do to stay warm in the winter

It hasn't really gotten cold yet in south-central pee-aay, but it's a 'coming...and so are the questions on how to stay warm.

Yesterday, I got a note from a friend asking how I keep my package warm when it gets cold--bibs and tights, just tights, two pairs of tights? I figured I'd share my response, along with some other cold-weather riding tips and just what-I-do sorts of things.

Everyone has to figure out what works for them, which is to say there won't be a universal right way to stay warm, but I think it's helpful to learn what those who have ridden through more than a few winters have learned.

...

On keeping male genitalia warm when cold-weather riding...

To start, I don’t have any padded tights. I always wear bib shorts under everything. When it’s cold enough to warrant, I pull on a pair of tights over them. Except that I cut all my tights off mid-shin, so I guess that makes them knickers.

I have two pair of knickers—one that’s not that warm, which I wear when it’s about 35-45 degrees out, and another that I wear when it’s colder. If it’s REALLY cold, like less than 25 degrees, I wear a modified pair of hiking pants over whatever else.

When it gets to freezing or below, I don’t leave home without my anatomically trimmed patch of fleece. I cut it from some old fabric I had lying around and, when it’s cold, I just stuff it down my shorts, wrapping my package in the warm, soft, comfy texture of 200 weight fleece.

It’s really the best solution I’ve found. My genitals never get cold when I have that thing in place.

There are other possible solutions. Craft makes a brief with a WindStopper patch on the front that you supposedly wear under everything. I think that would work ok, but I don’t like wearing underwear under my shorts in the winter not so much because of discomfort (though that's a concern), but because the extra fabric makes my butt all sweaty. And sweat, when it’s cold, should be avoided when possible. So if the fleece patch doesn’t appeal to you, I’d consider taking a look at the Craft brief. (Craft makes super stellar winter wear. IMO, Craft, Icebreaker, and maybe Patagonia are THE top-of-the-line in respect to cold-weather athletic wear.)

On keeping legs warm when cold-weather riding...

I'm a dedicated knee-warmer fan. Such a great piece of cold weather gear. If it's under 65 and cloudy, I've probably got my knee-warmers on. If it's under 60, they're on. When it’s cold enough to put my knickers on, it’s over the knee warmers. And I have several pair—those that are just lycra, and others that are fleece-lined.

As I said above, I always wear a pair of bib shorts under everything. When it gets down to about 45, I pull my lightweight knickers on over my bibs and thin knee warmers. When it gets cold enough that I want my shins covered (35 degrees or so), I wear tall socks.

My leg-covering strategy by approximate temperature ranges:

55-65: bibs + thin knee-warmers

48-55: bibs + fleece-lined knee-warmers

38-48: bibs + thin knee-warmers + thin knickers

20-35: bibs + thin knee-warmers (sometimes fleece-lined warmers) + warm knickers + tall socks

under 32: everything else + fleece genital cozy

under 20: everything else + specially modified hiking pants

On keeping feet warm when cold-weather riding...

Shoe covers are of course critical when the temperature drops down into the 40s. Sometimes they also make sense even when it's a bit warmer. Nice neoprene numbers are the best because they're waterproof.

However, the single best cold-weather gear purchase I’ve made in the past five years are my winter riding shoes. I have the Shimano MW80s. Such. A. Good. Idea.

I got mtb (as opposed to road) winter shoes because they’re much more versatile. They work well when mountain biking, obviously, but if I want to wear them on my road bike I just move my pedals over. Mine are a size bigger than my usual riding shoe size so I can wear a thicker sock and still have a little room in there. A too-tight shoe makes for blood circulation problems which accentuates cold-weather feet-warming issues.

If it’s really cold (less than 25 degrees), and I’m going to be out for more than two hours, I’ll put shoe covers over them. But really, I’ve found the problem with keeping feet warm on a bike in the really cold is the negative heat transfer from your cold metal crank and pedal to the sole of your shoe. Shoe covers do nothing to solve that issue. So if my feet get cold in 20 degree weather I find I just need to get off and walk a few minutes and they’ll warm right back up. This is of course easier in mtb shoes than in road shoes.

On keeping the torso warm when cold-weather riding...

Keeping your torso warm is a good deal about managing sweat and wind. I've found that when heading out for a long winter ride I'm going to sweat a lot more in the first, say, 60-90 minutes than I am the rest of the ride. So I like to bring along a spare base layer. After 90 minutes or so I strip off my sweaty wet one and put on the fresh dry one. Or just take the sweaty base layer off and then put everything else back on. Makes all the difference in the world.

Bulking up with extra layers is less important than making sure you've got a good wind shield in the front. So a good wind vest with rear ventilation is critical.

I've found that with our new (last year) Shippensburg jackets that it's so warm I don't want to put it on until the temperature drops well below 40 degrees, and then with just a base layer under. But I always bring along a vest, and if I get cold later, I either swap out base layers (for a dry one) or put on my vest under the jacket, or both. I can go a long way in 30 degree weather using this strategy.

On keeping your head warm during cold-weather riding...

When it gets down to 50 or so I like to throw on a thin hat or ear-covering thing (actually, I used to do the ear-covering thing, but now I only do hats). I have low tolerance for cold ears, so I keep them covered.

When it gets below freezing, you might benefit from wearing a balaclava. I find, however, that keeping a nice full beard does the job and balaclavas often leave me over-heated.

When it’s under 30 degrees I usually wear ski goggles right over my helmet. This works surprisingly well. I've found goggles make an amazing difference in keeping your entire face/head warm. A skullcap + goggles keeps my head much more comfortable than a balaclava + sunglasses, but I generally pack along an extra balaclava when it's cold just in case. Goggles + balaclava makes your head virtually impenetrable to cold, which I've found advantageous when it's cold, the wind is blowing, and, if that wasn't enough, it starts to snow.

On keeping your hands warm during cold-weather riding...

This one is easy: wear gloves.

Really, it's that easy. If your hands are cold your gloves aren't thick enough. Ski gloves work best.

I've also found leather work gloves to work really, really well until about 32 degrees. And leather work gloves are an awful lot more economical than fancy full-fingered winter cycling gloves.

Now, if your hands do get cold when you're out riding, it helps to windmill your arms several times really fast to push the blood out to your finger tips. When people first see this trick they're generally skeptical, but then they try it and they believe. Trust me, it works.

...

Well, I think that about covers it. Have your own cold-weather riding tip? Post away if you're not afraid...

Not how to start a TT - 28 sec in

Skip ahead until about 28 or so sec in

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIslEGylGu0&NR=1&feature=fvwp

2011 custom ship gear

Basic black (default kit colors):


Snazzy white (alternate kit colors):


They're bad pictures, I know, but you'll get the general idea. The "boat logos" on the sleeves will be straightened out so that they align horizontally with the cuff. And the jerseys will also be plastered with our sponsors, so be prepared for that.

What sponsor logos will be on the jersey? I'm glad you asked:

(1) Sunrise Computers & Electronics, prominently on the front/back, billboard-style beneath the SHIP banner.

(2) The Carlisle Group, one shoulder on the back above the SHIP banner.

(3) Mountainside Ski & Sport, other shoulder and back pocket.

(4) Wertner Signs, back pocket.

Want one? Get in touch. We'd love to sell you one.

(Custom bibs, wind vests, and winter jackets also available. Vests and jackets will have no sponsorship logos--just SU stuff.)

Summer Cell Pictures

the (almost) half world championships, 2010

It's back. The (Almost) Half World Championships, 2010.

Saturday, September 25, 9:00 am.

Last year was so much fun (more fun), we've decided to do it again. Bigger (more people) and better (fewer miles) than last time.

Here's the course (a link to interactive map, below a picture):

The course is 8.8 miles long with just under 750 ft of climbing. To encourage participation, we'll do SEVEN laps, for a total of 62 miles. Don't want to ride 62 miles? Just come anyway. Do what you want. Enjoy the fun.

We start at the corner of Strohm and Chestnut Grove (search for 190 Strohm Rd, Shippensburg, PA).

Special prizes for the first finishers and last finishers.

You. Could. Be. The. (Almost.) Half. Champion. Of. The. World!

Shippensburg University Cycling Hosts Youth Bike Rodeo

For Immediate Release:

Shippensburg University Cycling Announces Youth Bike Rodeo

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania – September 16, 2010 – On Friday, September 24, 2010, Shippensburg University Cycling will host the Fourth Semi-Annual Spring/Fall Youth Bike Rodeo. Intended for children in Kindergarten through fifth grades, the event will include activities such as helmet fitting, minor bicycle maintenance, bicycle fitting, safety tips, and a skills-testing obstacle course. The event begins at 4:30 pm and will continue until 6:00 pm.

The rodeo will be held on the Shippensburg University campus, in the parking lot between the student recreation fields and the Luhrs Performing Arts Center. While there will be no adult specific activities, parents are encouraged to stay and participate. All participants should bring a bicycle and wear a helmet.

This event builds off the success of previous SU Cycling Team sponsored youth bike rodeos. Thirty to forty children participated in each event.

About Shippensburg University Cycling: Shippensburg University Cycling is organized as a university club sport. The mission of Shippensburg University Cycling is to promote cycling socially as well as to prepare athletes for collegiate competition. In 2009-2010, Ship Cycling boasted 28 members, 10 of which competed in at least one USA Cycling sanctioned race, accounting for 60 rider race days in total.

Ship Cycling competes in road and mountain bike events in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (collegiatecycling.org/eccc) under the auspices of USA Cycling (usacycling.org). The team is funded by the University Student Senate as well as the generous support of area businesses including Sunrise Computers and Electronics (www.digitalsunrise.com), The Carlisle Group (tcgrecruit.com), Historic Preservation Services (www.hps-preservation.com), Mountainside Ski & Sport (www.mountainsideski-sports.com) and Wertner Signs (www.wertnersigns.com/).

The team holds regular training rides, open to all area cyclists, in the rural farmland and mountainous terrain of Cumberland and Franklin Counties.

For more information on the Shippensburg University Cycling Team, please contact Nathan Goates, faculty advisor (nwgoates@ship.edu), Matt Conroy, club president (mc3923@ship.edu), or visit our blog at shipcycling.blogspot.com.

CONTACT:

Dr. Nathan Goates

Shippensburg University

717-477-1214

nwgoates@ship.edu

http://shipcycling.blogspot.com/

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