About

General Overview of Bucknell Cycling

The Bucknell Cycling Team is a member of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC), one of eleven conferences that comprise USA Cycling's Collegiate program.  Bucknell competes against college and university cycling teams from Canada down to Delaware and from New England out to Pittsburgh.  The ECCC is widely regarded as the most competitive and well-managed collegiate cycling conference in the United States.  Each year, members of the Bucknell Cycling Team compete at eight or nice race weekends, hosted by various schools across the Northeast.

Cycling is a club sport at Bucknell, offered to both men and women who are full time students of the university.  As a club sport, the team is operated and managed by the students of the club under the supervision of a faculty member and Bucknell's recreation services.  Although the sport of cycling has become very popular in recent years, it is not a NCAA sport and is not a varsity sport at most colleges in the United States.  Though a few teams serve as exceptions, even the biggest of teams in collegiate cycling are offered by their universities as club sports.  Collegiate cycling teams and the ECCC are overseen by USA Cycling, the governing body of all competitive and professional cycling in the United States.

Collegiate cyclists spend their season competing for a spot as a team or as an individual at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships.  Nationals are held every year and bring together the best teams and riders from all conferences in the United States.  In 2014, Bucknell sent four riders to Nationals, held in Richmond, V.A..

The ECCC offers team-oriented collegiate cycling and includes teams from Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Canada.  The ECCC road season begins the first weekend in March and continues until the beginning of May.  Racing categories are offered for men and women of all capabilities and race experience.  Men and Women can each choose from five racing categories: A, B, C, D, and Intro.

The categories make it possible for first time racers to compete with riders of similar experience.  After successful results in a category, riders move up to the next category.  More information on the category system, nationals, and collegiate cycling can be found on the ECCC's website.

Information for Prospective Students

Hello! We are thrilled you are interested in Bucknell Cycling!  Email us with any questions, comments, or concerns that you may have about the team, or ask us about our school in general.  Follow our Facebook page while you're at it.  Ray Bucknell!  Contact information is below.


ZanderGeneral Information: Cycling is a club sport at Bucknell University and is made up of both men and women across a wide range of ability levels.  We are known throughout campus for our carefree team atmosphere, our close camaraderie, and our awesome baby blue uniforms.  Those who participate on the team come from a wide range of sporting backgrounds.  Many of our members were varsity athletes in high school (with a popular crossover being from XC and/or track) who aren't continuing their sport at the D1 level yet still want to stay fit and compete.  Many choose to then make the transition to cycling upon attending Bucknell.  Some riders train almost every day throughout the fall and winter in anticipation of our road race season in the spring, while others only ride once a week.  While the team exists to compete, we welcome both riders who wish to race at the highest level and those who are attracted to the sport merely for fun and enjoyment (and only want to race one or twice a season).

The Season: The fall usually consists of training and team bonding.  New riders use this part of the season to get to know the veteran members of the team, improve their fitness, and also to gain a greater familiarity with the beautiful Pennsylvania countryside that we have the privilege of enjoying.  In the winter, training picks up in preparation for the race season that begins in March.  Usually during the weekdays there is a 1 to 1.5 hour ride that leaves every afternoon from the student center.  On the weekends, the team organizes longer (2 to 3 hour) training rides that entail a great deal of exploring on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Kelly SprintRacing: Team members can choose to attend as many or as few races as they wish, though racing is encouraged.  Racing occurs over "race weekends", where the team travels Friday evening, races Saturday and Sunday, and returns to campus on Sunday evening.  All costs for housing and race registration are covered by the team. We have NO team fees.  Between challenging competition and (a lot of) down time spent with the other guys and girls on the team, race weekends are the best ways to spend your time at Bucknell.

Equipment: Though the team encourages riders to have their own bikes to train and race, we understand that many riders are just starting out in the sport and that cycling is very costly.  Therefore, the team has team bikes that are loaned out to new riders who express interest in riding on the team.  Road bikes are also loaned out through Bucknell's Bison Bikes program, which gives preference to freshmen and international students.  The team also offers its riders many discounts through our sponsor organizations to help alleviate the costs of purchasing equipment, and a trip is usually organized each fall to Trexlertown's swap meet at the velodrome.

Contact Information:

President – Chris Azzam – cfa009@bucknell.edu
Vice President – Cameron Lodi – crl018@bucknell.edu
Race Director – Tim Chilemba – thc007@bucknell.edu
Sponsorship Manager – Nicolas Fardone – nmf009@bucknell.edu
Clothing Coordinator – Michael Duncan – mpd015@bucknell.edu


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