Spring Break
Hopkins Cycling Club boasts history and competitive spirit
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Graduate Student Ed Brignole stumbled upon the Johns Hopkins Cycling Club when he was looking for something to keep in shape after running track as an undergraduate. "Cycling isn't very popular for people under 18," Brignole said. "A lot of people get bikes for the first time, nice road bikes to do the Hopkins 4K, then they become interested in the riding clinics the club hosts and eventually in cycling as a serious sport." Like many other members of the cycling club however, Brignole fell in love with the sport and began to compete and do well in races.
The Johns Hopkins Cycling Club appears to be an organization with a bright future. The group boasts four national titles in two years. They can credit their popularity to membership being open not only to undergraduates, but graduate students as well as faculty members. And the cycling club can also be proud of the fact that former member Chris Hedges now rides professionally in Europe after training with Hopkins cycling.
Since joining the club, Brignole advanced to nationals in Colorado Springs, CO, placing 17th in the road race, 7 seconds behind the winner in 2001. He was also member of the winning time trial team in 2002, making him a part of a National Championship squad as well as one of Hopkins' best cyclers.
The cycling club is full of students just getting involved with cycling. "There are many enthusiastic beginners," said Brignole. "In fact, a lot of professional cyclers didn't start until college."
Sophomore Pat Kerns began cycling by participating in the Hopkins 4K. "A friend did the race in years past, and I started going to spinning classes to prepare for the race," he said. "I found out more about the club, went to meetings, began doing group rides, and I competed for the first time in the West Virginia Road Race."
Others, like freshman Andrew Liu, were interested before coming to Hopkins. "I became interested in cycling my junior year in high school while watching the Tour de France," he said. "I got a racing bike senior year and wanted to go to a school with a competitive cycling club. The club was one of the things that drew me to Hopkins."
The cycling club participates in the Atlantic Coast Cycling Conference (ACCC) division of the National Collegiate Cycling Association (NCAA), which is a part of the United States Cycling Federation (UACF). The fall is considered Mountain biking or cross country racing season, while in the spring, races consist of three road events: time trials, critiriums and road races.
The club, coached by Kristopher Auer, was founded in the early '80s when Johns Hopkins hosted a race at Lake Montebello that was a part of an intramural fraternity competition in which fratboys would compete in different sports for points.
Two of the strongest racers at the time were Patrick Liu and Peter Verheyen and the group competed in the USCF, as the NCAA was not founded yet. Liu and Joe Carey founded the Charm City Velo club and Kozo Shimano, the man behind the Shimano bike components company, was also attending Hopkins at the time and was involved with the club.
The club was inactive during the early '90s until students Dan Mullady and Hansen Su, attempted to resurrect it. It wasn't until the late '90s that members began racing seriously in collegiate competitions.
In the last two years Hopkins has won four national titles in Division II cycling. In 2002 the men took the team time trial and critirum, and in 2003 the men won the road race and the team time trial. In the fall and spring, the club competes in races held during most weekends.
Not everyone in the club competes; a lot of members only ride recreationally. Training is also flexible. "It is very informal, there are no set schedules, but our coach gives us individually designed training schedules and there are group rides every week as well," said Liu. "Most members try to ride at least an hour a day and two to three hours on weekends."
The weekend of April 24, Hopkins will team up with University of Maryland and American University to host the conference championships for the ACCC. Hopkins will host the criterium race which will be held at Druid Hill Park that Saturday from 11-6 p.m. More information about the cycling club can be obtained on their Web site http://www.jhu.edu/~cycling/.