Photo taken at the 2019 University of Washington Road Race
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, USA cycling cancelled all spring 2020 collegiate races. Unfortunately, this meant the UBC Cycling team had to end the season without being able to race.
This was extremely disappointing news for our team, as we had a lot of new cyclists eager to race for the first time and senior riders looking forward to their last collegiate season. However, given the circumstances, it was an understandable decision.
During this time, our riders have been going on solo rides and training indoors. Last week, some of our riders raced virtually against other Canadian collegiate teams such as Queen’s University, University of Toronto, and University of Ottawa.
Throughout the academic year, we have seen huge improvements in the skill and endurance of the athletes on our team. Our team met three times a week: twice at Method Indoor Cycling for spin workouts and once for a long group ride. Coach Ben came to four of our rides to teach us bike handling and group riding skills. It has been amazing to see riders who were new to cycling in September now ride confidently in groups.
Outside of training, our team took part in several Thunderbird Sport Clubs events such as Trivia Night, Valentine’s Day cookie decorating, Spin-a-thon, and Dodgeball. We also organized a Krispy Kreme Fundraiser to raise money to subsidize the cost of travel to our races (which we will be using for the 2021 race season). Additionally, we held potluck dinners where the team could socialize outside of a training environment.
Although it is unfortunate to end the season this way, we are extremely proud of all of our athletes and cannot wait for summer racing and next year’s collegiate season!
 Photo from an October group ride |
 Photo from a rainy November group ride |
In lieu of Athletic Banquet awards, we would like to recognize a few athletes that have contributed greatly to the cycling team this year.
Sportsmanship Award – Lauren KerkerLauren is always at practice and always has a smile on her face. She uplifts and encourages everyone and does not hesitate to help out the exec team when needed. She stepped up as our team’s athlete council representative in her first year on the team and has excelled in this role. She has increased cycling’s attendance at athlete council events through her exciting and emoji-filled slack posts.
Male Rookie of the Year – Daniele Reda
Daniele is one of the team’s most dedicated athletes, coming to almost every practice rain or shine. You can often find Daniele flying up Spanish banks at 7am on a rainy Saturday morning before the group ride, doing 5-10 repeats before joining up with the rest of the team. He is also incredibly persistent and has a positive attitude – he once finished 150km of a 200km race after his bike broke down and was stuck in one gear. After the race, Daniele had a huge smile on his face and told everyone that he had a wonderful time. Daniele is always motivating other athletes to try to keep up and work as hard as he does.
Female Rookie of the Year – Christina Howard
Christina is an amazing multi-sport athlete the cycling team is lucky to have. She not only bikes but runs, swims and does pretty much anything else considered a sport. She has pushed athletes on our team to try other sports and get excited and involved in different sports they may not have otherwise tried. She is always at practice despite living in Victoria this semester, and she always has a smile on her face. She is so encouraging and just a pleasure to be around.
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