Pumping Away: Cyclists Prep for Spring

It's 6:15 a.m. Most of the world still revels in its final hours of blissful sleep. But on deserted Cambridge-area roads, approximately 30 Harvard cyclists ready themselves for two hours of pedal-pumping euphoria.

Unknown to many, the cycling organization at Harvard has been around since 1890, and in recent history, the team has experienced a measure of success.

Last year, the team finished in sixth place (Out of 40 teams) at the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Championships and narrowly missed an invitation to last season's national championships.

Led by President Jon Glass and Co-Captains Raj Kirshnan and Debra Cohen, prospects for this season are equally as bright.

The team has already set a goal of finishing in the top-three in the east and securing a spot in this year's nationals.

With that end in sight, the cyclists train every morning, including weekends, biking between 30 to 80 miles at a time.

Under the tutelage of three-time Olympic cyclist Jon Alice, the squad looks to have its off-season dedication pay off as it heads into the year's first meet in New York March 28th and 29th.

Harvard belongs to the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference, a group which includes, among others, lvy teams, MIT and perennial powerhouses Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

The invitational which bring all conference teams together for "mass-meets" take place throughout the month of April.

While individual accomplishment is awarded, this sport is "very much as team thing based on team standings," according to Alice. The times for both men and women are computed together, with that result yielding the team's final marks.

Members to the Harvard squad foresee high finishes for the up-and-coming squad.

"The team shows a lot of promise. We have a lot freshmen and sophomores this year," says Kirshnan.. "It's a good of people with a good feeling of team spirit."

Currently, Cohen, a two-time defending national champion track rider, is the only women on the cycling team. Come this fall she will return to her state of Illinois to defend her title once again.

"It's a great team this year, much bigger than last year," Cohen says.

"We will do better than we did last season."

Since its inception, collegiate cycling has always remained a club sport primarily for reasons. University, cyclists say, fear taking responsibility over students biking on busy roadways. Because of this club status, the cyclists must annually worry about funding.

"We get money from the club sports department and the Under-graduate Council, "Glass says. "And we also get national sponsorships from companies like Powerbar and Oakley."

The cyclists say, however, that club status does not reflect on the team's determination.

"People that do cycling take it seriously," Cohen says. "You have to if you're out there at six in the morning."

"It's a weird sado-masochistic sport in a way, "Krishnan says. "You go out, suffer, and come back--you're beat before the day even starts."

And the team is looking to bolster its ranks with more masochistic athletes. In the past three years, membership has risen from 10 to the present 30.

But the squad always welcomes new blood.

"We're not in the habit of cutting people," Kirshnan says. "We're committed to developing riders from within Harvard."

"I'd like to emphasize that in collegiate racing, anybody with a university ID is welcome to participate," Alice says. "We wish to raw to draw on the graduate schools a lot more.[The team's] also open to the staff at Harvard. It's definitely not just for undergrads."

Perhaps the most desperate plea comes from Cohen, who finds herself the only women on the team.

Fortunately, since female membership is increasing in the United States Cycling Federation, the hope to recruit more women is very much alive.

"We want more people," Cohen says. "There are only two requirements--you need a bike and a helmet."