Cycling away
Biking is a classic tradition to enjoy the world and get some overdue exercise, and now students have made it just that much easier to get outside and onto a bike.
Juniors Lars Johnson and Fred LeClaire, have taken it upon themselves to provide such a service for anyone who wants to ride no matter their skill level. The cycling club is strictly a road biking club that is different from mountain biking. In the past years, cycling club has been known for being discriminating against anyone who is not an experienced biker or does not have an expensive road bike. However, those days are over.
Johnson said, “We realized that riding with others is much better than just riding with the two of us.”
To Johnson and LeClaire, starting a club means that they can bring people together and bike. They want to have enough members to eventually develop a grouping system to divide people on their skill and motivation level in biking.
Sophomore Bailey Helke said, “It is a good opportunity for people to get involved with others at the school and ride bikes together even if one of them is better than the other.”
The club is soon to be at a point where people can gather together and ride bikes regardless of their skill level. The boys and their advisor decided that cycling club required a less formal atmosphere in order for the club to be successful and the first step to that was ensuring that everyone feels welcome.
Johnson said, “Our Average practice usually consists of an hour and a half to two hour ride, the average is 24 miles.”
Even though a 24 mile bike ride every week may sound daunting to some, the leaders are looking for more flexibility in the layout of each practice. The smaller size of the club prevents it from becoming what the two juniors had hoped of it becoming, but that is not stopping them from carrying out their roles as the leaders and planning ahead for the future.
The cycling club is open to any student who is interested in joining a club where everyone is welcome to ride bikes and make new connections. Further promotion of cycling club will take place in the near future for the 2017-2018 school year and everyone involved in the club have high hopes.
Orchestra teacher and cycling club advisor Zach Sawyer said, “I’m hopeful that the cycling club will continue into the future. It seems that there are plenty of interested students here at SAHS, and I would be happy to help keep the club going.”
Owen Landrud is a 16 year old junior at Stillwater Area High School. He enjoys watching movies and traveling. He has one sister and a pet cat and he plays...
Elise Luoma • May 1, 2017 at 11:20 am
The lead attracted readers into the article. I originally thought the Mountain Bike and Cycling clubs were intertwined, but I learned they are each their own club. This article was well-written and enjoyable to read.