History of The Purdue Cycling Club

(1982 - Present)

List of Purdue Cycling Club Presidents

1. 11/82 - 12/83: Michael Cent (pharmacy)

2. 01/84 - 12/84: Jeff Ackerman (industrial management)

3. 01/85 - 05/86: Dave Saker (EE)

4. 08/86 - 05/87: Jeff Lyslo (physics)

5. 01/88 - 12/88: Mike Van de Cott (aero/astro engineering)

6. 01/89 - 12/89: Rodney Miller (computer integrated mfg tech)

7. 01/90 - 12/90: Blaine Cooper

   01/91 - 10/91: none reported

8. 11/91 - 04/92: Keith Schaeller

9. 05/92 - 05/93: Jason Garner

10. 05/93 - 05/94: Chris Gottwald

    05/94 - 11/94: none reported

11. 11/94 - 09/95: David Green

12. 09/95 - 04/96: Jeremy Hudson

13. 04/96 - 02/97: Joseph Melvin Hall

14. 02/97 - 12/97: Craig Stansifer (First Mountain Biker as President)

15. 05/97 - 05/99: Mark Yap (first two-term president)

    In 1999 the name changes from Purdue Bicycle Racing Club to Purdue Cycling Club

16. 05/99 - 05/00: John Hanley

17. 04/00 - 04/02: Rick Lemberg

18. 04/02 - 04/03: Mark VanGemert

19. 04/03 - 04/04: Mark VanHemert

20. 04/04 - 04/05: Matt Hall

21. 04/05 - 04/06: Matt Belcher

22. 04/06 - 12/06: Derek Laan

23. 12/06 - 04/08: Will Vazquez

24. 04/08 - 04/10: Brian Richter

25. 04/10 - 04/11: Naveen John (EE)

26. 04/11 - 04/12: Hogan Sills (civil eng)

27. 04/12 - 04/13: Julian Toumey

28. 04/13 - 04/14: Jennifer Munley (biomedical eng, first woman club pres)

29. 04/14 - 04/15: Ben Tims

30. 04/15 - 04/16: Ben Handy

31. 04/16 - 04/17: Justin Miller

32. 04/17 - 04/18: Eliot Toumey

33. 04/18 - 12/18 Jason Sohn (Fall semester only)

34. 12/18 - 04/19: Alan Duffy (Spring semester only)

35. 04/19 - 04/20: Jason Li

36. 04/20 - 04/21: Jonathan Bauer

37. 04/21 - 04/23: Shawn Prosky (AAE)

38. 04/23 - 04/24: Gabi Mazion (CompE)

39. 04/24 - 04/25: David Alexander (ECE)

40. 04/25 - 04/26: Natheir Abu-Dahab (CompE)

Foreword - By Michael Cent, PCC Founder

Nowadays, it is hard to imagine a time when all bikes were made of steel and Trek was just a young start-up company. Aero equipment and snug fabrics had not yet burst onto the scene and clipless pedals were far into the future. Jonathan “Jacques” Boyer had only recently been the first American to ride in the Tour de France (1981) and an American win was still a few years away (Greg LeMond, 1986). The Red Zinger Classic, which became the Coors Classic, was really the only bike race of note in all of North America. Such was the backdrop when the Purdue Bicycle racing Club was formed in late 1982. 

Some might be surprised that most of the early Club officers had no racing experience before joining the Club. I am amazed at the percentage of members, both then and now, who are brought into the world of competitive cycling for the first time because of this club. Not everyone will race, but all will push themselves and expand their limits like never before. 

This club is like no other. It is impossible to mix mind, body, machine, and asphalt and remain unchanged. I attribute this to the communal suffering of stretching your limits and the shared loneliness of long hours in the saddle. It’s the way of the bicycle, the call of the pavement. Members develop human bonds that last a lifetime. They have strong, fond memories of their time in the Club. This Club changes you in ways you may only understand in the future. There are benefits, yet to be imagined, that you will reap through-out your life. 

Celebrating 30 years, 2012

1980s

1982

In the beginning… 

It all began during my freshman year in the Fall of 1980. I was a pharmacy student living in Cary Quad. Through high school I had been an occasional runner. But upon entering college I took up running in earnest. During that first semester I strained my Achilles tendon and that more-or-less put a stop to running for the immediate future. By a stroke of luck (or providence) my roommate, Dominic, who was of Italian descent, was a bicycle racing enthusiast. He had no bike on campus that I can remember so he didn’t train. He just enjoyed the racing culture that is so prevalent in Italian society. He got me excited about cycling, which was the perfect exercise for a strained Achilles tendon. 

I became hooked on riding and somewhere along the way I purchased a Schwinn Super Le Tour, which was actually a pretty good sport bike. I lived in Cary Quad my second year as well and now I was beginning to see other cyclists living in the Quad. We started to get to know each other. We even had a Cary Quad Bicycle race from the backside of the stadium out to the end of Newman Road/300W and back. We had about 15 riders. Through all of this I was aware that the University had no bicycle racing club. Upon entering my third year (Fall ’82) I set out to organize such a club. I met with other interested riders who lived at Cary and we laid the groundwork. It is no surprise that most of the original officers lived in Cary Quad. We signed the paperwork in November 1982, bringing the Club into official existence. 

During that time another rider by the name of Jeff Ackerman approached the Dean of Students about starting the same type of Club. The DOS told him that there already is a group of students forming a Club and that he might want to make contact with us. He did, and Jeff quickly became our first Club treasurer. He would go on to become the Club’s second president.

1983

• President - Michael Cent (Cary Quad, Illinois) 

• VP - Joe Engels (Cary Quad, Michigan) 

• Treasurer - Jeff Ackerman (Alpha Chi Rho, Indiana) 

• Secretary - Chris Rygaard (Cary Quad, Missouri)

The First Year

As a brand new club we set goals. Among them: Provide a training platform for members, attend races, draw new members, and put on our own annual race. Starting a new club and getting it off the ground requires a lot of administrative work, something I was well suited for.

Off to the Races 

During our first semester of existence there were two main races that we attended: The IU race and the Southern Illinois races. Club members would also attend races individually as their travels permitted.

Below is the first story the Exponent ever did on the Club. It was in preparation for the Club attending its first event, the IU race. Also, you will note the Club’s interaction with the Co-Rec. At the time, we were trying to make bicycle racing a University sport, not just a campus club. The story also mentions the Club training on Highway 26. At the time, Highway 26 was a quiet country road, not the thoroughfare it is now. And South River Road was narrower, rougher, and less developed than it is now, so Highway 26 was the logical choice at the time. Here are some photos of the Granville Bridge. Though not directly on South River Road, it still gives you an idea of the area.

Southern Illinois

I do not remember the date of this event but it was a long drive (in those days) to Carbondale. The event consisted of a road race one day and a criterium the next. About eight or nine riders attended. Unfortunately there are not many photos from this event. There are some interesting stories associated with this weekend.

We headed out on Friday night and it rained hard during much of the drive, soaking the bikes. We planned on staying at an SIU fraternity of the same house that Ted Miller belonged to. He assured us that they would take us in and let us spend the weekend. When we arrived, to our horror, the house had been shut down and vacant. Oops. We made a quick phone call to event organizers and they were gracious enough to let us sleep on their living room floor. One the way back we ran into a horrific storm while on the interstate in Illinois. It rained so hard we had to stop under an overpass. The sky and lightning had that foreboding green glow and we knew a tornado was close by. We thought we were going to die. But the storm passed and we made it back to Purdue. 

Photos from the IU race, April 2, 1983. The very first race we attended (photos courtesy of Jeff Ackerman)

What a historical photo below. The Purdue Bicycle Racing Club attended its first race. The known attendees are… Front: 2nd from left, Jeff Ackerman; army jacket, Ted Miller; far right, Mike Cent Back: middle, blue jacket, Pat Cook; right, black jacket, Jeff Lyslo Note that we had a girl on the team from the beginning (although I don’t remember her name)

Fall 1983

The Club began to make progress administratively and a Fall time trial series was planned and preparations began for a campus criterium for the Spring of 1984. There was one change to the 8 officer lineup. Secretary Chris Rygaard did not return for the Fall semester and was replaced by Dave Saker. On a side note, Dave was a very fast rider, the fastest the Club had seen to this point. Below are a couple Club newsletters that have survived over the years. The first one (newsletter #2) gives results of the first time trial which was a 25 mile out and back course on Highway 26, starting about 3 miles out of town. On a side note, most time trials in that day were 25 miles in length. We never considered doing anything shorter. Also, remember all bikes were steel and “aero” and sleek clothing had not yet been introduced!

Newsletter #4 below makes the first mention of cyclocross. Also note the comment about more than eight inches of snow canceling Club rides. For a few of us it was not uncommon to ride while snow was on the ground. I can remember several times heading out on Highway 26 and riding on the narrow ribbon of pavement that automobile tire tracks had worn through the snow. I even fashioned a pair of foam windbreakers that I taped over my toe clips to help keep my feet warmer (remember clipless pedals hadn’t been invented yet).

1984

• President - Jeff Ackerman

• Treasurer - Dave Saker

A Change of Administration

Mike Cent: “It’s a weird sensation handing over a club you started to another group of people. But you know that your time is short at the University and it must be done. Jeff Ackerman is a skilled administrator and the Club was in good hands. Despite the two of us coming from opposite ends of the campus spectrum (me from Cary Quad and he a frat guy) we worked well together because we shared the gift of administration.”

The First Purdue Criterium

While preparations for this race began in the prior semester during Mike Cent’s administration it would all come together under Jeff Ackerman’s team (although Mike was still active in the Club). Having a bicycle race on campus was a big deal at the time, and a novelty for most students as American cycling had not yet come of age. Jeff Lyslo, in the photo, would go on to become the Club’s fourth president.

Note in the flyer below that Hodson’s Bay is one of the sponsors of the Purdue Criterium. They have been a continuous sponsor of the Club for 30 years as of this writing (2012). What a treasure they are.

Update from 2025: Hodson’s Bay Company would end their sponsorship of the Purdue Cycling Club in 2020. Although several attempts would be made to re-establish a sponsorship, none succeeded and the bike shop would shut down in May of 2025, the then President/CEO, David Meadows, starting a new bike shop in Crawfordsville by the name of “Broken Heart Cycling”.

Also note the course layout. It was a technical course having a quick right-left-right-right turn sequence through the north Co-Rec parking lot.

1985

• President - Dave Saker

2nd & 3rd Purdue Criterium For the 2nd Purdue Criterium the route was moved to a challenging Tower Drive and Stadium Avenue loop at Slayter Hill. In contrast to the previous year, it was hot outside. See Exponent clippings on the following pages. No personal photos appear to be taken of this race but there are photos of the Criterium in1987 which traversed the same course. We were also stunned to find a race photo on the top front page of the Exponent the next day (featured below).

Above is the Exponent article from the 2nd annual Purdue Criterium. Below is a similar article from Exponent, except that it’s for the 3rd annual Purdue Criterium. There aren’t any pictures taken by club members, but the articles show some pictures. At the 3rd Purdue Criterium, there was an expected 250 people racing while 300 people raced the year before.

1986

• President - Jeff Lyslo

Jeff Lyslo: “Rumors of parking garage races and beer on rollers are true.”

“The weather had been cold & wet for seemingly forever & we were sick of riding wind trainers inside, thus the inspiration to be able to ride outside & stay dry by riding in the parking garage. We always did this later at night (9 or later I believe) so there would be no traffic. We would do a few warm up laps - up to the top & back down, then it was basically a combination interval training , climbing & bike handling exercises. Who ever was there would all start together at the bottom of the garage & go full out, winding our way all the way to the top, having a “winner” for each effort at the top. We would then coast / soft peddle all the way back down to the bottom & do it again. I think we would generally do 6-10 laps per workout. Then everyone would split up & ride through the dark back to their respective housing. It was always a fun training event - plenty of adrenaline , plenty of endorphins.”

Jeff was the last of the original members to be president. He was there at the beginning when the Club was formed. He brought more Club experience to the table than any officer before him. Subsequent, “second generation,” presidents use words like “mentor” to describe him. It was a time when the Club was beginning to rocket off the foundation that had been laid down by prior officers.

4th Purdue Criterium

The Purdue Criterium continued to gain interest and sponsors. This year 7-11 saw fit to send a rider to the race. Exponent even placed a photo of the 7-11 rider winning the race. But note that Pepsi was a sponsor.

1988

• President - Michael Van de Cotte

Second Generation

The administrations of Michael Van de Cotte, Rodney Miller, and Blaine Cooper over the next three years formed a tight, cohesive group of friends and teammates. This was the second generation of members. All the original members have now graduated. The torch had been passed.

Boiler Bytes (2011) quote from Mike Van de Cotte, “I just treasure the memories of the time I spent in the Club. It’s the second most valuable thing to me behind getting a degree from such a prestigious university.”

The van you see in the photo below was Mike Van de Cotte’s family van that he used on campus from ’87 to ’89 and became the “official” team vehicle. It took five riders near and far, from Colorado to Florida. Mike recalls using the van for Nationals in Colorado, “The van ran [poorly] at altitude. I remember getting into an aero position on the steering wheel because the V-8 was making no power in the mountains.”

1989

• President - Rodney Miller

The administration of Rodney Miller was a pivotal time in the Club's history. The creation of the MWCCC (see below) gave Midwestern colleges a platform to compete in addition to USCF sanction races. This had never been done before and catapulted collegiate cycling into the future. This platform is enjoyed by students to this day. Rodney, who just a couple years earlier had no racing experience, became a notable racer. He says, “I learned so much about cycling, leadership, goal setting, and organizational skills. The Club helped mold me into the person I am now.”

National Team: Rodney Miller, Mike VandeCotte, Blaine Cooper, Kevin Baum, David Karpel Notable Members: Jeff Hunteman, Eugenie Corbin, Gina, Steve Meek, Fred Buckingham, Rich McCallister.

Jersey

(See Picture under “Race Results”)

In the past only 5 jerseys were made as it was extremely labor intensive and time consuming to produce each item. Miller said that, “Back in “the ol’ days” we had to earn our jersey before every event! There were only 5. If you wanted to wear the colors, you had to be the best, or like me that first year, wear someone else's after they used it!” To determine who would wear the colors, a time trial was held on South River Road. Top 5 times got a jersey. In 1989 we developed artwork from Vittoria Tire and had Aquarius make a skinsuit and jersey, which we ordered for the 1989 events. Each member was encouraged to purchase their own kits.

The Birth of the MWCCC

The Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference was the brainchild of Rodney Miller. There were numerous schools within Indiana and the surrounding states so why not get them in contact with each other and race against each other as well. At the time the clubs would travel to USCF races in the area and acted as a USCF club that was reserved for students. After a lot of phone work, the Midwest Conference was born, consisting of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, and Kentucky. The constitution was drafted and it is still in effect today. This was all fostered by USA Cycling with Kathy Volski, who helped get USCCA to endorse the effort.

The years following the conference inception, Rodney assumed the conference director position and helped the conference together with a shoestring. Conference meetings were held every season and the conference became a not-for-profit entity. Rodney performed all administrative functions. After several years, Rodney stepped down due to time/family constraints and “Zip” Mallory took over in 1992. Zip continued in this role for several years until conference director Andrew Rizzo took over in the early 2000’s.

Race Results

The Purdue Road Race course was strikingly similar to the course we currently use. It descended down Kerber Hill along Division Road, took a right up county road 500 (known lovingly as the wall), left on State Road 26, then left again on Kerber Road to complete the loop. Using teamwork perfectly, the team had 4 riders in the top 5.

The Regional Road Race at the University of Miami Ohio was won by Rodney Miller. During the race, Miller was sitting on a teammate’s wheel, David Karpal, who asked, “Miller! You want to win this thing and show IU up?!” “Hell yeah!” Miller got the perfect lead out heading into the final climb and easily took the victory.

PCC also attended its first Collegiate Nationals in Colorado Springs, CO. 1989, which was only the second edition of the Collegiate Road Cycling Nationals. Some notable quotes: “Cooper, I think I’m passing out…I’m cold, it’s dark…”, “Shut up Miller, we’re in a tunnel, in a mountain…we’re all cold and it's dark in here…”. The 1989 President, Rodney Miller, said “5 guys in a van, for 2 weeks…man that was a good time!”

1990s

1990

• President - Blaine Cooper

The Purdue Criterium resumed after a one year hiatus in 1989 (although the first Purdue Road Race was started that year). The area atop Slayter Hill was becoming crowded with fraternities and the Club could no longer secure a permit to close off the roads leading to that area, so the race was moved to Ag Mall at the south end of campus where it remained for several more years. The Exponent clippings below mention that it was the “first annual.” It may have been the first annual at the Ag location but it was actually the sixth race.

1995

Race Results

A near sweep in all categories at our home criterium. According to Jay, “We almost swept it in the men's that year- I won the C's, my friend Mickey Schoene won the B's, and Eric Anderson got 5th in a field sprint for the A's (Eric Anderson was our best road cycling rider for a few years).” It was our classic course down on S. Harrison by Lynn Hall. The course was used for many years...until the university built a building on one of the roads and put an end to an era in 2006.

An Original Pick-Up Line

There is a funny story with Eric: He had a hot girlfriend (who later became his wife). In the final year of school he said his girl got hit on by a guy in the co-rec who said he was the best cyclist on the Purdue Cycling team. He was like "That is original. Usually they lie and choose football, baseball, basketball...I got to meet this guy!" Eric currently lives in Indiana with his wife. He may still race for the Nuvo Cultural Team although this is unverified.

Mountain Bike Tag

The first couple of years that Jay was part of the Purdue Cycling Club a few members would go over to the Horticultural Park and play mountain bike tag. The rules of the game where you had to be in your easiest gear so you could not pick up any speed and hurt anything and you would just play tag on your mountain bikes. Sometimes the tag would be more like a bumper bikes. Jay only did it a couple of times because he always had to borrow a mountain bike. Sounds like our 32 modern day bumping drills we do in front of the co-rec...makes a great spectacle for those walking by!

Friday Night Hammer Sessions

For a couple of years, Sam Titzer, Martin Adamczyk and Jay were the three stooges, always hanging around and getting into trouble when Martin would do something pretty funny or something embarrassing. One year in the fall Sam, Martin, and Jay decided to create the 'Friday Night Hammer sessions'. They believed it was great weather, they were all in great shape from the summer, and they had lots of sunshine for the first two months of college-so why not take advantage of it. They came up with the 'Friday Night Hammer Sessions' were they would race and hammer each other into the ground for 30-40 miles. The route was up Kerber hill, turn around and do south loop. Jay would organize the rides and he always made sure there were two groups of in-shape levels that left the co-rec on our cycling ride- a fast group, and a not-so-fast group (no drop option).

“One time there was this new guy I saw that I went and explained to him the options. He said he'd like to try the fast group. I look at him with his camelback and I go, "Are you sure? We are going to go awfully fast. I don't think I would recommend joining our group on your first club ride."

"Yeah, I am sure."

"Oooookay!”

“We destroyed him. Martin, Sam, I and a couple others were coming down Kerber when he was starting up. He turned around and tried catching someone's wheel. We never saw him again on that ride. About 15 minutes later when we slowed down to catch our breath and chat, a guy caught up and goes: "Hey, you know that guy with the camelback? Well, I was coming up to him and he was off his bike and hunched over. I was going, 'what...what is he doing?' I got closer to him and he was throwing up! He stopped to hunch over his bike to throw up!" That made our year; "The Friday Hammer Sessions" were so hard we made a guy throw up! These rides instantly became legendary while I was at school.”

“For a couple of years, Martin, Sam, and I always seemed to get into some strange rides. Like for example, once we rode to Wolf State Park to howl with the wolves. So on the way back we rode home, in the moonlight, without bike lights (it never occurred to Sam and I to get bike lights while at Purdue), Martin would repeatedly hit roadkill on the way home, going "Dude, what the hell was that?!" as he just never saw an oozing-puss-carcass coming at him in the dark as Sam and I would laugh almost right off the road.”

Note on Martin Adamczyk

Martin actually quit school around 1998 and in a couple years or so later joined a UCI III cycling team in Europe. He raced for them for about two seasons before coming back to the USA...with a wife(!!). Martin was like a box of chocolates- you never knew what you were going to get. Sometimes he would do things that would make you proud that he was a friend of yours. Like for example, one time Sam, Martin, and Jay nearly got run off the road by a car. He went and chased the car down into the apartment complex where the car was going to confront the driver. Then in the most professional and polite way possible, he explained to the driver what happened, why what they did was unsafe, how to avoid a situation like that in the future, and asked to please keep those things in mind. However, other times, he was going to do things that you just could not make up even in the wackiest of fairy-tales that were just going to embarrass you. For example, Sam remembers a story where he and Martin drove to West Virginia for a cycling race. Martin was speeding and a cop caught him. As they pulled over, Martin Goes: "Dude, Sammy, you got to switch seats with me. I didn't pay my car insurance so my driver's license is invalid. I'm up shit creek man, gotta' help me out." "Martin, are you crazy?!", but for whatever reason, Sam switched seats with Martin as the cop came out of his car to walk over to them. Fortunately, Sam only got a warning.

The Best Race Story

In 1995 after Mickey Schoene won B's in the Purdue Crit, he entered the 1/2/3 USCF later in the day. It was a ridiculous windy course that day. Mickey told Kris Stein before the race started to get on his wheel and hang on. When the race started Mickey drilled it as fast and hard as he could. Mickey rode for the team "Bomb Squad" in the race, and he certainly made his team proud because he bombed it. Kris, Mickey, and a few others broke away in the first 10 seconds. One of those guys said the race was over for them before they even clipped in since they went off so fast, the break lapped the field in the first few minutes! However, also true to his team name, Mickey blew up in the lead group and pulled himself out of the race, on the other side of the course away from the finish line, and started chatting with the course marshall and some other people on the sidewalk. A bit later one person said, "Oh oh, Jeremy doesn't look so good". All of a sudden Mickey yelled, "Don't worry Jeremy, I'll save youuuuuu!!" And as soon as you could figure out what was happening, he jumped back IN the race from the sidewalk and got back into the main pack!

The First Heather Ride

As told by Jay, “I remember Heather's first club ride as I wound up being the guy that rode with her the whole way. She showed up all decked out in tri-athalon gear and aerobars. Unfortunately, she picked the wrong day to show up for a first ride- we were working on leadouts and sprints that day on South (aka, sprint/interval) loop. So when we approached a telephone pole line, the entire pace would shoot through the roof and she would be dropped instantly. I did the first one with the rest of the team, but then after I saw her way back there by herself, I was like, "that sucks, this isn't a good way to get her to stay with the club." (That was probably the best call for the team...ever. - Ed). So I dropped back and rode with her the rest of the way. But she really wasn't going that slow, as by the time we caught back on, the team was about ready to do another sprint. Boy, paybacks are hell as a couple of years later she was one of the ones putting the hurt on people.”

1996

Quote of the Year

“Gotta take a dump, but I won’t” - Jermy Hydson (former President). This was such a random, way-out-the-ballpark sentence he would say in conversations. He mainly said it when the conversation died down, there was silence, and he said this to break the silence. Sam and Jay still 35 use this quote for jokes.

Pissing off Stephan Barsun Rides

As told by Jay, “I remember Stephan Barsun (nickname "Jorg", former road vp) as a gentle, friendly giant, all 6'2" of him. But when you pissed him off on a ride, he morphed into the Incredible Hulk. All it took was a little half-wheeling action when Mickey and I would pull to the front, or someone on a team ride drilling up a hill, or someone on a team ride not pedaling downhill. Then the earth would shake, his skin would turn green, and he would crank up the pace to almost 40mph, shattering the whole group ride. If you did not watch for his wheel, he was going to leave you for dead for the rest of the ride. If you caught his wheel, it was like heaven drafting behind a semi-truck.

The thing about Stephan is hated hills, absolutely HATED them. In 1995 he finished second in the A's road race on a VERY hilly course. I had just won the C's and got to see him finish. He followed a guy (probably a Marian rider) to the finish though he had no sprint in the end. He immediately got off his bike, put it on the ground, and collapsed on the road and started grumbling:

"I hate hills. I hate hills. I fuckin' hate hills." over and over again.

"Stephan", I go, "you did awesome!"

"I hate hills. I hate hills. God I hate hills."

"Hey Stephan, you need anything? Water, first aid?"

"I hate hills. I fuckin' hate hills".

"Hey, we need to get you out of the road for the other finishers."

"I hate hills. I hate hills. God I hate hills."

Illinois Mountain Bike Race

Or Jay’s favorite race memory: “My finest race memory was actually a collegiate mountain bike race I did in Illinois during the 1996 mountain bike season. I had very close relationship with many of the mountain bikers on the club over the years like Matt Kloppman (A racer), Craig Stansifer (B racer, ex-club President, again I forget how to spell his name), Sam Titzer (A racer), Heather Woodhouse (A racer and national qualifier in 1998), Allen Patrick (B racer), Derrick Knowleck (A racer, nationals qualifier in 1998, and former roommate), and Beth Sullivan (A racer). Despite the fact I never owned a mountain bike in college. That year the first collegiate mountain bike race of the season was actually hosted by Purdue at McCormick Woods. I was one of the many people helping out that day. When I arrived, Matt and others go:

"Are you racing?"

"With what? I didn't bring anything other than my racing clothes for Purdue pride."

"Craig will loan you a bike!"

Then Sam went "And you can use my shoes and I'll swap the pedals!"

"And here's a helmet!", because I didn't even bring a helmet that day.

It's like I blinked once and all the Purdue mountain bikers on the team instantly set me up and lent me everything except clothes at the race to race. Unfortunately, I did not do well at all in the C's race. It was pretty technical, I didn't have a lot of experience on a mountain bike, and I sucked it up worse than an alcoholic sipping his spilled beer off the table.

However, they set me up next week in Illinois. Again, Craig lent me a bike and Sam lent me shoes. I pre-rode the race course with Matt and another guy to the point I was almost late for the start of the race. The race had some ridiculous amount of people in the C's, like 90 racers?!?! This time, the result was very different- I put people in the hurt locker for 2nd place, although this was just a prelude to the real story that day.

Matt and I had a reputation of being big-time eaters- he, the mountain bike king of eating and I, and the road bike king of eating. After the race we were going to have a battle royal eating contest. The team was going to drive through a town and look for some special fast food restaurant that was holding and eating as much of that special food until we puked. It just so happened that a McDonald's we drove past had a sign that was advertising 99 cent quarter-pounders with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and cheese. This became the setting for the ultimate display of grotesque-ness. Matt walked up to the counter and ordered 3 quarter pounders. I ordered 4. I got mine and started eating one. Matt took his first burger and scraped off the mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato.

I snapped, "What the hell are you doing, big cheater!"

"I can't eat that mayonnaise stuff! It's gross! That stuff is what is getting me sick eating this burger!"

"Hey...are you going to eat that?", Sam then said.

"Go ahead and give it to me."

"Are you kidding me?!"

So I don't know what grossed out a 'Boiler teammate more- watching Matt and I scarf down lard infested quarter-pounders or watching Sam shoveling the mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato mixture Matt and I were scraping off our burgers into his mouth with a spoon.

After I ate my fourth burger and Matt ate his third, Beth and company were going:

"Matt, go up there and order a fourth burger."

I answered: "If Matt orders number 4, I am getting a fifth".

"Come on Matt, you are not going to let Jay up you on this one, are you?"

"I don't know...I don't feel very good right now."

He finally ceded to me. To add insult to injury, I then went up to the counter and ordered an ice cream cone to eat. "I'm going to laugh if I see your head stuck out the window on the drive home. I cannot believe I raced longer than you and you out-ate me." (He raced B's that race to my C race). That did not happen but I certainly did not eat anything for the rest of the day. Someone calculated I ate about 160 grams of fat on that meal. That fat was like uranium in a nuclear reactor, feeding my appetite well into the next day.

I believe the Purdue Cycling Mountain bike team qualified as a team for Nationals in 1996 when they were held in Carrollton, KY by the University of Kentucky at Butler Ski Resort. I know both Sam Titzer and Matt Kloppman raced there so that is why I think the team qualified that year. Sam told me he finished 60-something and I know he did better than Matt. Sam was the best mountain bike rider of the team that year.

1997

Legend of the Alps

Upon approaching Kerber hill on the Kerber loop, there is a side street (Elvernan) to the right that starts flat but immediately becomes a puke-steep short climb to a little neighborhood of like 10 houses. We (Jay and cohorts) called this hill "The Alps". Legend has it Jay climbed this hill in his big ring, 53-23 or 53-21. Well, Mickey swears he saw Jay do it. In any regard, Mickey and Jay would use this hill for hill repeats, like 10 of them at one time.

Train Sprints

On a loop such as South loop, Attica, or Eli where there was a train crossing, where the group would always race the train if they heard a whistle coming. “Pretty nuts, dangerous, and not very good role models for the community I know,” Jay said. “There was one time that we had a relatively close call (we certainly did not go easy over the railroad tracks).” Even when we didn't race a train, they would still find things to do with trains. “For example, one time Mickey and I stayed around the weekend and didn’t go to a collegiate race. We went on some exploratory ride to where I have no clue...way beyond the conference loop. There was a train track and this convenience store next to the train track. We heard a train whistle in the distance. Mickey got excited and said, "Let's lay some pennies on the tracks and watch the train flatten them!" Problem is he had no money and I only had dollar bills. So I went and broke a couple bucks for pennies and bought "lunch" in the process (Mickey's "lunch" break was and still is chocolate milk...I still cannot understand how he can drink that during a ride and not cramp very often...but it does happen, I did it to him once :-P). Then we quickly laid out a ton of pennies on the track and sat REALLY close to the tracks, right where we felt the earth shake. "Ping! Ping! Ping!" go all the pennies, flying all over the place. I still had one of those flattened pennies up to a couple of years ago; not sure where it went because I always kept it in my wallet...”

Chauncey Hill Sprints

As told by Jay, “Back in the day West Lafayette looked a lot different (and I am sure back in the day from my graduation it looked a lot different). There used to be a Sears (probably where the Cactus is) next to the Hodson's Bay Company and not much else. Chauncy Hill marked the end of the South Loop and Eli Lily loop. It also marked the craziest hill sprint Mickey ever showed me at Purdue. If we ever got the green light on the intersection of State St (26) and River Rd (43/231), look out cars, we were going to blow you away uphill! One time Mickey sprinted so fast he caught a bus, and then swerved into the left lane to pass the bus while cutting off a car in the process, then went back into the right lane to leave the bus in the dust! I laughed the entire time watching it. After he graduated he passed onto me 'keeper of the daredevil hill sprint' where I demonstrated the sprint craziness to the next generation of Purdue cyclists.”

Tallest Waterfall in Indiana Ride

As told by Jay, “In yet another weekend that Mickey and I did not go to a collegiate cycling race (see a pattern emerging?), we decided we were going to find "The tallest waterfall in Indiana". We remembered seeing a sign for it years ago when we rode 100 miles in which we slobbered Nutter Butters all over us while trying to eat them while riding to Illinois. I believe the town that holds this 'marvel' is Williamsport? (Indeed it is - Ed) Boy, were we disappointed when we found it- it was basically water coming off a house gutter and going down a hole in the ground that was 92 feet deep. Not only that, it was a pretty lousy day- gloomy, cold, very windy, so that contributed to our gloom-and-doom-disappointment. We could have made a more impressive waterfall by pissing off the ledge into the hole.” This waterfall is the ‘focal’ point of the Williamsport loop and as Jay described, it never fails to disappoint... even after a good rain.

1998

• President - Marc Yap

• Secretary - Jay Freyensee

A New One Day Record

Jay Freyensee set out with a fellow Purdue Cycling member, Sam Titzer, to break the club record for most miles ridden in a day. The record was shattered and set at 271 miles in 17 hours and 25 minutes. “We basically toured half the state of Indiana in one day,” Freyensee said. Their record stood until September 29th, 2024.

A Journey Home

That 271 mile ride was a result of Sam and Jay deciding two years ago they would ride home to Newburgh, IN (basically Evansville) when school was out and ride back up when school started.

We did the first ride which was to school in two days, 203 miles total (100, 103). Next time we did it in one day, and everything that could possibly happen happened to us- headwind so strong THE ENTIRE TIME it could make one of those big-ass US flags stick out straight into us (so our average speed was like, 13mph for 18 or so hours grand total), three flats at midnight with no lights on our bikes, riding around Depauw and knocking on Sorority houses to borrow a floor pump to put maximum psi in our tires, Sam not being able to eat as he watched with his mouth open in awe as I shoved a second quarter-pounder burger in my mouth on a food break, and allergies driving us crazy. We had to motivate each other to get home (one time I remember Sam going "I am thinking about quitting and calling my Dad to come pick me up").

Next time we did it in two days (150, 53). Final time we did the 271, because we had cooperative winds for the first time ever (though we barely missed a big thunderstorm). But that ride screwed with my head as much as it screwed with Sam's allergies. Near the end of the ride Sam had a hard time breathing, whereas with me I had a hard time staying in reality as I starte hallucinating. I remember we were hammering the last twenty or so miles, and in every turn I was unclipping like a kick stand, thinking that the turn had banks so steep I was going to fall over! Then finally, in the last mile or so, I saw this HUGE pothole. I go "Hole!" to point it out. Then I hit it head-on. To this day Sam has no idea how I stayed on my bike as it was a crater of a hole. It was these rides that made me permanently burn out on Power Bars, because Sam and I would split a box of Power Bars before every one of these rides for food, in addition to the McDonald's drive-thru stops. Little did you know that Power Bars are the fifth state of matter after solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.

1999

Regaining the Nerve

During the 1996 season Jay Freyensee was involved in a life-threatening crash during a 3-4’s race. Several riders in front of him wiped out the peloton. Jay had nowhere to and crashed into them at 30+ mph. The crash sent him flying into a mailbox splitting his helmet and trashing everything on his bike except his frame (which is still good to this day). He was out cold for an hour and woke up in an emergency room not knowing his name due to having a severe concussion. Thankfully he traveled to the race with a friend who was able to find him and get him to the hospital. On a lighter note when the Pro/1/2 field passed by the scene of the crash, Stephan Barsun, also a Purdue Cycling member, saw the paramedics pull a white sheet over Jay’s body and shouted, “Oh my God! He’s dead!” However, Jay only raced a few times in 1997 and none at all in 1998- which according to him contributed to him getting stronger due to the consistent training. He still enjoyed riding his bike but was too wigged out to race. Not one to allow fear to run his life, Jay enrolled in the Walden School of Cycling in Florida for the 1999 Spring Break. There he was able to overcome his fears, learn lifelong cycling skills, and was ready to race in the 1999 Collegiate Cycling Championships in South Carolina.

The Girl in Red

The second girl from Jay in the above photo, Suzy, was from Michigan and turned out to be a “Heather  Killer”. Before the 1999 Championships, Jay, Sam Titzer, Martin Adamzyck, and Heather Woodhouse  travelled to McMinnville, TN for the Highland Rim Classic NRC stage race. Suzy also happened to be  there and she “kicked Heather's butt in the stage race, taking first place (and it wasn't even close), and I  think Heather was second(?).” Sadly that was the last we heard from Suzy as she tragically died following  a collision with a car during a training ride.

Spring Break 1999: Sedona, Arizona

For Spring Break ’99 the mountain bike team decided to caravan all the way to Sedona, Arizona for some excellent riding in the surrounding desert and red rock. It’s a 1670 mile trip so for that distance the riding had to be worth it. Unfortunately the Midwest weather wasn’t cooperating, as usual. Heather Dunphy (nee Woodhouse) was along for the journey and said that, “We hit the worst storm in the history of Missouri! We had to spend the night in a small lodge and ate dinner at a gas station. Then in the morning we were so bound and determined to get out of that lodge, despite the winter storm, that we used the plastic chairs outside the hotel to shovel out our cars. The bikes on top of the cars had a foot of snow on them! The roads were so bad; we even saw a snowplow in the ditch!” After several hours of precarious driving the group finally reached Sedona...only to be greeted with more snow. This made for some cold camping and wet riding! Seems they just couldn’t catch a break until later in the week- when they finally got 2 good rides in before making the long trek back to Purdue.

Nationals 1999: Our Finest Hour

The 1999 collegiate season went extremely well for the team. The team wasn’t huge but possessed an incredible amount of depth. Marc Yap was the team’s overall guy as he possessed the ability to win just about any race. Jay was the team’s time trial specialist, hilly road race, and all around Belgian-esque hardman, Eric was the all-round rider who could hang in any race and steal points. In the Women’s A team it was Crystal Howard and Heather who would go 1-2 in almost every race. In the Men’s B there was Paul Hammer (what a perfect name for a cyclist!) who moved to A’s near the end of the year, the Men’s C had a tri-athlete who crushed everyone in the Purdue crit, and there were a few good Women B riders as well. It was a solid team that was able to consistently place well in every race.

Race line-up, Men:

• Crit - Marc first spot, Jay second spot, Eric third spot (the field was 110 strong)

• Road Race - Marc first spot, Eric second spot, Jay third spot, Paul fourth spot (the field was 160)

• Team Time Trial (no order) - Marc, Jay, Paul

Women Race Line Up:

• Crit - Crystal first spot, Heather second spot

• Road Race - Heather first spot, Crystal second spot

2000s

2002

• President - Rick Lemberg

Wise-Old Man Mendoza

Much could be said about Daniel Mendoza, the problem is his story spans almost a decade of Purdue Cycling, so it’s rather difficult to put him in one year. Mendoza, a native of Peru, came to Purdue after finishing his undergrad at DePauw. He fell in love with racing there under the coaching of Kent Menzel. He quickly made a name for himself in the cycling club.

So what has Mendoza done you ask? A better question is what hasn’t he done. He’s been a semi-pro surfer, played national level basketball, has several undergraduate degrees, a few masters degrees as well, worked on numerous PhD ‘s (probably since you were in 8 th grade [2025 update: since before you were born]), raced more collegiate seasons than anyone else in the MWCCC, raced professionally in Spain for the ’08 Summer (Caixia Nova), and has thrown the most wicked parties. Seriously, go on a long ride with him and ask him about his life. He’ll probably still be here…if not there is someone on the club who knows his story.

Update from 2025: Daniel Mendoza was at Purdue from August 2001 to May 2012, shortly after this history document was written. (I found his LinkedIn). While I do not know his story, I would recommend reaching out to Bill Donovan or Jacob Shupe for more information, both are still reachable and would know more about this era of club history.

2006

• President - Matt Belcher

• Mountain VP - Jake Moore

Schedule

• Feb 25-26: Depauw

• Mar 4-5: OU and OSU

• Mar 25-26: Marian

• April 1-2: Purdue

• April 8-9: Western Michigan

• April 22-23: U of Illinois (Regionals)

No one team was dominant this year, although Marian certainly comes to mind with Jake Rytlewski and Jon Swain going 1-2 in the Men’s A quite often.

The Purdue team had a solid year qualifying as a team for Nationals out at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. There were several top ten scored by freshman Derek Laan and Will Vazquez and seniors Matt Belcher and Matt Graham.

Where did Jonesy Go?

One of the most retold stories from 2006 occurred during regionals at U of I. The team had several hotel rooms at the local hotel and went out for dinner following the races on Saturday. Matt Jones, who tends to be quiet, got left behind. When the guys came back from dinner, Matt was nowhere to be found. “Where did he go?” asked Derek, “Hell if I know” responded some members. Someone looked in the closet in one of the rooms and found him- out cold from the races. Seems he didn’t want to be woken up when they came back so he thought the closet would be the best bet. When he finally came out of the closet- well, the joke was all too obvious.

What kind of saddle is that?!

In the fall of 2006, Joey Iuliano, showed up for a group ride with the most ridiculous looking saddle (pictured to the side). His rationale, as he explained to Chris Uberti: “So I don’t **** up the works down there when I turn 50…. And I can get low on descents like they do in the Tour” .“Ah…I see…” as Chris slowly moved to the front of the group. And then came Derek, “Dude, get that stupid ass seat off your bike! A real saddle won’t **** anything up! Stop being a little girl!” Joey ignored the ridicule for a while, but after enough rides of hearing Derek call him a little girl he broke down and got a real seat. Peer pressure at its finest.

2007

• President - Derek Laan

• Road VP - Logan Vaught

• Mountain VP - Chris Uberti

• Treasurer - Matt Jones

Schedule

• Feb 24-25: OSU

• Mar 3-4: DePauw

• Mar 10-12: Mizzou

• Mar 24-25: MSU/Michigan

Cheer of the Season

“Make it rain on them!” For those who raced that year, who could forget the incessant yelling of Derek Laan, “Make it RAAAIIIIN!!!!” during every race, every weekend.

The 2007 road season was an intermediate year; the A-team qualified as a team in 2006, but only qualified 2 individuals in 2007: Chris Uberti and Derek Laan. As a team Purdue managed to squeak into 5th in the conference overall with 10 wins in the Men’s D, C, and Women’s B, and countless oh-so-close 2nd places.

Spring Break 2007

Following the races at Mizzou, the 10 members of club headed down to secluded Mountainburg, Arkansas, because, according to Derek, “Its name is Mountainburg, so there HAS to be mountains!” The town is nearly deserted with a small grocery store and a gas station. The cabin was located near the top of a small mountain and there was excellent riding in all directions. Rides included the infamous Devil’s Den State Park, a trip to Mount Magazine, and just about everything in between.

Gallon Challenge During Spring Break

The final night of out stay marked a feast of epic proportions- there was a ton of food that could have gone to waste, but Derek would have none of it. After the meal, approximately 1 gallon of milk remained. After cobbling together some money, Cody Hardley wagered a bet: Derek has one hour to drink a gallon of white milk (it was a combo of 2%, whole, and skim) for 40 bucks. Derek started off strong, getting over half down in 20 minutes. Then it got ugly. He began singing camp songs, and slurring his words, “I feel like I’m in the middle of Alpe d’Huez.” “Not even close,” said Cody, “You’re at the base.”

“I’m at the base of Mt. Gay… oh my god!” (The cabin was on Mountain Gaylor). Another glass down …

“40 dollars for this…I think it’s worth it.”

Trust us, it’s worth it. A few minutes passed…

“Ufffda…I dunno if I can do this”

We urged him on, just one more! Maybe two….

“Open that front door…"

Shortly after that Derek was on the porch holding on to the railing for dear life. “Guys stop laughing, it hurts my ears! Oh man…”

Thus ended the gallon challenge- no money for Derek.

Freaking Natz!

2007 marked a small appearance at Collegiate Nationals for the team. Only Chris Uberti and Derek Laan qualified to attend the races at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. The road race featured a dirt road that did not agree with the Zipp 404s that had been given to the two for the event- both slashed a tubular (or 2) during a reconnaissance of the course. This led to Derek’s ultimate hatred of tubular tires as they were both stuck out on the course with flat tires and no spares.

The races took place under hot conditions and a challenging field was present. Derek took 15th and Chris dropped out due to heat fatigue. The crit was another storyboth riders finished well with Derek in 24th and Chris in 45th . Both riders knew they could do better and set high goals: top 10 for both of them next year.

2008

• President: Will Vazquez

• Road VP: Justin Bush

• Mountain VP: Andrew Truemper

• Treasurer: Ryan Farr

Schedule

• Feb 23-24: OSU

• Mar 1-2: DePauw

• Mar 8-9: Mizzou/Lindenwood

• Mar 23-24: University of Pittsburgh/CMU

Results

Derek Laan won both races at DePauw- a feat not seen since the days of Jake Rytlewski. Sadly, the race would not count towards nationals qualification due to yellow-line violations. He wasn’t happy. Derek would go on to repeat his victory the next day at the criterium. It was an incredibly windy, but warm day, and the field was blown to shreds. That one counted.

The other big results came at Regionals in Wisconsin. At the road race Chris and Derek took home 5th and 6th and Justin Bush took 2nd in the C’s. At the criterium, we struck gold...twice. First in the Men’s C with Justin Bush taking the win and Andrew Truemper coming in 2nd. And then again in the A’s with Chris taking the win and Derek taking 2nd. These were by far 2 of the best victories for the Purdue Cycling Club that season.

Staff of Jeagle

The Staff of Jeagle consists of The Stick and The Flag - found at Wisconsin on the eve of the team’s victories. It must be proudly hoisted at all races a Purdue member is in. Preferably it should be carried next to the field. Victory is assured if The Staff is present.

“Get Yer Hand Off Meh Truck Boy!”

During an easy ride on the Long Lilly Loop, the group was heading towards US 231 and, as it always seems, caught the red light. Instead of track standing or unclipping like the rest of the group, Will Vazquez decided to grab onto the nearby farm truck’s bed rail while waiting. Bad call on Will’s part. The farmer jumped out of his truck and with the stereo-typical hick accent yelled,“Boy! Get yer hand off meh truck boy!”

Still not letting go yet, “Oh, I’m sorry”

“I said GET IT OFF! I’ll run yer ass off this road if you touch meh truck again!”

“Woah, I’m sorry”

The farmer grumbled back to his seat “God damned cyclists...”

The Epic Williamsport Ride

Mendoza is well known amongst the club for going on not just long, but stupid-long rides...and taking new (ie: never ridden before) members with him. Poor Naveen John was victim to this on a March day in 2008, when Mendoza sent out an e-mail asking for people to join him on an “epic Williamsport adventure” Naveen showed up on the club’s rental 1980’s pink bike with tennis shoes and toe straps. It was just the two of them.

After getting a long warm up in, Mendoza started doing 5-10 minute threshold intervals and Naveen was keeping up! “He was riding really strongly, so I just kept hammering...” Mendoza said. That was, until they reached the hill just outside Williamsport. Then the little engine that could lose all power and walked up the hill.

“Dude are you ok?!”

“Well, if you would have let me eat before this hill, then I would be!”

“You might have puked!”

“It’d be better than being dead! How am I getting home?”

“I’ll call someone...and you can just wait at the McDonalds in town. I have to finish my work out.”

First he called Chris and Joey, who were out on a training ride of their own, “No...we can’t pick someone up... what the hell did you do to them?!”

“Oh...nothing....I’ll call Will.”

Thankfully Will was able to go and pick poor Naveen up. We (Chris, Joey, Derek, and Will) gave Mendoza a harsh time:

“Why the **** did you take a new rider to Williamsport and do intervals?!”

“Hey! How am I supposed to know he was new! He was riding at like 400 watts with me all the way out!”

“Where the toe straps, tennis shoes, and rental bike are not a clue to you that he was new!”

“No...”

“Dude...he’ll probably never ride again!”

We were wrong; Naveen was hooked and came back for more, doing extremely well in the D category and training like a mad man over the winter. Now he’s one of the strongest guys on the team and puts Mendoza in the hurt locker from time to time.

Update from 2025: In 2014, Naveen John would become India’s national time trial champion, and would join an Australian UCI Continental Team in 2016. Later that season, he would compete in the UCI World Championships Individual Time Trial in Qatar.

Spring Break 2008: We’re Famous!

We returned to Arkansas for the 2nd year in a row. This time we were greeted with a camera crew. The owner of the place thought it was a big deal we made the trek down there just to ride and apparently so did the local news. They asked us why we came and Derek responded, “Well, I just looked at a map and saw Mountainburg and thought, ‘Gee, there has to be mountains there!’” After that every stop we made someone would ask us if we were the guys on TV, cars gave us more room when they passed, and the local grocery store placed custom orders for us.

Prove It!

Cody, the one and the same from the gallon challenge, got Derek trapped in an awkward situation. At this time on campus the ‘in’ thing to do was to get your friends to say they would or could do something, then you yell “Prove it!” They had 24 hours to do what they said they could do or they had to pee their pants. Derek is rather easy to trick into things like this.

Cody: “Derek, I bet you wouldn’t ever kiss a guy.”

“Oh, I would...”

“On the cheek!! You didn’t let me finish!”

“That’s fine, you should go lay a big wet one on Mendoza, he’d like that.”

We made the trek to the other cabin but Derek couldn’t do it- every time he tried to sneak up on Mendoza, Derek would start laughing uncontrollably…but Will stepped up though (pictured to the right)

The Most Interesting House & Oklahoma

On our recovery day we decided to go off the beaten path so to speak and explore the small (like population 20) town below the cabin. We found what looks like several houses pieced together. Lord only knows what takes place in that house…at least they have a saloon.

On the last day of the trip we made an adventure out to Oklahoma- how many Indiana people can say they rode to Oklahoma? Not many

2008 Nationals

2008 was the first year for the event to be held at Ft. Collins, CO. The road race was over a brutally hard course that featured several long and arduous climbs. The men’s A team qualified 56 all riders, so Chris, Derek, Will, and Cody Hardley, along with a small support crew consisting of Joey Iuliano and Ashley Brennan (Chris’ girlfriend), made the long trip. The best finisher for the road race was Chris, coming in 14th. The criterium the next day was Derek’s day to shine as he came rocketing in for 8th. The MWCCC almost had a Men’s DI champion with Steve Scholzen from UW-Madison coming in 2nd- but only by half a wheel.

Mendoza Goes to Spain

After a good year of racing in 2007, Mendoza found himself with an interesting offer: race professionally in Spain for the 2008 season for the Caixa Nova squad. It was too good to pass up. The club didn’t hear much from Mendoza until he came back. Mendoza left a “fat American” as he was called and returned much skinnier. He was at least 20 pounds lighter and still quick on the bike even though he was sidelined for a month due to an injury. The team would feed him lettuce in the feedzones (remember, he was a Fat American), and after a long training ride (120-160 km with mountains) the team would drink a beer, sleep, and then eat a dinner of rice, salad, and a small steak.

He told us the races were the most brutal events he’s ever done: 200+ KM over several mountains. His job was to set pace at the front for as long as possible and then survive to the finish. Generally this means no glorious podiums, but he still finished several events.

So that makes at least 2 Purdue cyclists racing in Europe!

2009

• President - Brian Richter

• Road VP - Joey Juliano

• Mountain VP - Andrew Shaw

• Treasurer - Andrew Truemper

Schedule

• Feb 28-Mar 1: Murray State

• Mar 7-8: DePauw

• Mar 21-22: Notre Dame

• Mar 28-29: MSU/U of M

Results

The biggest result of the year came when Chris took home the win at the Purdue Road Race. Naveen John took the first win of the season down at Murray State in dominant fashion. He broke away a few miles in and won solo. He upgraded to B’s and still placed consistently in the top 5. Andrew Otte and Brian Richter of the Men’s B team went 1-2 at the regionals road race.

Naveen John took the first win of the season down at Murrary State in dominate fashion. He broke away a few miles in and won solo. He upgraded to B’s and still placed consistently in the top 5. Andrew Otte and Brian Richter of the Men’s B team went 1-2 at the regionals road race.

Throughout the season other members of the A team, Joey Iuliano, Derek Laan, and Will Vazquez had several good results in the top 10. The club also brought in 2 new women riders- one a seasoned veteran and another new rider who has a lot of potential for the upcoming seasons. In the Men’s D riders scored several top 5’s and easily finished well in the Men’s C after upgrading.

The Bike House

In the fall of 2007, Chris, Derek, and Will rented a house. Since those 3 were prominent members of the club  the house affectionately became known as the Bike House- a place for club members to come over and hang out, work on their bike, or meet for a ride.

2009 marked the club’s 3rd year going into the mountainous area of Mountainburg, AR. The club brought a record 20 members on the trip and reserved 3 out of the 4 cabins at the ‘resort’. This time the club devised a competition for King of the Mountains, a teammate who had won the Michigan Hill Climbing Championship in the fall of 2008 and the race gave him a sweet polka-dot jersey. So, whoever won the designated KOM on the day's ride got to wear the jersey on the next day. Joey Iuliano won the category 3 Hell’s Kitchen Road Race on the first Sunday of spring break, so he got to wear the jersey on Monday’s ride. The jersey then passed to various members throughout the week to those who either won the KOM, or the best new rider on the club that day. It was a great way to foster a little competition during the rides.

“The Epic Ride”

On Wednesday 7 riders embarked on a 98 mile journey that took them to the highest point in Arkansas and up the steepest mountain in the South. Chris Uberti, Joey Iuliano, Greg Christian, Naveen John, Will Vazquez, Andy Shaw, and Brian Richter left Paris, AR for one of the hardest rides of the week. The group flew up the first climb and highest climb- Mt. Magazine and then descended down into the valley to head towards the next goal: Mt. Nebo. Andy, instead of trash talking himself up, talked himself down:

“I suck at hills, like I shouldn’t even be here”

“Shut up dude, you’ll do fine, you did fine on Sunday’s race.” (The race featured a ⁄ mi climb at 18%)

“Yeah, but this is longer...and harder”

“Stop talking brand-new goods, dammit!”

Mt. Nebo is one of the hardest climbs in N. America- 3.5 miles at an average of 18% and the switchbacks are 25%+ (you can see where cars have bottomed out). This is not for the weak bodied or minded. The group hit the base and Greg took off with Chris in pursuit. Joey tried to stay with Chris but it was no use. Naveen went flying by on the shallower early slopes, yelling to himself “Cat 4 Indiana time trial champion! YOU CAN DO THIS ARRGG!” A few meters later he was at the first switch back, off his bike, and on the ground “*panting* I...I can’t do it...Oh man...this...this is...brutal”. Yes, yes it is.

After what seemed to be an eternity of suffering at 8 mph the first 3 reached the top and found a gift shop to buy food and rest, it was a welcome sight. The other 4 joined soon after that, Brian, once he caught his breath proclaimed, “This is the greatest achievement of my sporting life....no, my whole life.”

All that was left was the head down the mountain and make the 30 or so mile trek back to Paris, AR. The group reached the bottom after a harrowing descent (remember those 25% switchbacks?) only to find Andy was missing. 5 or so minutes passed... and nervousness set in. Brian: “Where is he? I’m not riding back up that thing...” Naveen: “Well, he might be dead for all we know” A few more seconds passed and here he came...with no chain and a broken derailleur. The chain had exploded half way down and destroyed his rear derailleur. Thankfully the 13 other members on the trip were still in Paris, AR and were willing to come and pick him up.

With 6 in tow, the group started the trip back with a nice tailwind to boot. Speed started reaching the low 30’s thanks to Greg and Joey until we heard Brian complain in the back. “Guys...we’re not going to make it at this pace. It’s too hard” Greg: “Can you draft?” “Well, I suppose. Yeah.” Greg: “Shut up and draft then.” The pulls were extremely long for those who still had energy but eventually the group made it back, just shy of a sweet century. The group, after Andy had rejoined, got the greatest recovery food available to them: Taco Bell.

Epic Ride #2

The second epic ride took place on Friday, the day before the group left, a large group went out to do the traditional Oklahoma loop and from there 4 riders split off to explore a new way back that came in through the South to Devil’s Den State Park. The small group discovered the most 60 amazing road riding in the area and then the greatest 14 mile dirt state highway: it was completely tree lined and had climbs, descents with burms, and the occasional large rock (or two). It also featured the most advanced security system known to man.

Feats of Manliness:

What is now a spring break tradition started in 2009: the feats of manliness. Featuring: arm wrestling, push up competition, fire building, wood chopping, and other things that come to mind at the start of the event.

The feats of manliness end with a camp fire. It must, of course, be built with wood split by hand and started by rubbing two sticks together. It’s the only way. The night ends with telling stories about being manly.

Why feats of manliness? Because we’re cyclists and watching scrawny armed guys arm wrestle and break wood is funny. That, and who doesn’t want to prove their manliness?

Nationals 2009

3 members of the A team- Derek, Chris, and Joey made the voyage out to Ft. Collins, CO once again to take on the best in the nation. The road race was brutal- Derek was forced to drop out due to a chest cold, Joey lost contact with the main group on the decisive climb coming in 90th, and Chris made it in the chase group finishing 65th. The criterium, however, was another story. Both Chris and Derek rode a very smart race- sitting in the field until 5 to go. They moved into the top 10 and nailed 9th and 10th.

2010s

2010

Purdue Race Weekend

The 2010 Purdue home road race and TT was at Buck Creek, while the crit was around Ross-Ade. The weather held for Saturday, but on Sunday it was really, really moist. As in torrential downpour at one point. As a corner marshal/car driver for Saturday, I was glad it wasn’t bad weather that day. I believe that 2010 was the race where a pickup truck rolled coal at the racers ready to start but the driver was not aware that there were deputies on hand, one of whom chased the guy down and made him apologize to everybody…boy, was that pickup driver embarrassed to have to do that. If it was not 2010, it must have been shortly after.

Cyclocross

Purdue was also able to host Spooky Cross, which was the home cyclocross race for Purdue in 2010. It took place on Saturday, October 30th. Not only was it a collegiate race, but it also had open events for the general public as well! The flyer for this race is displayed to the left. But…the best part was that Spooky Cross got featured in the news!

2011

Boiler Bytes

Boiler Bytes is a news segment that features different clubs or activities throughout the Purdue campus. Then it’s posted on Purdue University’s website. PCC got the amazing opportunity to take part in this as well. Many of the club members as well as alumni were interviewed and explained what PCC is all about! Here is the YouTube video.

2012

Purdue’s Home Race
The home race at Ross Hills Park was the one where at the end of the day, OSU’s van and Marian’s big coach bus (the Death Star!) got stuck in the mud, and it took a local farmer’s equipment to get the bus out. We managed to rock the OSU van back and forth enough ourselves to get it out.

2025 Update: What is nowadays referred to as the Death Star is a much, much larger bus Marian University uses to bring their collegiate cyclists to regional races, not just their coach bus.

2013

Purdue’s Home Race

Road race home weekend included the Boilermaker Special V and Purdue Pete in kit (jersey anyway; 2 years later we got him in full kit). Road race included Kerber.

2016 - 2020

As indicated by the fact that this is the first instance of combining years in this history document, there isn’t much that’s known about these years. I am writing this update in 2025, and I’ve been around since Fall 2021. I have heard about the club’s state during this period from others, and I will do my best to convey what it was like in this section.

During these years, the Purdue Cycling Club stopped running the home race, our presence in the regional collegiate cycling scene dwindled, new membership dried up and we lost many of our sponsorships including SRAM, Zipp and Hodson’s Bay Company.

In 2020, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Purdue University mandated wearing masks during activities, including group rides. This made official club rides hard to conduct and had a large impact on ride attendance, and therefore worsened the situation further for the club.

When Fall 2021 rolled around and Purdue University reopened after the pandemic, club leadership put in a huge effort to rebuild the club, with a focus on newer riders, not just experienced riders who were already interested in racing. This would pave the way for the growth and success to come.

What follows is the list of known officers during these years.

2016

• President - Justin Miller

• Road VP - Eliot Toumey

• Mountain VP - Adrian Ortiz

• Cyclocross VP - Craig Kielbasa

• Treasurer - Britton Park

2018

• President

  • Jason Sohn (Fall)

  • Alan Duffy (Spring)

• Road VP

  • Alan Duffy (Fall)

  • Yi Sun (Spring)

• Treasurer - Jason Li

• Mountain VP - James DiGuido

2020s

2020

• President - Jonathan Bauer

• Off-Road VP - Lunden Friberg

• Road VP - Shawn Prosky

• Social Media Coordinator - Jessie Barton

2021 - 2022

• President - Shawn Prosky

• Ride Safety Officer - Lunden Friberg

• Treasurer - Eleanor Dyas

• Clothing Coordinator - Megan Prange

• Outreach & Social Media Coordinator - Lily Peck

• Head Mechanic - Ian Bowley

Road Racing

This was our first official collegiate road race season since 2019. It also meant that the majority of our racers had never raced in the collegiate conference. Despite the lack of racing and experience, the Purdue Cycling Club had an amazing season with many individual accomplishments and achievements.

A total of 12 cyclists raced this year: Natheir Abu-Dahab, Yash Trivedi, David Alexander, Alicja Stoppel, Reese Perretta, Lunden Friberg, Lucas Wiese, Jonathan Lane, Aaron Banks, Shawn Prosky, Eleanor Dyas, Soren Eller Thomsen, Jacques Barsimantov, and Adrian Wong.

Schedule

• Mar 13 - IU Candy Stripe Classic

• Mar 20-21 - Tour of St. Louis Omnium

• Apr 2/3 - University of Michigan Maize & Blue Weekend

• 9/10 - Lindenwood Road Extravaganza

• Apr 16 - Marian Midwest Classic

In total, PCC was represented in 21 separate races, with 19 podiums and 8 wins. At the end of the season, MWCCC totals all of the points from each race to determine overall conference standings. PCC had two racers make it to the podium for the overall season; Alicja Stoppel finished 3rd in the Women’s Category C, and David Alexander took 1st overall in the Men’s Category D. PCC finished 4th out of 15 teams in the overall team standings.

The Goetz Family Home

For the IU Race this year, and for every year since, the family of Tommy Goetz (EE ‘23), a member of the cycling club at the time, have graciously offered their home, provide snacks and cook dinner for the club Friday and Saturday evening. By the time this is being written in May of 2025, over 60 PCC members in total have stayed at their home, without them our IU race experience would not be the same.

Mechanic Team

This semester the team started a partnership with Bechtel Innovation Design Center and they have been a great help in aiding the mechanics and allowing us to use their space to store all of the repair tools. Furthermore, instead of simply holding 1 repair session a week, the team held 2 sessions a week to allow students more opportunities to get bikes fixed. Lastly, a training program was implemented for the team to teach new mechanics how to fix bikes.

Purdue Pentathlon

This semester, PCC worked closely with four other club sports here at Purdue, Fencing, Archery, Swim, and Triathlon, to put on the inaugural modern pentathlon. This is a two day event which consisted of archery, fencing, swimming, running, and cycling. Unfortunately, due to adverse weather, we had to move the cycling portion to the Spin Room of Purdue’s CoRec. There, riders raced against the clock while motivated by the disco lights and awesome music.

Spring Break

This year saw the return of the club’s annual Spring Break Trip, this time to Asheville, North Carolina. This was done in collaboration with the Purdue Triathlon Club. Mountain-bikers and road cyclists spent the week in Asheville. Riding up Mount Mitchell, the highest paved peak east of the Mississippi River, was the biggest ride for the roadies.

2022-2023

• President - Shawn Prosky

• Treasurer - Eleanor Dyas

• Ride Safety Officer - Gabi Mazion

• Clothing Coordinator - David Alexander

• Outreach & Sponsorship Coordinator - Alicja Stoppel

• Head Mechanic - Ian Bowley

The Mechanic Team Grows

This year saw big growth for the Mechanics team. The Exponent Excerpt that had been published at the end of the previous years’ Spring semester generated awareness for the group and a large influx of Purdue students looking to get their campus commuter bikes fixed for free. The club would invest money in new tools and expand the repairs that they could perform both for the benefit of Purdue Students and PCC members who needed more extensive/involved repairs on their bikes. This year the club would perform over 700 repairs on bikes for students on campus for free ranging from tire puncture repairs, to gear indexing and brake adjustments.

The Ill-Fated Lake Michigan Ride

After the Notre Dame Criterium, three of the club’s members decided to embark on a ride out to Lake Michigan and back, with the goal of getting back around the end of the Category A Race. Natheir, Travis Hastreiter and Jermaine Bush would head up to Michigan and then head east. Jermaine would turn back around 20 miles in as he wasn’t interested in the full length of the ride. Natheir was prepared for an 80 mile adventure, and asked Travis if he had enough food.

“Do you have enough food for the ride? I have some gels if you need anything”

“Yeah I’ve got gels I’ll be fine”

Travis, as it turns out, did not have gels.

By the time they had turned around after reaching New Buffalo, MI, Travis was so tired and empty he had to get physically pushed up climbs. To add to their troubles, PCC’s category A racer, Lunden Friberg, got a flat and ended his race early, meaning that they were dozens of miles away from their ride home when it was leaving.

Jack Kaufmann, another Category D racer who was a driver for this race, picked up the two cyclists on his way back to campus from the race near the Indiana state line.

Back to Nationals, but with a twist (or fracture)

In the 2023 road season, three PCC riders would qualify for collegiate nationals in Albuquerque, NM. Alicja Stoppel, Jonathan Lane and Lunden Friberg. Alicja would decide against racing nationals in the weeks leading up to the race.

Jonathan would fracture his collarbone on a group ride descending the steep end of Black Rock hill a week before the race.

Lunden would race nationals alone, with Jonathan there for support and bottle handoffs. Lunden would end up 26th in the Road Race (out of 71 racers), and 15th in the Criterium (out of 61 racers). Lunden would also do the Team Time Trial with two riders from the University of Chicago, due to the team being composed of students from two schools they were ineligible for the championship.

Caprine Catastrophe

PCCs Spring Break would go to Rock Spring, GA (the outskirts of Chatanooga, TN) this year. The highlight of the trip would be on halfway through one of the two groups 100 mile rides, Colton Bryant was hit by a goat while descending a hill at around 30mph. Then President Shawn Prosky picked him up and brought him back to the AirBNB. Luckily, Colton did not break any bones.

The return of the Home Race

In Spring of 2023, PCC hosted it’s first home race in over half a decade, with two criteriums at Wea Ridge Middle School on a Saturday and Sunday. This effort was spearheaded by Shawn Prosky, and PCC would go on to host a road race and a team time trial in the following years.

Yash Trivedi, a member of the club, has taken photos for the Purdue home race on one of the race days every year the race has happened. Here are his photos from this years race.

2023-2024

• President - Gabi Mazion

• Ride Safety Officer - Jonathan Lane

• Treasurer - Ian Bowley

• Head Mechanic - John Burrell

• Travel Coordinator - Colton Bryant

• Clothing Coordinator - David Alexander

• Outreach and Social Media Coordinator - Alicja Stoppel

• Home Race Coordinator - David Alexander

The Mechanics get a grant (well, three of them actually)

This year, the mechanics team, empowered by the successes of the previous year, applied for an SFAB grant to acquire more tools, and a better cart to be able to fix more students bikes. The Mechanics would receive over $10,000 from the university to spend on tools, this resulted in a massive expansion of capabilities, both in terms of types of repairs and the number of repairs that could be done simultaneously (seeing as lines at the Thursday Farmer’s Market repairs were getting really long).

At the end of the year, over a thousand bikes had been fixed by the team, with the two bike mechanics with the most repairs performed being Grant Maiorana, who would go on to become Head Mechanic, and Grant Ruach, each with over 150 repairs performed.

The Mechanics team would also collaborate with the Purdue Outing Club to fix their loaner bikes, a picture of this collaboration is featured on the right.

Spring Break - The Crazy Roadside Repair

PCC would once again return to Arkansas for Spring Break this year, but to Bentonville instead of Mountainburg. Although Bentonville’s mountain-biking infrastructure is almost second-to-none within the United States, it is not considered a road cycling destination. The roadies did what they could however, and found routes of varying levels of difficulty.

The second day of road riding however, was a bit of a disaster for the roadies. Natheir’s tubeless setup would not hold air, and he had to stop every 10 or so miles to pump up his tires, Grant Maiorana would drop his chain a few times, and tensions were running generally high in the group. Towards the end of the ride, with everyone tired of both riding and of each other, Mustafa Gosku-Ozlu would face the most challenging mechanical of the day. His chain would jam between the chainrings and the front derailleur, preventing the cranks from rotating.

“Anyone have a crank extractor?” Natheir jokingly suggested.

“Haha yeah imagine taking off his cranks on the side of the road” - Grant

“Well with two hex keys we could take off his chainrings” - Max

And thus the bike was fixed! The idea for the repair born from a joke about having a crank extractor in a multitool, ever since, taking off someone’s chainrings has been a running inside joke within the friend-group.

Max’s hands were so black with chain oil he tried to clean them with leafs on the side of the road (very unsuccessfully). He resolved to simply replacing his bar-tape at the next opportunity.

Upon getting back to the AirBNB they were staying at, the first words out of Natheir’s mouth as he burst into the kitchen were “That was a perfect ride! Absolutely nothing went wrong! No tires were flat, no repairs had to be made, nobody got dropped, and we definitely didn’t have to take someone’s CHAINRINGS off on the side of the road, and how dare you suggest otherwise!”

“Oh yeah, that was a capital A Adventure!” - Max

This would not be the end of bad luck for the roadies. The rest of the week would be plagued with chain drops for Grant (one so bad his chain ate a chunk out of his carbon frame and he called Shawn to get picked up), and Natheir never got his tires to hold air for more than 45 minutes at a time.

Racing Success

This year would be a huge success for PCC in the race scene. Jonathan Lane, having recovered from his broken collarbone, would go on to win the overall MWCCC Conference Omnium, with 13 top 10s out of 16 races entered that year, three of which were at Collegiate Nationals, and one of which was a win at the first race of the weekend at the University of Michigan - Ann Arbor.

Purdue Cycling Club would be second place in the overall conference standings at the end of the season, behind only Marian University, the conference’s only varsity program.

Jonathan was far from the only racing success this year, with great results coming from several club members in the lower categories, here is a (non-exhaustive) list:

• Max Rontal

  • 1st place and 2nd place on days 1 and 2 of Tour of St. Louis (Cat 5)

  • 2nd place at University of Michigan Criteriums (Cat D)

• Colton Bryant

  • 2nd and 1st place on days 1 and 2 of Tour of St. Louis (Cat 4/5)

  • 3rd, 4th and 1st place at University of Michigan Criteriums (Cat B)

  • 3rd at Lindenwood Road Extravaganza Road Race (Cat B)

• Jeremy Sapp

  • 1st at both the Crit and RR at Lindenwood Road Extravaganza (Cat D)

• Peter Sperry

  • 1st at Marian Midwest Classic (Cat 4/5)

  • 1st at day 2 of Tour of St. Louis (Cat 3/4)

• Grant Maiorana

  • 2nd at Lindenwood Road Extravaganza Road Race (Cat D)

  • 2nd at the first criterium University of Michigan (Cat D)

• Sia Wong

  • 1st at Lindenwood Road Extravaganza RR (Women’s Cat B/C)

  • 1st and the first two Criteriums at University of Michigan (Women’s Cat B/C)

At this point, PCC is by far the most successful cycling club sport in the Midwest, and there is more to come. In fact, PCC cyclists were on the podium for the overall conference standings in Men’s A, C and D, with Jonathan, as mentioned earlier taking first place Cat A, Colton Bryant winning the Cat B standings, Natheir Abu-Dahab taking third place in the Men’s C, Jeremy Sapp and Grant Maiorana taking first and second place respectively in the Men’s Cat D, and Sia Wong taking first place Women’s Cat C.

The Home Race - now with a Road Race and TTT!

This year, the home race would now feature a road race! The course, changed last-minute due to trouble with INDOT, was the reverse of the road race course done on Kerber Hill years ago, ascending Kerber and descending the steeper hill down the other side. This proved to be a brutal course, much hillier than the other road races on the schedule since the loop was so short, but it was a huge success, attracting racers from all over the midwest. (The fact that a solar eclipse was happening in Indiana a few days later probably really helped).

The TTT, held on the morning of the road race, was an 11-mile out and back course that started at the top of Big Boiler (the hill which the road race descended), then went south to Division Road and took a right on County Line Rd, the turnaround point was just south of SR-26. The criterium on Saturday was at Wea Ridge middle school, just like the previous year.

Nationals

Nationals this year would be a major success story for the Purdue Cycling Club. With Daniel Barna, Jonathan Lane, Peter Sperry and David Alexander Participating in the Team Time Trial, Criterium and Road Race once again in Albuquerque, NM.

The team would make the extended podium in both the Team Time Trial and Road Race, ending up in fifth place in the TTT, and Jonathan placing fourth in the road race and eighth in the criterium. Jonathan would place third in the overall nationals omnium as well.

2024-2025

• President (acting Home Race Coordinator): David Alexander

• Treasurer: Alfredo Colas Gullon

• Ride Safety Officer (acting Travel Coordinator): Natheir Abu-Dahab

• Head Mechanic: Grant Maiorana

• Clothing Coordinator: Hern Tan

• Social Media & Outreach Coordinator: Emily Wessel

The Jonathan Ln Ride

This is the first of several stupid long rides to happen this year. Natheir decided to search up “Jonathan Lane” on Google Maps to try to find a road by that name, and the nearest one was around 110 miles away in Illinois. Luckily, it was very very close to the train station in Dyer, IN. Grant Ruach and Natheir would complete the journey at the beginning of the Fall semester, choosing a day with a tailwind pretty much the whole way. It rained a little here and there, but thanks to the tailwind they were able to go to Jonathan Ln, and get to the train station with around 5 hours of time to play with. They killed time at a Chipotle for the most part. Unfortunately, Jonathan Lane was not available for the ride to Jonathan Ln. The ride was 126 miles long.

Day Trips to Bloomington

PCC began monthly weekend day trips to Bloomington for the first time this semester, and they were a success with both roadies and mountain-bikers participating. Getting away for a day somewhere nicer to ride, and with really nice MTB trails for the mountain-bikers was enticing for many people. There were three trips in the Fall semester (one in September, one in October and one in November) and one in the Spring semester.

The Logansport-Kokomo Ride (Max’s Writing)

"In early September, I had determined to take a stab at a ride of over 100 miles. I had finished most of the centuries I had done up to that point without undue trouble and fatigue, so I figured I should take advantage of the long hours of daylight and try to go longer.

I called Natheir up one night and told him of my plan. Within 90 seconds he said he was in and went to draw up a route. Thus the plan was set. We would ride a short loop north of campus with a few of our other friends (Grant Maiorana, Carson Spears, and I believe Alison and Jeremy Sapp), and then take off alone to the east on a straight run into Kokomo, turn north to Logansport, and then follow the Wabash home.

The weather was sunny and warm, but we had a strong and direct headwind for most of the first 60 or so miles into Kokomo. I foolishly insisted on keeping up a pace of about 18 or 19 miles per hour in the headwind, meaning that I was much more tired than I wanted by the time we got to Logansport (90 miles in). I was pretty well cooked, and even with the steady breeze at our backs, I could only ride about 21 miles per hour. I had to almost beg Natheir to keep the pace limited to that level. Eventually, we made it back to campus and completed one hell of an adventure. I certainly learned some about pacing myself on long rides, and despite my mistake I had a great time trying out a longer ride like this.”

This ride was 144 miles long.

A New One Day Record

On September 29th, 2024. Natheir Abu-Dahab set out on a ride to Bloomington and back, setting the single ride record at 321.88 miles in 21 hours and 22 minutes. This breaks a record that’s stood since 1998.

Riding to Bloomington (Natheir’s Writing)

“It had become a bit of a personal tradition for me to do my longest ride around my birthday. For my 18th, I did my first metric century, I was injured during my 19th and I did 200 miles for my 20th (a pretty uneventful ride to UIUC and back). The day after that ride Max, who had read this document, told me that the longest ride anyone was aware of a PCC member completing was 271 miles. I felt like I could beat that as I felt fine at the end of 200 miles, and so the idea for my “record-breaking” ride was born.

I left at 4:30AM, a little later than I intended but not too bad. I had so many gels on me that they wouldn’t all fit in my pockets. I strapped four gels to the outside of my saddle bag, and I would consume those first. At around 5:30AM, it started raining. The rain was sporadic and light, and I didn’t mind it.

Nikhil Gloyekse, a former PCC member who had transferred to IU, met me just north of Bloomington to ride with me. First, I went to Bloomington itself to say hi to Peter Sperry, who had recently graduated and moved there. Gabi (former PCC president) was also there visiting for the weekend. Then we did a loop that went south first, past Lake Monroe and then came back north, at this point, Nikhil acted as my tour guide, changing the route to hit more mellow roads.

Finally, Nikhil and I parted ways just north of Modesto, just over 200 miles into the ride for me. Only 120 miles left! The rain intensified a little bit, and I stopped at a gas station in Paragon to shelter from the rain. There was a leg-sapping headwind too that slowed me down a lot until the sun set. I was at a low, mentally. At mile 236, with the sun setting, my headphones out of charge, and battling a headwind, I stopped for a breather by a pond a few miles east of Mooresville. I called some friends just for some moral support. I continued on into the night.

At mile 250, in Danville, my rear light ran out of charge. I did not want to continue without a rear light, and so I spent an hour and a half trying to locate one. Eventually, I got one from a Walmart there, which added 5 miles to my ride overall. I hadn’t brought cash or a physical card with me and as Walmart didn’t take tap-to-pay, I got help from Max with his Walmart pay account to buy a light. Thanks Max!

The ride continued on, mostly uneventfully. I stopped at mile 300 for a quick breather, and I got to look at the stars in the night sky. I could faintly make out the blue haze of the milky way galaxy. Then again, I could’ve also been hallucinating at this point. I made it back to my apartment in West Lafayette just before 2AM on September 30th.

I was so tired the next day, to the point that I went on a D-pace group ride (12mph) and got dropped. My bike was also extremely dirty from riding for so long in the rain. Pictures of my bike have been attached.”

Martinsville -> Martinsville -> Martinsville

Grant Maiorana and Natheir over October break, a little over a week later, set out to do a double century together from Martinsville, Indiana to Martinsville, Illinois and back, because that’s funny. They drove down early in the morning and set out at 9AM.

The ride out was mostly uneventful, except for when they stopped in Poland, Indiana for a quick picture and a miniature donkey came up to them and Grant fed it a clif bar, and a large dust devil they rode past towards the middle of the ride. Natheir got a flat on the way back, but luckily it sealed up and they were able to continue riding after a quick tire refill.

A few miles east of Terre Haute on the way back, Grant, who had been doing well for a long time (but spending most of the ride in the draft) dropped off the wheel, and slowed down. Worried that he had bonked or gotten tired, Natheir rode backwards a few yards to check up on him.

“Are you okay?”

“I think I just sh*t my pants.”

“Whatttt??!!!?!?!”

Luckily, Grant had not actually smuggled pudding past TSA. According to Grant, months later, it was “just a sus fart.”

Grant decided he did not want to ride through the night, and as the ride progressed this seemed more and more likely, and at sunset, stopped at a gas station in Prairie City (after one last very strong pull) to call a cab back to Martinsville where his car was parked. Natheir would complete the last 47 miles of the ride alone, in the dark. Natheir arrived in Martinsville an hour before Grant did, as finding a cab dozens of miles out from the nearest city is not exactly easy.

Riding to Bloomington, Again (Nico Haydar’s Writing)

“I did my 240 mile ride on a Thursday. I woke up the day before feeling like I need to accomplish something. I was down and wanted challenge myself to feel good. I went to the local target on campus, picked up 15 fig bars, borrowed a front and rear light from a friend, and got a route. I was going down to IU [Bloomington] and then riding back. The following day, I woke up at 3:30am. I had made myself a sandwich the night before to make sure I was as quick as possible getting out the door. I chugged an energy drink, got dressed, and left around 4:00am.

It was completely dark and not a car in sight. I left through Lafayette, and I still didn’t see a car. About 10 miles in, in the pitch black dark only illuminated by a small front light, I come to a closed road on the route. I panic for a few minutes before turning around and figuring out another road I can take as a detour. It’s about 30 degrees so I am completely bundled up from head to toe. The first half of the ride goes smoothly. I stop every 30 miles for refills. In more remote areas, it would be a small diner that would somehow be open at 6:00am. Other places there were gas stations. I had to shed so many layers that I had to shove my leg warmers down the back of my jersey. My Garmin also ran out of power way quicker than I expected. I had to stop at a gas station to grab a charger and power bank to charge it so it wouldn’t die and I would be stranded.

I made it halfway, and I was feeling good. I don’t know how, but it felt like I’d ridden 2 hours, not 6. I knew the leg back would be tough, but I was trying to beat the dark. It was at mile 200 that I cracked. My back started to hurt, my hands were red, my shoulders tense. I continued to push and arrived just at sunset. 12.5 hours moving time, with an elapsed time of 15 hours. I averaged 19.5 miles an hour. This was and still is one of my greatest accomplishments ever. I definitely want to try this again next year.”