Racing Road or Mountain?

[Clarinda]

I was wondering... Do you guys do more races on road or off? Considering getting involved in the Cycling Club but my mountain bike isn't made for racing...

[Plantains]

Hey Clarinda. The clubs primary focus is actually just on riding. There are various levels of riding whether you're into training (FOR racing) or training (for fitness) or just enjoying a group ride or maybe learning some better cycling skills.

We do of course race and we are currently setup to offer full support for all 4 (primary) disciplines of cycling which are:
Road
Cyclocross
Track
Mountain

Our collegiate conference (NCCCC)'s biggest season is definitely road, but since collegiate is based solely on university attendance, the seasons will fluctuate based on which team can put up bigger numbers in each discipline... by that I mean, in 2 seasons perhaps cross racing will be the most popular.

Anyways... as for racing, it's not really about the bike. We have people who compete (regularly) on rigid (no suspension) single speed mountain bikes and do very well, we also have people riding some really nice rigs that do equally well.

My point is, if you have a desire to ride... you have a purpose in this club. If you choose to race, we have plenty of mechanics on the team and in the club that could get your bicycle into racing shape no problemo (there are typically only some minor safety things that need to be addressed to get a bike up to "racing pedigree").

But the bottom line is... we can offer a cyclist anything from just cruising around town enjoying life, to putting down 400w on a serious climb in a race, to get crazy dirty in cross or MTB, to trackstanding for 20 minutes to win a match sprint at one of the premier velodromes in the country.

Don't worry about your bike... just worry about having fun! If you have questions... just ask. Are you currently at/in UND or are you incoming this year?

[Sal Atticum]

Regardless of whether you'd like to race or not, it doesn't matter how "in shape" your bicycle is.  I've raced MTB on my over-ten-years-old Trek 850, and I'm not even that good.  chilean_luv just built a full-suspension 29er because that's what he likes.  Some people ride singlespeeds.  We ride MTB mostly at Turtle River State Park, and the trails are rideable on pretty much anything (this isn't saying the trails are necessarily simple or not fun, just that they're accessible).

We'll be at the Fall Organization Expo if you want to stop by and say hello, and then there'll be a meeting sometime around the beginning of school if you want to come see more of how the club works.  If you want to just ride, however, keep an eye on the message board.