Help UMD Establish a B1G Presence in Collegiate Cycling

The University of Maryland Cycling Team is a fast-growing program under RecWell Sports Clubs and USA Cycling. Last year we grew from a small club of under ten active members to more than twenty active members and more than doubled our activity on-campus and at races. This year we are planning to continue that trend, and we need your help. The purpose of our fundraising campaign is twofold: to increase the University of Maryland's competitiveness in races and to allow us to host a weekend of racing ourselves.

The University of Maryland is part of the Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference (ACCC), which spans the Mid-Atlantic region, bounded by Baltimore, MD; Morgantown, WV; Boone, NC; and Wilmington, NC.  On March 12th and 13th, the University of Maryland will be welcoming 25 schools from across the conference for its first home race weekend since 2008.  The weekend will feature a road race, time trial and hopefully, a fast-paced circuit race in downtown Hyattsville.  $5000 of this campaign's proceeds will go towards covering the up-front costs of hosting three races over the course of two days in the DC area for nearly 250 collegiate athletes and 400 athletes from the local area.

Last year, the UMD Cycling Team sent an average of eight riders to each race weekend and ended up ranked 10th in the conference and not ranked at all nationally.  Ranking is based on participation and performance, so the more students we are able to bring for competitions, the more riders we can send to nationals and the better we will do in 2016.

Unfortunately, cycling has a high barrier to entry because of the cost of personal equipment, which the team cannot cover, on top of entry fees and travel expenses. This year, we want to make sure that every student who wants to compete in a bike race is able to so the remaining $2500 from this campaign will go towards travel, lodging and entry fees for Team Members.  We will aim to be ranked in the top 3 teams in our conference this year, the top 25 nationally next year and even higher in years to come.

If this campaign is so successful as to go past its goal, the remainder of funds will go towards sending the Terps to 2016 USAC Collegiate Road National Championships in Asheville, NC.

Please consider donating to our campaign to help the UMD Cycling team achieve its goals this school year.  Thank you for your support!

Gifts in support of the University of Maryland are accepted and managed by the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Inc., an affiliated 501(c)(3) organization authorized by the Board of Regents. Contributions to the University of Maryland are tax deductible as allowed by law. Please see your tax advisor for details.