By James Laird | Reporter
The Baylor Cycling Club has been around since the 1980s, however, the club has experienced periods of inactivity throughout the years. In 2021 the club was revived after the pandemic and has been running continuously since.
The cycling club is a small group, consisting of only about 10 members, but that does not stop them from feeling like a community, Waco senior and Baylor Cycling Club President Logan Smith said.
According to Fort Collins, Colo., senior and vice president of Baylor Cycling Club Alex Diehl, the majority of the members in the club are there to mountain bike, not ride on the road or gravel.
“We probably have six to 10 active members at a time, but most people just ride on Thursdays and Fridays at Cameron Park and then go race sometimes,” Diehl said. “It’s just like a group of friends that really enjoy doing the same thing.”
Currently, the club meets at Cameron Park at 5:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and is open to any skill level. Smith said no fancy gear is needed, all you need to come with is a basic mountain bike and a helmet. However, he did say a nicer bike may lead to more fun.
“But then, if you get a nicer bike and invest a little bit more money into it up front, you’ll probably be more likely to enjoy it,” Smith said. “So the equipment you have does matter to an extent, but we have members that are out there on $300 bikes that they bought off marketplace, and they’re like, absolutely ripping and doing really cool stuff.”
The club was a draw for Diehl, as mountain biking was very important to him while growing up in Colorado. While he was initially worried that there wouldn’t be any biking in Waco, he was relieved to meet Smith and find a shared interest in mountain biking.
“I met Logan the first night of line camp, and we found that we both like mountain biking,” Diehl said. “And then we both decided that we’re gonna join this club and start racing. So we did that, and now we’ve lived together since sophomore year.”
Smith said the group has been a way for members to find community through a shared love of riding, which he and Diehl both believe is one of the most important aspects of the club.
“The more people we have on the rides, the more fun we have,” Smith said. “Because like, bombing down a trail with a train of seven people, all super close together, is the coolest feeling ever.”
The club is not currently competing in races, but have competed in the Southern Central Collegiate Cycling Conference in past years. Smith said that new members coming in are interested in competing again.
“Next year, I know we have a couple people from high schools around Waco that are big into cross country racing that are going to be coming up and joining, so that’ll probably be something that will resume in the next couple of years,” Smith said.
Smith and Diehl both want to see the club continue to grow and continue to provide students with a fun community to be a part of. Smith said the Baylor Cycling Club has an awesome history and wants it to continue having a positive impact on students.
“I wanted to be sure that future classes at Baylor can have a way to enjoy [biking] because we’ve had so many people that got into the hobby of riding through the cycling club, and they started riding because they wanted to join our club. And it became a lifelong hobby for them,” Smith said.
