Dedication and the lust for riding are what the Sacramento State cycling team wants in riders as it looks to expand in size this year.

The team, part of Sac State Recreational Sports, was established in the spring of 2009 by graduate student Emily Kachorek. She is also an avid cyclist of 10 years and the club’s president.

Compared to other well-established schools, such as UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara, which have roughly 75 to 100 riders, the Sac State club has 23 riders and is still growing.

There are two divisions within Sac State cycling: a race team and a club organization.

The race members who are part of the Cycling Collegiate team for Sac State are one of 250 collegiate teams that span the nation and race competitively.

“The collegiate racing is really fun,” said Sac State cyclist Sage Bauers. “Being a student, it allows you to race other students. It’s nice because it tends to be other people who can’t go out and train for 25 hours a week because they also have to go to class.”

The members who want to race on the collegiate team pay a yearly due of $125, as well as $30 for a racing license. The license proves that the rider is a member of USA Cycling and helps keep track of which races the rider wins and the point system.

The yearly dues members have to pay goes toward entry fees for individual racing events.

People who are also interested in cycling for recreation and who do not wish to pay any dues can participate in the club organization. There are no dues required and people can gain experience by attending meetings and have the ability to ride with others at a non-competitive level.

The only fee to race for noncompetitive racers is the $30 license fee as well as the amount for each individual race.

Kachorek said many who are interested in cycling and want to learn more about can get information from the Rec Sports Center, located in the University Union.

Anyone can compete as a collegiate cyclist. Everyone starts as a beginner and, through points and experience, they work their way up.

Sac State competes with all schools that have a cycling team located within California and part of Nevada that have a racing team.

There are four different events in collegiate racing: road racing, mountain bike racing, cyclocross and track racing.

For instance, the road race season is going on right now. Within road racing, there are subcategories. The road race, which every rider starts at the same time, is a distance of 20 to 80 miles long and points are given out depending on how each rider finished.

The criterion is another event where riders race mile laps. The race is about an hour long and there are intermediate sprints within the race and a sprint toward the end of the race.There are many different styles of racing; people are not limited to a particular race.

“Time trials are also a part of road racing. There is a set distance and the points are given out depending on the finishing time,” Kachorek said. “There are individual and team time trials as well.”

Nationals are the ultimate tournament for cycling. It is where the top four or five teams in each conference qualify to compete for the national title in May. The top eight riders from the qualifying teams would compete. The top school wins the national title.

Hosting events is a way for schools to raise money to help expand their racing team. It also allows for more experience to the riders working as a team. It also helps spread the word that the school has a cycling team.

Sac State is looking into helping host an event that will take place at UC Davis in the near future, helping the team gain experience so that next year the team can host its own event.

Current Sac State student and collegiate cyclist Curtis Hong is extremely excited about the upcoming cycle season.

“I like to ride road,” Hong said. “The team is really flexible with its members’ schedules and which events we can ride.”

Anyone interested can go speak with Recreational Sports located on the 1st floor of the Union for further information.

The cycling organization welcomes riders from any skill and experience level to come out and participate.

Sergio Saldana can be reached at [email protected]