In the last two years, Aggies have won gold medals at the National Collegiate Cycling Championships in the Team Overall, Women's Team Time Trial, and Track Points Race. We have earned silver medals in the Team Overall, Women's Team Time Trial, Men's Team Time Trial, and Men's Individual Overall.

But excellent championship results are not unique to this generation of Aggie racers:

• At the 1994 National Collegiate Road Cycling Championships, UC Davis won the Team Overall, and Ben Bourne won the Men's Criterium and Men's Omnium;
• In 2001, Aggies won the Team Overall, Men's Team Time Trial and Women's Team Time Trial;
• In 2002, Jeff Angermann won the Men's Criterium;
• In 2005, Marc Collard won the Men's Road Race at nationals.

For as long as USA Cycling has sanctioned Collegiate Cycling National Championships, UC Davis has beaten Division I schools such as UC Berkeley, Penn State, and the University of Florida. But cycling at UC Davis is a club sport that receives no funding from the Athletics Department. While collegiate cycling powerhouses such as Lees-McRae College, Fort-Lewis State College, and the University of Colorado at Boulder offer cycling scholarships and provide free equipment to many of their riders, UC Davis racers pay dues for coaching, cover all of their own travel expenses, and buy most of their own gear.

And cycling is an expensive sport.

Which brings us back to where we started. We need your help. The 2007-2008 generation of Aggies has the opportunity to be the first team in school history to finish on the podium in the Team Overall at National Championships three years in a row. We have a chance to win the Western Collegiate Cycling Conference for a second time in two years. And more importantly, we also have a chance to transform these results into a lasting legacy of competitive dominance by recruiting and mentoring the next generation of Aggie racers.

But we need funds to do so.

We already expend tremendous effort to minimize costs. Team dues and sports clubs funds help offset race entry fees, and the team usually pays 50% of associated costs of travel to national races. We have nurtured numerous relationships with equipment companies and bike shops to dramatically reduce the purchase cost of equipment, and many riders race on second-hand and used gear. We raise funds by hosting the Cal-Aggie Criterium each spring and by running conference road and mountain bike race weekends.

But if we hope to increase participation among all levels of competition—from Men's A to Women's B—we need reduce the expenses incurred by each racer, particularly those "B" and "C" riders who are brand-new to the sport and crucial to the team's future success. For example, in one year of local and national racing, each Aggie rider can expect to pay:

• $1000-$3000 for a racing bike;
• $200-$500 for a uniform, helmet, shoes and glasses;
• $200 for team dues and coaching
• $50-$100 for gas and lodging at 5-7 conference races.

In addition, elite, national championship-caliber riders can expect to spend:

• $1000-$4000 for a time-trial bike and associated aero gear
• $250 for travel expenses.

That's a lot of money, especially on a Freshman's budget or a Graduate Student's teaching stipend. So the goals of this year's fund-raising campaign are to subsidize all costs associated with:

• travel to local and national races;
• excellent, individualized coaching from Judd Van Sickle, Jr., of the UC Davis Medical Center's Sports Performance Laboratory
• team-owned race wheels, time-trial helmets, and other aero gear.

If a team rider commits to training a minimum of eight hours a week and volunteers ten hours a year at the team's fund-raising and conference races, we hope to pay for quadruple occupancy lodging (that's four to a room at a glamorous Motel 6, folks) reimburse him or her for gasoline, and provide race-day wheels and aero helmets for time trials. That's a lot of rooms and gear, especially for full squads of 5-7 riders each in the Men's A, B, C and Women's A and B categories.

That's where you come in. Your gift can help the team send more racers to more conference events at such institutions as Stanford University, UC San Diego, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, University of Nevada–Reno, and UCLA. You can make it much, much easier for a new athlete to begin participating in the sport. You can help subsidize another national championship from our elite riders. And you can help a brand-new Women's B racer excel in her first event.

And we aren't asking you to give something for nothing. For your tax-deductible cash donation, we are pleased to offer premium gifts that help show the world you support Aggie Cycling:

• $25: Aggie bike socks
• $50: Aggie Cycling t-shirt
• $75: Aggie Cycling hooded sweatshirt
• $100: official or retro Aggie cycling jersey in race or club cutv
• $200: full Aggie race kit including matching jersey and shorts
• $350: full Aggie race kits, plus a matching helmet, sunglasses, OR thermal jacket
• $500: three days of lodging, meals, riding, and camaraderie at the 2009 UC Davis Cal Aggie Cycling training camp at the UC Davis Marine Reserve in Bodega Bay.

But that's not all you can do. We are also happy to accept your equipment donations. Our wish list includes:

• aero helmets
• aero bars
• deep section aero wheels
• rain gutter-style Yakima bike racks & split trays
• bike racks (either rear wheel racks, used to display bikes in shops,
• or triathlon-style saddle-hanging type)
• car trailer for bike and gear transport to and from races
• EZ-Up canopies or tents
• Entry-level road and mountain bikes in both women's and men's sizes.

All of this gear will remain the property of the team and available for the use of future Aggies year after year.

Since we are a non-profit entity associated with the University of California, all donations of both cash and gear are tax-deductible (tax id #26-0725691). To make a donation, simply:

• Write a check to "Cycling Team at UC Davis," enclose your email address, clothing sizes, or any special requests, and mail it to:
  
  
  UC Davis Cycling Team
  Sports Clubs
  Campus Recreation
  232 ARC, One Shields Avenue
  Davis, CA 95616
  
  
  (The University of California keeps 10% of donations sent through the UC Regents. The remainder will be allocated to the sport club of your choice )
• Contact or with requests to join our training camp or for other premiums.
• Contact for gear donations.

As you probably know, participation in team sports helps instill perseverance, dedication, and sportsmanship that stays with students throughout their academic, professional, and personal lives. We're also crazy enough to believe that collegiate cycling creates life-long riders and teaches a number of important lessons imparted by no other sport.

Thanks for supporting UC Davis Cal-Aggie Cycling. Your help ensures our continued success on the road, trail, or track.

We hope to see you out there.