User:Eddyfinnso/Cal Poly Wheelmen

The Cal Poly Wheelmen is the name of the club cycling team at California Polytechnic State University. The Wheelmen (for short) was founded in 1972. They compete against other universities in division I of the Western Collegiate Cycling Conference. In the fall quarter, they race mountain bikes. In the winter quarter, they race road bikes. They also help out the Cal Poly community immensely by providing free bike fixing every week.

Mountain Bike Racing
During the mountain bike season, the Cal Poly Wheelmen travel to most of the colleges in the conference, race against everyone who comes, and enjoy camping for the weekend. There are 4 categories of events at the mountain bike races:
 * Downhill (DH) - Each rider sets off down the hill one at a time and tries to get to the bottom the fastest without crashing. It is common courtesy to let someone pass you if they caught up to you because you wouldn't have won the event anyway.
 * Dual Slalom (DS) - Sets of 2 riders are set off down a short downhill track that goes back and forth down the mountain. It usually has some small jumps, but that depends on the course.
 * Cross Country (XC) - Everyone in a given category (A through C or D for collegiate races) is started at the same time. Each category has a different length course to ride through. The course is some trail off road. Each course is very different from all others so there is no general rule for what a cross country course needs to be.
 * Short Track (STXC) - This race is the same as the Cross Country race except the riders race around a short circuit for either a certain length of time or a certain number of laps.

Road Bike Racing
The road races are usually shorter in time than the mountain bike races. There are 4 categories in road bike racing:
 * Road Race (RR) - In these races, everyone in a certain category is started at the same time and they race to a certain number of miles.
 * Time Trial (TT) - This is similar to the road race except everyone is set off individually and they are racing to a certain distance and try to have the fastest time to get there.
 * Team Time Trial (TTT) - This is the same as the time trial except each team from each college starts together and they compete against the teams from the other colleges.
 * Criterium(Crit) - This race is a very fast-paced race. It is a race around a relatively short loop for either a certain number of laps or a certain length of time, depending on the category.

Bike Fix
Bike Fix is a free bike fixing service/event that happens every thursday at Dexter Lawn. It is set up by the Fundraising Officer of the club since it is the way the club raises its funds. It is a free service but donations are appreciated.

Parkfield
Parkfield is the name of the home mountain bike race that the Cal Poly Wheelmen host. It is held on the Varian Ranch in Parkfield, California. The terrain is powdery dirt on top of cracked, hard-packed dirt with loose rocks, especially on the cross country course.