Cyclers gear up for races

Boston has never been considered a cycling-friendly city. In fact, Beantown consistently ranks as one of the worst metro areas to bike, and only recently has the City Council been desperate to find a dedicated commissioner to propose extensive bike paths.

So it should come as no surprise to discover that no college or university in the Boston area has hosted a cycling event in two years.

Tufts University hosted a criterium (short-track sprint) in 1999, the same year Boston University organized a race in Wellesley, which is best remembered as an undesirable location.

That streak comes to an abrupt halt this weekend when not just one, but four schools — BU, Tufts, Harvard University and Northeastern University — team up to host a two-day cycling event.

The first day’s criterium will feature more than 250 collegiate riders and local area club cyclists competing in sprints.

The races will begin at 8 a.m. and continue as late as 4 p.m. on a 1-kilometer loop on the Tufts campus, beginning near the fraternity houses. Some will be as short as 25 minutes, while the top tier of competitors are expected to carry a consistent sprint for as long as an hour.

Saturday’s day-long event has been partly arranged as a charitable event. On predetermined laps of the course (primes, to the cycling world), spectators can donate money, which will go to one of four charities in the name of the race winner. Charities include Bikes Not Bombs, the Nicole Reinhart Foundation, the Somerville Youth Program and the Somerville Police Association.

The road race moves on Sunday to the rolling hills and deep forest of small-town New England. Located about 30 miles north of Boston, organizers have planned a 10.2-mile course in Boxford, a loop which will be completed twice by those in group ‘D’ and six times by competitors in the top group ‘A.’

The road race may see the better of the competition given that participants are trying to garner points to qualify for the National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., later this spring.

Organizers are hoping to attract the likes of the United States Cycling Federation and some of its member cyclists who have a scheduled race in Marblehead, also on Sunday. Many cyclists on the university club teams are USCF riders as well.

So how did the event come about? It began as a collaboration between Northeastern and BU.

In a bi-annual meeting held after the fall biking season, BU club president Julie Stratton and team captain Meghan Morse considered the possibility of putting on a race in Boston. Northeastern’s road team captain Brian Kelly had previously expressed interest in such an event.

Together, they enlisted the efforts of other area cycling clubs, particularly those of neighboring schools, forming what has become a semi-Beanpot of cycling.

Tufts cycling club president Daniel Allis took charge of Saturday’s criterium, and Kelly produced Sunday’s road race while Harvard’s Nikki Raspa tended to logistics.

Meanwhile, Morse and Stratton specialized in fundraising, gathering an initial $1,000 from Corporate Express and another $1,000 from Belmont Wheelworks.

“I’ve never fundraised [this amount] for a race,” Morse said, going on to mention that she has never successfully fundraised for anything.

Morse later came to assume the role of “overseer” and with that the responsibility of making sure everything pieces together.

The organizers met Tuesday night to finalize details, but their biggest concern now may be out of their control. This weekend’s forecast is calling on consistent rain, heavy at times.

“I’ll be glad when it’s done,” Morse said of the event — and probably the rain, too.

She makes it sound like she’s trekking up Beacon Hill on a tricycle. Truly, Morse has learned much more than wishing it were over.

“It’ll make me appreciate what it takes for other people to put on a race.”