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UCVC membership

 

 

Why should I become a member of UCVC?

 

Membership to UCVC offers great advantages. First of all, you will get discounts from our sponsors. Our current sponsors are listed here. The discounts go from 10 to 50% of the regular retail price, depending on the sponsor and the product. You can save hundreds of dollars by getting your cycling gear and bike repairs from them.

 

Second of all, you can participate in the club’s ordinary rides. We typically meet by the Istria café (57th, under the Metra tracks) and head north or south, depending on which way the wind is blowing, for 30-80 miles.

 

Third, if you’re a student, you can race almost free. Yes, that’s right, free. During the collegiate racing season, which goes from late February through late April, the club will pay for your race fees, transportation and hotel stays. The only things you need to pay for are your license (once a year) and your food.

 

Finally, the club intends to coordinate and fund one group ride every year for all the members who want to participate. We started this in 2007, when we did the Apple Cider Century Ride.

 

 

What to do to become a member

 

The first and second requirements are hardly requirements at all: you need to be affiliated with the University of Chicago. You need to be a registered student, a faculty or staff member, an alumnus/a, or the spouse of one of those. Also, you need to join the club’s e-mail list. We make all the club’s announcements through e-mail.

 

The second requirement is to fill out and submit the UCVC membership form and the acceptance-of-risk form. Both forms are pretty short and straightforward.

 

The third requirement is to buy a new club jersey. We owe this to our sponsors. They give us generous discounts and great customer service, so the least we can do is sport their logo when we ride our bikes. The club does its best to find high-quality cycling clothes at the lowest price. You can order your UCVC kit typically once a year, in the fall. Normally we will keep a few extra jerseys, for people who join the club later in the year, but we can’t promise that we’ll have your size, or that we won’t run out of jerseys.

 

The fourth requirement is to pay the membership fee. This is a really low fee. We understand that you already spend a lot of money on cycling, so we ask for very little. The money will be used to pay for the expenses of the racing team, as well as to pay for the club’s funded rides. The fee is listed in the kit order form.

 

You can find the membership form, the acceptance of risk form, and the kit order form, all in one document, here.

 

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