The Shippensburg University cycling club is one of numerous club sports on the campus of Shippensburg University.

The SU cycling club has 16 members and is an official club sport on campus. The club is a member of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference, which features more than 60 schools in the region.

During the school year the team has two or three rides each week for students of various skill levels. The club has numerous sponsorships from local businesses, which help pay for the cost of equipment and racing for club members.

The club is currently preparing to host an extremely large event called the “Shippensburg Scurry.”

The “Shippensburg Scurry” features three races that are just five minutes from campus in Cleversburg, Pennsylvania. Saturday morning will play host to the “Cleversburg Cycleburg Circuit.” These races take place on a 2.2-mile course along numerous hills and challenging corners. They are done for 30 and 60 minutes per race, with the races running from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Around 4:30 p.m., the first wave of hill-climbing races will begin. The “Big Flat Hill Climb” is a race that is six miles in length, but features one of the hardest hill climbs in the Cumberland Valley.

The final event of the scurry is the famous “Horse Killer Road Race.” This race is a 17-mile loop on Horse Killer Road, which features a challenging climb up a steep mountain, followed by a technical descent. The race will take place on Sunday, April 3, at 8 a.m. and is followed by races all morning and afternoon with the longest race being the A-grade race, which is done by completing 75 miles on the course.

“For the SU cycling club to be hosting a big race like this is a great opportunity not only to show off the scenic Shippensburg area to incoming racers and students from other schools, but also to give current students and prospective students a glimpse of an extracurricular activity they can easily have fun and get involved in,” SU cycling club Treasurer Darin Alleman said.

“There is also an opportunity for current high school students to compete in the collegiate events in the conference. For these competitive high school students, cycling involvement is a major factor in the school they chose to go to. The conference is hoping that this race event is something that could be a recurring race each year as many people really enjoyed the race that the SU cycling club hosted back in 2013,” Alleman said.

The club is expecting a large turnout of cyclists for the weekend, with an estimate of 250-300 competitors. The races will be the first time the university has had the scurry since 2013. The club is looking for a strong performance in the event.

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