WSU cycling club is preparing for its race season, which begins in the second week of March.

The club already held their annual Tour De Lentil in conjunction with the National Lentil Festival in August. The tour was a fun ride, not a race, club President Margaux McBirney said. The ride started and finished in Pullman with proceeds benefitting WSU cycling.

Cycling competes in the North West Collegiate Cycling Conference (NWCCC). With the help of the University of Idaho, WSU holds one of the seven races held by institutions. Scheduling has presented a challenge to the club, McBirney said, as it had to move its annual home race from Washington to Idaho, last season.

“We normally hold our race up in Palouse because you need quiet roads, few cars [and] rolling hills. But, our road washed out because the culvert collapsed, and so there was literally a five-foot-wide trench through my entire road,” she said. “We moved our race one week before to Troy [Idaho].”

Washington presents special difficulty to hold races compared to Idaho because cars that follow the riders must be insured, making the events more expensive, McBirney said.

“I’m actually not sure where we’re going to host it this year to be honest, because hosting a bike race in Washington is … a pain in the ass,” McBirney said. “Idaho, they just don’t care, you can do whatever you want.”

Even events on campus are difficult, Event and Race Coordinator Jason Hurdlow said.

Recently, the club held its fifth annual Cougar Cup Cyclocross Race fundraising event at WSU. This year’s track was constructed behind the Outdoor Recreation Center.

It can be difficult to set up, Hurdlow said, as he faced four months of bureaucracy from the university to put on the race this year.

Besides all the events, Cycling has another steady fundraiser: WSU-themed cycling kits. The kits are available to order through the club, and are popular with alumni, McBirney said. They include jerseys and bib shorts, which come in multiple designs.

Hurdlow is a long-time member of the club and works for WSU. He is a software developer in the enrollment information technology department. Club membership is at a low, compared to the past six years, mostly because many seniors and graduate students left Pullman last year, Hurdlow said.

“We’re in a rebuilding year, we lost a bunch of grad students and other people last year,” he said. “Most years, we have about 20 to 25 on the roster.”

Those interested can find more information on the club, cycling kits and the season schedule on the WSU Cycling Club website.

“There’s people who see us in our fancy kits on our nice bikes ride by, and are like ‘Oh, I could never be that,’ ” Hurdlow said. “The people who are like that started out as, ‘Gee, I like bikes, they’re cool.’ ”