By Erich Leas

First of all, on behalf of NU Cycling, I apologize to any and all persons we have inadvertently hit with our bikes in any way, at any time. Clearly it’s not our intent to harm anybody, but accidents happen and we apologize to anyone we’ve bumped into.

Now, let me address some questions raised in Glenn Yoder’s All Hail (“Bike Club Needs to Take a Hike,” Feb 16). First and foremost, why do you, Mr. Yoder, feel we do or do not need a bike club? Nobody knows, because rather than actually “skitter[ing] about the building, collecting quotes [and] information,” you lack the initiative and journalistic integrity to walk the 12 feet from your office to our meeting. Luckily for you, I will spare you the burden of such a walk and explain why we are here.

We exist for the sole purpose of celebrating the fun that is biking. We make no discrimination based upon a person’s type of riding or motivation to do so. That is the root of our philosophy. We are a family of riders who thoroughly enjoy each other’s company both inside and outside of the organization. On the public front, we represent a very successful arm of Northeastern University’s club sports. We are not simply a club, but a competitive race team that can rightfully claim to be one of the finest in the country. This year alone we had two male racers finish within the top 20 spots in their national divisions and our top female rider, Amy Sheridan, finished third in the nation in women’s class A downhill racing. Our alumni have done equally well, with past riders George Ryan, Seth Lolli and Alex Dunstan all becoming professional racers for factory teams. I’m sorry to disappoint our detractors, but we are much more than a weekly tea party for giggling bicycle aficionados.

As for the matter of our weekly meeting on the fourth floor, we, like any team, need a forum in which to conduct our internal affairs. Room 435 has been our traditional meeting space and has worked fine for over three years now with no complaints from our neighbors, who have included Spectrum, Agape and Students for Environmental Action. We bring our bikes into the building because they are often our only means of transportation in this city and leaving any bike worth more than $100 outside on this campus, locked or not, is an invitation for trouble. If our use of this space for one hour a week is truly such a concern to you or any fledgling Equestrian or Andrew W.K. appreciation groups, we ask that you make the intelligent choice and speak with us in person rather than using a news source as your bully pulpit.

To learn more about what we do as a club and race team, visit our Web site at www.nucycling.com or come to our open meetings Monday nights at 8 p.m. in 435 CSC. Of course, you are all welcome to come and pet our bikes for as long as you like. I promise they’re really quite tame.

– Erich Leas is a senior music industry major and a member of Northeastern University Cycling Club.