Fayetteville Wheelmen and the Benefits of Cycling

Some students ride bikes around Northwest Arkansas as part of a local club to learn how to ride in groups, exercise and train for races.

The Fayetteville Wheelmen are a club of bike riders of various ages and skill level based in Fayetteville, senior Juan Castillo said.

It costs $125 for people over 18 to join the Wheelmen, and $50 for 18 and under, according to the Fayetteville Wheelmen website.

“In cycling you get better when you ride with more people,” Castillo said. “And there are some really good riders in the Wheelmen.”

Castillo rode with the Wheelmen on many occasions and decided to join when the leader of the group, Paul Komarek, invited him to join, he said.

“I grew up in a rural part of Panama where transport is hard to come by so I have been riding bikes since I was four,” Castillo said. “It is a lifestyle for me now.”

It helps in handling the stress that college creates, Castillo said. Castillo rides bikes to keep healthy and work out, he said.

There are many perks a rider can expect from joining the Wheelmen, from nutrition tips, tips on where to find discounts on gear, discounts on the team’s gear and free admission to the Joe Martin Stage Race, a Union Cycliste Internationale recognized race. The UCI recognition makes the race very prestigious, Castillo said.

The Wheelmen are open to riders of every skill level, Castillo said. The Wheelmen have beginner rides that help teach new cyclists how to ride in a large group, but the majority of their members are training to race, Castillo said.

There are many groups across NWA that people can join for group riding, but the Wheelmen seemed most for what Castillo was looking for in a  group, he said.

There is an app called Strava that is for various sports including cycling. It helps manage work outs by logging miles and it can be used to find different groups in an area, Castillo said.

Graduate Assistant of UREC Outdoors Beckie Irvin hosts a Ladies Ride series. The ride is open to all experience levels and anyone who identifies as a woman, Irvin said.

Beckie rides because she enjoys the exercise and finds the rhythm meditative, she said.

“The Fayetteville biking community is extremely active and we have amazing trail infrastructure,” Irvin said.

Fayetteville’s trails are some of the best in the country, senior Sam Warren said. Sam rode across the country over the summer and saw trails in every state from Virginia to Oregon, he said.

Warren is part of the UofA Cycling Club that is an RSO open to students, he said. The club participates in variety of collegiate races and also hosts bike events. The RSO has multiple sponsors and once a member pays for a race license, travel and board for races is often covered, he said.

For people who do not own a bike there are other options to buying one. UREC Outdoors offers rentals to students, HPER members and faculty of the UofA, Irvin said.

The city of Fayetteville in conjunction with the UofA introduced the ride sharing program Veoride, Irvin said.

The Veoride bikes have standard seven-speed bikes and bikes with electronic pedal assist, Irvin said.

“I have seen people using Veoride but not as many as I expected,” Castillo said. “Little by little it is increasing though.”

While people use Veoride for it to continue and be successful the bikes need to be accessible and durable, Warren said. The Veoride bikes Warren has worked on seem to be of good quality, he said.

The rentals cost 50 cents per 15 minutes, Irvin said.

Veoride also offers a variety of other deals for people who intend the bikes more often, according to the Veoride website.

Being able to travel around an urban environment without a car is extremely beneficial, Warren said. It can also be an advantage to students struggling with money, he said.

While getting a good bike can be expensive, the investment is worth it, Castillo said. The difference in quality between a cheap bike and a quality bike can lead to lower maintenance and higher durability. A better bike can help to avoid injury, he said.

People who are trying to get into cycling should try to learn the basic types of maintenance a bike requires. Changing the tubes and tires and chain maintenance are the fundamentals and are not that hard to learn, Castillo said.