Dr. Craig Titus, assistant professor of English and philosophy at Drury University, has a longstanding passion for bicycling in his spare time and shares that with students and faculty by sponsoring Drury’s own Bicycle & Cycling Club.

The club has existed at Drury before, but was on a hiatus until Dr. Titus decided to share his hobby with Drury and brought it back this semester. The club is in its developmental stages, but Dr. Titus mentioned that they try to meet and ride on Saturdays. For more information on the club and meetings, send Dr. Titus an email at ctitus@drury.edu.

The Scoop spoke with Dr. Titus about his involvement in reviving the club, and his passion for cycling.

Q: How often are the meetings?

A: At the moment, at best, once a week. We’re trying to organize a ride once per week but we’re in the early stages so we’re trying to figure out what works for everybody.

Q: What happens at a typical meeting?

A: So far they have been ride-oriented. Our first one was just to get organized and let everybody know all bikes are welcome, all people are welcome, so long as your bikes work. And we’ll start off easy and do some easy, fun, slow-paced, social rides.

Q: Where do you go for rides?

A: We’ve been talking about riding the greenway trails around town. There are several relatively long trails. Some of them were once railroad tracks. They’ve been torn out and paved. They make nice running and cycling trails. … Right now, the plan is to stay in town and ride on trails that are safe until we get a sense of where everybody’s skills are at. And if we want to expand or do longer rides that might take us out of town, then we can progress to there. We want to have something that’ll be available for everybody, no matter what kind of ride or what skill level. And if we want to do more longer rides or more difficult rides, then we’ll do those in addition.

Q: What kinds of events have you gone to as a club in the past?

A: In this iteration, none, because we are brand new. In the past, I do know they were racing at the collegiate level, so they would travel to the different Midwest regional schools and compete in races that each school put on.

Q: Can you tell me more about the Midwest collegiate cycling conference?

A: It just provides a region so people can travel reasonable distances and also race against other schools. We might travel to Illinois, Iowa or Kansas, and other schools would join us, and we could put in races there and collect points. Then eventually, if you wanted to, you could participate in the national competition based on the rankings developed in the regional competitions.

Q: How do you enter the competition?

A: Essentially, you form a team and indicate to USA Cycling that you want to be an official club. That’s it, and you show up and race, and you get assigned points based on how you finish.

Q: Do you personally prefer biking casually or competitively?

A: Personally, I prefer competitive cycling for sure.

Q: How often do you bike?

A: When I have the time, every day. So this summer, every day. Now that school is back in session, I don’t have as much time. So I might ride three times a week.

Q: How long are your rides?

A: I think in terms of miles. Some people think in terms of time. Mountain bikers think in terms of time. They go round and round in the woods. [laughs] When I’m in good shape like over the summer or now, I like to ride anywhere from 40 to maybe 110 miles, usually somewhere in the 50-to-80 range. So anywhere from 250 to 300 miles a week.

Q: Why do you have an interest/passion for cycling?

A: In simple terms: it’s fun. It’s a simple pleasure, cycling. Everyone seems to like it. Young people, kids — they like bikes. Old people like bikes. Everyone at every age sort of likes bikes. It’s the speed, the balance, the wind in your hair, the sunshine. It’s just really simple. It’s fun. And I also like the competitive aspect. I like to be able to challenge myself, to do more and improve in something that I like. That’s an added element to it.

Q: Was there a defining moment in your life that set you into this passion, or was it more of a gradual process?

A: It was definitely a gradual process. I’ve always had bikes. … I was never serious about it, but I always enjoyed it. Two things happened: One, in graduate school, I got really, really busy with graduate school stuff and was not physically active at all. I sat around the couch reading, and writing, and putting on weight and not feeling good. Then I decided at some point that I didn’t want to feel that way anymore, and I was going to take my exercise more seriously. Which I did, and I discovered that I am not good at a whole bunch of sports. …. But it turned out that I’m naturally built for riding a bike. Because people who are good at riding bikes are generally smaller guys because the less weight they have to carry uphill, the easier it is. It seems to suit my physical stature. It’s a good fit, where as a lot of other things are not a good fit and I enjoyed it, so I put those two things together and said, “Let me pursue this.”

Q: Would you try to encourage people who feel similarly about sports to try biking instead?

A: Absolutely. I think people are better suited for some sports over others. … I would definitely encourage people to try cycling if they’re not so good at other things, if they like cycling, if they think it might be a good fit for them.

Q: I was wondering if you had any advice for students who are interesting in cycling but are new to the hobby?

A: I would say two things: One, go ride. … If you have a bike get on it, go out, and just do it. Have some fun. See if that’s something you like doing, and if it is, pursue more. And if it’s not, it’s not for everyone. Then, move on to something else. The second thing is, if it is something that you like, you’d like to do more, or learn more about it or get better at, then ride with other people. Find a group. This is incredibly important. Ride with other people who also like riding. It’s fun, it’s a good way to learn, share experiences, and just generally meet people who share your interests. It’s a great thing.

Q: Do you ride with others more often than you do alone?

A: Yes, and it was not true in the beginning. … When I finally got hooked up with another group of people who were similarly minded, I thought it was just great. Now I always encourage other people to do it; it’s so much more fun to ride with other people.

Q: What is your favorite thing about biking?

A: There are two things that I probably couldn’t separate; if you forgive me, I’ll say I have two favorites. One is the simple joy. It really is just fun. Even just rolling around the block. The other thing is I really like the ability to challenge myself and to improve at something. And there’s no end to cycling, just like there’s no end to improving in a lot of things. …. You’re never going to be perfect, you’re never going to be the best, so you can always keep going and get better and better, and I like that. It’s appealing. There’s always more to do.