Team Florida

In The Beginning…
From Richard Beck, Team Florida’s first faculty advisor:
“In 1985 Tom Cerny and Jean Conte were in my UF cycling class. In those days PE classes were required for graduation. They became interested in it since we ran a five mile time trial for part of their grade in Cycling. We also used to do an overnight camping trip. This type of trip tends to draw people together. They commented at the end of the trip that they wanted that group to keep riding together. I suggested they form a campus club. It was something I had been wanting to do for years but needed students to get it rolling. Tom was willing but didn’t know what to do to get a club started. Since I had done this previously at Ohio State in 1970, I helped him find the right places to go on campus and where to advertise. I was their club advisor for a while since I was a USCF certified coach at the time… That is how the club got started.”

Team Firsts…
First Team Florida Win: 1985 - Paul Cludzinski won the Downtown St. Petersburg Criterium Open (citizen) class.

First Team Florida USCF Win: 1985 - Michael Franovich won the Sawgrass Expressway Category 4 Road Race in Broward County.

First Team Florida Sponsored Race: 1986 - The Orange & Blue Criterium. The race went through the heart of campus. The Start/Finish line was in front of Florida Gym. From there it went west to North/South Drive, made a right and went past the stadium. Just past the stadium, it made a right and went on a road that is now the stadium’s North Endzone stands. It then went past the women’s gym, the now burned down Ratskeller, GPA and the Hub before ending up at the Start/Finish. Andrew Woodruff won the Pro-123 event. That was the only time it was held there. After that we began having circuit races on a couple different routes around Lake Alice.