Beer Bike track set for facelift for next year

By Seth Brown     11/19/09 6:00pm

While Rice's possible merger with the Baylor College of Medicine may have garnered much attention in recent months, the focus of Duncan College and McMurtry College students has centered on a different type of expansion across campus. The inception of the two new colleges has necessitated an expansion of the Beer Bike track.

The needed expansion to the track is not the only possible change brought about by the two new colleges - there is talk of adding additional bleachers and removing trucks from the balloon fight - but creating new lanes in the Beer Bike track has created the most pressing concern. In its current form, with a width of 12 feet, the track is not wide enough to safely field any more riders than those of the current nine colleges.

"Even with extremely experienced riders it's hard to ride two abreast," Beer Bike Coordinator Brian Henderson said.

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The use of heats to eliminate colleges before a final race, one possible solution, has been rejected, Henderson, a Jones College senior, said.

Henderson said there are several options under consideration. An expansion of the current track would be expected to cost at least $100,000. Beer Bike has only $25,000 in capital reserved, so Assistant Dean of Students Boyd Beckwith has submitted the expansion as a capital budget request. If the request is met, only 15 percent of the actual cost would come out of Beer Bike's pocket. However, the success of the submission will likely not be known until April, and the funds would not be made available until July, Beckwith said.

Though Beckwith said the request is one of over 100 made each year, he thinks that it is likely to be granted, given the popularity of the event. Should an expansion of the track not succeed, it may become necessary to construct a new track elsewhere on campus or to hold heats, despite opposition to this idea from the established colleges.

At the same time, following a near-altercation last year over bleacher space between Jones and Hanszen College - some Hanszenites were sitting in Jones' bleacher space and vice versa - Beckwith said at least two more bleachers will be necessary, which could cost $10,000-$15,000 and may need to be rented.

The limited track space is not the only obstacle to Duncan and McMurtry fully participating in this year's Beer Bike. Beckwith said the entire budgets for Duncan and McMurtry are the same as most other colleges' Beer Bike budgets alone. While the two colleges would be able to borrow most of the necessary equipment were an exhibition race to take place, this would not be possible if they were to participate alongside the other colleges. They would also only be allowed to field freshmen bikers and chuggers, though transfers would be allowed to take on support roles, Henderson said.

Beer Bike coordinators from Duncan and McMurtry have stated interest in holding an exhibition race between the two colleges, which would take place between the alumni and the women's races.

McMurtry Beer Bike Coordinator Chris Barnes said McMurtry wanted to field its own full team, and will do so should circumstances allow.

"We want to show that we have our own identity," fellow McMurtry Beer Bike Coordinator Kelsey Pederson said.

In fostering the proper Beer Bike atmosphere, Pederson and Barnes said McMurtry will have its own Willy Week theme, T-shirt and activities, though there will most likely be some overlap with Will Rice.

Duncan Beer Bike Coordinator Louise Bentsen said Duncan's Willy Week would be conducted primarily alongside Baker College, with Baker organizing the activities with Duncan's help. She said that she envisioned the transfers to Duncan aiding in the exhibition race, while Duncan students biked and chugged.

As for the parade, McMurtry is determined to participate fully, while Duncan is still weighing its options.

"We've got a lot of options," Bentsen said. "A lot of people have offered to help."

However, the parade in which McMurtry and Duncan might participate may be different from those of years past. Beckwith said this year's parade may not take the format it has in recent years, possibly eliminating the usage of trucks to transport the balloons due to the costs and safety issues of using trucks.

"[In past parades], certain colleges were asked to get more trucks than they needed," Beckwith said. "It's only because of this that all of the colleges had a truck last year."

Should the trucks be done away with, the water balloon fight would potentially be moved to one of the IM fields, though the logistics involved in this are unclear, Beckwith said.

Henderson and Beckwith emphasized that they hope the new colleges will be able to find their own niche in Willy Week and Beer Bike.

"Find what your college wants for Beer Bike and do it," Henderson said.

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