Florida Gators Cycling Team Sponsor
Bicycle Accident Law steps up for University of Florida Cycling Team
Since the University of Florida’s cycling team was founded in 1985, it’s been a student-run club. There are some varsity programs in collegiate cycling—with a university-paid team and coach—but UF Cycling Club in Gainesville, Florida has always sponsored itself through student-led fundraising. Starting in 2025, Matthew Scarborough and Bike Accident Law will be sponsoring the team so students can spend less time fundraising and more time enjoying the sport they love.
“I got into competitive cycling in college and it changed my life,” says Scarborough. “We’re stoked to support UF Cycling Team, and hopeful more young people can experience the love of the sport, and all the benefits it brings.”
This year, the University of Florida club has about 70 members with 30 racers competing in Southeastern Collegiate Cycling Conference events in road racing, mountain, and cyclocross. They also make time to volunteer in the community.
Cycling races in Gainesville, Florida and across the Southeast
The club does 5-6 races a season, many of which involve travel from Gainesville, Florida to the Carolinas and Tennessee. “We’re not a team with a bus,” said club president Noah Adelson. Some of the teams they race drive students to races on a bus, book hotel rooms for every rider, and pay for their food, gas, and racing fees. For this club, races involve a “complex calculus to how many bikes and people we can get into a hatchback and get that car 300 miles to the north,” he says. It can be tiring. “You pack up Friday night, drive eight hours, race Saturday and Sunday, and then drive back in time for class,” Adelson says. “We’re just trying to get race entries covered and maybe an Airbnb share,” Adelson added.
But the team’s scrappiness just highlights how much these young students love cycling. Adelson says cycling is an escape from the stresses of college. “You can wallow in your room or push yourself for three hours on the road, see something beautiful, and come back with a cyclist-high.” Many of his friends are in the club. “It’s our social circle and outlet,” Adelson says.
Compared to other parts of Florida, Gainesville—where the university is located—is fairly cyclist friendly. “We’re a college town, so there’s a ton of people out on bikes.” There are nearby rural roads where Adelson and the rest of the club can ride for hours without running into a major city or stoplights. Traffic is low which makes him feel safer cycling on the road too.
In addition to his full-time class schedule and job, Adelson’s job as club president means he’s responsible for recruiting new members and making sure the team has funding. Bicycle Accident Law’s sponsorship will be a game changer for the team. Last year, they ran out of money before the end of the season and had to tell club members they couldn’t pay for race entries or pay for repairs on team bikes. Adelson never wants the club to find itself in that position again.
One special feature of the University of Florida club is their five team bikes. “It’s so hard to ask somebody to join the club and ride with us but also spend $1500 on a bike and $100 on shoes and a helmet and water bottle and kit,” Adelson says. Instead, new riders are offered one of the team bikes so they can try cycling out for themselves. They use it for a semester or a year, get their own bikes, and the team bikes go back into circulation for someone else to use.
“Just in the last year, we’ve gotten three or four people into racing because of the team bikes,” Adelson said. A large portion of Bicycle Accident Law’s sponsorship funds are going toward overdue repairs on those bicycles which will hopefully mean even more students becoming avid cyclists in the years to come.
Bicycle Accident Law is proud to sponsor the University of Florida’s cycling club and its efforts to get more people into the sport of cycling.
Free Legal Help for UF Students & Cyclists
We offer free consultations for:
UF students involved in a crash
Members of the UF Gators Cycling Team
Gainesville riders injured in a solo or multi-vehicle crash
We also provide:
Free “Bike Crash Checklist” resources
On-campus safety workshops and webinars
Legal coaching for club athletes and team leaders
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https://www.instagram.com/gators.cycling/
