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.
