Klofta: 'I just like riding my bike'
By: Meredith McGrady
Issue date: 4/18/08 Section: Little 5
Rita Klofta doesn't wear pants - but only because her legs are used to the cold.
Instead, Klofta can usually be found sporting shorts. Her legs have become accustomed to cold air simply from practicing her cycling by riding through Greencastle. Klofta, a DePauw freshman, is a nationally ranked cyclist and only stopped practicing outside due to cold twice during the winter. She ran cross country throughout high school, and it was her interest in cross country that led her to her current sport of cycling.
"A bunch of the boys had road bikes and there was a bike club at my high school I was in," Klofta said.
Klofta did not obtain her first road bike until her junior year in high school, a mere two years before she began to attend DePauw. Klofta did not come to DePauw for its cycling program, but for the reasons most students do: She loved the feel of the small liberal arts campus and it was the perfect distance from home and parents.
When she did decide to come to DePauw, Klofta contacted the cycling team coach and expressed her interest in becoming a member of the team.
"I got here and he [the coach] asked if I wanted to race track," Klofta said. "He took me to the Velodrome [cycling track in Indianapolis] and I was at nationals three weeks later."
Only three women competed in nationals, and Klofta was the only freshman. In fact, Klofta's first official race was her first race at nationals in September, in which she placed fifth. After her first race, the following three races earned her a third place finish overall, which contributed to the team's third place finish.
In the months that followed, Klofta kept training and working toward her two potential majors, biology and art, and completed Winter Term in New Mexico. When she came back, Rita made the decision not to join a greek chapter.
"I always knew that I would not join a house," Klofta said. "It's not part of my personality."
Though independent students can participate in Little 5, Klofta will not be one of those students. Klofta will be competing in the regionals road race competition in Wisconsin Saturday in order to qualify for nationals.
Klofta said if regionals and Little 5 don't conflict in the future, she will compete.
"I've got to support my indies," Klofta said.
But for the time being, Klofta only rides for a unified DePauw cycling team, where it doesn't matter what house she's in - or whether she's in a house at all. She rides two to four hours a day for one simple reason: "I just like riding my bike."
Instead, Klofta can usually be found sporting shorts. Her legs have become accustomed to cold air simply from practicing her cycling by riding through Greencastle. Klofta, a DePauw freshman, is a nationally ranked cyclist and only stopped practicing outside due to cold twice during the winter. She ran cross country throughout high school, and it was her interest in cross country that led her to her current sport of cycling.
"A bunch of the boys had road bikes and there was a bike club at my high school I was in," Klofta said.
Klofta did not obtain her first road bike until her junior year in high school, a mere two years before she began to attend DePauw. Klofta did not come to DePauw for its cycling program, but for the reasons most students do: She loved the feel of the small liberal arts campus and it was the perfect distance from home and parents.
When she did decide to come to DePauw, Klofta contacted the cycling team coach and expressed her interest in becoming a member of the team.
"I got here and he [the coach] asked if I wanted to race track," Klofta said. "He took me to the Velodrome [cycling track in Indianapolis] and I was at nationals three weeks later."
Only three women competed in nationals, and Klofta was the only freshman. In fact, Klofta's first official race was her first race at nationals in September, in which she placed fifth. After her first race, the following three races earned her a third place finish overall, which contributed to the team's third place finish.
In the months that followed, Klofta kept training and working toward her two potential majors, biology and art, and completed Winter Term in New Mexico. When she came back, Rita made the decision not to join a greek chapter.
"I always knew that I would not join a house," Klofta said. "It's not part of my personality."
Though independent students can participate in Little 5, Klofta will not be one of those students. Klofta will be competing in the regionals road race competition in Wisconsin Saturday in order to qualify for nationals.
Klofta said if regionals and Little 5 don't conflict in the future, she will compete.
"I've got to support my indies," Klofta said.
But for the time being, Klofta only rides for a unified DePauw cycling team, where it doesn't matter what house she's in - or whether she's in a house at all. She rides two to four hours a day for one simple reason: "I just like riding my bike."
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