Fighting snow and hypothermia, rugby team bikes to Ireland

The temperature was 23 degrees on Sunday at 3 a.m., and light snow was falling.

But that didn't stop Mike Smith '10 from stripping down to a pair of underwear and getting on a bicycle stationed in front of Frist Campus Center.

It was all for a cause, though: getting his team, the Princeton Rugby Football Club, to Ireland for spring break.

Over nine-and-a-half days of biking — which began last Thursday at 11 a.m. and will continue through midnight on Sunday — the club hopes to cover the 3,220 miles between Princeton and Ireland. In all, 40 people are biking, club captain Phil Farinacci '08 said. They each need to ride an average of 80.5 miles.

As of last night, they had ridden more than 1,800 miles.

"It's pretty cold," said Smith, who has been biking through sleet and freezing rain over the past week. "I'm wearing socks on my hands, so sometimes I can give myself a rubdown."

Passersby are encouraged to donate money or make pledges to donate. "If I get hypothermia, some people said they will pay double," Smith said.

Benton Erwin '09, another biker, said the club hopes to raise at least $15,000 to subsidize its trip. He said that the club has raised about $1,500 so far from the donation jar it has placed on a table next to the bicycle and another $6,000 through pledges.

Kane Hochster '08, a co-chair of the Rugby Club's fundraising committee, said, "We were expecting a few dollars from people walking by, but I've seen people putting $20s and $10s in."

Dave Clark '09 said that he and Hochster came up with the idea for a bike-a-thon after alumni told them about past club fundraisers, including a walk-a-thon and a run-a-thon.

"Me and Kane started throwing out ideas about a swim-a-thon or a run-a-thon, and we thought we should bike to Ireland, so we looked up the distance," Clark said.

According to Farinacci, the club travels to a part of the world with "decent levels of rugby" each spring. Two years ago, the club flew to Argentina, and last year, the club spent spring break in Virginia.

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"We'll be playing local men's clubs or college clubs, with levels similar to our own," Farinacci said. "There aren't too many places where lots of people play rugby. The best places besides Ireland are England, New Zealand and South Africa."

It will cost about $60,000 for all of the team members to travel to Ireland, Farinacci said. The club attempted to raise money in other ways, including cleaning Princeton Stadium. The club might also plan a volleyball tournament.

"We need to make it so that everyone can afford it," Clark said. "We can't take just half the team; it's got to be all or nothing."

Not all of the team members are biking in their underwear like Smith, whom club members call Crazy Mike.

"I don a hoodie and start biking," Hochster said. "After about five minutes, all the exercise keeps me warm." Still, he said, "yesterday at 6 p.m., it was raining freezing rain pretty hard, and it was pretty cold."

Hochster appreciates when students talk to him to show support. "It takes my mind off of the cold," he said.

Still, he added, "I'm pretty sure they think we're crazy."