Gannon University’s bracket featured some familiar names: Vanderbilt University and L.S.U. No, the Knights haven’t joined the powerful Southeastern Conference, but we did roll over them. Literally.
The field of competition was the 2014 Fall Frenzy Fitness Bike Challenge, an event sponsored by Expresso, the maker of interactive exercise bikes. The bikes, which can be found in the newly renovated Recreation and Wellness Center, are equipped with screens that portray a virtual course. Users can login to an Expresso account that tracks their pace, the virtual courses they have “ridden” and, most importantly, their mileage.
In each subsequent round of the challenge, teams of riders from the colleges and universities in the NCAA-basketball-type bracket, squared off in a challenge to ride the most miles in a period of time.
Gannon advanced through the rounds knocking off Vanderbilt, among other foes, and arrived at the finals against Schoolcraft College of Michigan.
Even though Schoolcraft reportedly has many more Expresso bikes than the Recreation and Wellness Center does, the Gannon riders fell just short, logging 4,028 miles to Schoolcraft’s 4,147 miles in the final round. Gannon had four of the top ten riders in mileage, more than any other competitor.
In other words, the Knights had a very solid ride.