Alfred University Alumni Reunion Bike pedal onto campus

ALFRED, NY -- The Alfred University “Reunion Bikers,” a group of alumni who spend the week preceding Reunion Weekend bicycling to Alfred, arrived on campus precisely at noon on Friday, June 10, as they have each Friday for all but one of the last 13 years.

This year actually marks the 15th year the Reunion Bikers have pedaled into Alfred from various starting points to join fellow alumni on campus. The tradition that was started by a handful of alumni from the class of 1958 who decided to bike from the Philadelphia area to Alfred University for their 40th reunion in 1998. They did it again for their 45th and 50th reunions (in 2003 and 2008, respectively), choosing different routes in most years.

By 2010, the ride had become an annual tradition and continued each year, with the exception of 2020, when Reunion was canceled due to COVID. For this year’s Reunion, the group chose Geneva, NY, at the north end of Seneca Lake, as their pedal-off point.

Organizers welcome anyone—alumni or non-alumni—to join in the ride.

After arriving in Geneva June 4 and staying three nights, the Reunion Bikers rode to Mount Morris and stayed two night (June 7 and 8), tackling the challenges of Letchworth State Park, before moving on to Hornell on June 9, where they stayed overnight before celebrating with their “Victory Ride” into Alfred on Friday, June 10.

Reunion Bikers who arrived in Alfred today are, left to right in photo above: Blake Mayo, Terry Kiff ’84, Elliott Laskey ’58, Larry Ploetz ’68, Mary Bouchard ’73, and Steve Crandall ’77.