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They bicycled for four years or more from their dorms to class, from their apartments to class, and from this class to that class, all around campus and all around town.

Surely some of this year's ºÙºÙÊÓƵ graduates will bike to commencement, too. So why not ride like an Aggie through and through, on the all-new Aggie Cruiser?

The bikes are from San Diego-based Collegiate Bicycle Co., which so far has licensing deals with nearly three dozen colleges, fraternities and sororities across the nation for their own branded bicycles. ºÙºÙÊÓƵ was among the first schools to take shipment.

"Bikes are built into the culture here, so this is where we wanted to start," said Jon Sobin, director of business development for Collegiate Bicycle, during a recent visit to campus.

But neither he nor Erik Camp, the company's co-founder and vice president, fully realized the extent of the ºÙºÙÊÓƵ biking phenomenon until they saw it for themselves. "We were cruising around, when suddenly the students got out of class — and we were surrounded by a sea of bikes," the 26-year-old Sobin said.

He and Camp, also 26, are hoping to see a lot of ºÙºÙÊÓƵ blue and gold in that sea of bikes. So is ºÙºÙÊÓƵ — because, for each bike sold at the suggested retail price of $299.99, the university gets a royalty of 7.5 percent, or as much as $22.50, depending on whether the royalty is included in the retail price or taken off the top. The money goes to Student Affairs.

Scott Stevenson, the campus's trademark licensing coordinator, said everyone knows Davis is a bicycle-centric town, so the Aggie Cruisers "seemed like a good fit from the very beginning."

"And we're trying to get brand recognition any way we can," he added.

Aggie Cruisers — in men's and women's styles — are available at the Bike Barn on campus and at two Davis shops: Ken's Bike & Ski and Freewheeler Bicycle Center.

The Aggie colors and logo "add fun and excitement to the bikes," said Robert St. Cyr, the Bike Barn manager, who said he expects to see a lot more interest in the bikes in the fall when a new crop of freshmen arrives.

The Bike Barn generally plans to rent rather than sell the new Aggie Cruisers. But, what if several of the Bike Barn employees happen to play water polo? And what if they and their teammates want to buy their coach an Aggie Cruiser as a year-end gift? Who could say no?

That is how men's water polo coach Steve Doten became the proud owner of a new Aggie Cruiser. "It's awesome," Doten said. "I haven't driven my car since."

His players made the presentation at the team's banquet on June 1. Doten said the bike "is a big hit" as he rides around campus.

Sobin and Camp call it "riding your pride" or, in this case, Aggie Pride.

But their business plan also is motivated by another factor: getting people out of their cars and onto bicycles at colleges across the country.

"Most other schools are not as bike-oriented as Davis or UC schools in general," Sobin said.

Sobin and Camp said their alma mater, Providence College in Rhode Island (class of 2004), is among those that could use a bicycle boost. The Providence Friars will be getting branded bicycles soon, as will Maryland and Connecticut, Virginia Tech and Miami, Oklahoma and SMU, Michigan State and Wisconsin, Oregon and Hawaii, among others.

In addition to ºÙºÙÊÓƵ, other California schools on the list are UC Santa Barbara, and three campuses in the California State University system: Fresno, Long Beach and San Diego.

Most schools, like Davis, are simply using the cruiser name, as in Aggie Cruiser. Another Aggie school, Texas A&M, is calling its cruiser the Aggiemobile.

Fraternities and sororities are signing up on a national basis. They include Kappa Sigma, Pi Beta Phi, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega, Sigma Chi, Kappa Alpha Theta, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Tau Kappa Epsilon — all with ºÙºÙÊÓƵ chapters.

Local bike shops will not keep fraternity and sorority cruisers in stock, so Collegiate Bicycle will handle those sales online.

Similarly, alumni who live far from their college towns are not likely to find their school bikes at their local shops, so these people are also welcome to make purchases online.

"One of our biggest support groups is alumni," Sobin said. "These are people who are willing to make a commitment to their schools."

Sobin and Camp marveled at their chances for success in Davis. "It's a progressive bike-friendly town," Camp said, "and, coupled with university pride, we've come across the ultimate combination."

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