Universal Storage Containers (USC), a provider of foldable, portable moving and storage containers for self-storage and other industries, has forayed into the world of team sports with its sponsorship of the new USC Cycling Team. The group of 20 Colorado-based amateur bike racers competes in road, mountain-bike and cyclocross races.

The team has enjoyed a strong fall racing campaign, notching eight top-five finishes on the Colorado cyclocross circuit. With a month left in the season, it is second overall in the 35-plus, Category 3 Colorado Cross Cup series standings, third in the 35-plus, Category 4 rankings, and fifth in the 55-plus age division.

The cycling team includes one member of the USC staff: Rod Bolls, vice president of business development, who works from the company's Boulder, Colo., office.

Additional team sponsors include the Boulder Theater, Dish Gourmet, Infinit Nutrition, Oak at Fourteenth, OnSite Massage, Oskar Blues Brewery, Panache Cyclewear and Vecchios Bicicletteria.

The cycling team has also become a valuable marketing vehicle for USC, according to company officials. The group extols the virtues of the firm's storage containers, which are engineered using an innovative folding technology.

Based in New Canaan, Conn., USC has offices in Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts and Michigan. Its products include portable "instant office" containers, portable walk-in coolers and freezers, emergency-response containers and more.