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My first time at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs was in December 1987. The “December Camp” was comprised of over 100 junior 16–17-year-old athletes, both male and female, from around the country, but John McKinley and I were also invited as up-and-coming 15-year-old talents.
Looking back at it now, it was clearly a Talent ID camp or “meat grinder” camp run by legendary coach Eddie B of the USCF. We would train up to eight hours per day doing all sorts of activities such as cycling, swimming, weightlifting, running, and cyclocross. I had very little contact with Eddie B as I was one of the youngest riders there, but I wanted to impress him and the rest of the coaching staff, so I did whatever they told me to do.
Being from Colorado, I had an advantage over riders coming from sea level and even though I was only 15, I was able to keep up with the older boys in all the training exercises. It was hard training both mentally and physically, but this was the Olympic Training Center after all, and the cream soon rose to the top.
Of the approximately 90 male riders that attended the December camp, only 30 were invited back to the coveted “April Camp” the following spring. Most of the riders had this as their primary objective as this was the camp from which four riders were selected to go on the junior spring trip to Europe for six weeks of racing with all expenses paid by the USCF.
As a 15-year-old I was not eligible to go to Europe, so I was not selected for the April camp or European trip, but I was in the room as Eddie B and the coaching staff read out the 30 names that were selected. It was extremely tense for the older riders, but knowing that I was too young to be selected allowed me to take it all in and I vowed to return the next year to not only make the selection for the April Camp, but the six-week European campaign as well.
The next year and again in 1989 I made the selection for the April Camp and traveled to Europe to race for six weeks each spring as well as the world championships in Denmark and Russia in the summer. With each trip that the USCF funded, I gained valuable experience in the sport and developed those important life skills on the road that wouldn’t have been possible without their support.
I was blessed to race both as a junior and amateur when the USCF (Now USAC) was fully funded because road cycling in the USA was booming. This allowed me and many other athletes to travel and race around the world and eventually turn professional.
During my professional career I was able to represent the USA National Team at several world championships as well as the 2004 Olympics in Athens where we were fully supported by USAC. I will forever be thankful for their support over the years.
These days, road cycling in the USA is struggling and USAC membership isn’t what it was back when I started racing, so the funds to do training camps and European trips are not what they once were. Kids from all disciplines need our support in order to give them the same opportunities that my generation had.
Last weekend I attended a USAC Foundation ride in Aspen run by Mari Holden. We were joined notably by Riley Amos who recently rode to seventh place at the Paris Olympics in the elite men’s XCO MTB event and followed up this best ever USA male performance a few weeks later by winning the U23 world championship in the MTB short track event even while nursing a slight illness.
Riley started riding in Durango, Colorado and was lucky enough to come through the Durango Devo development program. It started off as an after-school activity, but he soon realized that he had the talent to go much further. With the support of Durango Devo, the Bear Development National Team, and his current Trek Factory Racing team, he has dominated the U23 MTB scene this season and has a bright future ahead of him.
There are many great development programs around the country that need our support, but I also encourage you to go to usacycling.org to see how you can support the next generation’s goal of representing Team USA in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and beyond.
I became interested in cycling due to the great results of Team USA at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. I was inspired by riders like Connie Carpenter, Rebecca Twigg, Steve Hegg, and especially Alexi Grewal who lived just up the valley from my hometown of Glenwood Springs, Colorado.
Inspiration without the much-needed financial support that it takes to identify, develop, and support young athletes doesn’t mean much, so please support local programs as well as USAC to give our current and future athletes a chance at obtaining their dreams and bringing home medals in LA28.
