What motivates me …
When I was young it was liberating to ride. To get us out of the house, my mom would tell us to go ride our bikes. As a kid, the experience of simply riding off into the unknown gave me a sense of freedom. It was exhilarating. That's a feeling I want to be able to share with other young people through the many programs we're initiating with the City of Long Beach.
The turning point for me (in terms of cycling) was my dad. He was the one who got me interested in racing, in taking it to the next level. He still races to this day. Now my son, Brandon, wants to race and is training for the 2012 Olympics in London. So the sport has come full circle for our family.
Brandon's desire to race has renewed my interest and motivated me to help other kids. When I was his age I rode with Willard Ford, Harrison Ford's son. Willard helped me by gathering sponsors and forming a team. Creating a team helped me to take the next step as a cyclist. We won a national championship and that put our team on the map. I have so many great memories from those days. Willard's son is now the same age as Brandon. Now what we want to do is bring that team back and help my son and his group pick up where our group left off.
The Turning Point …
After competing at such high levels in the sport as a junior, I was becoming burned out on cycling. From 1990 to 1995 I didn't race at all. Instead, I married and became a father. While my wife, Jody, was completing a nursing program in Reno, Nevada, I supported her while working as a pharmacy technician. I was unhappy with the job, but I continued to ride my bike to and from work.
I began seeing articles in magazines about my former teammates. They were making money doing what they loved. A friend came to stay with us in Reno and said, "Let's do a race." It was like I'd never left. The moment we started, I'd already had my strategy figured out and I ended up telling my friend the errors he'd made in the race. The next week I started focusing on racing again. That was in 1995.
My family …
My wife, Jody, and I met when we were 16. She grew up in Mammoth Lakes. Jody was the podium girl who presented me with flowers and my award at a race. In those early days of racing, we always wanted to date the podium girls. I got to marry one.
We now have three children: Brandon (17 – our cyclist), Alexi (13 – our soccer player), and Aidan (5 – our dare devil). I want be able to help my children as much as I can with their athletic goals. For Brandon, I want to help him learn the discipline of becoming a professional athlete. For my daughter, Alexi, I want to teach her how to focus on endurance and demonstrate to her the importance of physical fitness in a sport like soccer. Aidan simply tells me he's not cut out to play soccer. "Soccer's not my sport. I want to try tennis," he tells me. What a great kid. They're all so amazing.
Jody and I just bought a tandem so we can go out and have fun riding and just spending more time together. Without Jody, there's no way I could have reached any of my cycling goals. She's been the one to hold down the fort while I travel 10 months out of the year.
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