About me

My dad first tried teaching me how to ride with two wheels as soon as I got big enough for a pedal bike. Growing up I always rode around with my friends to waste time in the day. However, I wasn't very athletic. I was the kid that come track and field day, picked the two easiest/shortest sports in order to just make it through the day, 100m and long jump. I was always last in my 100m heat. Playing soccer and baseball growing up I ended up being the kid that spent a lot of time on the bench. When I was a kid, in a soccer game after being told to chase the ball I was quoted as saying "why would I run all the way up there, if the ball is just going to come back here".

My third Paris to Ancaster -just happy to finish!

First time doing Lake to Lake with Zach. As you can tell from my face, I just love being on the bike. 

I entered my first Paris to Ancaster in 2007 due to peer pressure from my best friend Zach on my Canadian Tire bike. Because the cost was the same, we entered the 60km to get our money's worth even though our longest ride ever was only 27km. That was my first race, and we both got destroyed. Finishing at over 4 hours (11th last...). It wasn't until half way through grade 11 (2009) that I decided to change the way I lived. I was a chubby kid at 210lbs, and I wanted to get good at some kind of sport. I started to exercise everyday at my local gym and dropped 30lbs over 2 months and another 10 in the following 2 months. In grade 12 I made my first high school team, cross country. I went from not running at all, to being in the top half of Brant county in just a month. That winter I tried to keep my fitness up by hitting the spin bike a few times a week, and using weights. My high school then started a mountain bike team that year, which was awesome. After this I was really sold on racing and wanted to get fast. I just wanted to be one of those people, that when someone mentions your name to another person one of them say "Oh yeah, he is fast". The following summer I tried my luck in the OCUP XC circuit without much luck. I had good fitness but my technical skills sucked as Brantford doesn't really have a good trail system for mountain biking, so I only used my mountain bike on race day.

After tying for first in the B-division in the University mountain bike cup, I was killed in the A division the following year. 

That year I also went to try out for team CHCH, and during the fitness test they commented on my wattage and said I would be better on the road. After having my bikes stolen earlier that year, I didn't have the money to join the team but I kept that advice in my head, and made the switch the following year. I had much more success on the road compared to on the mountain bike. Over 2 seasons I was able to get from Elite 4-Elite 2, thanks to all the help from my coach Jeff Kehler and my team CoachChris.ca/Ted Velikonja. Also thanks to the huge support I have gotten from my family and especially my mom! I also was able to learn a tremendous amount from a local group that is filled with a lot of ex-racers. I continue to love to race, but also just love to ride. To me, as soon as I lose the passion to just hop on the bike and go for a ride, I will need to take a break from the sport.

Through my time spent riding with others, I have found cycling to be a sport for the rejects, at least around here. Everyone that couldn't be successful in another sport, can find some level of success in cycling. This could be because of the high buy-in cost to the sport, so almost no one just starts off in the sport. But I think it is also due to the fact that even if you are heavier, you can plan your rides so you can keep up with your more fit peers. The sport is phenomenal and has allowed me to see much of Ontario that I never would have otherwise, and I hope in the future it can show me other places too as I work to be the fastest I can be. It would be awesome, and a dream to come true to ride for a pro team. I am currently working towards my PhD in Neuroscience because I love science, and because we all need a good backup plan right?

trying to hang with the men in the E1/2 field. Photo credit: Jeremy Allen