Tag: Olympic Development Academy

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Show #534 – December 26, 2020

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Guests: Jamie Anderson; Sean Wilson

Happy boxing day – happy holidays – and I hope you are finding some time to relax!

We’ve got almost two feet of snow here in NE Ohio and it’s been just fine with me to take my time and put together what I think is a great show.

I want to start with asking if you have lived the life you want, following your dreams and finding the path that is satisfying and that feels right?

My first guest, Jamie Anderson, realized more than 20 years into a successful career with a wife he loved and three great kids, that HIS childhood dream hadn’t been fulfilled and, that it hadn’t diminished either.

His idol as a child was Greg LeMond – and, his circumstances pointed him away from a career as a professional cyclist into one of academics, teaching, and consulting. Our conversation is about what happened that lead him to that path not taken earlier in life and the message it offers all of us.

And, take a few minutes to listen to his Ted Talk!

You might remember that we spoke with Rob DeMartini, CEO of USA Cycling last week about the new Olympic Development Academy. This program is offered to those who are 16 and older.

But what about youngsters – those who are just starting to ride through the age where the ODA might be a place to move a talented rider towards and Olympic dream?

Sean Wilson has a lot of the answers to this question. He’s the founder and head coach at the Youth Cycling Association in Redlands, California. The YCA is a “national youth sports strategy champion,” and the first cycling organization to have the designation. 

Coming from a racing background through an extensive and storied academic career, he is able to take his science into his coaching and training to get kids safely and more skillfully riding on two wheels.

Sean is an associate professor at Loma Linda University and combining his pro-racing career, his work in the medical field, and an abiding interest in getting young children on bikes safely, he is looking to bridge the gap for children to excel in bicycling and look to making it a life-long sport.

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Show #533 – December 19, 2020

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Guests: Gary Fisher; Rob DeMartini

As promised, Gary Fisher is back to talk about his new book, Being Gary Fisher And The Bicycle Revolution well, we SORT of talk about it. Let me explain.

There is no one quite like Gary Fisher – and from the time he was a little boy, he’s marched to the beat of his own drum.

He says his new book, Being Gary Fisher – And The Bicycle Revolution – isn’t a memoir; rather a collection of stories and ideas.

If you remember the original “Whole Earth Catalog,” – a loose compilation of all sorts of things hip and natural – it’s kind of like that… only in full, explosive color, teeming with photos and commentary, with the bicycle stitching it all together.

The conversation shoots off in a variety of directions – sometimes seemingly disconnected; but, he always comes back to the bicycle – for what it is, what it does, and what it can portend for the future. In fact, after you hear this and read the book, it will all become very clear!

After our break we head to Colorado Springs.

There was a lot of twisting and shouting about the new Olympic Development Academy, a program USA Cycling is rolling out for 2021. When a Velo News article appeared about the ODA, social media lit up like it was 4th of July.

Aimed at finding and training young riders, 16 and up, in the hopes of drawing in a more diverse body of talent, the fact that there is a price tag attached to the program seemed to upset a lot of people. I think you’ll understand it a lot better from the source.

I wanted to hear about it straight from the source, so I rang up USA Cycling’s CEO Rob DeMartini to give us the low down on the program and what he and the organization is hoping it means for the future.