The Past, Present, and Future

Two years in May of 2006, my journey toward Beijing began as I talked with Taylor Phinney, and his Olympic medalist parents Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter, about coaching him in cycling. Taylor had already won a few local races and showed great promise. From that point on, I've been part of the team of folks that has helped Taylor grow into a world class athlete in an extremely short time. In August of 2007, Taylor won the UCI Junior Time Trial world championship title in Mexico. In October of 2007, Taylor won the Elite USA National Championships in the 4km Individual Pursuit in Los Angeles. From there, Taylor entered the UCI world cup track cycling events in Sydney in November (9th), Beijing in December (4th), LA in January (1st), and Copenhagen in February (9th). I then went to Manchester, England for the UCI Track World Championships with Taylor where he finished 9th in a personal record time and set a new "unoffical" junior world record time at 3km en route.

Above - Taylor and I in Manchester (I'm not a midget...but Taylor is a giant!)

Taylor has just returned to the US after a 2-week European junior racing circuit with the US Junior National cycling team based out of Belgium and had successful races at the Trofeo Karlsburg in Germany and at the Tour du Pays Vaud (TPV) in Switzerland - including an individual TT win at TPV and finsishing 7th overall. Next up is the USA Cycling Olympic team camp in Los Angeles next week and then the Tour of PA U25 race at the end of June.

On July 4, Taylor and I will leave for a 7-week odyssey that will involve a round the world trip to South Africa for the UCI Junior Track and Road Cycling world championships, then t0 Bordeaux, France for track specific training on the velodrome there, and then finally to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games. This blog will be a way to tell the story of the journey leading to China to my friends, relatives, co-workers, and others interested in this epic adventure. Enjoy!