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Tip: Pearce's advice from around the track
By Colby Pearce // March 24, 2005
Colby Pearce, 2004 Olympian is someone to watch for in the points race on the World Cup tour. After switching from racing time trials to pursuit, Pearce found his niche in the points race. He finished 14th at the Olympic Games in the points race. He was the 2002 overall UCI World Cup champion in the points race, National champion in team pursuit and madison. In the 2005 season, he finished second in points race in a World Cup competition at the track in Los Angeles, which is where and the event he will be racing at the 2005 UCI Track World Championships are being contested.
Advice from around the track
Tip #1: Look at the big picture.
“The most important thing is just to take a step back and look at the big picture. You have to be mindful every day of what you are doing and where you are at and remember that it’s just a sport.”
Tip #2: Don’t value your self on a placing.
“You don’t have to basis your entire self-worth on how you do in a bike race. It’s easy to get sucked into that mindset, especially in the sport of cycling. It is such a sport that encourages a selfish mindset just by its nature because you spend so much time alone and it’s so demanding in terms of time and energy.”
Tip #3: Maintain close ties to family and friends.
“It’s important for people to not forget about your friends and family. You’ve got to try strike a happy medium. There are so many cyclists I know who have family lives that are suffering a little bit because they’re so busy with their sport and it’s so all consuming that they haven’t really found the optimum balance there. And that’s very important to try to maintain that. There aren’t very many people who are very good at sort of keeping all those things at the appropriate levels.”
Tip #4: You have time…try every event.
“Cycling tends to be an old guys sport, not always, but there are a lot of people who don’t have success in cycling until they have been doing it for several years. People don’t need to be in a hurry to try to decide what event they want to do or pigeonhole themselves as ‘I’m a pursuiter or I’m a sprinter.’ In the beginning, they need to race as much as they can and try a variety of different events. If they have real talent in one area, it’s going to come out sooner or later.”
Tip #5: Don’t pressure yourself…your day will come.
“Don’t feel pressure to try to succeed right off the bat. There are some people who come out and win Olympic gold medals at the age of 19 in cycling and some that do at the age of 32. If your not going to win one at 19, doesn’t mean you don’t have 12 years to get it dialed in. A lot of young cyclists pressure themselves that way and that’s not everyone’s destiny to be great out of the blocks. I do feel that everyone who gives cycling a sold shot will eventually have their day where they are dropping the best guys.”
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