Just the Facts - Who, What, Where, When and Why

This article will serve as a basic introduction to a weekly column that I’ll be posting at VeloNews.com over the next couple of months. I am Taylor Phinney’s personal coach and I will be traveling with Taylor and his family from Boulder to the junior world championships in South Africa, and then through the Olympic Games in Beijing. Here is your chance to vicariously travel to the Olympics and get an inside glimpse into the world of a soon-to-be Olympian and his coach.

Who – I am Neal Henderson and I am an exercise physiologist and coach. I have worked at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine for over seven years and met Connie Carpenter and Davis Phinney there. I studied exercise science at Penn State University and then came to Boulder to earn my master’s degree in Kinesiology at the University of Colorado. I raced triathlons professionally from 2000 through 2003, and continued to race bikes after retiring from triathlon, though not at an elite level. I coached the collegiate and junior national teams for USA Cycling in 1999, and coached the CU collegiate triathlon team to its 4th and 5th consecutive national titles in 1999 and 2000. I am married to my wonderful wife Jane who graciously gave me the OK for this insane trip, and I have a 2-year old daughter Abigail and 15-year-old step-daughter Renee. My favorite color is blue, and I like to play the guitar in my spare time ... you probably didn’t need to know that, but now you know me a little bit better. I used to be able to beat Taylor both on the bike and playing Guitar Hero, 2 and 1 years ago respectively, but now he schools me in both disciplines.

What – The next seven weeks are going to be a journey of racing and training leading up to the Olympic Games in Beijing. Taylor will be riding the 4 km individual pursuit in Beijing. He is also the defending junior world champion in the individual time trial. Taylor recently set a junior world record in the 3km individual pursuit, which is the first event that he will be competing in at the junior world championships on July 12, 2008. Taylor may also compete in the points race and omnium on the track depending on how things are going, before focusing on the individual time trial on July 18. The Olympic individual pursuit will be contested in Beijing on August 15 and 16, 2008.

Where – Taylor left today for a quick trip to Italy with the family to visit some friends, as the Phinneys had lived in Italy for 3 years. This will also give Taylor 10 days to accommodate to the 8-hour time difference between Boulder and South Africa. While South Africa is in the Southern Hemisphere and a 12-hour plane flight away from Europe, it is effectively due south and on the exact same time zone as most of Europe. I depart from Denver International Airport on Monday, arriving in Frankfurt Tuesday morning where I will meet up with Taylor for the trip to Cape Town, South Africa. After the individual time trial, we’ll return to Europe for a couple of weeks and I’ll get a much needed visit from my family there! In August we’ll travel from Bordeaux to Beijing for the big show.

When
July 2 – Taylor departs for Italy
July 3 – Taylor arrives in Italy
July 7 – Neal departs for Germany
July 8 – Neal arrives in Germany, Taylor arrives in Germany
July 9 – Neal & Taylor arrive in Cape Town, South Africa
July 12 – Taylor competes in 3K Individual Pursuit
July 14 – Taylor competes in points race
July 16 – Taylor competes in track omnium
July 18 – Taylor competes in individual time trial
July 19 – Taylor and Neal depart South Africa and arrive in Bordeaux
August 5 – Depart for Beijing (via London)
August 7 – Arrive in Beijing
August 15 – 4K Individual Pursuit qualifying round
August 16 – 4K Individual Pursuit semi-final and finals
August 21 – Depart for Colorado…arrive home same day!

Why – For me, the reason that I agreed to join the “Phinney’s traveling circus” as Connie calls it, is that I hope to be able to continue to provide Taylor a consistent build up to the biggest races of his career. The core of the Phinney family includes Connie, 1984 women’s Olympic road road race Gold medalist; Davis, 1984 Olympic team time trial bronze medalist and the winingest pro cyclist in US history; Taylor and younger sister Kelsey, an excellent cross country skier and Taylor’s biggest fan. There will be more media, cameras, pressure and all of that — but in the simplest way of thinking of it, Taylor is still just training for another 4K individual pursuit — the Olympic 4K Individual Pursuit. Once all of the chaos settles into the background, it will be just Taylor against the clock and his paired rider racing. For Taylor, the reason why is pretty clear … as as he often says, “I race to win.”

The Olympic Games are the world’s biggest sporting arena and they only occur every 4 years. World championships, world records, and other races are all incredibly important and can make a career…but the Olympics are the top step for track cycling and play out in front of the biggest international audience. Taylor will be pursuing a professional road racing career, and even though he will likely continue to compete in upcoming Olympics in London and hopefully beyond, this is likely the last time that he will be able to completely dedicate himself in preparation for the Olympics over such a long time. Enjoy the ride … I sure plan on it!

Neal Henderson is the Sport Science Manager at Boulder Center for Sports Medicine. He is a USA Cycling certified coach and works with a diverse clientele at BCSM. He has been Taylor Phinney’s personal coach since 2006 and will is traveling with Taylor and his family in the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics.