By Emily Savage
Staff Writer
A cycling team based in Belmont Shore is vying to compete in the 2008 Olympics in Bejing.
Momentum Cycling is a track cycling team that includes three members who raced in the 2004 Athens Olympics and one who is preparing for his first Olympic ride.
“Athens was incredible,” said Adam Duvendeck, a member of Momentum Cycling. “My first cycling coach went to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, so it’s always been a goal of mine.”
The four-person team was put together in May by friends who met at various international cycling events over the past couple of years, Duvendeck said.
Jennie Reed, Josiah Ng, Travis Smith and Duvendeck ride together every day of the week, except Sundays.
They ride track bicycles, also known as fixed gears, at the Home Depot Center four days a week and do road rides two days a week. They also lift weights at California State University, Long Beach, twice a week.
The biggest challenge they face is getting enough points to qualify for the Olympics, he said.
To do so, they must attend and win as many international competitions as they can, Duvendeck said.
The team director, Dr. Howard Marans, helps with the financial aspect of getting the cyclists to competitions, as well as emotional support, Duvendeck said.
“They needed someone to help them run the team,” Marans said. “They still need more corporate sponsors.”
The team is currently sponsored by Look Bicycles, a French company, but is actively seeking more sponsors.
“This type of cycling just isn’t that popular in the U.S. yet,” Duvendeck said. “Teams in other countries are fully backed and have a lot more support.”
The members of Momentum Cycling have two events, a match sprint and the Keirin ride. Both events are track events that take place inside a velodrome. The match sprint is a one-on-one ride.
“People have described it as a cat-and-mouse game,” Duvendeck said, “with each rider jockeying for position.”
The Keirin features six riders and is paced at first by a motorbike.The four have been preparing for these events for years, Duvendeck said.
“I started on mountain bikes, then quickly switched to road bikes and then to track bikes, six years ago,” Duvendeck said.
In addition to preparing for the Olympics, Duvendeck also coached University of California, Santa Barbara’s cycling team for two years.
This year, he’s focused mainly on his team, he said. From May of 2007 through early 2008, the team will prepare to cycle in as many international events as they can, to reach their goal of riding in the Beijing Olympics.
“These are legitimate, world-class athletes,” Marans said.
For more information on Momentum Cycling and their goal of getting to the 2008 Olympics, visit www.momentumcycling.com.
