Colt Peterson is highly successful up-and-coming junior racer from Orange County, California who now calls Boulder, Colorado home. He was kind enough to answer a few questions related to racing and group rides:
Tell us a bit about who you are and how you got into cycling?
This season I am a second year under-twenty-three road and track cyclist. I now live and go to college in Boulder, Colorado. I got started by my dad who proposed the idea of me riding a bike to help with my cross training for soccer. So I gave it a try with him and his old friends on their Saturday group ride. I had no concept of drafting or anything like that so they dropped me when it was windy and there were some hills. I could not believe my eyes, I was getting beat at something competitive by old guys. I started riding a bike more and playing less soccer. Eventually riding became much more fun than soccer.
As a junior racer, what has been your path to pursuing racing at a higher level? What advice would you have for other juniors looking to reach their goals?
I have always tried to race with racers that are better than me as well as doing bigger races. I believe this will help somebody become a better racer and get good experience. I think that as a junior I really learned a lot from some of the more experienced riders in my city, I tried to soak up everything that I could learn from them and apply it to my riding and racing.
What are you most proud of so far in the journey?
I am most proud of my win at the Tour de L’Abitibi as a junior racing for the USA National team.
How has having mentors or people support you been instrumental in reaching the next level?
Having family, mentors, friends, training partners, and more people to look up to have been huge. It is always nice to have a good group of people to keep you on track and keep your head in the right place.
Where are you now? What’s your next big goal(s)?
Right now I am focusing on the road. I am living in Boulder, Colorado like I said before which I think is the best place in the United States for a road cyclist to live. The terrain is amazing, the training groups are awesome, and the people are all so active and healthy. A couple of my big goals are to win a National Racing Calendar race this coming season, to podium in one of the events at USA U23 Road Nationals and to win a collegiate national title for the University of Colorado.
Any advice for cyclists looking to do group rides or improve in group rides?
Ahhh, group rides. I love group rides when they fit into my schedule! I would say always try to ride at the front of a group ride. It is the safest place and you can learn some valuable things such as pace lining, proper etiquette, staying alert, safety rules and more. Staying in the front and putting in some great work is also solid training.
How can we follow and support you? (your blog, twitter, FB, etc)
You can follow me on twitter at this username: @coltpeterson45
You can follow my blog site at: http://coltpeterson.blogspot.com/
Or you can like my Athlete Facebook page by clicking HERE.
Thanks Colt! We’ll be following and supporting you this season – best of luck!
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