JOHN WALSH

Coach. Mentor. Friend

John Walsh, 2009 Criterium Road Champion, Madison Champion, and Silver Medal in the match sprints finds a love in helping out all athletes who want to get better and achieve their goals within the track cycling world. His goal and love for the sport keeps him motivated to train and brew new talent within the cycling community, and demands hard work out of his athletes that he trains on the track.

The VELO Sports Center wanted to get into the life of John Walsh a little deeper, and ask questions about his life in relationship to track, how he got started, his coaching styles, and his life after being a serious cycling athlete.

Make sure to show up to the Pursuit Training this Friday @ 7PM

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Q&A w/ John Walsh

Rich Kemp: So tell us how did you get into coaching? Specifically track cycling?

John Walsh: I started in the late 80s, after the 1984 Olympics there was a foundation put together to help develop athletes in sports that weren’t as popular, or as popular as the main stream sports. Cycling was one of them.

RK: Was that part of the LA 84?

JW: Correct, the American Athletic Foundation. We had numerous National Champions come out of here. A lot of inner city kids would come here (to the velodrome) to train and ride. It just showed them a different life. One of the current and top guys in Rahsaan Bahati (Owner of Bahati Foundation) and he came through the classes in the early 90s – 1993 actually.

RK: On the picture of you coaching (above) what athlete is that?

JW: Lauren Hall (Nationals and Madison Champion on track), she was about to compete in the Individual Pursuit (3K) in the Women’s Omnium at the VELO Sports Center.

RK: What did you say to her before her Individual Pursuit Effort?

JW: I was showing her on the stop watch what her splits should be, especially for the first 2 laps coming out of the start gates.

RK: What is one great piece of advice you can give to an athlete in regards to a pursuit effort?

JW: Focus on your first two laps, and hit your target splits. The first lap coming out of the start gate, and the second lap are the two most critical in an Individual Pursuit effort.

RK: Let’s go back to you racing. Throughout your racing career what was the most amount of money you have won in a preme? Road crits, track, anything?

JW: Probably a television back in the 80s (laughs) when televisions were more expensive. You didn’t just throw them away.

RK: Do you remember what race it was?

JW: It was out in the middle of nowhere, and they told everyone what lap it was going to be. Once I started sprinting and I was on the other side of the road and I looked they (cyclists) all sat up.

RK: What is your favorite track race or event?

JW: I like them all (laughs). Miss and Outs and Madison are my two favorite. My least is a snowball point a lap race. (I hate that race!)

RK: What is your best memory of track cycling? Would it be your championships won?

JW: Coaching the kids and seeing them succeed. A lot of the kids I have coached here at the track with Roger Young, (I was his assistant forever) A lot of the kids that came through with us, seeing them win national championships was pretty awesome. I know I had a part of that. That was probably more rewarding than anything else because I have been doing that for so long. I get to see kids going to Junior Worlds. For instance Sarah Hammer (2x Olympian), I’ve known her since she was six. We used to push her little 18 inch bike over to the local crit, and push her back. Now she grew up, great person, great representative of America and Women’s Cycling, and how to act and be a good person. I think that is the most rewarding seeing other people succeed and achieve goals, goals that I have achieved or worked towards.

Make sure to sign up for the Pursuit Skills Session and future sessions HERE.

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