Cadence Cycling Foundation
By David Berson

Since January, the Cadence Cycling Foundation has been training 32 inner-city children mostly indoors on donated bicycles and fancy computers to simulate outdoor riding. Will there be another Lance Armstrong within this group? Ryan Oelkers thinks so.
Oelkers, a coach at Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center, got the idea to start a grassroots program to create a new generation of cyclists in the Philadelphia area when his wife, Erin, was teaching kindergarten at an inner-city school. Drawing on his background as a professional cyclist and former National Champion to expose his wife’s students to a positive role model, he recruited his friend and track racing partner, World and Olympic Champion Marty Nothstein, to visit the school and talk about cycling. According to Oelkers, the children were in awe of Nothstein’s medals and asked how they could start racing. “Honestly, we didn’t have an easy answer for them on how to start,” he said. “While hugely popular in Europe, here in the U.S. cycling is not the first sport that young children flock to compete in. Costs to get started can be high, and many adults are uninformed about what to do or where to go for interested children.” After researching options, Oelkers realized that an opportunity existed to initiate a program for road riders in Philadelphia similar to the Air Products Development Program in the Lehigh Valley, which develops track riders from the local areas.

According to Jay Snider, owner and CEO of Cadence Cycling & Multisport, “the foundation was born out of rides with Ryan where we would discuss and lament the fact that there were no organized cycling programs for our sport. It seems ironic that almost every child has or rides a bike, so much so that it is probably the one common denominator among all kids who choose other different sports to compete in. Yet there is nowhere to go with their cycling interest.” Snider continued to say that if we could harness some of that talent we could change the outcome of our national cycling program. “And even more important, we could use cycling as motivation for kids to study harder, set goals, and give them a better future.” Jay is now the chairman of the Cadence Cycling Foundation.
One of the most unique aspects of the program is the fact that while the foundation hopes to cultivate a talented crop of athletes, its main goal is to use cycling as a way to help participants grow into successful people overall. “It’s important to remember that whether or not you become an Olympic medalist, cycling is a healthy sport,” said Oelkers. “It helps in the fight against obesity by introducing kids to a healthy lifestyle, and the training and dedication involved is also important for developing life skills such as teamwork.” Taking a cue from another local organization, the Arthur Ashe Youth Tennis and Education Center, Oelkers wants to bring education into the cycling program. “They have after-school programs, tutoring, and we want to bring that type of structure and environment to the cycling world,” said Oelkers. According to Snider, “the most critical component to the success of the program is to tie cycling to education and personal achievement off the bike. That is what our youth need and it is the motivation for key constituencies to back us.”

Once the idea for the foundation had taken shape, Oelkers and Snider recruited interested students from the Richard Allen Preparatory Charter School and a second pool suggested by Interstate Realty Management, a firm headquartered in Marlton, NJ. The next piece of the puzzle was to procure some good equipment for the new athletes to use. Fuji Bicycles donated $10,000 worth of equipment in the form of 25 bicycles for the outdoor portions of the program, while West Philadelphia’s Neighborhood Bike Works, a youth development organization, supplied helmets. Coaching would come from Ryan and his fellow coaches at the Cadence Cycling & Multisport Center in Manayunk, PA. Located just around the corner from the famous “Manayunk Wall,” the facility is a fitting venue to train local athletes Oelkers hopes to groom into “future World Champions.” Perhaps one or more will compete in the Commerce Bank Philadelphia International Classic someday.

Since January, 2008, two classes of 16 children aged 9 through 16 have been meeting for indoor workouts on a sophisticated indoor bicycle trainer called the CompuTrainer. This machine simulates outdoor riding, forcing students to get used to shifting and sitting on a bicycle for periods of time, and during training all of the trainers are linked together so that a big screen shows the progress of each rider. According to Oelkers the groups were “just blown away by the CompuTrainer, going up and down hills while stationary.” They conducted “mini races” which were a big hit for everyone. For most of these children, it was the first time they had visited such a high-tech facility.
Beginning in April 19th the young athletes at 33rd and Diamond Streets for the spring segment of the program. Familiar to racers in the area, this quiet section of Fairmount Park with a wide, one-way loop for cyclists to train on is an ideal place for students to learn about safety. Learning how to corner, or turn a bicycle into a 90-degree intersection was covered, along with other skills such as balancing and simply learning to feel comfortable riding close to other cyclists. Next, more specific drills such as drafting was taught so that athletes can learn to use the rider in front of them to stay out of the wind for as long as possible. Oelkers said working on pace line skills, which involve drafting but then taking your turn in the wind before returning to draft was also part of the drills worked on. The cyclists was then broken down into three sections—beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Each group trains until they advance to the next level “with the goal being competition if they want to,” said Oelkers.

According to Oelkers, the foundation would like to partner with as many local races as possible to help expose their athletes to the world of competitive cycling. During the spring segment, students participated in the American Cancer Society’s Kids Ride 4 Cancer on June 1, 2008 and had the opportunity to race each other on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway one week later during the Commerce Bank Philadelphia International Championship. Interstate Realty sponsored a trip to Harlem, New York for the 35th annual Skyscraper-Harlem Classic in Marcus Garvery Park, whose race promoter, John Eustace of Sparta Cycling, is a former professional cyclist and Philly native. Oelkers says that local events such as the Lower Providence Criterium and Philly Phlyer will no doubt see riders from the program. Summer visits to the Valley Preferred Cycling Center, formerly known as the Lehigh Valley Velodrome, are also planned to give participants some exposure
to track racing.

Oelkers’ vision is to develop several “neighborhood teams” in Philadelphia and surrounding suburbs broken down by age group. But, he isn’t stopping there. Starting in the Philadelphia region, he hopes the grassroots program will spread elsewhere to benefit the national cycling community. “We would love to get as many students as possible involved and create a feeder system for new cyclists in the U.S.,” says Oelkers. Once replicated in other cities, athletes feeding into school teams and established USA Cycling clubs would ultimately produce some top competitors. With guidance, coaching, and assistance with equipment, the best of these new competitors would ride to the top. “[Our athletes] could then be directed to the next level through the vast contacts Cadence and their coaching staffs have,” said Oelkers.

The Cadence Cycling Foundation is a non-profit, 501 C3 organization. Volunteers to provide mentoring are needed and donations are tax deductible. Is your neighborhood, school, or child interested in the program? Contact Ryan at 215-508-4300 or by email at roelkers@cadencecycling.com for more information.

Ed. note: Liberty Sports Magazine is a supporter of the Cadence Cycling Foundation. We will be featuring a profile of individuals and groups as they rise through the foundation.