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If there may be one factor you will need to learn about Grant Koontz it’s that he actually loves biking. That singular truth, or relationship in the event you think about it in a barely totally different context, explains loads.
It’s a love story that has introduced him from the highway, to gravel, to the observe, as a journeyman searching for a profession to make the love story final just a bit bit longer. It’s taken him from nightly dinners of eggs and candy potatoes in a pop-up RV parked illegally on the streets of Boulder, to a bikepacking journey to the Midsouth gravel race on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, after which, pivotally, to the Eurovision-esque glitz and pageantry of the made-for-TV Monitor Champions League.
Finally that zeal has delivered the 30-year-old to the Paris Olympics as Crew USA’s sole male observe consultant, even when it has been a wildly roundabout approach to get there.
“In a way, I used to be a misplaced pet,“ Koontz stated a few days earlier than the Video games started of his journey from gravel vagabond to the Olympic prep camp in Belgium. “Three years in the past I used to be watching the Olympics from the sideline because the observe world immediately shut down in the course of the pandemic. I used to be nonetheless very a lot a novice. I knew I had the barebones instruments to be observe racer however I hadn’t had an opportunity to excel.
“Clearly, I wished to make it to Paris however I wanted to start out out taking child steps ahead. I suppose that’s all the time been the paralyzing factor for me, simply the distractions elsewhere. Issues like gravel grew to become a distraction as a result of it was actually about having enjoyable and staying motivated by the pandemic, however I knew, and my spouse actually satisfied me, that if I might get to give attention to one factor I’d be tremendous good at it.
“After I was lastly in a position to do this and be ok to show my again on different fascinating alternatives was what introduced me success. The main target needed to be falling in love with the method and never solely counting on the love of biking that has been happening for 12 years.”
Whereas these sentiments and the journey Koontz has been on do match the beats of different athletes’ dragged-out battles in opposition to luck, competitors, and motivation to make it to the Olympic stage, Koontz had the added problem that comes from the US’ sophisticated relationship with observe biking.
Within the early 1900s, observe biking in the US was enormous. Figures like Main Taylor have been worldwide stars, whereas followers packed well-known venues like Madison Sq. Backyard in New York Metropolis to observe not basketball or hockey, however observe occasions. The truth is, all through the primary half of the twentieth century European professionals got here to the US to race observe occasions for further money and publicity.
Now, observe biking is however a shadow of its previous. Velodromes are sparse, with solely three indoor tracks among the many 22 complete tracks presently in use within the U.S., which places the U.S. on the again foot in worldwide competitors and growth.
There have been exceptions to the rule — most notably Jennifer Valente’s gold medal on the omnium within the Tokyo Olympics and the ladies’s workforce pursuit silver medals in London and Rio, bronze in Tokyo, and now gold in Paris — however on the boys’s facet, success in main championships has been beneath par as evidenced by their incapability to qualify a workforce pursuit for the previous two Olympic cycles regardless of important funding into that trigger.
“I’ve shifted my focus a couple of occasions,” Koontz stated of his time within the Olympic pipeline with USA Biking’s observe program. “The preliminary plan was for us to qualify within the workforce pursuit, however as soon as it was clear that the writing was on the wall that we weren’t going to qualify for the workforce pursuit I switched my focus to the Madison which is what I believed we’d have a greater probability of getting a spot.
“I truthfully hadn’t centered loads on the omnium till this yr as a result of I believed my finest shot on the Olympics was in actually another occasion. However finally my give attention to all the opposite occasions has helped me be a well-rounded rider for the omnium.”
Nonetheless, qualifying questions, funding considerations, and the uncertainty of choice are actually behind Koontz. As an alternative, he’s now dealing with the purity of the racing and faces the last word take a look at of endurance observe racers: the omnium.
The omnium is a one-day occasion consisting of 4 races: a scratch race, a tempo race, an eliminator, and the all-important factors race. Whereas every of those races has its personal intricacies, when it comes all the way down to brass-tax the calls for of the races are much like the technical challenges the remainder of biking faces. Increasingly, the massive variable past uncooked watts is the aerodynamics of the rider.
For Koontz, a self-described biking romantic, the technical challenges won’t appear to be they’d be of a lot curiosity. However ever since he was chosen to the workforce earlier this summer season Koontz has delved into the tech challenges that include racing on the tippy-top of biking efficiency.
“Two weeks in the past I did a bunch of on-bike on-track testing,” Koontz stated. “Clearly, meaning all the things needs to be taken with a grain of salt as a result of exterior forces can have an effect on it, however nonetheless it’s pivotal to see what helmet to make use of, what gloves to make use of, what shoe covers to make use of — all the things.”
With eyes in the direction of optimizing all the things, onerous decisions needed to be made, together with skipping over a motorcycle constructed for the American observe program with the categorical objective of getting a bonus at these Paris Olympics.
“Look simply launched a brand new P24 observe bike and it simply didn’t work for me,” Koontz stated. “It isn’t adjustable sufficient for me and my place so we went again to the (Look) T20 bike as a result of, on the finish of the day, the bike is simply pretty much as good as your place. It can save you far more on helmets and shoe covers and people issues relatively than simply using all of the cool new shit.”
But on August 8, the deck will get reset once more. All of the riders from all over the world who will compete for medals over the frantic 4 occasions must neglect in regards to the aero benefits they could or could not have and easily race. On the finish of the day, no matter method one splices it, racing is all the time extra of an artwork than it’s a science. The omnium is not any totally different, particularly since its greatest level haul comes within the race the place surprises can flip up the established order.
“Consistency is vital,” Koontz stated. “You don’t need to be the very best on this planet at all the occasions, it’s nearly consistency over the primary three races and simply inserting within the cash, as a result of the factors race is the very best weighted occasion for these total factors, and that’s actually what the coaching has been geared in the direction of. In the event you can’t factors race, you’ll be able to’t be the omnium winner.”
To study extra about Koontz and his journey, make sure to try his Instagram (@rakoooontz) the place he has been sharing particulars and journal entries from the pivotal factors over the previous few years. It’s effectively well worth the learn!