The new and first ever BMX resident athlete program at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista is now in full effect. In case you didn’t know, Mike Day, Steven Cisar, Jill Kintner, Kim Hayashi, Amanda Geving and Arielle Martin have all been picked through USAC BMX criteria to be “resident athletes”. All of them will eat, sleep, ride BMX during each week leading up to the naming of the United States of America/Olympic Team/BMX.

 

    I had the pleasure to help USAC’s Mike King coordinate training sessions for the resident athletes over the course of their first 5 days of a 10 day camp which was based around the theme of getting to know the land, the resource, the rules and parameters. My job included setting up standardized sprint protocols, using timing systems, doing some filming and having fun. Other BMX guests seen on campus were Donny Robinson, Rachel Smith, Randy Stumpfhauser, and even Pan AM BMX Gold Medalist, Jason Richardson stopped by for a day. Jason is working on his Marriage and Family Counseling certs, so he enjoyed meeting up with Senior Psychologist Jim Bauman to get more insight about being a shrink.

 

    We stared at the 75% finished water soaked Olympic Replica track for first week we were there. The plan was to have ti ready by the time the camp started but 3 days of heavy rain forced Tom Ritz from flying into San Diego for a week. He came in on day 7 to complete his replica Beijing sculpture, and by day 8, Tom and his assistant Rob Gustina had the first straight packed on time for a huge photo/video shoot for NIKE sponsored athletes Mike Day, Donny Robinson, and a still determined Bubba Harris. By the last day the women were bombing the first straight from the gigantic 8 meter tall super cross style starting hill. The track is so close to Beijing, the only thing missing is the smog.

 

    We also spent time as a group with strength and conditioning coach Steve Bamel. Steve spent some time watching us do some sprint and gate training sessions to get a sense of the physical demands so he can lay down a training plan that made sense for athletes who did not have or lacked a sound strength training structure. I am also excited that these guys will be looked after with a personal touch by a strength coach on every session and will be pushed like they have never been before. From there, each athlete will be on their own respective training plan as these athletes have all different needs. Steve will monitor and coach the athletes doing their respective strength work. These athletes are lucky as you will not find a better atmosphere in the Chula V. weight room.

 

 

    Jill Kintner’s brother Paul, was hired for a couple of weeks to jump start the alternative dirt jump training area of land located behind the replica track. Paul and his crew built jumps in front of our Red Bull practice gate so gate practice would now have some flavor. Call it a Red Bull and Vodka; the perfect mix for a gate session, because but after you do a gate, you can take a few optional lines that lead you into a trail/pump track inspired snake run filled with various sized gaps and turns. This is located real close to USA Softball batting and pitching cages. Jenny Finch’s husband (Minnesota Twins Pitcher) hung out with Mike Day, Cisar, Rachel Smith and I as we were testing the far right section that Paul Kintner built while Jenny was not too far away pitching 90mph fastballs. This section starts with a 10 foot bonsai that gives you 2 options; straight for going big, or hip right for slope style action. Both options followed with more assorted gaps covering the 200 by 100 foot area. Rachel Smith impressed us by doing every thing pretty much first for the women. She was out there shoveling too! Donny loved to ride with his shirt off with hopes of impressing softball women, his clipped in dead sailors didn’t help though.

 

    All in all, this has got to be the best place to train high performance style BMX. From the cafeteria pumping out well balanced grub to the USOC Performance Services offering onsite chiropractic, massage, injury rehab protocols with a vast array of modalities, ice whirlpool baths for reducing edema, etc. By the way, Jill Kintner is a prime example of taking advantage of everyday services and is back on her bikes doing gates, sprints, track work and gym! The US Olympic Training Center featuring BMX is absolutely ridiculous. There will not be a better place to train. Even UCI Johan showed up and was impressed and reckon that the High Level Training Center in Switzerland was being outdone because you can do this here all year round.

 

All in all, USAC and the USOC have stepped up and I applaud them for the huge effort in getting this expensive project done!