Steve Bennett, Vice President of Aviation Services has been involved in the competitive cycling arena for over 20 years. He started out as a mechanic for his daughter who was the one that initially had an interest in cycling. While he was in his 40’s he would participate in “dad’s races” that took place as part of his daughter’s competitions, but after a couple of years Steve’s daughter lost interest in the sport. This is when he really began to get in to the world of competitive cycling; starting at the Masters 45+ age group. Although cycling keeps Steve healthy and fit, his main reason for competing is because it’s FUN. He enjoys the fact that strategy weighs heavy on his chances to win. Being an engineer for the last 35 years gives Steve an advantage when it comes to effectively strategizing. Since Steve has been racing with many of the same guys for almost 20 years he has learned their strengths and weaknesses and use them to his advantage. (Of course that goes both ways.)
Every cyclist has their own unique strengths and Steve has found his is the ability to “sprint,” which just like in running, gives him the ability to exert a lot of power for a short amount of time. Due to this strength he has focused his efforts in two of the four racing genres. His favorite race is the road race. This type of racing is similar to the style you would see during the Tour de France where the cyclists travel a long distance (often up to 75 miles in his case) in large groups. This type of race is particularly appealing to Steve because it requires endurance, the ability to sprint and of course, strategy. He also thoroughly enjoys criterium racing, which is a crowd pleaser since it is on a short course with many laps and usually only lasts about 30 minutes to an hour. Criterium racing is the genre where Steve recently won second place and is looking forward to the Masters State Criterium on June 23rd.
Steve has recently been seen racing in Colorado and New Mexico and anticipates making his 8th appearance at Nationals this September in Bend, Oregon. Steve’s next event is the Elephant Rock Ride which he will do with his wife on a tandem bicycle, leaving us with this statement “One of the great things about a tandem is that you cross the finish line together.”
