By JESSICA SIMPSON
J Alumni News staff
Sydney Brown
Sydney Brown never gets bored.
She’s the mother of three teenagers. She works full-time as an instructional technology specialist at UNL. She’s working on a Ph.D.
And she’s an elite cyclist, ranked among the top women athletes in the country.
Her small office is simple, yet reflects her style. Loose papers adorn her desk. A weathered road bike perches near the door.
Brown is multitasking: She’s jotting notes, checking her phone and organizing tasks on a Web site called Remember the Milk. Without that site, she said, she would forget everything.
“You can really only do three things well,” Brown said.
Three priorities
The J school grad’s top three priorities are her family, her work and cycling.
“I’m really only happy if I’m just totally maxed,” she said. “I’m happy, and I go with it and fill it in with positive things.” And cycling has become a huge part of those positive things.
“That is what is satisfying to me — to learn and get a new skill and a sense of competency,” she said. “Competency is something I value highly.”
Since she was a little girl in Lincoln, Brown has been a quick study. Her dad, a former football coach and rodeo competitor, coached Brown in barrel racing and showing horses.
“I spent my whole life being told what to do to be a better athlete,” Brown said.
Foot injury leads to new sport
That drive led Brown to pursue cycling after she sustained foot injuries running.
In 2005, she tuned up her bike and began commuting to work on it. She got on the Internet, learned about cycling, bought some gear and pedaled straight to work, seven miles each way.
“Pretty soon, I lengthened my commute,” Brown said. “I took these long circuitous routes, so I was getting about 40 miles a day on my bike.”
Her athletic instinct inspired her to aim higher. She began riding with local groups and started training for the annual Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska. BRAN draws more than 600 cyclists each year to ride across the state raising scholarship money and bringing awareness to cycling.
Realizing her cycling potential, Brown tapped into her resources. As a technology specialist, she knew that Tim Farnham, a master’s student at the College of Engineering, was a racer.
“I decided to bug him and told him I wanted to try racing,” she said.
After cycling with Brown on a strenuous ride, Farnham talked to David Kosark, an owner of Joyride Bicycles in Lincoln and avid cyclist himself.
“Tim is a very accomplished cyclist,” Kosark said, ”and he was telling me that she just hung on his wheel, which is really impressive because of the level of cyclist that he is.”
Casual rides turn to competitive racing
Her initial success spurred her to do more. She began riding with an elite group on Wednesday nights.
Dating back at least 20 years in Lincoln, the Wednesday night ride is known for its competitive edge and high performance level.
“Early on when she showed up on the ride, I noticed people gave her more space, because she was a woman,” Kosark said. “Now, she’s just another rider. She’s established herself. She’s competitive.”
New riders need to learn cycling etiquette, and Brown said the group taught her the basics.
Riders, depending on the direction of the wind, use specific formations. A peloton, or field, refers to a group of riders. If cycling into a head wind, riders align themselves one behind the other in a pace line. Riders fall into a diagonal line, or echelon, if the wind is blowing at them from the side.
The riders move in a cohesive group by taking turns rotating. The front rider takes a “pull” by cycling hard into the wind for about 30 seconds. Then the front rider falls back in to the direction of the wind while the next rider takes the front.
“It gives you a rest; it’s like doing intervals,” Brown said. “You always pull off into the wind so the next person coming up gets relief as soon as possible.”
Kosark said: “The group can go much faster collectively if they work cohesively and efficiently. It’s very important in cycling, because it saves energy.”
Learning to ride safely is important in a group of cyclists. It’s dangerous if a rider is in the wrong spot, Brown said. And taking pulls to preserve energy is essential.
“You have to learn all of those things to preserve your energy, because you want to reserve your energy for those attacks,” Brown said. “When you’re a roadie, the worst thing in the world is to fall off the back and be stuck in the wind by yourself. It’s relentless.”
The rotation technique becomes more complicated in a race where many different teams vie for top places.
“It’s like a game of survivor — temporary alliances,” Brown said. “That’s what’s really fun about road racing. It’s so complicated.”
Each cyclist on a race team has different roles. The protected rider will eventually break away and try to win. There are also sprinters and riders designated to haul water for teammates.
“Once you have the fitness and you understand the basic rules, then the game gets really interesting,” Brown said. “The game is ‘who’s my friend right now’ and ‘what’s my strategy?’”
Physical power propels her to win
Brown’s role is usually the breakaway rider. She consistently has excellent time trials and notable physical power.
Dave Woll is the vice president of sales and marketing in Lincoln for PepsiCo., one of Brown’s sponsors for 2010.
Woll, a long-time cyclist himself, said in a phone interview that Brown’s natural physical ability allows her to be a great cyclist.
“She did a VO2 max test, and it was off the charts,” Woll said. “In a female athlete it would be comparable to Lance Armstrong, or pretty darn close.”
VO2 max is the maximum oxygen uptake or aerobic capacity of a person. It measures the ability to use oxygen during exercise and reflects the fitness of an individual.
Brown often works as a “lead-out” rider. Her job is to pick up the pace a certain distance from the finish line.
When she begins cycling faster, her teammates begin to block.
“They set the pace in the front that is slower than what I’m setting,” she said, ”but not so slow that people want to jump around them.”
When the peloton is slowed, Brown takes the lead.
“As a rider I am known for power — power climb, attacks — because my goal is to get off the front,” Brown explained.
Physical fitness alone does not make a strong cyclist, though. Riders must have a strong mental will and ability to analyze a race.
“That’s why road racing is my favorite,” Brown said, “because it’s not the strongest rider that wins. It’s the smartest rider.”
Coaching pushes her to new levels
In fall 2006, Brown began training with coach Marc Walter of Rightway Personal Training.
“She knows how to overcome adversity and never gives up,” Walter said in an e-mail.
He believes her upbringing on a ranch and background of barrel racing has a lot to do with her upper body strength and bike-handling ability.
Walter creates a training schedule for Brown that breaks the year into cycles. The program proceeds from generalized to specific approaches as an event draws near, Walter said. Throughout the week, workouts progress in intensity, volume, frequency and recovery.
Walter also helped Brown accomplish the three goals she set in fall 2008. She was the top amateur in the Nature Valley Grand Prix, going on to win the Nature Valley Pro Ride. She is a National Masters Time Trial Champion, which is age-group based. And she made the podium in a Superweek Pro Tour race.
Kosark said Brown’s discipline allows her to succeed.
Brown also sees a nutritionist regularly to help her achieve her goal of dropping from 15 percent body fat to 11 percent by March.
Brown appreciates the help she receives from Walter and her nutritionist. Many people who don’t train with a coach or follow a plan get to a certain point and plateau, she said.
“It’s extremely time consuming, and I have a job already,” she said. “My job is to ride the bike, report to them and let them do what they do.”
Family, sponsors make racing possible
Assistance with nutrition and coaching isn’t the only thing that keeps Brown going. She also has support from family members and sponsors. The sponsors include Rightway Personal Training, Joyride Bicycles and PepsiCo.
“Without that kind of support, it would be impossible to compete at the level that I do,” she said. “I wouldn’t have the fitness to go do it, and I certainly wouldn’t have the equipment.”
Woll’s passion for cycling helped him decide to sponsor Brown. He said PepsiCo. tries to match brands with specific demographics. When Brown mentioned sponsoring her, Woll thought Rockstar Energy Drink would be a great fit.
Brown and her teammates wear the Rockstar logo on their jerseys.
“It’s amazing how much attention the jerseys get, especially around town,” Woll said. “They are like moving billboards.”
For Brown, it’s a way to cover some basic expenses.
Joyride Bicycles provides gear for her to use.
Kosark said Specialized bicycle equipment makes superior level racing bikes, so Joyride joined with Specialized to supply Brown.
In addition to her sponsors, Brown’s family is behind her.
Nancy Brown, her 67-year-old mother, understands the training it takes to cycle at the top level.
For her 65th birthday, Nancy asked for a bicycle so she could ride eight miles to Wal-Mart, she said. Apparently, mother and daughter have a lot in common.
“Pretty soon, I took the basket off, and then I took the fenders off. Then I got pedals and shoes, and I wanted to go faster,” Nancy said.
With Sydney’s encouragement, Nancy entered and won a race last February,
Now, Sydney’s mom is training with Walter, too.
Sydney’s parents also help with her sons and try to travel to her races.
“We’re there for her and always an encouragement,” Nancy said. They love watching their daughter succeed.
And Brown’s passion is obvious.
“Part of my mission is to bring the exposure [to cycling] and bring it to other people so they have a chance to try it, ” she said.
Brown’s entire career will be worth it, she said, if one other person, especially a woman, gets into cycling because of her.
“My other favorite part of racing is the women that I’ve met. It was kind of like finding my kind.” Brown concluded. “It’s a wonderful kind of community.”
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