My Story - Decathlete to Track Cyclist

IT ALL STARTED WHEN...

In 2013 I was riding with the US National Team and training full time at the Velodrome in Carson. Jim Manton of Ero-Sports had recently set up his bike fit studio there so he could conduct his aero testing. I was introduced to Jim as he was interested in looking at my sprint position on my track bike. This was my first time ever being fit to my bike and I really enjoyed the process. 

I competed in track and field for 15 years and was a decathlete. Having to learn ten events I always had an interest in biomechanics and figuring out what it takes to make the body function most optimally. I enjoyed asking Jim questions about bike fits and stopping in and watching from time to time. The bike fit process had me intrigued from the very beginning, but I didn’t think of it as a career path until Jim told me about a few others he had trained. A few months passed and I decided to work up the courage to talk with Jim about apprenticing underneath him. As I approached him to express my thoughts he started and asked me if I would be interested in learning the craft! The feelings were mutual and I was extremely excited.

For the next six months, I began to learn the skill of bike fitting by shadowing Jim through several hundred fits and follow ups. I started by just watching, listening, and asking questions. All the numbers and ranges had me pretty intimidated, but I had a great eye for good and bad positions and understood pretty quickly what changes to make in order to fix them. As time went on Jim allowed me to be more and more hands on so I could learn by doing. A lot of times the changes that need to be made were counter intuitive, so the only way to learn was to make the mistakes and learn from Jim’s corrections. I loved the challenge that bike fit presented. Every rider came in with their own style of riding and issues they were having, as well as all the different disciplines there are in cycling. It did not take long for me to understand that this was something I was quickly growing passionate about and could see myself doing for many years.

Once Jim gave me the go ahead to fit on my own I was a bit nervous and apprehensive, but knew that I just needed to jump in head first. Things started slow, with maybe 3-5 fits per month for the first few months. Although I was “on my own” I would still stop in to watch some of Jim’s fits to try and gain any knowledge I could. My understanding continued to grow as did my clientele. It is incredibly gratifying to receive messages from clients telling me that things felt amazing and they loved riding their bike again! Before I knew it, I was getting several fits a week and they were referred by other people I had fit. I knew this was a turning point since it is a business built on referrals. 

With one thing leading to another and now having several thousand fits under my belt, I am the proud owner of Long Beach Bike Fit! As a graduate of Cal State Long beach, I am thrilled to be in a city with such great cycling culture. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity Jim has given me to learn the art of bike fitting by passing on his years of experience and world class knowledge. 

Now it is time to change the World, one bike fit at a time! 

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