This is the second in a series of interviews on what it takes to become a Pro Cyclist.  Ken Hanson is the 2012 USA National Criterium Champion.  He rides for Optum-Kelly Benefits Pro cycling team.  Ken won 18 races on four continents this season.

Ken Hanson riding in the USA Crits Finale @ Vail

Derek: Tell me the story of how you became a Pro road racer.

Ken:  I started bike racing in college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.  A roommate of mine was on the cycling team, he was a downhiller.  He and some of the guys on the cycling team encouraged me to come out and do a mountain bike race. I did my first bike race in baggy shorts and a t-shirt on a $150 mountain bike.  I loved it.  I originally went to college to play NCAA soccer. I decided that wasn’t for me, and to focus on my school work.  It wasn’t until late in my time at college that I started to race seriously.  2005 was my senior year, and I was really starting to focus on racing.  I started that year as a cat 3 and ended up winning the Collegiate National Championship criterium race. For 2006 I joined the amateur BMC U25 development team.  BMC were getting a lot of their talent from the collegiate scene.

In 2007 I turned Pro with the BMC team, which is totally different than BMC these days.  We had some great riders — Dan Schmatz, Scott Moninger, etc.  My job that year as a Pro rookie was to work for the top couple sprinters on the team.  2008 was a hard year for me and for american cycling in general, and I found myself back in the elite amateur ranks with the Cal-Giant development team. I was doing all the big NRC races and won the elite national criterium championship, so I was able to get some good results and get my career back on track.  Development teams measure their success by sending guys to the professional level so when I went back to the pro ranks in 2009 with Team Type 1 it was a win for Cal-Giant.  By 2010 I was the team’s main sprinter.  Then I spent a year with Jelly Belly which was a really tight knit unit — a really positive environment.  As a sprinter I have to rely on my teammates to win, and if you are having fun it is much easier to get results.  In 2011 I decided to focus more on road race sprinting, which has more of a focus on endurance and is the type of racing you find in Europe. Now I am with Optum-Kelly Benefits and we got to do some races in Belgium this year, hopefully expanding that next year.

Derek: What set you apart from other riders in your journey to Pro?

Ken:  I didn’t really have a clear path to cycling when I was younger.  I always played a lot of sports — I was a track and field sprinter in high school.  I went to college to play soccer, after being inspired by a world cup player.  The soccer program turned out not to be for me. So it wasn’t until I was 20 years old that I did my first bike race.  I was busy studying hard and working 30 hours a week at a job when I started racing seriously so I had to manage my time well.  I created a system where I would go to class, and then immediately get all of my work done so that I could go ride in the afternoon. By the evenings I was finished with all my schoolwork and training and could hang out with my friends like a normal person.  By the time I got really serious about cycling in 2005, I had gotten a lot of the partying  out of the way and I knew what I wanted and was more dedicated.

Derek: Who influenced you early on?

Ken: My academic advisor was a former professional baseball player and told me that being a pro athlete would be the best experience if I wanted to work with athletes in a sports physiology setting.  I had a couple of local mentors — two guys in particular that made the race hard for me so I could do a good sprint.  Chris Black was a masters racer and Dirk Copeland an Olympic track rider, both with a ton of experience who really helped me out a lot.  Both of them really enjoyed giving back, especially because I had some talent and I was motivated to use it.

Ken Hanson Winning the US National Pro Criterium Championship

Derek: What is the best and worst part of being a Pro?

Ken: Good question.  It varies, depending on your mental state.  Racing at this level has an expiration date… it’s something that takes a lot of sacrifice, so I try to make the most of it.  The best part about it is getting paid to ride your bike every day. Some days you don’t want to get on your bike, but you still have to.  I love to travel, so the biggest perk is getting to see the world and ride my bike.  I feel very lucky to be able to do that. I had a really good time traveling in Europe this year. I also still think about how crazy it was in Montevideo, Uruguay when I won the final stage of a stage race there and was mobbed by people.  I was getting grabbed and kissed and couldn’t even move for 20 minutes —everybody knew me.  I won’t forget that, it was pretty rad. The hard part is those days when you are racing and not feeling good and just want to quit.  It’s easy to quit on those days, or when it is freezing cold rain or snowing.  It’s also hard to be away from home for so long.

Derek: Who are the riders that inspire you?

Ken: I think Oscar Friere is the most underrated rider of a generation — a three time world champion and winner of a lot of big races, sometimes more than once.  And Mark Cavendish, as talented as he is, he is always willing to try something new and step out of his comfort zone.

Derek: Thank you, and good luck next season!

Derek’s Thoughts: Ken was able to take advantage of several key factors in his road to going Pro.  Having a solid athletic background in Track and Field and Soccer at a high level.  Ken had the support of his collegiate cycling team and local mentors early in his career.  What stood out most for me was the system he built around cycling and schoolwork.  By committing fully and taking the steps he needed to focus on training properly, Ken was able to make big gains quickly.  In talking to Ken, I really feel his joy and passion about cycling, which goes a long way toward maintaining motivation.