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Former Cedarville soccer player thriving in cycling

Kettering resident, former soccer player has gone from novice to area cycling standout.

Jane Weakley prepares her bike for a training ride along Patterson Blvd. in Hills and Dales MetroPark. Weakley and her six-member amateur team recently competed in the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota.

Jan Underwood/Staff Photographer Jane Weakley prepares her bike for a training ride along Patterson Blvd. in Hills and Dales MetroPark. Weakley and her six-member amateur team recently competed in the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota.

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer Updated 11:58 PM Saturday, June 25, 2011

Just two months after first hopping on a bike for exercise, Jane Weakley signed up for her inaugural race.

She didn’t yet know the customs. She showed up a mere half-hour beforehand. She didn’t know rules about staying on the course. The constant competitive chatter from other female riders (“Twenty-four, hold your line!”) surprised her.

Weakley pedaled through that initial race and into a new obsession, one tailored to her athletic gifts that has made her a rarity in the Miami Valley.

She won the race, sprinted to her car and sped back to her full-time job as a Starbucks manager not realizing there was an awards ceremony. She received an email weeks later reminding her that she forgot to pick up her first-place pair of sunglasses.

Now, the Kettering resident is gunning for much more. Following a weekend spent racing against some of the world’s best, Weakley will continue her hectic competitive calendar that stretches her budget while testing her ability to maintain sleep, hydration and nutrition levels that the sport of cycling demands.

The former Cedarville University soccer player arrived in the sport after multiple knee surgeries made running difficult. She fits the female competitive cyclist stereotype: A former athlete in another sport who wants to compete and enjoys the relatively low physical wear of the bike. Also, at 28, Weakley is still several years from her physical peak in cycling, which makes a professional career — which would be rare for a Miami Valley racer — realistic.

Working toward that, she trains 15 hours a week, averaging 20 mph on one of her two bikes that would retail, with the tires, at $15,000.

She organizes other parts of her life around cycling. At work, managing the Starbucks on Brown Street, she wears compression socks to keep blood flowing to her calves and thigh muscles.

“I’ve based the other decisions in my life on (cycling),” Weakley said. “It’s just the mindset of an athlete when you find something you love to do.”

Progressing quickly

A Massachusetts native, Weakley came to Ohio to play soccer for Cedarville University. After her playing career, Weakley started her own business providing in-home workout plans, and she joined Starbucks to gain health benefits.

After two knee surgeries, running wasn’t an option. A friend suggested she try cycling, which is less battering on the body.

The friend’s husband was a cycling dealer, and they set her up on her first ride: Bike, gear, Spandex, riding shoes.

“I fell into a great situation,” she said. “From Day 1, I was hooked.”

Within two months, she entered her first race and won, and her passion increased. She liked the mental part of racing: Rival chatter, watching others’ placement, gauging wind.

Her soccer past helped her in racing, with strong legs, familiarity with constant movement and intermittent sprinting and awareness of how others’ actions affect your decisions.

Now her life revolves around sleeping, hydration and nutrition. She raced 41 times last year, keeping a schedule that took her to St. Louis, Minnesota, Chicago, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, among other places.

The cost of amateur racing has caused her to sacrifice almost any other expense outside of rent, car and cycling.

“I choose not to do those other things,” Weakley said. “This is my life.”

A taste of pro

Last week, Weakley took part in one of the most significant races on the country’s female cycling calendar.

She was one of six amateur racers who qualified to participate in the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minneapolis, a five-day, six-race event that drew the reigning Olympic gold medalist and the world’s top-ranked road racer.

There, she met and worked with some of the country’s most influential cycling officials. Her goal was simply to complete the event, but once she found herself finishing in the middle of the pack, she wondered what else was possible.

In cycling, unlike some other sports, starting in one’s mid-20s is still relatively early, as a woman’s physical cycling peak doesn’t come until the early- to mid-30s, said Andrea Smith, director of communications for USA Cycling.

“Her story is fairly common,” Smith said. “A lot of the very top tier, elite professional women came from another sport, and they’re naturally talented, so they excel quickly.”

Those who have watched her closely think bigger things are possible. Ron Garrett, the team manager for Team Dayton Cycling and the women’s Secret Cycling Team, has been an area racer, official and observer for 35 years. He remembers less than a half-dozen area racers who turned professional.

“I believe she does have the talent,” Garrett said. “She just needs to be able to put the right amount of training in if she wants to become a pro. She’s definitely a natural athlete.”

Her athletic gifts helped her reach the Nature Valley Grand Prix, and the experience was a look into the professional world. She had constant supervision for her rest and stamina. Technicians tweaked and tinkered with her bike after every race.

Using experience from the weekend as motivation, Weakley will continue to race each weekend, sometimes multiple times in a weekend, until mid-September. Beyond that, her recent successes have caused her — and those around her — to wonder what’s possible.

“I said to myself, ‘I want to be fair, I want to wait to get back to reality (before assessing her pro possibilities),’ ” Weakley said. “When you’re out there, you’re thinking, I’ll move to Colorado tomorrow (to be a pro), but you have to think about the next steps.

“I got back for a few days, and I went for a ride. No music, not with anyone, just solo, stuck out in the rain. I was so happy just being on the bike, and I think that’s what’s important.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-7389 or knagel@Dayton DailyNews.com.

Jane Weakley

Age: 28 Resides: Kettering Years racing: 3

Affiliation: Team Dayon Secret Cycling Women’s Team

Recently: Won the Ohio Spring Road Race Series, women Category 1, 2, 3 by winning all seven races she entered

Last weekend: Competed as an amateur qualifier in the Nature Valley Grand Prix based in Minneapolis, one of the country’s premier professional cycling events

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