Southern Elite Cycling Race Team
1. Who founded the club and how did it come to life?
The Southern Elite Cycling Race Team was originally founded by Bill Edwards around 1986 and was formed mainly to help mentor and coach junior riders to prepare them to compete. The team has great success with numerous national champions and world champions coming from the club.
2. What is your cycling clubs mission?
Formally our mission (as seen on website) is:
“Southern Elite is an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation with a serious long term commitment to maintaining a youth cycling race team. The purpose of the team is to provide financial, mentoring and coaching support to deserving young athletes in the development of their racing careers and in pursuit of the Olympic dream. Each year athletes who meet pre-established qualifying time standards will receive financial support for a trip to the U.S. National and/or World Championships.”
As the president of the club for the past 11 years, the mission has evolved into assisting and helping junior riders at all levels not just racers. I came from a background where riding helped me stay out of trouble and become the person I am today so I take any opportunity I get to share my passion for cycling with an aspiring rider and we provide financial support as well as mentoring and coaching to all level of riders.
3. How many members does you team/club have?
Our club has over 50 members. There are roughly 30 to 40 kids. Other members of the team are people who have been involved for 10 plus years and take good care of all our members.
4. Which are your top 3 favorite MUST DO rides/routes in Texas?
– Love the riding in the Houston, Montgomery and Magnolia area.
– Cold springs, Texas
– And Fayetteville area in Texas are all places I really enjoy riding.
5. What would be the three most valuable tips you can give to a beginning cyclist that would like to get to the next level?
1. Always need to learn to ride with people for safety purposes!
2. Find a group that will help cater to your riding ability and style.
3. Never be afraid to ask questions, ask anything and don’t be afraid to participate in events or races, everyone starts somewhere!
6. What is the best advice someone ever gave you?
To never give up! Advice that I tell others too. And always try your best! It doesn’t matter what place you come from or what level you’re at because once you learn those two things there’s a fine line between winning and losing. Some people give up before that point. Instead, enjoy the journey of riding, training and racing. It’s not always about the one event you trained to compete for, it’s about the journey you participated in to get there that you have to enjoy!
7. How does the club make you a better rider?
Each one of us in the club become like family. When the kids are asked, “what makes your team so special?” every one of them says it’s special because we become a family and we learn to take care of one another. That is what a good club and organization does, encourages and teaches to help one another. There is a strong family spirit in our club and we are there to help each other not just there just for ourselves. Doing well as an individual is good but when everyone does well, everyone is happy and satisfied.
8. What has been your most memorable experience involving your club?
Every year I take group of kids to Colorado for a trip. This year I took roughly 26 young men to Durango, CO on a mountain bike week and it was an awesome trip as we road across Colorado around the forest fires into Wyoming. I’ve been blessed to ride all over the world and to compete in Europe but what I enjoy more than that is taking the kids to see places they have never been able to see before and seeing them ride. Our team started a venture where we help less fortunate kids by sponsoring 75 bikes around the state of Texas for kids who aspire to be a professional rider but may not have the financial baking and come from a single parent background. So I tend to become one of the parents, take them under my wing and coach and mentor them. After an unfortunate accident with one of my parents, I would ride my bike around and wouldn’t go home for days. Someone took me under their wing, took me to a couple of bike races and that’s how it began. Now I’ve been married for 23 years, have 2 daughters and enjoy every aspect of my life!
9. How do you keep everyone motivated?
I keep in touch with everyone on a very personal level. I become very close to the kids and cycling is a way that we do it. There are many kids from the team that are at many different colleges in Texas, California and Missouri and I motivate them to become better people, treating each of them as my own children as we stay in touch through e-mail, text, facebook or on the phone.
We keep all of ourselves motivated by our common goal and mission through cycling and taking care of each other through a positive way.
10. Anything we’ve missed that you like our readers to know about?
Our club is different from many others. We don’t advertise. Instead I tend to get people who call me up and tell me about a particular kid who is interested in riding and who needs mentoring and support. So I will go and meet them and take them under my wing. Also a lot of the men who’ve been part of the team come back after they’ve graduated college and have their own family, and ask for me to take their kid under my own wing, like I did with them. It’s truly a blessing and very touching that they come back to me and want me to do that for them.
11. Do you ave any photos/videos you would like to share?
Here are a selection of photos from the team and are rides we’ve done. To see more please visit our Facebook page.
Interviewed Richard Lamb, President of the team.
Thank you for your time and sharing with us the inspiring work you do through the Southern Elite Cycling Team.
By Amber Barnett
