Bartlett senior Mia Van Maldegiam credits her start in competitive cycling to her father’s involvement.
Van Maldegiam found it easy to maintain her interest for a different reason.
“It was just the atmosphere,” Van Maldegiam said. “The racing community is so open and welcoming to new people.”
Success didn’t hurt, either.
Van Maldegiam was the top girls racer in the 15-18 junior age division at the Illinois state championship June 4 in Kankakee, and winner of the points-based Illinois Cup.
A member of the Dundee-based Psimet Racing team, Van Maldegiam has competed in cyclocross, criterium and velodrome races, and hopes she’s in for a long ride as a cyclist.
“I’d like to take it as far as I can,” Van Maldegiam said. “I’ve been thinking about racing in college and it’s an option on the table. To become a pro racer would be amazing and I don’t know if that’s reasonable.”
There are 17 U.S. colleges with race teams, according to USA Cycling, mostly smaller or private institutions including Lindenwood, Marian and Ripon in the Midwest.
The Van Maldegiam family’s interest in the sport began because of basketball.
“I was basically tired of getting injured playing basketball and was looking to find another sport where I wouldn’t get hurt — although you can certainly be injured cycling,” said Scott Van Maldegiam, Mia’s father.
Scott joined a cycling club, raced and took on a brief career as a cycling coach. He also served as a sales rep for Giant Bicycles, which Mia said “definitely made it easier to get good bicycles.”
Scott still devises training programs for Mia.
“She’s a little out of shape right now because she was in Germany for two weeks, but she’ll be getting back into it,” Scott said.
The season is approaching for cyclocross, which is a mostly off-road race where competitors have to carry their cycles to navigate obstacles. It’s where Mia Van Maldegiam has most of her experience.
Last week she competed in her first Intelligentsia Cup, a criterium road race that consists of laps. She competed in a women’s open level and placed seventh in a field of 11 in Elgin.
A member of the Bartlett/Streamwood co-op swim team and a former track athlete, Van Maldegiam has naturally tried her hand at triathlons. She enjoys cycling more.
“I was able to go to cyclocross and have a blast and be chatting away with people before the race, but in triathlon I was a nervous ball of energy at the start,” she said.
Her father’s coaching advice for success is simply to use her muscles better and continue to improve her strategy.
“All athletes in any sport can benefit by using their glutes more — it’s a huge muscle in the body,” Scott said.
The mental aspect of the sport is critical.
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“This is her first year of road racing and one thing she is good at, but can get better is patience,” Scott said. “When she was only in cyclocross, she didn’t need a great deal of patience because you’re going all out most of the race.”
Mia Van Maldegiam calls team membership a key for any cyclist, partly for the atmosphere she enjoys so much.
“It sort of takes the place of coaching,” she said. “You’ll have teammates who say, ‘Come out for a ride with us. We’ll teach you how to corner.’ They might help with certain skills you might not have learned.
“People are constantly saying, ‘Do you need help?’ And are willing to help. And that’s what I mean by the atmosphere being so welcoming in the sport.”
Twitter @genechamberlai2