Twenty-somethings doing something: Nate King

As part of reaching deeper into the cycling community, we will be posting once a week about young people around Salt Lake who are doing something great in the world of bikes. Our first installment features Nate King, a local boy and neo-pro who is entering his first race season with the Competitive Cyclist pro team, having shot from Cat 5 to Cat 1 in a single race season. 

Nate King
(Photo: Competitive Cyclist Race Team)

Nate King, 24, was first introduced to bikes when he was 14 and living in Taylorsville, Utah. "My dad, running a floundering electronics business at the time, was involved in an auto wreck that totaled his car. Instead of buying a new car with the insurance money, he paid our mortgage instead. He took up commuting to work by bike on a new entry-level Trek mountain bike, that I rode more than him." Bikes slowly became an intricate part of King's life as he got older, occasionally racing mountain bikes in high school and working as a messenger while attending the University of Utah. His stint as a messenger continued with Clutch Couriers after an ill-fated move to Santa Cruz, CA to attend UC Santa Cruz, where he concluded that finishing school wasn't quite in the cards at the moment.

During the summer of 2010, King hit a crossroads in his life. The nomadic messenger/freelance photographer lifestyle he had led in Northern California proved to be wearing on his desire to do something more. Dejected, he returned to Salt Lake City. "To say I lacked focus is an understatement," King said.

On a long road ride with longtime friend and mentor, and later coach, Carla Hukee, the subject of his aimlessness was breached. She suggested he look into a major "centering experience" in life - that is, something he could devote himself to wholeheartedly. Consequentially, King narrowed his options - join the French Foreign Legion, the US Marine Corps, or take up road racing. He chose the third. Hukee, a former Cat 1 road racer, and husband Jordan took King under their collective wing, laying out a training plan for him in the coming winter of 2010/2011. In the meantime, Nate secured a job working in the bike shop at Backcountry.com, quickly transferring over to product photography for most of their cycling sites.    

After winning the first race he finished, and even crashed in, the Tour of Utah amateur criterium in Park City in Cat 4/5, in August of 2010, King entered what he described as the "Longest winter on Earth. I rode my the trainer inside for hours and hours. My girlfriend and I at the time broke up after she became convinced I liked my bike more than her. Truthfully, it was actually the bike racing that I liked."   

His first race bike? A too-big no-name aluminum frame he scored on eBay, built with a battered Dura-Ace group he scrounged from a friend, and a pair of cracked carbon wheels he'd gotten free.

On a training ride at team camp in Tucson, Arizona.
(Photo: Competitive Cyclist Race Team)

Fast-forward to February 2012, after a whirlwind 2011 season in which King skyrocketed from a lowly Cat 5 to an elite Cat 1 in the space of five short months, taking numerous victories and podiums at races across the Western US. Signing with the Competitive Cyclist Racing Team professional outfit (formerly RealCyclist.com) for 2012, he's fresh out of his first pro training camp in Tucson, AZ bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the upcoming season. With two "true" neo-pros (ironically himself and 37 year-old Mike Olheiser, perennial Master's World Champion), and a roster stacked with global/domestic veterans, King is excited.

On training camp, he said it "felt great. Being in close proximity with such amazing racers who are so willing to share their experiences and lessons with me is awesome. I couldn't ask for a better team to start my career with than this one." His role on the team is that of domestique, and he says he's ready and willing to work himself into the ground for whatever common goals the team lays out.   

King describes the past year and a half of cycling as incredibly serendipitous. "There are a lot of really talented people who never get the chance [to race professionally] because they don't have a good support network. I was taught early on that preparedness, networking and taking every opportunity you can is key to success in racing. Hard work and talent go a long way, but it's that extra five or ten percent you need to get you to that next level. I feel very lucky to have learned that as a Cat 5 instead of a Cat 1."

Outside of racing, King leads a fairly normal life, though one that he describes as "socially stunted. Working and training really leaves little time to get the recovery I need to race well. I used to be a bit of a party boy, now I don't go out much. At first it weirded out a lot of my friends, but the supportive ones stuck around and understand." He's a voracious reader, finishing up "The Death of Marco Pantani"  right now, though he claims anything Steinbeck is his true favorite.

Facing his first pro race with the team in a week at the San Dimas Stage Race outside of Los Angeles, King said he is a little nervous. "It's super weird, thinking back to where I was a year and a half ago. I'm super stoked on finding something I can focus on, I'd never found anything I was truly motivated and passionate about until I started racing bikes. I'd always felt a little aimless and adrift before I started racing." he said. "But who knows, maybe I'll just be another has-been who never was."

Keep up with King this season by following both his personal blog and team blog.

CPPJ

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