Thrill of Olympics still rings
The Portland Tribune, Jul 9, 2009
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Nearly nine years later, the memories continue to raise an excited chill up Adam Duvendeck’s back –and past the tattoo of the Olympic rings he got just below his neck after competing for the United States in the 2004 Athens Games.
“For me, I don’t think anything will compare to that first time going to the Olympics,” says Duvendeck, a 37-year-old cyclist from Long Beach, Calif. “I was ecstatic about being there. I still get goose bumps thinking about walking in for the opening ceremonies.”
Duvendeck returned to the Olympics in 2008 –finishing eighth in the three-man sprint after placing 11th in Athens –and he might decide to make a run at the 2012 London Games.
“I’m taking it year by year,” he says. “It will depend on whether I feel like I have a shot at a medal, instead of merely going to go.”
For now, Duvendeck is in training mode, taking things relatively easy.
“The year after the Olympics is kind of a down year,” he says.
He’ll probably race only once this summer, and it will be at the 11th annual Alpenrose Velodrome Challenge July 17 to 19 in Southwest Portland.
The event, which has no admission charge, brings together more than 100 track racers and offers $12,000 in prize money. Duvendeck and teammate Travis Smith of Canada will be among the elite riders on hand.
“It’ll be my first time in Portland,” Duvendeck says. “Travis raced there last year and had a lot of great things to say about the event and the promoter. And it interests me to visit as many of the tracks in the U.S. as possible.”
Cooking at home
Duvendeck, who was born in Santa Barbara, Calif., overcame mysterious back pains last year to break the national record with his sprint team at the world championships in Manchester, England.
“Knowing that our Olympics spot was dependent on our performance there, I just sucked it up,” he says. “I did two or three weeks of rehab after that and haven’t felt anything since.”
Duvendeck began competing in mountain bike racing at age 13. He also played volleyball in high school – until the volleyball coach told him he should choose one sport or the other.
Duvendeck went on to win his first national championships as a 17-year-old junior rider.
“Obviously, I made the right choice,” he says.
At 5-11, 195 pounds, Duvendeck says he is built for sprint cycling.
“Compared to a Tour de France rider, we should be put in football gear rather than Spandex,” he says. “Most sprinters are around 200 pounds and have quite a bit of muscle. Strength training is a good 30 percent of what we do.”
After Athens, Duvendeck “semiretired,” and went back to school for two years, while coaching the UC Santa Barbara cycling team.
In 2006, though, he got the urge to try for another Olympic berth. He made his return with a bang, blowing away the competition in the national finals in the eight-lap, 2,000-meter keirin.
“That race tends to finish in a tight bunch, and I won with bike lengths to spare,” he says. “It was one of the defining moments of my comeback.”
Duvendeck also is known, especially to hungry friends, for the meals he cooks at home.
“I just love experimenting with food and bringing people together with great food and good wine, and telling stories,” he says.
When he lived at the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo., he watched cable TV cooking channels endlessly.
“The center was on the same, 14-day rotational food menu, and after a year or two, that can get repetitive,” he says. I would be dying to get out and go to my girlfriend's to whip up something different.