It’s time to enjoy another athlete spotlight.
He may only be a teenager, but Aiden has been riding and racing bikes much longer than his age shows. Even with the cancellations of spring races this season, Aiden hasn’t stopped training and has been putting in the hard work increasing his power numbers in almost every area. All I can say is his competitors better be prepared for the wattage bazooka he’ll be unloading when racing resumes!
1) Athlete: Aiden Mapel Discipline: Cyclocross Location: Southwick, MA Coach: Noel Bonk
2) Tell us a little about yourself? I currently am racing on the @compedgeracing cycling team that has a main focus in cyclocross. I have been racing a bike since I was three and in the past 5 years I have really focused on my progression in cyclocross. I was planning on racing a road and cross country mountain bike schedule this spring and summer, but we will see what races show up first.
3) How did you originally get into cycling? My dad brought my brother and me to a local BMX track when I was three. Later that summer I did my first race and raced BMX till I was about 12. When I was 7 my dad was racing a local cyclocross race and brought me to do the kids races. I raced all the kid’s races at the CX races my dad was at until I was at racing age of 10 and moved into the cub junior category. When I was about twelve I stopped racing BMX to focus on cyclocross because that’s really what I enjoyed most!
4) What was the hardest event you have ever done? How did you overcome it? My hardest race that I have ever done was the biggest race also. This was the Jingle across Cyclocross Festival. With many delays on the flight there I didn’t arrive till about 2 in the morning on race day. I was also racing at like 11 am I believe. This was only a month or two coming off a broken wrist with losing a lot of training. I was not prepared to race as I should’ve and eventually learned what worked for me soon after that race. It was a very good experience and even though I didn’t have my best race I had a lot of fun.
5) What are your personal training/racing goals? This year my main goal is to get my category 2 upgrade very early on and start to gain more experience in the u23/elite UCI field.
6) What’s your favorite route/ride or race? My favorite race is the NBX Grand Prix. This race is always super cold and rooty, sandy, and very fast. I have seemed to always have a good day 1 and a phenomenal day 2 race there. The course is super fast and has some loose sandy turns which makes for an interesting fun race!
7) What’s one thing people are surprised to know about you? Most people are surprised that I started riding a bike on two wheels by the age of 3 and also first got on skis at age 3.
8) What do you find most challenging and rewarding about cycling? The most challenging and rewarding thing in cycling for me is definitely just having a good race. The feeling you get after having a super good race that you feel good about is amazing. Yet you had to earn that, and it was certainly challenging to get there.
9) How has BonkWerx coaching helped you? BonkWerx has helped me tremendously to get through times when the motivation to train hasn’t really been there. My first week getting coached by BonkWerx was also the week that I got my cast off my wrist. I got to ride a bike outside, my first race of the season was that Sunday, and I had to figure out the best way to ride with my brace on. Coach Noel helped me to get my training going fast and to see results ASAP. I have grown as a rider and racer so much in the past season. I would certainly not be where I am right now without his help.
10) What’s your favorite training quote? “It never gets easier, you just get faster” – Greg Lemond
