TRIPLE Exclusive: An Interview With Jet Tanner

“Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The United States has a long storied history in the sport of cycling. From Major Taylor to Lance Armstrong, Americans have witnessed our athletes stand atop the pinnacle of the cycling world. However, despite their many and varied achievements cycling remains a niche sport in this country.

Recent figures that revealed unprecedented growth in both the number of people who ride and in the number of people who race bicycles, belie the recruitment and development of our younger athletes. Our country’s pool and development of juniors pales in comparison to our European brethren. Major Taylor, Davis Phinney, Greg Lemond, and Lance Armstrong among other American riders, are more the exception than the rule.

JETCycling was founded in order to close that developmental gap and foster the next generation of great American cyclists. Spurred on by the lack of youth cycling organizations in his area, Jet Tanner created the junior cycling development program with the vision that cycling may one day rival the numbers and opportunities of other youth club sports.

With the lofty goal of growing the sport of cycling in North America, JETCycling’s main purpose is to teach competitive cycling to those 10 to 18 years of age. However, the program equally emphasizes ethics, sportsmanship, and education. JETCycling is dedicated to training, teaching, and racing in a healthy, happy, and fun environment.

Although not directly intended, the former US President’s words above clearly resonate throughout the junior cycling development program. In my conversation with Jet Tanner, we discuss the history and philosophy behind JETCycling, their recent partnership with the US Women’s Cycling Development Program (USWCDP), and the upcoming US Junior National Championships.

Granny’s 30 (G): How did you get into cycling?

Jet Tanner (JT): I have been cycling since I was little. Feeling the wind at my back, going fast, and it only grew from there. I have played many sports, but cycling has given me more personal satisfaction, sacrifice, trials and tribulations than any other sport.

G: Do you have any cycling role models?

JT: There were a lot of influences in my life, in a wide variety of sports. In cycling, there were inspirations that made me believe in the sport, and if they helped shape my belief in cycling, then I would have considered them role models.

G: Did you race? If so, what disciplines?

JT: Yes, I did some criteriums, road races, and also some triathlons.

G: Do you think that it is essential for a coach to have raced?

JT: I think it helps a lot, but I also believe that we need more coaches teaching and educating juniors who want to cycle competitively. We want a program similar to soccer, little league, or football, by finding parents with a love for the sport, a will to want to learn how to coach, and helping them to become successful coaches with certifications through JETCycling and USA Cycling.

Racing does not have to be a background for these coaches. Just a love for the sport and small fitness level on the bike! Of course we hope that there is a little bit of a fitness level in these future coaches, and what a perfect way to get in shape! I figure that we have to grow this sport somehow, and I would rather have a parent willing to help and get certified, then looking for people with race experience. BUT that is not to say that we would over look someone with race experience. This only makes it easier to grow the program. I just would like to open the doors for others out there wondering how to get involved.

The best thing is that USA Cycling has a great coaching program and there certification and continuing education is awesome. They have built a fantastic program; we just want to add our certification under it as a supplemental to the USA Cycling Certification. I encourage everyone to get certified, but also continue with further education to retain your certification.

G: How long have you been involved in coaching?

JT: I have been involved with coaching for over three years and it all started with my daughter. She now races competitively, and I wanted to support her in this sport. I felt the best way to help her is to get certified from USAC as a coach in the beginning of 2007. Since then, I have started a junior cycling development team.

What surprised me in the middle of 2007 is that there was not a program dedicated to juniors between 10 and 18. Let alone a coach to help them learn the basic foundations of cycling, team tactics, and competitive cycling on the road. Most coaches hand there athletes a program and follow up with them regularly. With young juniors you cannot do this. The best way to get results is to participate with them in their workouts, and be a mentor, and a coach.

We hold training rides just like a coach would hold soccer or baseball practice. We train two to three times a week working on pack riding, intervals, bike handling, hill repeats, tempo, time trialing, etc… I spend most of these training rides on my bike with the athletes, helping them with personal instruction, and positive reinforcement. Our results have been tremendous, because we are training a preparing for each up and coming race with what we need to do to be successful.

G: How and when did you come up with the idea of starting a Junior Cycling Development Program?

JT: Soccer, Little League, Pop Warner Football, even Lacrosse has its own sports league. We have a region in which we compete, but nothing that is organized with coaching and teams. Plus, I wanted to be able to help form and develop cycling by participating and teaching from example versus by paper. JETCycling was created with a vision to build the foundation of cycling for the future. It was just natural that my daughter helped me realize this goal.

G: How does JETCycling differ from what is currently occurring at the club level? What does JETCycling hope to improve on or expand on in the current junior cycling environment?

JT: At the club level you have cycling clubs with a wide variety of cyclists. Some clubs are adult driven and have very little involvement with juniors from the ages of 10 to 18. Most juniors join their parents or friends club out of convenience, but do not get the support that most juniors should receive. I wanted to change this and make junior cycling important.

JETCycling was started to give each junior a chance to ride with other youths their age. It helps them commiserate with their experiences in competitive cycling, as well as build the camaraderie of a team sport. My hopes are that we have multiple JETCycling Clubs all around the nation. We would hope to partner with USA Cycling to provide coaching certificates, and also we would also help with junior coaching certifications as well.

As part of our program we offer our athletes three roads for success within our program: College cycling programs, the US National Team, and access to professional cycling teams.

We hope to offer scholarships for college cycling, and help get our juniors the chance to get a great education. This is a very important step in our program. Education is the foremost important part of our program. Each athlete must maintain at least a 2.5 GPA to be able to ride.


Our coaches have worked with the US National Teams as well as riders and they have the experience to know if our athletes qualify performance wise, to be marketed to the US National Program with USA Cycling.

Finally, we know what it takes to get onto a professional cycling team. We have an extensive network of Owners, and teams always looking for excellent riders with talent. If we do our jobs right, we are building the foundation for cycling for these teams to succeed.

Our Program is different. Personalized coaching, and three avenues for success! I hope to make this a nationwide program that rivals other youth sports organizations.

G: As you are well aware, the physical and psychological development of boys and girls is different. Some sports have separate teams and leagues based on gender, whereas others, whether just through sheer lack of numbers, have both genders playing/competing together. What has been your experience in what many consider to be a fringe sport, in cycling?

JT: Yes there is a difference in the physical and psychological development. With our program, we are building the basic foundation for racing competitively in cycling. Each junior from 10 to 18 gets the same level of training, but within their respective age differences. Whether you train a male or female, you work with them as individuals. We try to do the same with our team. Working to find out what works for each individual, and giving them the tools to be successful. So the training is the same, but individualized per the coach that is riding with the group. For example, riding in a pack, close to each other, is a benefit for everyone, but climbing a hill is different. Older, faster riders, finish before younger athletes. All of them are encouraged to help each other out, and show support for each other. We have mentoring and shadowing as part of our program where the older juniors pass on tricks of the trade, or look out for the younger riders. This builds on team cohesiveness, and camaraderie.

Cycling is a very individual sport, but also with some team dynamics. We want to foster both sides of this and find ways to make these juniors successful and at the same time have fun!

G: In a 2005 interview with the LA Times, Rahsaan Bahati brought up some excellent points on the financial constraints that face inner city youth who might be considering the sport of cycling. Has our sport effectively “priced” itself out of drawing in some talented youngsters?

JT: Bicycling is not cheap, but we can find ways to give access to equipment and services. It all has to start with a vision of getting this grass roots movement off the ground.

Connie Paraskevin-Young at the ADT Home Depot Velodrome did it for track. Giving juniors the coaching and all the riding they can get for FREE. I hope to accomplish the same thing with Road Cycling. My challenges are getting the grants to support our quest.

Nonetheless, we are still moving forward, treating it like a youth club organization. Hopefully, in the next up and coming year, we will have a surplus of equipment to lend to juniors who want to experience competitive cycling.

All of this takes time and money. We are looking for grants, and sponsorships to help us with our goal. Supporting juniors is tough, but if done right, we can build upon the sport of cycling. Plus being teamed with the USWCDP just makes our program more important.

G: JETCycling recently partnered with the USWCDP. What is your goal, hope, aspiration with the partnership?

JT: This partnership has been awesome. Michael Engleman and I see the future of our sport. He has worked in women’s cycling for quite a few years, building and looking for new talent. He has created a mentor-ship program where his female athletes mentor other women or juniors looking to get into the sport.


This fit in perfect with what we are doing. The USWCDP mentors help with my training rides, and support JETCycling in coaching, training, racing, and equipment.

It seems a natural fit. Michael and I look at the sport with bright eyes and big potential. We both have a goal to grow the sport, and to back it up with sponsorship dollars. It takes a movement to build upon a grass roots development program. We are hoping to do this together.


We have created a program “Who is behind me?” With some professional athletes in cycling, and this program asks the basic question of who is building the future for our sport. Well JETCycling is trying to do just that, and with the USWCDP, we will get there together.

G: What has been the most challenging aspect(s) that you’ve faced in developing a program? Conversely, what has been the most surprising aspect(s)?

JT: The most challenging aspect is finding more juniors who want to compete in competitive road cycling. In addition, getting sponsors to buy into the program has been a challenge, because they consider juniors from 18 to U23. I work with 10-18 years of age, and when I am explaining what we are trying to accomplish, it is a little perplexing for some.

I had a coach from an extremely well know organization, who stated that children did not need any coaching or support, and that they are there to just have fun and ride their bike. In addition, he told me that his interests were with older athletes who have the talent and the money to pay for services. I was shocked because in order to grow this sport we need to start looking at younger riders who are curious and have a desire to ride and race. So, when I began this quest, I wanted to start a program that helps foster the desire to race competitively in cycling, and make it fun for them to want to continue. This is the key to our success within our program.

The most surprising thing that has happened to us was the support of the USWCDP. We have mentors from the USWCDP that join us on rides, ant they have been awesome. They are very supportive, and helpful. In addition, having professional riders take interest in your goals and in your juniors is awesome. They want to see the sport grow. This gives them a chance to give back to the sport. I am very proud of the mentors of the USWCDP.

G: The doping culture has been fairly prevalent in cycling’s past, and as we’ve seen again at the Tour de France in its present. Is doping an issue you discuss with or educate your program’s participants/parents about?

JT: I hate that word, “Doping.” It is a very negative word and one I believe we should remove from our cycling vocabulary. We should call it “Cheating” or “Performance Enhancing.” Doping is so negative and gives juniors the vision of needles and drug addicts.

Juniors get bombarded with people outside the sports calling cyclist a bunch of dopers. “Dopers Suck” and so on, it is sad. Juniors walk away dumbfounded by these statements. We need to create a change in our sport, to change the perception of our profession. Cheating and performance enhancing is still as bad and holds a lot of weight in the way it is viewed. Both should be dealt with accordingly, but the connotation is just not as negative.

I am hoping that this slight change in wording could change the way sponsors look at our sport or the direction that we want to have our sport perceived. It is a journey, and one we need to take.

As far as our juniors, we talk about the issues as they come up and reiterate that any form of cheating is wrong. We try to work on the aspects of being respectful of the sport, and enhancing the image in a positive light. They see what Team Columbia Sportswear, and Team Garmin Chipotle are trying to do, and we applaud them. These are perfect examples to our juniors.

G: What is JETCycling’s role in the upcoming Junior National Championships? Who are some of the riders we should be looking for?

JT: JET Cycling’s role in the National Championships is simple. We are the race promoter, and director of the championships. We have a week full of amazing events and courses. Here is a list of what we are doing:

Tuesday August 5th
Registration, and Juniors in the Disney’s California Adventure Parade
Wednesday August 6th
Our Time Trial through the picturesque Santiago Canyon
Thursday August 7th
A Fast and Cool Criterium Race at the Angels Stadium of Anaheim
Friday August 8th
Junior Road Race for 10 -16
Saturday August 9th
Women’s Road Race, Elite, U23 and 17-18
Sunday August 10th
Men’s Road Race, Elite, U23 and 17-18

Wednesday through Friday 4 to 6 pm.
Awards Ceremony - ESPN Zone [Downtown Disney]

JETCycling has put in an enormous amount of time, but would like to thank those who have helped make it a little easier; JETCycling Staff, USWCDP, USA Cycling Staff, Rock-n-Road Cyclery, Team VeloSport, City of Irvine, City of Tustin, City of Orange, County of Orange, the California Highway Patrol, Disneyland Resorts, and Get Travel. Without their help, these championships would never have happened.

If you would like to check out what we have been doing, go to http://jetcycling.wordpress.com. We have loaded this page full of information on our championships.

We are exceptionally proud that we were able to provide a championship that USA Cycling could be proud of, and one that we hope people will remember. JETCycling is excited about the possibilities of growing our sport and making an impact on cycling as a whole. Hopefully, this championship will ring with championship flare, and fan fair. We want this event to be one that participants, spectators, and our partners will remember for a long time.

A number of riders from all over the country, each carrying their individual hopes and dreams, are set to participate. Past champions, professional cyclist in the Women’s and Men’s Elite field, and some fantastic juniors are scheduled to race. Whether they are first or last, it will be the competition that makes this all worthwhile. I wish them all good luck, and success.

G: If there is one piece of advice or bit of wisdom that you impart to the participants in JETCycling, what would it be?


JT: We are here to have fun, and get a great experience. Cycling is important, but their education, and who they are as a person, is more important. JETCycling stresses education, and that each athlete is held to a standard of ethics, morals, and we look at enhancing the whole individual rather than just one aspect of the athlete. Cycling is our sport, but we are also looking to build upon a bright and smart individual.

Photos: Courtesy of Jet Tanner