August 26, 2024 • 47 mins
Join host Evelyn Erives on this inspiring episode of “Covering Your Health” as she sits down with Owen Daniels, a dedicated para-cyclist from Fontana, California. Owen is on an incredible journey, training rigorously to earn a spot on Team USA for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.
In this episode, Owen shares his personal story of resilience, the challenges he has overcome, and his unwavering determination to achieve his dreams. Learn about the world of para-cycling, the rigorous training regimen Owen follows, and the support system that keeps him motivated.
Whether you’re a sports enthusiast, someone facing your own challenges, or simply in need of a dose of inspiration, this episode is sure to uplift and motivate you. Tune in to hear Owen’s remarkable journey and his insights on the importance of perseverance, community, and the power of sport.
For more information on this show's topic visit IEHP.org or (800) 440-IEHP. To follow Owen on his journey to the Olympics find him on Instagram @owendaniels
Reach out to Evelyn via Instagram @evelynerives or email her at EvelynErives@iHeartMedia.com
In this episode, Owen shares his personal story of resilience, the challenges he has overcome, and his unwavering determination to achieve his dreams. Learn about the world of para-cycling, the rigorous training regimen Owen follows, and the support system that keeps him motivated.
Whether you’re a sports enthusiast, someone facing your own challenges, or simply in need of a dose of inspiration, this episode is sure to uplift and motivate you. Tune in to hear Owen’s remarkable journey and his insights on the importance of perseverance, community, and the power of sport.
For more information on this show's topic visit IEHP.org or (800) 440-IEHP. To follow Owen on his journey to the Olympics find him on Instagram @owendaniels
Reach out to Evelyn via Instagram @evelynerives or email her at EvelynErives@iHeartMedia.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey there, it's Evelynie Revaz.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
So excited for another episode of Covering Your Health with
EVELYNI Revas.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
So glad you're here. I feel like you're gonna love
today's episode.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
If you felt like the summer was electric because of
the Olympic Games, this is definitely the.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Episode for you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
In the coming days, the spirit of Team USA will
continue to thrive overseas in the twenty twenty four Paralympic Games,
which highlights incredibly talented para athletes like the man I
am going to be speaking with today, Owen Daniels of Fontana,
my hometown, is a paracyclist who's training to become a
(00:39):
part of Team USA during the twenty twenty eight Games
right here in Los Angeles. Owen, who is an IEHP member,
has reached the podium in several.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Pair of races across the.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Globe, including the twenty twenty two World Cup in Belgium,
and is a five time Los Angeles Marathon winner in
the hand cycle category.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Just incredible. We are so delighted to.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Introduce Owen to our Covering Your Health family and Shina
spotlight on the incredible athleticism that we're going to see
during the Paralympic Games August twenty eighth through September eighth.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Welcome to Covering Your Health, a wellness podcast dedicated to
covering all areas of living a healthy and happy lifestyle,
from healthy hearts to understanding health plans and everything in between.
Each episode will provide you with a better understanding of
managing your health, preventative care, and staying on the right
path for your family's wellness journey. The Covering Your Health
(01:42):
podcast is presented by I E HP. Now your host,
Evelina Revez.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Welcome, Owen, Thank you for having me. Evelyn, how are
you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I am so good. I'm so glad you're here from
the Ie right.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yes, I'm born in the IAC, born in Fontana, kaiser
He which is not far Yea, and lived in Inland
Empire my whole.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Life I went.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I grew up in Fontana, so yeah, I love Fontana
and I'm there all the time now too, because I
have all my friends and families still.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
All out there, so I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Okay, So we're going to start because everyone needs to
know about your story about how you overcame huge obstacles
and if you don't mind sharing a little bit about
that and just being really candid with us.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Please tell our listeners all about yourself.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Yeah, no problem. So my name is Owen Daniels. Like
you said, I am a native here to the Inland Empire,
and in twenty ten, I was a business owner. Actually
I was twenty four at the time, wow, and had
owned a plumbing construction construction business. And I was just
(02:54):
working really hard and I happened to be in between
jobs and had been working like ten twelve hour days,
six week so kind of went out for a night
on the town, had a little break, was in a
car accident and it was actually on the Tin Freeway,
which is local to us. Yeah, and I had lost
(03:17):
control of my vehicle and flipped my truck after hitting
the tree and I was ejected about thirty five forty
feet and I believe my spine upon impact on the ground,
just shattered my T ten vertebrae and just think of
it like like it burst. They called it a burst fracture.
(03:39):
So it all the bone fragments shot into my spine,
Oh my gosh, which caused me to be a T
ten paraplegic. So that ever since twenty ten, I have
been paralyzed from the waist down, and luckily for me,
I was shortly after introduced to Team Possibilities, which is
(04:01):
a nonprofit organization at Lomelinda University Medical Center East Campus.
Team Possibilities is, like I said, a nonprofit organization that
caters to people with disabilities to kind of get them
like reintegrated into community, give them a sense of you know,
(04:23):
like brotherhood and family. We have sports, support groups, dinners, luncheons,
like everything just to kind of bring the disabled community
together as a whole. So if it wasn't for them,
I don't know where I would be. They're the ones
(04:43):
that introduced me to sport, introduced me to peer visiting,
motivational speaking, and kind of they're the ones that gave
me the direction that I needed and basically the purpose
that I needed to be able to rehabilitate and rehabilitate
back into society as a normal person instead of just
(05:04):
being you know, like a disabled person.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Or right right like or that. And that's probably how
you felt initially.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Right, yeah, totally, so when you're first hurt. When I
go see a lot of these patients, because I still
do peer visiting for people who are recently injured, and
I try to let them know, like it's okay to
be down depressed, go through these emotions of being lost
and basically you think your life is over right. It's
(05:34):
the typical story for anyone who goes through a life
changing accident or something that leaves you with the disability
like mine, right, So it's really key to like have
that support, you know, so you can kind of like
get past the bad and.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Move on to the good and finding the good and
refinding the good.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Yeah, totally, of course.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
So that's that's fascinating to me. Team Possibilities is what
it's called.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Yeah, it's a teampossibilities dot org if you ever want
to check it out. My story is also on there.
I'm also sponsored by them, so they've been sponsoring me
since twenty and twelve. They're actually the ones that started
it's called a Paralympic Sport program, and they just came
to me and asked me if, hey, do you want
to be in the program. And at that time, I
(06:28):
wasn't working. I was, you know, I didn't have a
ton to do. I was still trying to be active.
I was doing triathlons and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
But it was, but on your own you were doing yes.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, it wasn't very serious. Yeah, cool on train right stuff.
And they came to like how.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I do it? You know?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, more like how I pretend to run on the street.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Yeah, now that was me, Like, yeah, you see me
out properly? I don't. Yeah no, I was right there too,
like I didn't need the properly back then. Yeah, it
really didn't. I was twenty five, you need whatever, mad, Yes,
me too, me too now that I'm forty one.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
So yeah, they're the ones who got me like like refocused.
And then they presented me with the opportunity to be
a part of the Paralympic program. I said sure, why not.
I had nothing else to do, And from there it
was got me the equipment, which is not cheap. Coaches
paid for all my travel, a race and everything. Yeah,
it's it's quite it's quite expensive sports cycling. I mean
(07:29):
my bike alone that I ride right now is if
you buy and brand new, you're looking at like twenty
thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Oh my gosh, oh yeah goodness.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Yeah, so it's not cheap. Wow. Having a sponsor like
team possibilities is every Yeah, it's everything. Very key to
which wow.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And so they probably looked at you too, like you're
a young guy, like, let's he's your athletic you know,
maybe you weren't professionally athletic at that point, but still
they're looking at you and they're like, this, this is
somebody that we need to back. This is somebody that
could absolutely be a pair of a pair of olympian.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Right, yeah, I think So.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Did you see yoursel that in yourself at all?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Okay, so that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I mean I've had it. I guess you could say
it's a blessing and a curse. Since I was a kid,
everything I do, like, I want to be great.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
You want to win.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
I want to win. Yeah, I want to be better
than the norm. You know. I don't want to be
mediocre no matter what I do. I don't know what
it is. It could be something small. If I grab
a hold of something, I like want more knowledge. I
want to be better at it. I want to like
hone my craft and be good at it. So I
(08:46):
did think like I could do this, like and my
goal from the beginning was like, I want to be
one of the best in the world. Unfortunately for me,
I was naive to how hard it is to be
one of the best in the world. There's seven billion
people in the world, of course, and you're trying to
(09:07):
be one of the best at something and it turns
out it's very hard.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, I imagine.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I mean where we were just watching the Olympics, and
I'm just like, they make it look so easy.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
You really look at it and you're like, I.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Mean I feel like if at that age I could
have and then you're like, yeah, right, it's not that easy.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
That's the key.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
They look like it's easy because for them it's not
as challenging as it would be for you, like for me,
you know, to get out and try to run or
do hurdles or whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Yeah, and it's I think it was one of the
Olympians in the track and field that had just said this.
She's she does like the hundred meter yeah, and I
think her name is Cheris or Richardson.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Richardson.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
So and she said about you know, sports and stuff,
like when you see it, like you see her running
for ten seconds, and yes, it like looks easy and
you're like, she's running for ten seconds, but she trained
her whole life for ten seconds. Yeah, so it should
(10:20):
look easy, right, It is incredibly difficult. Oh yeah, so
like me, I've been training for twelve years, thirteen years
for yeah, short races and stuff like that. So you
don't see all of that. You just see the racing
and the ups and downs are racing. But it is
a lot of work people don't see, I bet.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So what made you want to become such a strong
advocate for teen Possibilities When they first introduced us to
you and you said it La Melinda, Yes, So when
they introduced this to you, you got involved with the program.
And then what was it that was that spark that
made you go, I'm going to be a big advocate
for this program.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
So I had a friend that I knew since I
was a kid, and about three months before I was injured,
I had seen him out and he was in a
wheelchair and he wasn't in a wheelchair before, and he
looked very happy. He was independent, like you could see it.
(11:21):
And yes, and then when I wasn't in a chair.
It's a typical thing for people without disabilities to look
at someone with a disability and be like, man, like,
how do you do this? You know, like you kind
of feel sorry for them, but you couldn't feel sorry
for him. He, like you said, he was thriving. Yeah, well,
(11:42):
when I got hurt, he was the first person I called,
and he was the one who introduced me to Team Possibilities,
and he kind of like led the way for me
as far as like a mentor of like how to
live with a disability, how to be independent, and he
was pretty active in Team Possibilities, So I just kind
(12:04):
of followed. And then it was really something that I
gravitated to because of like what it was doing for
me personally for rehabilitation. Like I felt good like getting
out being around others in a chair, you know, because
at first you are very timid about going out in
(12:25):
public and what you can do, what you can't do,
what you're going to feel out in public, and stuff
like that. So that's why I got so active and
basically pursued being a part of Team Possibilities so much.
It just kind of like drew me in as far
as like my real my rehabilitation. And also once I
(12:49):
reached that point of like where I felt I was,
you know, in a good place, I wanted to like
like pass.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
On pay it forward.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, yeah, oh, that's that's wonderful, and it is true.
It's when when you I feel like it's what's similar
to your story, is anyone that really does fall into
like a little bit of a depression, getting back out
in the world is hard. It's getting back out and
telling yourself, Hey, you can do this, you can be this,
You're okay, you're going to be able to Yeah, you're
(13:20):
you're just.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Like everyone else.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
So definitely that's beautiful and it's so great that you're
paying it forward that way. So let's talk about your cycle,
your twenty thousand dollars chair cycle.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
What is it? It's a hand cycle.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
What is hand cycling? Explain that to somebody who maybe
has never seen it before.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
So hand cycling is so hand cycles are for like
paraplegics or even people possibly missing limbs okay, like lower
limbs okay, And it's how we get out and basically
ride bicycles. You can ride them recreationally or like I
do professionally. They are are laid down, so I'm fully
(14:02):
laid down. I'm probably only about foot off the ground.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Like.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
It has three wheels, two in the back, one in
the front, and basically works the same way as a
regular bicycle or like a road bike. It has gearing
and I have let's see, I think I only have
eleven gears right now. I ride a different type of setup,
but it's basically the same setup as regular cyclist. And
(14:29):
it's all I have wireless shifting. That's not cheap. The
whole bike is carbon fiber, which that's why it gets
so expensive. Carbon fiber wheels the top of the line
of all the equipment on the bike. There's no expense spare. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So now and the act of it. So you're laying
fully down.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
So I'm thinking of like when I ride a bike,
you know, I have to like see everything.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
How are you seeing? How are you maneuvering?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
It is? I get that all the time. Yeah, when
I'm training, and like I'll have cars honking, I mean,
and I.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Have oh my god, I can imagine that training on
the road.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
You have to, right, I put a flag on and
I have a rear view mirror and I also have
like a light on the bike flash. Okay, so I
do my best to be seen. But yeah, when I'm
out there, people will I can't see you, and I
know they can see me. But I think they're just
a little like agitated. You know, drivers seem to get
(15:33):
a little agitated with cyclists, like where we have this
back and forth thing where like.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I think that's with any cyclist for the record, Yeah,
it's like cyclists.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, we're like share the road.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Like they think the road is theirs, and we know
the road isn't ours, but like we kind of want
our respect on the road of like, hey, give us
a little room and we'll be a stay off your
cell phones and you're going to keep everybody safe and upright.
So yeah, yeah, but I do train outside and it
is hard to see. Back to your question, it is
(16:04):
because we have like our fork and basically our pedals
in front of us, so our vision is impaired, but
you kind of get used to it. Like some people
sit high enough to see over, yes, okay, I don't.
I sit a little lower, so I'm basically like looking
(16:26):
through small areas of the fork and the pedals and
I'm off to the side. It is, And it's not
like I've never I've never had any issues. Yeah, I
never have, Like knock on wood, I've I've never really
crashed in a race. Yeah, we're pretty good everyone's pretty
good at seeing and knowing what's around them and being aware.
(16:49):
So it is hard to see. It's definitely much harder
to see than a regular bite, But you get used
to it and you've really like really hone your senses
of like what's around you, how to see stuff in
front of you. It is difficult.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Oh my gosh, it sounds it sounds scary to me,
like straight up, it could be. Yeah, I think I've
watched it in the Paralympics before. But I so you're
and you're maneuvering with your hands, right, So you're it's
all upper body totally right that you're just having to
use your arms. Yeah, And so what's training for that?
Like with your arms? Like your arm strength? Like what
do you do to train your arms to just constantly?
Speaker 4 (17:23):
So?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Did you like weight training as well?
Speaker 4 (17:27):
And I'm into weight training now? Okay, to tell you
the truth, I was really big into the gym before
I was in a chair, really big. I was a
gym rap. That's all I did. It was work hard
to go to the gym, and that was it. So
I kept that up for years after my injury. When
(17:47):
I met my wife and we moved in like I
kind of like, you know, family takes precedence like that,
So I kind of like there was some distance that
grew between me and the gym, which isn't a bad thing.
Like for cycling, like you really should focus on cycling
and training cycling. Yeah, some coaches want you to wait trains,
(18:11):
some don't. It just depends. Yeah, So I was really
focused on training on the bike. I have, like so
a little bit of a background. For years. I was
kind of just training, but training just enough to be
like good.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
It wasn't like full on, like being serious on that. Yes,
like it was. I wanted to be really good, but
I was still young and still wanted to go out
and have fun stuff. And then when I met my wife,
she put a lot of like what's the word I'm
looking like structure. Structure in my life, yeah for sure,
(18:52):
which was great for my cycling. You know it's early bedtime,
wake up early, everything's very focused, which is perfect, you know,
because it's when I'm in charge, like I may yeah
it's wild. But with my wife there, like she put
structure into my life. So about twenty nineteen, like just
(19:13):
before COVID, like I really started taking training seriously, and
my like level of fitness and my ability to compete
at a high level like really increased like exponentially so
and there.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Was nobody on the road, Yes COVID, so you can train.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
The best thing about COVID was traveling. We would travel overseas,
like we went to Belgium and the plane would be empty,
so you could get a seat and coach, but you
would have the whole road so you could lay out,
you could do whatever they would bring you whatever. It
was the best. Oh, it was the best. COVID was
(19:56):
the best for traveling. It was the best. But yeah,
now that I've kind of reached like I've reached a
level to where it's all about small gains, Like every
year is very small gains, Like you have to make
sure you're eating right and training right, and you know,
it's not these big jumps in fitness. Now. Now you're
(20:18):
fighting for small.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Stuff a little bit, a little bit at a time.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
So now I have put myself back into the gym
and weightlifting is a very big focus for me right now.
So I'm really trying to focus on weight training and
also riding. But I want to bring my power up
some I just want to keep pushing the level of
how far I can get. And I think with some
(20:43):
really focused weight training and trying to get stronger, yeah,
and implement it to the bike, I think it will
pay off.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
So what was the first thing that was the hardest
thing for you with hand cycling? What was the first
like getting them, like maneuvering, steering, Like what was the
hardest part to overcome for you? Or was it just
also natural?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
No?
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Uh no, definitely not natural like before I did BMX
when I was a kid, but you don't got to
do endurance anything. We just made jumps and jump them
and acted crazy like there was no training, There was
no like having to ride for that stuff. So I
would say the biggest thing to adjust to in the
(21:27):
beginning was the training, like the long hours and the
reality of like this is not something where I just
got to step into it like I did when I
was young, or when I would pick something and beat
good right away. Yes, like because I am I'm naturally athletic,
I'm naturally good at anything I pick and if I
(21:50):
pick it, I'm not good at it. I put that
one that's not for me. So what I had to
be the long hours on the bike, the train. I
means six days a week, and just how focused you
have to be. It's so hard because it's about consistency.
You know. You have to train with consistency, and it
(22:13):
has to be a long a long time of consistency.
It can't just be a week. It is years, you know.
And I tell people who want to get into endurance
sports of any kind, and it's not just cycling or
any sport. If you really want to be the best
at your sport, this is not a I'm going to
(22:33):
come in and dominate early. This is like you need
to think of it as like a five to ten,
fifteen year plan. Yeah, this is why so many people
start sports when they're young.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm a off topic tiny.
I'm training right now for a half marathon. I'm only
oh nice, I'm doing the run Disney half marathons. Yeah,
I have not done one in eight years.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
I used to do a lot all the time. My
husband and I got a little obsessed with getting medals.
We don't win, Okay, we're not going to win.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
We're just going to finish.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Okay, but you're winning, but I'm winning. But if you
finish your winning one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
So I'm I'm signed up.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
It's like a few weeks from now, and I have
the hardest part for me this summer has been the consistency.
Oh my gosh, just staying focused and being able to
get up early in the morning, knowing my day, what
my day looks like, and still trying to fit in
running or even just walking for a long amount of
time has been so hard for me.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
So that's I mean, I really feel like that is
the thing that's right.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yeah, yeah, And I can only imagine for you, like
the full time job. Oh yeah, I had the podcast
and the radio show, and then wanting to do the
half marathon, like it's a lot of work. It is
a lot.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
I just want to finish if I could get through
across that.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
But it's like, I don't care the people that sweep
people up behind the ones that aren't going to make it.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
They can be right behind me, that's all. But just
let me finish.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
That is fine. That is a huge accomplishment. Like a
half marathon is nothing to like joke about. Yeah, it
is thirteen point one miles. It's a lot. Yeah, I
mean a full marathon is crazy. Yeah, no, that's for running.
That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Crazy.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
So a half marathon thirteen miles, Like yeah, if I
wasn't in this chair, like I would not be doing
a half marathon.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I'm telling So what is your distance? What do you
do with?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
There's obviously a lot further than a half marathon because
it's cycling, right, So yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
So what is your So there's I'm.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Imagining there are different lengths of races, there is, correct, Okay,
So what are you training for?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Is there a specialty you have or do you do multiple?
Speaker 4 (24:42):
So yes, we in hand cycling, we don't really have
like specialties, like we do have specialties, I guess what
we're good at more than the other. Okay, but for
hand cyclists, it's not like some of the other professional
cycling where maybe they do track or they're a time
trial specialist or a road race specialist, like we kind
(25:03):
of do all.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
So we have time trials, which is, of course you
against the clock. So you have a course there typically
anywhere from nine to about twelve and a half miles.
That's our typical distance for a time trial. Okay, so
about a fifteen to twenty k so fifteen to twenty kilometers.
Typically a pro time trial is around twenty k to
(25:30):
forty kow okay, so we're not doing much less than them, yeah,
and sometimes around the same distance as them. And we
are also doing road racing, so that's big pack racing.
So in a time trial, yeah, we start on a
start ramp and it's us basically by ourselves racing the
(25:50):
course and the fana and a road race, it's all
of us starting at the same time.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Oh, I see, okay.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
And those distances typically anywhere from in the US, we're
typically doing a little shorter maybe thirty thirty five miles.
Once we go over into Europe, that's when we're getting
into we do thirty five forty forty five. And last
year we did one in Belgium and it was like
(26:20):
sixty eight miles.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
So yeah, that's like a three hour race. So they
could get really long for sure. Yet, and my class
is the biggest class in all of paracycling, Like we
typically have around sixty riders, where I would say most
classes have I mean some of the women's classes will
(26:42):
have ten. Wow, I think yeah, Like in all of
women's paracycling, I think they have anywhere from like eighty
to ninety total over all the classes, we have sixty
just sinnars, So it's really it gets really sketchy in
a road race in the beginning. Wow. Wow.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
So you're a big advocate obviously for cycling for the
para athletes. Yes, what are some of those misconceptions that
you feel people have maybe when pursuing.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
A sport like yours, that it's easy? The first misconception, Yes,
that's a misconception.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
I think the biggest misconception in parasports is how what
we call the able body able body community looks at us. Sure,
so some of them I get the sense that they
look at us competing like it's not as high level
(27:43):
as like the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Okay, so it's a.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Definitely a misconception that like paras sports or the Paralympics,
the athletes there aren't as high level as the athletes
in the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yeah, which is absolutely a misconception.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
It's not true. You have para sports. You know, it's
people like me paralyzed or missing a limb or you know,
whatever their ailment is. But they're still training just as
hard as the Olympians. We train just as much, are
it's just as competitive. Yeah, you know, like, yeah, of
(28:22):
course there's less of us that are in parasports, so
maybe we don't have as many competing, but at the
top level, it is just as competitive as the regular Olympics.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
I totally can see that. Yeah, so let's talk about
the Paralympics. What can we expect? I mean, I know
you're now you're training for the LA Olympics.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
So yes, I was training for Paris and again, like
it's hard to be the best, and uh there was
three of us going for the spot on the Paralympic
team and only three No, no, it just depends. Like
(29:07):
so how it works is as we compete through the years,
we call them like quarters or quads, you know, four
years for every Paralympics or Olympics, you have to earn spots.
So countries have to earn spots. They're not just given
to them. So you have to earn spots by placing
throughout the four years, especially the year before the Paralympics
(29:30):
is a really big year. But it all depends on
how many people you have placing high, you know.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Against other countries countries exactly.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
So if you place higher, like higher placings you know,
podium stuff like that, like you earn more slots. So
it's all about earning slots. So you never know how
big the team is going to be until just before
the Olympics or Paralympics, when they know how many spots
they have for cycling, for swimming, for track and field.
(30:01):
You have to earn spots, so you don't know how
big the team is going to be.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
But it could be different the time we get to
Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
Yes it could. It could be different, and maybe they
give us a couple more slots because we are the
hosting country, you know, stuff like that. You never know,
like that happens for our World Cups. So if we
have World Cups, like we had a World Cup in Alabama,
we get a couple more spots because we're the hosting country.
So I don't know exactly if that's how it works
(30:29):
for the Paralympics or the Olympics, but it could be slightly, but.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
It would make sense, And I'll write a letter if
you need.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
To write them. For sure, we could use a bigger team.
But that's that's basically what happens. There's so many slots
and how this worked for the build up to paris Is.
Our selection events were our first World Cup or actually sorry,
our second World Cup, our third World Cup, and then
(30:55):
our qualifying event that was at Lomolinda, Okay. So it
was a point base system and you had to place
in the top six to get points towards the Paralympic team,
and that was at the World Cups. And like I said,
my class is huge, so placing top six like it's tough,
(31:18):
and I've done it plenty. I've won World Cups, I've
podiumed in World Cups and things like that. But placing
top six out of sixty it's the top ten percent.
Where you could maybe have some classes where they have
twelve people and you got to place top six, it's
only top fifty percent. So some some people have a
(31:41):
I wouldn't say an easier path, but just slightly easier
to scoring points. So I wasn't able to score any
points in Europe. So I was really up against the
fence once it came to the qualifying event. Yeah, I
needed to place first or second out of all the
men's classes. And it's it's hard to explain, but it's
(32:02):
basically how they do it is they have time on
how fast you should be moving per kilometer on the bike,
and then they take how fast you are moving per
kilometer and they give you a percentage. Okay, so if
you're right at how fast you should be moving, that's
one hundred percent. If you're below it, you know there'd
(32:25):
be ninety six percent, So you want to be below
so and a lot of stuff. Just half of the
battle is staying healthy into these races. Got back from Europe,
sun got me sick. I was sick for a while.
Training really took a dip, and I tried to do
what I could do to salvage some fitness just before
(32:47):
the race. But I didn't come in with my best
fitness and it wasn't bad. It just wasn't what you
knew you could be. Yes, I wasn't my best self
that day, but uh, I wasn't upset because one of
my good friends who's also in my class, we are
really tight, and he was able to make it like
(33:10):
he did really well, like he had his best race
of the year, probably is one of his best time
trials ever. Wow, And I was if I didn't make
it like, I was happy to see him making to go.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
So you have something really really coo. Yeah, yeah, oh
that's so awesome. Are they already there? I am askin
the guys are.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
There there in Spain?
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Okay, yeah they So this US paracycling headed to Spain first,
I believe for a training camp and then they'll go
over to Paris nice and then probably take a little
bit of time to like decompress and recover from the
training camp, and then they'll get into the games.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Wow, oh my gosh, so exciting.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Very exciting.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Which you're okay, I know you do hand cycling, but
what's your favorite sport that that?
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Are you going to only watch hand cycling? Are you?
Speaker 4 (33:59):
No?
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Are you gonna watch other.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
I'll watch I like the like track and field, So
I like to see the wheelchair racing. Yes, Like that's
super hard to do and the speeds that those guys
move in wheelchairs completely different.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Right, So we're talking about cycle now we're talking about upright.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Yeah, you're just talking like we have gears and we
can apply some more power the way we're laying and
stuff like that to where these guys are above the wheels.
It's just kind of the motion is different and they
can't apply as much power. They don't have gearing, you know,
so they were they're climbing hills and stuff like it's
a little more difficult and things like that, but they're
(34:38):
incredibly fast. Like when I do the La Marathon because
they let us do it on hand cycles and it's
more of a training race for me to kind of
it's very early in my season usually, so I just
use it as like a gauge to see how I'm
doing as far as training. Yeah, okay, but those guys
in the racing wheelchairs are doing that course so fast.
Oh my gosh, I mean in a wheelchair and they're
(34:58):
finishing and you know, hour and thirty minutes wow, which
is fast. Yeah, that's fast, seventeen eighteen miles per hour
average over hills. And they're incredible athletes. So I like
the cycling. I'll watch some cycling, and I'll watch definitely
wheelchair racing, some triathlon stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's gonna be so many
great things to look out for.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
So hard to stay on time, there's so many oh
my gosh.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah, I mean just trying to watch the Olympics. Yes,
just like a few weeks ago, I was like so hard,
how did I miss this? And I was so grateful
because there was like the app that had the highlight
but yeah, you can see the highlights that you.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Can also like go back and replay whatever you know
you're missed and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
So I'm really excited to watch.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
I'm so excited for you because now this is like,
so now we've got a new quad, right, that's what
you said, So four more years for you to be
training here?
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Yes, what is that? Okay? So what does each year
look like for you? Now?
Speaker 4 (35:55):
So twenty five is kind of like a re set year. Okay,
That's why I've gone into string training. It's like it's
time to try something new and implement some ideas or
different training that you may have to see if it
(36:16):
could work, if you get benefits from that. So twenty
twenty five is kind of like a reset year for me.
It'll be a lot of a lot of weight training,
you know, and if I go to races, like because
I'm switching some stuff up and trying some new things,
I'm not really looking for like the best results now,
(36:36):
I'm looking for those small gains to see if those
are happening. If those are happening, then I know I'm
on the right track, and then that'll be what twenty
twenty five is. For twenty twenty six will be a
big year because it's going to be the first year
since twenty fourteen that we've had a World Championships here
or paracyclicing not here, but in the US they're always
(37:00):
in Europe always, so it's going to be in Alabama.
So twenty twenty six is kind of like I like
to break everything up into small goals, you know, that's
my advice to people, like, have a big goal, but
it's a lot of small goals that I'll get you there.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (37:17):
So small goal is twenty twenty six World Championships to
podium at Worlds in the time trial, which is that
is like we were talking earlier, if I had a specialty,
that's what it would be. Me against the clock. I'm
very good at that. Like I'm extremely good at doing
(37:37):
time trials. So that is my goal. And then after
twenty twenty six, it'll be like a refocus of everything
Paralympic Games. Yeah, so it'll just be focus training on
Paralympic Games and just building up to that. And the
thing is you want to have what we call peak
(37:58):
fitness at the right time, and you can only do
it twice a year really, so you really have to
time that right. So that's going to be what I'm
going to be doing for the years coming up to this,
is learning to get my fitness right at its peak
around like summertime.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Oh my gosh, which sounds that sounds hard. It is
so hard, yeah, because it's all I mean.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
You're really you're relying on so many factors that you
probably don't even that you can't even control in something.
Speaker 4 (38:28):
Health, health, sick, getting sick, Yes, how busy you are,
stuff like that, And that's why it's it's so important
to have a good support system.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
And we didn't talk about this a lot, but off
I know, off the mic, we did a little bit.
You have a son, I do, Yeah, and what is
his name? His name is Jayden, Jayden and he's he's eleven. Yes,
so and that ends just one child right now, just one? Yeah, yeah,
And you know he's a big part of your life.
And so you also have to be a dad somewhere
in there. Oh yeah, yeah, you have to be like
(39:00):
this amazing athlete.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
You know what.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Every it's you know, the country is looking for you
to make sure that you're an Olympian, but also.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
And things and you. I mean, no matter how bad
I want to be a Paralympian, the family comes first.
Beautiful family comes first. Yeah. I love my son. He's
he's just like me in some ways and then just
like his mom in other ways. But he's one of
(39:32):
my best friends. He's a lot of energy. We have this.
It's a good and bad thing because he's got a
lot of me and him. So he's very witty with
his comebacks, which I am too, and we like to
rag on each other and and so I have a
great time with him. Yeah, that's most important. Like my wife,
(39:54):
my son, my family, that really comes first. But I'm
blessed to have my wife kind of let me like
have a one A one B. Yeah, one A is family,
one B is my cycling yea and my training.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
So but it means a lot too too. And I'm
sure she sees that.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
She sees, you know, this is the other part of
you that made you feel whole again, that made you
feel like, you know what, I have a great purpose,
And yeah, factors into all these things, all the good
you do in our community, all the paying it forward.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
That you're doing, as well. So that's a beautiful thing.
It's good to have.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
She's she's my biggest cheerleader. When I don't do well
or do what I wanted to do, she is like
more down than I am. She really is. She's like
she feels bad because she sees all the training I do,
and I try to tell her, like, don't don't worry
(40:52):
about it. And I try to teach my son that
you can't win them all. Yeah, you know, he's he's eleven,
so he's still dealing. He's trying to deal with like winning,
like winning and losing, you know, in certain things like
when it doesn't go asway. So I try to tell him, like,
like my cycling doesn't know. I can't win everyone, you know,
(41:12):
so you got to stay positive and learn from your
mistakes or learn from your losses so that you can
so the wins can be better. Yeah, so you can
be better going forward. But yeah, my family's my biggest cheerleader.
And if it wasn't for them, yeah, I don't know
where i'd be.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Well, I feel like I already have some great takeaways
from what you and I have talked about, but before
I let you go, and I feel like I want
to talk to you again in like another year and
see where you're at, and like another year, I'd be like, okay, yeah, yeah,
we got to do that because I want to know
and I want to be able to root for you.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
And when is that one? Okay, Alabama, Like we're gonna
watch now. So before we go, I want.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
To ask you, what are three key takeaways that you
feel like our listeners should hold with them after listening
to this conversation today about whatever, about being yourself, about
overcoming an obstacle, or about being an athlete.
Speaker 4 (42:03):
I would say one of the biggest takeaways I like
to give to everyone is like, if you're going through
hardship or depression or going through a difficult time in
your life, to remember that there is light at the
end of the tunnel, you know. And I am kind
(42:27):
of somebody that is more like hard truth that motivates
me more than like I want this like raw raw speech. Yeah,
So for me, like you know, I was again, I
was very depressed when I was injured and my thank
God for my dad, you know, he told me and
I tell people this all the time, like it's it's
(42:48):
brutal honesty, but is the truth. The sun is gonna
rise and set with or without you, so like, do
your best to just make every day a good day.
You know, there's so much worse in the world, maybe
(43:09):
than what you're dealing with at that time. You know.
I like to tell people there is worse than me
being in a chair. I see them all the time
in hospitals, and there's people that have it much worse
than me. So be grateful for the things you have,
and you know, every day is a blessing. So that's
probably the major takeaway. The second takeaway would be, you know,
(43:34):
when you see people with disabilities out in public, they're
just like you. They are normal people. You know. I
appreciate the help that I am offered sometimes, you know,
I'm at a gas station filling up my car and
they ask if I need help with my chair, which
is that's nice, Like I appreciate it. But for the
(43:54):
most part, people with disabilities are just as independent as you.
So when you see someone with a disability, like just
kind of look at them as like a normal person,
you know, instead of like someone with a disability. And
I would say the last takeaway for me is for me,
(44:18):
like my faith is is really important. So like staying
close to my faith and kind of spreading faith and
stuff like that and just being a devout Christian is
probably like a huge takeaway, you know, for for me,
for everyone, like for all my fellow Christians out there
(44:40):
and stuff, and like I just think, you know, the
man up above and having faith is is very important,
especially in our world today where there's a lot of
turmoil and a lot of stuff you see, and you know,
it's a hard world. It's a very hard world, and
so he keeps me.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
And focused focus. Yes, that's beautiful. That's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
I am so grateful that I got to speak with you,
ow and thank you so much for being on the
Covering your Health podcast. I'm definitely going to be following up. Yeah,
please do like I want to know everything now.
Speaker 4 (45:18):
Yeah, for anyone who wants to follow my journey, yes,
how can we? You can go to teampossibilities dot org. Okay,
and I do monthly blogs there and it will also
talk about any events I have coming up or stuff
like that. Social media's I'm at Owen Daniels. You can
(45:38):
kind of it's a public yeah, yeah, social media, so
you'll know when you see a guy laying down on
a hand cycle. It's me. So you can follow me
there and just kind of like go along with the
journey if you like want to keep in touch or
see what I'm doing or see how things are going
in the next couple of years. And I'm hoping to
do some more work with IHB. I would really like
(46:02):
to bring them in as like a personal sponsor with
me and my journey for the next four years. So
we'll see how that works.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
You're in a good spot to ask for that right now, yea, Yeah,
I'm trying to podcast.
Speaker 4 (46:16):
Yes, So I'm hoping like in the future, Like I've
been a patient of IHBS on their insurance for twelve years.
They're one of the best insurances out here in the
Inland Empire. They do everything for me.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
And I know he means this because we talked about
this off the mic as well. Yes, he's like, they're
the best, No, they are, and it's true, and they help.
Speaker 4 (46:37):
So many people, so many and they make it easy
for you to get equipment or healthcare, any of that stuff.
They make it so easy. So yeah, I'm hoping in
the future we can continue like a partnership and they
can kind of yes, I can do some community stuff
for them and really be a part of like IHP
(46:59):
as well as team possibilities, but kind of bring them
in as well for my journey because like I said,
it's it's a very expensive sport. I bet the more
help and community I can get, the better it is
for me going forward.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
That is so cool. Ah. Well, I'm gonna make some
calls there too.
Speaker 4 (47:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
I don't have much of a.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Say, I know, right.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Yeah, Well, thank you so much. It's been a pure joy.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
We're gonna watch you, we're gonna see you train, We're
gonna cheery for you and your family and all of
the things that you're involved with. So again, thank you
for joining, and I think everyone's going to I appreciate
you very much.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Thank you.
Hey there, it's Evelynie Revaz.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
So excited for another episode of Covering Your Health with
EVELYNI Revas.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
So glad you're here. I feel like you're gonna love
today's episode.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
If you felt like the summer was electric because of
the Olympic Games, this is definitely the.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
Episode for you.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
In the coming days, the spirit of Team USA will
continue to thrive overseas in the twenty twenty four Paralympic Games,
which highlights incredibly talented para athletes like the man I
am going to be speaking with today, Owen Daniels of Fontana,
my hometown, is a paracyclist who's training to become a
(00:39):
part of Team USA during the twenty twenty eight Games
right here in Los Angeles. Owen, who is an IEHP member,
has reached the podium in several.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Pair of races across the.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Globe, including the twenty twenty two World Cup in Belgium,
and is a five time Los Angeles Marathon winner in
the hand cycle category.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Just incredible. We are so delighted to.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Introduce Owen to our Covering Your Health family and Shina
spotlight on the incredible athleticism that we're going to see
during the Paralympic Games August twenty eighth through September eighth.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
Welcome to Covering Your Health, a wellness podcast dedicated to
covering all areas of living a healthy and happy lifestyle,
from healthy hearts to understanding health plans and everything in between.
Each episode will provide you with a better understanding of
managing your health, preventative care, and staying on the right
path for your family's wellness journey. The Covering Your Health
(01:42):
podcast is presented by I E HP. Now your host,
Evelina Revez.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Welcome, Owen, Thank you for having me. Evelyn, how are
you doing.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
I am so good. I'm so glad you're here from
the Ie right.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yes, I'm born in the IAC, born in Fontana, kaiser
He which is not far Yea, and lived in Inland
Empire my whole.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Life I went.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I grew up in Fontana, so yeah, I love Fontana
and I'm there all the time now too, because I
have all my friends and families still.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
All out there, so I love it.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Okay, So we're going to start because everyone needs to
know about your story about how you overcame huge obstacles
and if you don't mind sharing a little bit about
that and just being really candid with us.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Please tell our listeners all about yourself.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Yeah, no problem. So my name is Owen Daniels. Like
you said, I am a native here to the Inland Empire,
and in twenty ten, I was a business owner. Actually
I was twenty four at the time, wow, and had
owned a plumbing construction construction business. And I was just
(02:54):
working really hard and I happened to be in between
jobs and had been working like ten twelve hour days,
six week so kind of went out for a night
on the town, had a little break, was in a
car accident and it was actually on the Tin Freeway,
which is local to us. Yeah, and I had lost
(03:17):
control of my vehicle and flipped my truck after hitting
the tree and I was ejected about thirty five forty
feet and I believe my spine upon impact on the ground,
just shattered my T ten vertebrae and just think of
it like like it burst. They called it a burst fracture.
(03:39):
So it all the bone fragments shot into my spine,
Oh my gosh, which caused me to be a T
ten paraplegic. So that ever since twenty ten, I have
been paralyzed from the waist down, and luckily for me,
I was shortly after introduced to Team Possibilities, which is
(04:01):
a nonprofit organization at Lomelinda University Medical Center East Campus.
Team Possibilities is, like I said, a nonprofit organization that
caters to people with disabilities to kind of get them
like reintegrated into community, give them a sense of you know,
(04:23):
like brotherhood and family. We have sports, support groups, dinners, luncheons,
like everything just to kind of bring the disabled community
together as a whole. So if it wasn't for them,
I don't know where I would be. They're the ones
(04:43):
that introduced me to sport, introduced me to peer visiting,
motivational speaking, and kind of they're the ones that gave
me the direction that I needed and basically the purpose
that I needed to be able to rehabilitate and rehabilitate
back into society as a normal person instead of just
(05:04):
being you know, like a disabled person.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Or right right like or that. And that's probably how
you felt initially.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Right, yeah, totally, so when you're first hurt. When I
go see a lot of these patients, because I still
do peer visiting for people who are recently injured, and
I try to let them know, like it's okay to
be down depressed, go through these emotions of being lost
and basically you think your life is over right. It's
(05:34):
the typical story for anyone who goes through a life
changing accident or something that leaves you with the disability
like mine, right, So it's really key to like have
that support, you know, so you can kind of like
get past the bad and.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
Move on to the good and finding the good and
refinding the good.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Yeah, totally, of course.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
So that's that's fascinating to me. Team Possibilities is what
it's called.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
Yeah, it's a teampossibilities dot org if you ever want
to check it out. My story is also on there.
I'm also sponsored by them, so they've been sponsoring me
since twenty and twelve. They're actually the ones that started
it's called a Paralympic Sport program, and they just came
to me and asked me if, hey, do you want
to be in the program. And at that time, I
(06:28):
wasn't working. I was, you know, I didn't have a
ton to do. I was still trying to be active.
I was doing triathlons and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
But it was, but on your own you were doing yes.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Yeah, it wasn't very serious. Yeah, cool on train right stuff.
And they came to like how.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
I do it? You know?
Speaker 2 (06:44):
Yeah, more like how I pretend to run on the street.
Speaker 4 (06:48):
Yeah, now that was me, Like, yeah, you see me
out properly? I don't. Yeah no, I was right there too,
like I didn't need the properly back then. Yeah, it
really didn't. I was twenty five, you need whatever, mad, Yes,
me too, me too now that I'm forty one.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
So yeah, they're the ones who got me like like refocused.
And then they presented me with the opportunity to be
a part of the Paralympic program. I said sure, why not.
I had nothing else to do, And from there it
was got me the equipment, which is not cheap. Coaches
paid for all my travel, a race and everything. Yeah,
it's it's quite it's quite expensive sports cycling. I mean
(07:29):
my bike alone that I ride right now is if
you buy and brand new, you're looking at like twenty
thousand dollars.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Oh my gosh, oh yeah goodness.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Yeah, so it's not cheap. Wow. Having a sponsor like
team possibilities is every Yeah, it's everything. Very key to
which wow.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
And so they probably looked at you too, like you're
a young guy, like, let's he's your athletic you know,
maybe you weren't professionally athletic at that point, but still
they're looking at you and they're like, this, this is
somebody that we need to back. This is somebody that
could absolutely be a pair of a pair of olympian.
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Right, yeah, I think So.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Did you see yoursel that in yourself at all?
Speaker 3 (08:09):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Okay, so that's amazing.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I mean I've had it. I guess you could say
it's a blessing and a curse. Since I was a kid,
everything I do, like, I want to be great.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
You want to win.
Speaker 4 (08:23):
I want to win. Yeah, I want to be better
than the norm. You know. I don't want to be
mediocre no matter what I do. I don't know what
it is. It could be something small. If I grab
a hold of something, I like want more knowledge. I
want to be better at it. I want to like
hone my craft and be good at it. So I
(08:46):
did think like I could do this, like and my
goal from the beginning was like, I want to be
one of the best in the world. Unfortunately for me,
I was naive to how hard it is to be
one of the best in the world. There's seven billion
people in the world, of course, and you're trying to
(09:07):
be one of the best at something and it turns
out it's very hard.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, I imagine.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
I mean where we were just watching the Olympics, and
I'm just like, they make it look so easy.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
You really look at it and you're like, I.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Mean I feel like if at that age I could
have and then you're like, yeah, right, it's not that easy.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
That's the key.
Speaker 2 (09:29):
They look like it's easy because for them it's not
as challenging as it would be for you, like for me,
you know, to get out and try to run or
do hurdles or whatever.
Speaker 4 (09:38):
Yeah, and it's I think it was one of the
Olympians in the track and field that had just said this.
She's she does like the hundred meter yeah, and I
think her name is Cheris or Richardson.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Richardson.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
So and she said about you know, sports and stuff,
like when you see it, like you see her running
for ten seconds, and yes, it like looks easy and
you're like, she's running for ten seconds, but she trained
her whole life for ten seconds. Yeah, so it should
(10:20):
look easy, right, It is incredibly difficult. Oh yeah, so
like me, I've been training for twelve years, thirteen years
for yeah, short races and stuff like that. So you
don't see all of that. You just see the racing
and the ups and downs are racing. But it is
a lot of work people don't see, I bet.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So what made you want to become such a strong
advocate for teen Possibilities When they first introduced us to
you and you said it La Melinda, Yes, So when
they introduced this to you, you got involved with the program.
And then what was it that was that spark that
made you go, I'm going to be a big advocate
for this program.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
So I had a friend that I knew since I
was a kid, and about three months before I was injured,
I had seen him out and he was in a
wheelchair and he wasn't in a wheelchair before, and he
looked very happy. He was independent, like you could see it.
(11:21):
And yes, and then when I wasn't in a chair.
It's a typical thing for people without disabilities to look
at someone with a disability and be like, man, like,
how do you do this? You know, like you kind
of feel sorry for them, but you couldn't feel sorry
for him. He, like you said, he was thriving. Yeah, well,
(11:42):
when I got hurt, he was the first person I called,
and he was the one who introduced me to Team Possibilities,
and he kind of like led the way for me
as far as like a mentor of like how to
live with a disability, how to be independent, and he
was pretty active in Team Possibilities, So I just kind
(12:04):
of followed. And then it was really something that I
gravitated to because of like what it was doing for
me personally for rehabilitation. Like I felt good like getting
out being around others in a chair, you know, because
at first you are very timid about going out in
(12:25):
public and what you can do, what you can't do,
what you're going to feel out in public, and stuff
like that. So that's why I got so active and
basically pursued being a part of Team Possibilities so much.
It just kind of like drew me in as far
as like my real my rehabilitation. And also once I
(12:49):
reached that point of like where I felt I was,
you know, in a good place, I wanted to like
like pass.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
On pay it forward.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Yeah, yeah, oh, that's that's wonderful, and it is true.
It's when when you I feel like it's what's similar
to your story, is anyone that really does fall into
like a little bit of a depression, getting back out
in the world is hard. It's getting back out and
telling yourself, Hey, you can do this, you can be this,
You're okay, you're going to be able to Yeah, you're
(13:20):
you're just.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Like everyone else.
Speaker 4 (13:21):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
So definitely that's beautiful and it's so great that you're
paying it forward that way. So let's talk about your cycle,
your twenty thousand dollars chair cycle.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
What is it? It's a hand cycle.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
What is hand cycling? Explain that to somebody who maybe
has never seen it before.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
So hand cycling is so hand cycles are for like
paraplegics or even people possibly missing limbs okay, like lower
limbs okay, And it's how we get out and basically
ride bicycles. You can ride them recreationally or like I
do professionally. They are are laid down, so I'm fully
(14:02):
laid down. I'm probably only about foot off the ground.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Like.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
It has three wheels, two in the back, one in
the front, and basically works the same way as a
regular bicycle or like a road bike. It has gearing
and I have let's see, I think I only have
eleven gears right now. I ride a different type of setup,
but it's basically the same setup as regular cyclist. And
(14:29):
it's all I have wireless shifting. That's not cheap. The
whole bike is carbon fiber, which that's why it gets
so expensive. Carbon fiber wheels the top of the line
of all the equipment on the bike. There's no expense spare. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
So now and the act of it. So you're laying
fully down.
Speaker 2 (14:50):
So I'm thinking of like when I ride a bike,
you know, I have to like see everything.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
How are you seeing? How are you maneuvering?
Speaker 4 (14:58):
It is? I get that all the time. Yeah, when
I'm training, and like I'll have cars honking, I mean,
and I.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Have oh my god, I can imagine that training on
the road.
Speaker 4 (15:09):
You have to, right, I put a flag on and
I have a rear view mirror and I also have
like a light on the bike flash. Okay, so I
do my best to be seen. But yeah, when I'm
out there, people will I can't see you, and I
know they can see me. But I think they're just
a little like agitated. You know, drivers seem to get
(15:33):
a little agitated with cyclists, like where we have this
back and forth thing where like.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
I think that's with any cyclist for the record, Yeah,
it's like cyclists.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, we're like share the road.
Speaker 4 (15:43):
Like they think the road is theirs, and we know
the road isn't ours, but like we kind of want
our respect on the road of like, hey, give us
a little room and we'll be a stay off your
cell phones and you're going to keep everybody safe and upright.
So yeah, yeah, but I do train outside and it
is hard to see. Back to your question, it is
(16:04):
because we have like our fork and basically our pedals
in front of us, so our vision is impaired, but
you kind of get used to it. Like some people
sit high enough to see over, yes, okay, I don't.
I sit a little lower, so I'm basically like looking
(16:26):
through small areas of the fork and the pedals and
I'm off to the side. It is, And it's not
like I've never I've never had any issues. Yeah, I
never have, Like knock on wood, I've I've never really
crashed in a race. Yeah, we're pretty good everyone's pretty
good at seeing and knowing what's around them and being aware.
(16:49):
So it is hard to see. It's definitely much harder
to see than a regular bite, But you get used
to it and you've really like really hone your senses
of like what's around you, how to see stuff in
front of you. It is difficult.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Oh my gosh, it sounds it sounds scary to me,
like straight up, it could be. Yeah, I think I've
watched it in the Paralympics before. But I so you're
and you're maneuvering with your hands, right, So you're it's
all upper body totally right that you're just having to
use your arms. Yeah, And so what's training for that?
Like with your arms? Like your arm strength? Like what
do you do to train your arms to just constantly?
Speaker 4 (17:23):
So?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Did you like weight training as well?
Speaker 4 (17:27):
And I'm into weight training now? Okay, to tell you
the truth, I was really big into the gym before
I was in a chair, really big. I was a
gym rap. That's all I did. It was work hard
to go to the gym, and that was it. So
I kept that up for years after my injury. When
(17:47):
I met my wife and we moved in like I
kind of like, you know, family takes precedence like that,
So I kind of like there was some distance that
grew between me and the gym, which isn't a bad thing.
Like for cycling, like you really should focus on cycling
and training cycling. Yeah, some coaches want you to wait trains,
(18:11):
some don't. It just depends. Yeah, So I was really
focused on training on the bike. I have, like so
a little bit of a background. For years. I was
kind of just training, but training just enough to be
like good.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (18:30):
It wasn't like full on, like being serious on that. Yes,
like it was. I wanted to be really good, but
I was still young and still wanted to go out
and have fun stuff. And then when I met my wife,
she put a lot of like what's the word I'm
looking like structure. Structure in my life, yeah for sure,
(18:52):
which was great for my cycling. You know it's early bedtime,
wake up early, everything's very focused, which is perfect, you know,
because it's when I'm in charge, like I may yeah
it's wild. But with my wife there, like she put
structure into my life. So about twenty nineteen, like just
(19:13):
before COVID, like I really started taking training seriously, and
my like level of fitness and my ability to compete
at a high level like really increased like exponentially so
and there.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Was nobody on the road, Yes COVID, so you can train.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
The best thing about COVID was traveling. We would travel overseas,
like we went to Belgium and the plane would be empty,
so you could get a seat and coach, but you
would have the whole road so you could lay out,
you could do whatever they would bring you whatever. It
was the best. Oh, it was the best. COVID was
(19:56):
the best for traveling. It was the best. But yeah,
now that I've kind of reached like I've reached a
level to where it's all about small gains, Like every
year is very small gains, Like you have to make
sure you're eating right and training right, and you know,
it's not these big jumps in fitness. Now. Now you're
(20:18):
fighting for small.
Speaker 1 (20:19):
Stuff a little bit, a little bit at a time.
Speaker 4 (20:21):
So now I have put myself back into the gym
and weightlifting is a very big focus for me right now.
So I'm really trying to focus on weight training and
also riding. But I want to bring my power up
some I just want to keep pushing the level of
how far I can get. And I think with some
(20:43):
really focused weight training and trying to get stronger, yeah,
and implement it to the bike, I think it will
pay off.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
So what was the first thing that was the hardest
thing for you with hand cycling? What was the first
like getting them, like maneuvering, steering, Like what was the
hardest part to overcome for you? Or was it just
also natural?
Speaker 3 (21:06):
No?
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Uh no, definitely not natural like before I did BMX
when I was a kid, but you don't got to
do endurance anything. We just made jumps and jump them
and acted crazy like there was no training, There was
no like having to ride for that stuff. So I
would say the biggest thing to adjust to in the
(21:27):
beginning was the training, like the long hours and the
reality of like this is not something where I just
got to step into it like I did when I
was young, or when I would pick something and beat
good right away. Yes, like because I am I'm naturally athletic,
I'm naturally good at anything I pick and if I
(21:50):
pick it, I'm not good at it. I put that
one that's not for me. So what I had to
be the long hours on the bike, the train. I
means six days a week, and just how focused you
have to be. It's so hard because it's about consistency.
You know. You have to train with consistency, and it
(22:13):
has to be a long a long time of consistency.
It can't just be a week. It is years, you know.
And I tell people who want to get into endurance
sports of any kind, and it's not just cycling or
any sport. If you really want to be the best
at your sport, this is not a I'm going to
(22:33):
come in and dominate early. This is like you need
to think of it as like a five to ten,
fifteen year plan. Yeah, this is why so many people
start sports when they're young.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm a off topic tiny.
I'm training right now for a half marathon. I'm only
oh nice, I'm doing the run Disney half marathons. Yeah,
I have not done one in eight years.
Speaker 1 (22:55):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
I used to do a lot all the time. My
husband and I got a little obsessed with getting medals.
We don't win, Okay, we're not going to win.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
We're just going to finish.
Speaker 4 (23:05):
Okay, but you're winning, but I'm winning. But if you
finish your winning one hundred percent.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
So I'm I'm signed up.
Speaker 2 (23:13):
It's like a few weeks from now, and I have
the hardest part for me this summer has been the consistency.
Oh my gosh, just staying focused and being able to
get up early in the morning, knowing my day, what
my day looks like, and still trying to fit in
running or even just walking for a long amount of
time has been so hard for me.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
So that's I mean, I really feel like that is
the thing that's right.
Speaker 4 (23:37):
Yeah, yeah, And I can only imagine for you, like
the full time job. Oh yeah, I had the podcast
and the radio show, and then wanting to do the
half marathon, like it's a lot of work. It is
a lot.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
I just want to finish if I could get through
across that.
Speaker 2 (23:51):
But it's like, I don't care the people that sweep
people up behind the ones that aren't going to make it.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
They can be right behind me, that's all. But just
let me finish.
Speaker 4 (23:59):
That is fine. That is a huge accomplishment. Like a
half marathon is nothing to like joke about. Yeah, it
is thirteen point one miles. It's a lot. Yeah, I
mean a full marathon is crazy. Yeah, no, that's for running.
That's crazy.
Speaker 1 (24:17):
Crazy.
Speaker 4 (24:18):
So a half marathon thirteen miles, Like yeah, if I
wasn't in this chair, like I would not be doing
a half marathon.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
I'm telling So what is your distance? What do you
do with?
Speaker 2 (24:27):
There's obviously a lot further than a half marathon because
it's cycling, right, So yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
So what is your So there's I'm.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
Imagining there are different lengths of races, there is, correct, Okay,
So what are you training for?
Speaker 1 (24:39):
Is there a specialty you have or do you do multiple?
Speaker 4 (24:42):
So yes, we in hand cycling, we don't really have
like specialties, like we do have specialties, I guess what
we're good at more than the other. Okay, but for
hand cyclists, it's not like some of the other professional
cycling where maybe they do track or they're a time
trial specialist or a road race specialist, like we kind
(25:03):
of do all.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
So we have time trials, which is, of course you
against the clock. So you have a course there typically
anywhere from nine to about twelve and a half miles.
That's our typical distance for a time trial. Okay, so
about a fifteen to twenty k so fifteen to twenty kilometers.
Typically a pro time trial is around twenty k to
(25:30):
forty kow okay, so we're not doing much less than them, yeah,
and sometimes around the same distance as them. And we
are also doing road racing, so that's big pack racing.
So in a time trial, yeah, we start on a
start ramp and it's us basically by ourselves racing the
(25:50):
course and the fana and a road race, it's all
of us starting at the same time.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Oh, I see, okay.
Speaker 4 (25:58):
And those distances typically anywhere from in the US, we're
typically doing a little shorter maybe thirty thirty five miles.
Once we go over into Europe, that's when we're getting
into we do thirty five forty forty five. And last
year we did one in Belgium and it was like
(26:20):
sixty eight miles.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Oh my god.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
So yeah, that's like a three hour race. So they
could get really long for sure. Yet, and my class
is the biggest class in all of paracycling, Like we
typically have around sixty riders, where I would say most
classes have I mean some of the women's classes will
(26:42):
have ten. Wow, I think yeah, Like in all of
women's paracycling, I think they have anywhere from like eighty
to ninety total over all the classes, we have sixty
just sinnars, So it's really it gets really sketchy in
a road race in the beginning. Wow. Wow.
Speaker 2 (27:01):
So you're a big advocate obviously for cycling for the
para athletes. Yes, what are some of those misconceptions that
you feel people have maybe when pursuing.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
A sport like yours, that it's easy? The first misconception, Yes,
that's a misconception.
Speaker 4 (27:20):
I think the biggest misconception in parasports is how what
we call the able body able body community looks at us. Sure,
so some of them I get the sense that they
look at us competing like it's not as high level
(27:43):
as like the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (27:44):
Okay, so it's a.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Definitely a misconception that like paras sports or the Paralympics,
the athletes there aren't as high level as the athletes
in the Olympics.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
Yeah, which is absolutely a misconception.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
It's not true. You have para sports. You know, it's
people like me paralyzed or missing a limb or you know,
whatever their ailment is. But they're still training just as
hard as the Olympians. We train just as much, are
it's just as competitive. Yeah, you know, like, yeah, of
(28:22):
course there's less of us that are in parasports, so
maybe we don't have as many competing, but at the
top level, it is just as competitive as the regular Olympics.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
I totally can see that. Yeah, so let's talk about
the Paralympics. What can we expect? I mean, I know
you're now you're training for the LA Olympics.
Speaker 4 (28:46):
So yes, I was training for Paris and again, like
it's hard to be the best, and uh there was
three of us going for the spot on the Paralympic
team and only three No, no, it just depends. Like
(29:07):
so how it works is as we compete through the years,
we call them like quarters or quads, you know, four
years for every Paralympics or Olympics, you have to earn spots.
So countries have to earn spots. They're not just given
to them. So you have to earn spots by placing
throughout the four years, especially the year before the Paralympics
(29:30):
is a really big year. But it all depends on
how many people you have placing high, you know.
Speaker 1 (29:37):
Against other countries countries exactly.
Speaker 4 (29:40):
So if you place higher, like higher placings you know,
podium stuff like that, like you earn more slots. So
it's all about earning slots. So you never know how
big the team is going to be until just before
the Olympics or Paralympics, when they know how many spots
they have for cycling, for swimming, for track and field.
(30:01):
You have to earn spots, so you don't know how
big the team is going to be.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
But it could be different the time we get to
Los Angeles.
Speaker 4 (30:07):
Yes it could. It could be different, and maybe they
give us a couple more slots because we are the
hosting country, you know, stuff like that. You never know,
like that happens for our World Cups. So if we
have World Cups, like we had a World Cup in Alabama,
we get a couple more spots because we're the hosting country.
So I don't know exactly if that's how it works
(30:29):
for the Paralympics or the Olympics, but it could be slightly, but.
Speaker 1 (30:32):
It would make sense, And I'll write a letter if
you need.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
To write them. For sure, we could use a bigger team.
But that's that's basically what happens. There's so many slots
and how this worked for the build up to paris Is.
Our selection events were our first World Cup or actually sorry,
our second World Cup, our third World Cup, and then
(30:55):
our qualifying event that was at Lomolinda, Okay. So it
was a point base system and you had to place
in the top six to get points towards the Paralympic team,
and that was at the World Cups. And like I said,
my class is huge, so placing top six like it's tough,
(31:18):
and I've done it plenty. I've won World Cups, I've
podiumed in World Cups and things like that. But placing
top six out of sixty it's the top ten percent.
Where you could maybe have some classes where they have
twelve people and you got to place top six, it's
only top fifty percent. So some some people have a
(31:41):
I wouldn't say an easier path, but just slightly easier
to scoring points. So I wasn't able to score any
points in Europe. So I was really up against the
fence once it came to the qualifying event. Yeah, I
needed to place first or second out of all the
men's classes. And it's it's hard to explain, but it's
(32:02):
basically how they do it is they have time on
how fast you should be moving per kilometer on the bike,
and then they take how fast you are moving per
kilometer and they give you a percentage. Okay, so if
you're right at how fast you should be moving, that's
one hundred percent. If you're below it, you know there'd
(32:25):
be ninety six percent, So you want to be below
so and a lot of stuff. Just half of the
battle is staying healthy into these races. Got back from Europe,
sun got me sick. I was sick for a while.
Training really took a dip, and I tried to do
what I could do to salvage some fitness just before
(32:47):
the race. But I didn't come in with my best
fitness and it wasn't bad. It just wasn't what you
knew you could be. Yes, I wasn't my best self
that day, but uh, I wasn't upset because one of
my good friends who's also in my class, we are
really tight, and he was able to make it like
(33:10):
he did really well, like he had his best race
of the year, probably is one of his best time
trials ever. Wow, And I was if I didn't make
it like, I was happy to see him making to go.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
So you have something really really coo. Yeah, yeah, oh
that's so awesome. Are they already there? I am askin
the guys are.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
There there in Spain?
Speaker 1 (33:31):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (33:31):
Okay, yeah they So this US paracycling headed to Spain first,
I believe for a training camp and then they'll go
over to Paris nice and then probably take a little
bit of time to like decompress and recover from the
training camp, and then they'll get into the games.
Speaker 1 (33:48):
Wow, oh my gosh, so exciting.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Very exciting.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
Which you're okay, I know you do hand cycling, but
what's your favorite sport that that?
Speaker 1 (33:56):
Are you going to only watch hand cycling? Are you?
Speaker 4 (33:59):
No?
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Are you gonna watch other.
Speaker 4 (34:01):
I'll watch I like the like track and field, So
I like to see the wheelchair racing. Yes, Like that's
super hard to do and the speeds that those guys
move in wheelchairs completely different.
Speaker 1 (34:12):
Right, So we're talking about cycle now we're talking about upright.
Speaker 4 (34:16):
Yeah, you're just talking like we have gears and we
can apply some more power the way we're laying and
stuff like that to where these guys are above the wheels.
It's just kind of the motion is different and they
can't apply as much power. They don't have gearing, you know,
so they were they're climbing hills and stuff like it's
a little more difficult and things like that, but they're
(34:38):
incredibly fast. Like when I do the La Marathon because
they let us do it on hand cycles and it's
more of a training race for me to kind of
it's very early in my season usually, so I just
use it as like a gauge to see how I'm
doing as far as training. Yeah, okay, but those guys
in the racing wheelchairs are doing that course so fast.
Oh my gosh, I mean in a wheelchair and they're
(34:58):
finishing and you know, hour and thirty minutes wow, which
is fast. Yeah, that's fast, seventeen eighteen miles per hour
average over hills. And they're incredible athletes. So I like
the cycling. I'll watch some cycling, and I'll watch definitely
wheelchair racing, some triathlon stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's gonna be so many
great things to look out for.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
So hard to stay on time, there's so many oh
my gosh.
Speaker 1 (35:23):
Yeah, I mean just trying to watch the Olympics. Yes,
just like a few weeks ago, I was like so hard,
how did I miss this? And I was so grateful
because there was like the app that had the highlight
but yeah, you can see the highlights that you.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Can also like go back and replay whatever you know
you're missed and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
So I'm really excited to watch.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
I'm so excited for you because now this is like,
so now we've got a new quad, right, that's what
you said, So four more years for you to be
training here?
Speaker 1 (35:50):
Yes, what is that? Okay? So what does each year
look like for you? Now?
Speaker 4 (35:55):
So twenty five is kind of like a re set year. Okay,
That's why I've gone into string training. It's like it's
time to try something new and implement some ideas or
different training that you may have to see if it
(36:16):
could work, if you get benefits from that. So twenty
twenty five is kind of like a reset year for me.
It'll be a lot of a lot of weight training,
you know, and if I go to races, like because
I'm switching some stuff up and trying some new things,
I'm not really looking for like the best results now,
(36:36):
I'm looking for those small gains to see if those
are happening. If those are happening, then I know I'm
on the right track, and then that'll be what twenty
twenty five is. For twenty twenty six will be a
big year because it's going to be the first year
since twenty fourteen that we've had a World Championships here
or paracyclicing not here, but in the US they're always
(37:00):
in Europe always, so it's going to be in Alabama.
So twenty twenty six is kind of like I like
to break everything up into small goals, you know, that's
my advice to people, like, have a big goal, but
it's a lot of small goals that I'll get you there.
Speaker 1 (37:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (37:17):
So small goal is twenty twenty six World Championships to
podium at Worlds in the time trial, which is that
is like we were talking earlier, if I had a specialty,
that's what it would be. Me against the clock. I'm
very good at that. Like I'm extremely good at doing
(37:37):
time trials. So that is my goal. And then after
twenty twenty six, it'll be like a refocus of everything
Paralympic Games. Yeah, so it'll just be focus training on
Paralympic Games and just building up to that. And the
thing is you want to have what we call peak
(37:58):
fitness at the right time, and you can only do
it twice a year really, so you really have to
time that right. So that's going to be what I'm
going to be doing for the years coming up to this,
is learning to get my fitness right at its peak
around like summertime.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
Oh my gosh, which sounds that sounds hard. It is
so hard, yeah, because it's all I mean.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
You're really you're relying on so many factors that you
probably don't even that you can't even control in something.
Speaker 4 (38:28):
Health, health, sick, getting sick, Yes, how busy you are,
stuff like that, And that's why it's it's so important
to have a good support system.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
And we didn't talk about this a lot, but off
I know, off the mic, we did a little bit.
You have a son, I do, Yeah, and what is
his name? His name is Jayden, Jayden and he's he's eleven. Yes,
so and that ends just one child right now, just one? Yeah, yeah,
And you know he's a big part of your life.
And so you also have to be a dad somewhere
in there. Oh yeah, yeah, you have to be like
(39:00):
this amazing athlete.
Speaker 4 (39:01):
You know what.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
Every it's you know, the country is looking for you
to make sure that you're an Olympian, but also.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
And things and you. I mean, no matter how bad
I want to be a Paralympian, the family comes first.
Beautiful family comes first. Yeah. I love my son. He's
he's just like me in some ways and then just
like his mom in other ways. But he's one of
(39:32):
my best friends. He's a lot of energy. We have this.
It's a good and bad thing because he's got a
lot of me and him. So he's very witty with
his comebacks, which I am too, and we like to
rag on each other and and so I have a
great time with him. Yeah, that's most important. Like my wife,
(39:54):
my son, my family, that really comes first. But I'm
blessed to have my wife kind of let me like
have a one A one B. Yeah, one A is family,
one B is my cycling yea and my training.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
So but it means a lot too too. And I'm
sure she sees that.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
She sees, you know, this is the other part of
you that made you feel whole again, that made you
feel like, you know what, I have a great purpose,
And yeah, factors into all these things, all the good
you do in our community, all the paying it forward.
Speaker 1 (40:29):
That you're doing, as well. So that's a beautiful thing.
It's good to have.
Speaker 4 (40:32):
She's she's my biggest cheerleader. When I don't do well
or do what I wanted to do, she is like
more down than I am. She really is. She's like
she feels bad because she sees all the training I do,
and I try to tell her, like, don't don't worry
(40:52):
about it. And I try to teach my son that
you can't win them all. Yeah, you know, he's he's eleven,
so he's still dealing. He's trying to deal with like winning,
like winning and losing, you know, in certain things like
when it doesn't go asway. So I try to tell him, like,
like my cycling doesn't know. I can't win everyone, you know,
(41:12):
so you got to stay positive and learn from your
mistakes or learn from your losses so that you can
so the wins can be better. Yeah, so you can
be better going forward. But yeah, my family's my biggest cheerleader.
And if it wasn't for them, yeah, I don't know
where i'd be.
Speaker 2 (41:27):
Well, I feel like I already have some great takeaways
from what you and I have talked about, but before
I let you go, and I feel like I want
to talk to you again in like another year and
see where you're at, and like another year, I'd be like, okay, yeah, yeah,
we got to do that because I want to know
and I want to be able to root for you.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
And when is that one? Okay, Alabama, Like we're gonna
watch now. So before we go, I want.
Speaker 2 (41:48):
To ask you, what are three key takeaways that you
feel like our listeners should hold with them after listening
to this conversation today about whatever, about being yourself, about
overcoming an obstacle, or about being an athlete.
Speaker 4 (42:03):
I would say one of the biggest takeaways I like
to give to everyone is like, if you're going through
hardship or depression or going through a difficult time in
your life, to remember that there is light at the
end of the tunnel, you know. And I am kind
(42:27):
of somebody that is more like hard truth that motivates
me more than like I want this like raw raw speech. Yeah,
So for me, like you know, I was again, I
was very depressed when I was injured and my thank
God for my dad, you know, he told me and
I tell people this all the time, like it's it's
(42:48):
brutal honesty, but is the truth. The sun is gonna
rise and set with or without you, so like, do
your best to just make every day a good day.
You know, there's so much worse in the world, maybe
(43:09):
than what you're dealing with at that time. You know.
I like to tell people there is worse than me
being in a chair. I see them all the time
in hospitals, and there's people that have it much worse
than me. So be grateful for the things you have,
and you know, every day is a blessing. So that's
probably the major takeaway. The second takeaway would be, you know,
(43:34):
when you see people with disabilities out in public, they're
just like you. They are normal people. You know. I
appreciate the help that I am offered sometimes, you know,
I'm at a gas station filling up my car and
they ask if I need help with my chair, which
is that's nice, Like I appreciate it. But for the
(43:54):
most part, people with disabilities are just as independent as you.
So when you see someone with a disability, like just
kind of look at them as like a normal person,
you know, instead of like someone with a disability. And
I would say the last takeaway for me is for me,
(44:18):
like my faith is is really important. So like staying
close to my faith and kind of spreading faith and
stuff like that and just being a devout Christian is
probably like a huge takeaway, you know, for for me,
for everyone, like for all my fellow Christians out there
(44:40):
and stuff, and like I just think, you know, the
man up above and having faith is is very important,
especially in our world today where there's a lot of
turmoil and a lot of stuff you see, and you know,
it's a hard world. It's a very hard world, and
so he keeps me.
Speaker 1 (45:02):
And focused focus. Yes, that's beautiful. That's a beautiful thing.
Speaker 2 (45:07):
I am so grateful that I got to speak with you,
ow and thank you so much for being on the
Covering your Health podcast. I'm definitely going to be following up. Yeah,
please do like I want to know everything now.
Speaker 4 (45:18):
Yeah, for anyone who wants to follow my journey, yes,
how can we? You can go to teampossibilities dot org. Okay,
and I do monthly blogs there and it will also
talk about any events I have coming up or stuff
like that. Social media's I'm at Owen Daniels. You can
(45:38):
kind of it's a public yeah, yeah, social media, so
you'll know when you see a guy laying down on
a hand cycle. It's me. So you can follow me
there and just kind of like go along with the
journey if you like want to keep in touch or
see what I'm doing or see how things are going
in the next couple of years. And I'm hoping to
do some more work with IHB. I would really like
(46:02):
to bring them in as like a personal sponsor with
me and my journey for the next four years. So
we'll see how that works.
Speaker 2 (46:11):
You're in a good spot to ask for that right now, yea, Yeah,
I'm trying to podcast.
Speaker 4 (46:16):
Yes, So I'm hoping like in the future, Like I've
been a patient of IHBS on their insurance for twelve years.
They're one of the best insurances out here in the
Inland Empire. They do everything for me.
Speaker 2 (46:29):
And I know he means this because we talked about
this off the mic as well. Yes, he's like, they're
the best, No, they are, and it's true, and they help.
Speaker 4 (46:37):
So many people, so many and they make it easy
for you to get equipment or healthcare, any of that stuff.
They make it so easy. So yeah, I'm hoping in
the future we can continue like a partnership and they
can kind of yes, I can do some community stuff
for them and really be a part of like IHP
(46:59):
as well as team possibilities, but kind of bring them
in as well for my journey because like I said,
it's it's a very expensive sport. I bet the more
help and community I can get, the better it is
for me going forward.
Speaker 1 (47:12):
That is so cool. Ah. Well, I'm gonna make some
calls there too.
Speaker 4 (47:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
I don't have much of a.
Speaker 4 (47:17):
Say, I know, right.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Yeah, Well, thank you so much. It's been a pure joy.
Speaker 2 (47:22):
We're gonna watch you, we're gonna see you train, We're
gonna cheery for you and your family and all of
the things that you're involved with. So again, thank you
for joining, and I think everyone's going to I appreciate
you very much.
Speaker 4 (47:34):
Thank you.
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