Gabriel De Ocampo breaks away from the pack

Sophomore Gabriel De Ocampo was 12 years old when he first learned how to ride a bike. After receiving a new bike for Christmas, De Ocampo began to ride with his friends.

“We would ride from Torrance to Venice every week, but it wasn’t enough,” De Ocampo said. “I wanted to ride faster, so I started to look at racing programs.”

De Ocampo began to practice at the Connie Cycling Foundation in Carson under coach Connie Dareskevin, a former Olympic cyclist. Now, he trains with coach Roger Young for approximately 14 hours a week while in season, which lasts from February to July. His offseason training, which consists of slow riding to develop the body’s efficiency of oxygen intake, pales in comparison to the speed, endurance and short power that cyclists must improve on while in season.

“Endurance—both mental and physical—is the hardest part of cycling for me,” De Ocampo said. “The key is to not put too much pressure on yourself or overthink things.”

De Ocampo competes in both road and track cycling on velodrome tracks. While cycling may seem like a simple sport, tactics are an important factor that contribute to the outcome of the team success. Tactics include rallying for one cyclist to reach the front and pushing opponents out of position. De Ocampo
has placed second at state and has competed at many regional criteriums, wherein cyclists race on enclosed tracks for multiple laps or a certain amount of time.

Additionally, De Ocampo has placed sixth in an omnium, a track cycling race event that included six different races. During one of his races last year, De Ocampo crashed and had to go to the hospital, leaving him unable to compete in the final two races.

“Everyone is very competitive at the tournaments and my adrenaline gets really high,” De Ocampo said. “I have to remind myself of the fun of cycling so it doesn’t affect how I perform.” De Ocampo aspires to bike professionally.

“I love everything about the sport—the speed, tactics and intensity of racing someone shoulderto
shoulder at 30 miles per hour,” De Ocampo said.