By David F. Rooney
Potential cycling star Kellen Viznaugh is hoping local people will help him defray the cost of his training and racing to become a top professional racer.
“The cost of warm weather training camps, and travel to-and-from races all add up,” said the life-long Revelstokian who has been racing for seven years and is also studying at Okanagan College in Kelowna. “As I proceed in cycling the costs increase. This hurdle is one that needs to be addressed if I am going to proceed to higher levels of cycling. Although being on a National Trade Team does cover some costs, most of the financial costs are self-funded.”
Kellen has a number of sponsors — Universal Footwear, Kasbro Drilling and Blasting, Speers Construction, Subway, Skookum Cycle & Ski, Oakley and Sessa Studio — who support his efforts but needs about $7,500 more to
“If I plan on having a future in cycling while juggling training, racing, and a post-secondary education I will need to find other sources of support,” he said, adding that he has a Go Fund Me page on the web that friends and fans can go to if they’d like to donate a few bucks to support his efforts.
Last season went well for Kellen with him picking up his first Category 1/2 win, and racing his first UCI stage race. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world’s governing body in the sport of bicycle racing. Some highlights from his 2016 season, in both the Road and Cyclo-Cross Races, are:
- First, Fifth GC in Race the Ridge RR;
- 16th place in the Tour de Bloom;
- Assisted his team to 3 wins and 5 Top 10 performances in big races;
- Four wins, 8 podiums and 12 top 10s in provincial-level series;
- BC U23 Provincial Champion; and
- Fifth-place overall in the BC Premiere racing series.
Given that his goal is to become a professional cyclist — he is currently racing in the Pro 1/2 category — he appears to be on track.
Click here to learn more about Kellen Viznaugh at his website.
Click here to visit his Go Fund Me page.
