By day, Lucia is a corporate transactional attorney specializing in healthcare technology. Her second career and primary passion is bikes -- of all varieties. She has been racing bikes as an amateur for almost a decade, primarily on the road, but has also raced cyclocross, track, gravel, and mountain bikes. Lucia loves reading a race and executing team tactics, as much as the post race coffee/snax hang. When not racing, Lucia loves riding with her CRCA/To Be Determined teammates, taking her CX bike out to explore gravel and singletrack, or working on technical skills on the rockiest terrain the East Coast has to offer.
Lucia has served on the Board of Directors of Century Road Club Association (CRCA), one of USA Cycling's largest clubs, for several years, and most recently as its President. She served as Women's Rep and NYC Rep & Upgrade Coordinator for the New York State Bicycle Racing Association (NYSBRA) for many years. Prior to her life as a bike racer, Lucia was an active member and ride leader for New York Cycle Club (NYCC), one of the country's largest recreational cycling clubs. The thing that keeps her coming back to bike racing year after year is the community.
We had the opportunity to ask board member, Lucia Deng, a few questions and get to know the new leadership at USA Cycling.
What compels you to serve on the USA Cycling Board of Directors?
It sounds cliché, but I have always felt a duty to give back to the community that has given so much to me. I also think in any organization, it's important for leadership to continuously listen to varying and fresh points of view. This is especially critical for an organization like USA Cycling, whose mission includes developing and nurturing the future of our sport across the country. I offer the perspective of a grassroots event organizer operating in a vibrant but crowded city, an amateur competitive athlete seeking more dedicated women's field opportunities, a person of color who rediscovered cycling later in life and realized how important representative community is, and as someone who sees bike racing as only a small aspect of the overall cycling community. I hope that folks see someone with shared experiences, and a desire to listen and learn, having a seat at the table.
What is your first cycling memory?
I don't consider myself to be a naturally gifted athlete or particularly brave, but I do have tenacity. I just remember when I got back into riding as an adult in 2007, being so frustrated and overwhelmed by all the things you had to do and think about simultaneously when riding a bike on the open road. Yes - I remembered how to ride a bike in concept. But shifting, braking effectively (but not too much!), taking hands off the handlebars to drink from a bottle or signal, or even riding down a hill on skinny tires in excess of 20mph and not stiffening up and grabbing a fistful of brake, all seemed so difficult at the time! But I committed to riding more and practicing and quickly realized how cumulative it all was and how my body and brain adapted. I would seek guidance and community from friends and clubs to help me achieve my next goal, however incrementally small they seemed. Over a decade later, I'm still practicing my skills and training my fitness, and expanding into other disciplines. I like to look back to see how far I've come and how much further I'd like to go, and I get excited all over again. The learning never ends and that's what keeps me engaged and motivated in this sport!
What you want the cycling community to know about you?
I really love our sport in all of its iterations, and want to do everything I can to help ensure our community continues to thrive and evolve. I care deeply about helping to provide access to anyone who has a desire to get on a bike, and providing them with a safe way to ride in their community. I think USA Cycling has a role to play in that. I don't have all the answers, but I'm always willing to listen to different perspectives, challenge my own assumptions, and admit missteps. I think there's a wealth of really smart, creative, and innovative folks out there who are doing amazing things in their communities, and I would love for USA Cycling to be able to learn from, share ideas, and be a useful resource for the community.
USA Cycling Board of Director bios and information can be found at https://usacycling.org/about-us/board-of-directors
