Search for Speed is a new talent identification program designed to introduce track cycling to diverse and underrepresented communities in Los Angeles, providing youth and young adults with a dedicated pathway to the U.S. National Team. Funded by a generous grant from the Rapha Foundation and support from LOOK Cycle and Wattbike, Search for Speed utilizes a multi-stage screening process to identify key talent markers and introduce participants to track cycling. In January 2024, five finalists earned selection to the US National Team Program. Reid Myers is one of the finalists.
At 6-feet 9-inches tall, Reid Myers is an imposing figure at the velodrome. Although he is taller than the average track cyclist, the Search for Speed program set out to expand the traditional boundaries of talent identification to find potential Olympians who might have otherwise been overlooked. Fellow Search for Speed finalists Elliot Davis and Sterling Reneau were collegiate track and field competitors. Catherine Hamilton was a competitive weightlifter. Hayley Yoslov came from a high school mountain bike background. Of the five finalists, Reid probably has the most experience riding a fixed gear, just not on the velodrome.
Reid Myers bounced around from sport to sport as a kid, including basketball, soccer, and baseball. Although his emerging height gave him an advantage in basketball, the game didn’t appeal to him. He gravitated to baseball, which he played through high school. Outside of organized sports, though, bikes were a constant presence in Reid’s life.
In his early years, Reid and his brother rode BMX bikes around the neighborhood. When he outgrew the BMX bike, Reid discovered urban fixies, or fixed-gear bicycles with flat handlebars that he and his friends used to ride… anywhere. “Hooligans is the only word that I could use to describe us. The fixie was my main mode of transportation, but we’d also get together to ride and do skids and tricks. It was similar to skate culture.”
As a teenager, Reid also organized a cycling club at his high school. “I noticed other kids riding to school, so I thought we should get a club going. I organized everything, was the vice president, and got the merch going. It was a social club, not competitive. We would just go from Loma Linda to Redlands, like 20-ish miles, get food at a pizza place or something and hang out.”
Reid’s pathway to Search for Speed started in a bike shop, where he was originally hired to serve the urban fixie demographic. “I didn’t know anything about road bikes, but I knew about this specific section of bikes. So, they hired me because I knew about fixies and the fixie scene and cycling clubs.” A co-worker who ran the shop’s Instagram page saw the Search for Speed Instagram account and suggested Reid give it a shot.
After a few weeks of riding more mileage on his fixie and experimenting with short intervals, Reid decided to drive out to the Velo Sports Center Velodrome one day after school. “It wasn't even a testing day, but the coaches just happened to be there. I said, ‘Hey, I just drove all the way out here. Is there any way I can hop on the bike for a second?’ They said sure and brought a bike out so I could do that initial 6-second test.”
Reid’s power test was good enough to get him to the next, more extensive round of testing, which included a vertical leap, reaction time testing, and additional power tests on the bike. When he progressed to the Talent Integration Camps, he figured his fixed gear experience would give him a significant advantage. In some ways, it did, but there were also some hard lessons. “Before we got onto the velodrome, they had us learn to ride the rollers. I showed up with lots of confidence and then we got on the rollers and I immediately fell off and broke my finger. That instantly killed my confidence. Once we started getting on the track, I was nervous and slipping on the banking. I forgot the transition into the corner once and rode straight up to the rail and fell. The learning curve was steep but I got the hang of it quickly because I didn’t have to think about riding the fixed gear.”
Reid’s height could be both an advantage and disadvantage on the track. With a lot of muscle mass and long levers, he has the potential to generate tremendous power. But he must also punch a bigger hole in the air compared to a more compact rider. The goal is to maximize power and minimize aerodynamic drag, and the question is whether a taller rider can produce enough power to overcome the aerodynamic disadvantage or find a bike fit that allows him to compete in a cycling position that minimizes aerodynamic drag.
Besides physiology and biomechanics, Reid’s mindset may be his biggest competitive advantage. “Being this tall, people said I should try for the NBA to play basketball. I should do X with my height. But I didn’t want to do those things and if I don't like something completely, I can't put 100% into it. Once I got into cycling, and once I got into this high level of cycling, I realized ‘Wait, I actually want to do this.’ After trying a bunch of sports, cycling was the only athletic outlet where I fully enjoyed the day-to-day doing of it. So, I’m going to try to go all the way because if you have a chance to go for an Olympic gold you have to try.”
Reid and the four other finalists (Sterling Reneau, Elliott Davis, Hayley Yoslov, and Catherine Hamilton) have been offered spots in the Sprint Development Pool training group as Talent Integration athletes. Although they are not yet National Team Athletes, they have been invited to receive further coaching and instruction in Los Angeles and are gaining access to the Sprint Development Pool Daily Training Environment. At the same time, Search for Speed continues.
For information about how to participate in the 2024 Open Combine format, visit SearchforSpeed.com.
