One of the most important pieces of advice I give new riders is to expect to suck. It takes time to figure out the vagaries of bike racing, even for experienced riders and strong athletes. Typically it takes a season to get comfortable in a given category, then a second season to thrive.

There are exceptions, however.

As a Cat 5, Kyle Selph (Tower Racing) won his first four races late last summer, including two Cat 5 heats at the state road race in Willow Springs. He’s continued to find success in the 4’s. This Saturday he sprinted to a win at Sherman Park, just a week after winning the state road race in O’Fallon.

Cycling is far from his first foray into athletics. The 24-year-old Lombard resident is an operations manager in the fitness industry, and after growing up in Uruguay, where his parents were missionaries, he played goalie for an accomplished soccer program at Judson University.

This week I caught up with Selph to learn more about his short journey from newbie to state champion.

What was your athletic background before cycling?
I grew up participating in a variety of sports and athletic hobbies, however soccer was my primary pursuit.

How did you get into cycling and bike racing?
When I was young my father instilled in me a love of cycling via family-oriented bike tours and vacations.  Post soccer, I needed a sport that would both exercise my competitive demons and remain flexible to my busy work schedule. Cycling was a natural choice.

How did you hook up with Tower Racing?
I knew I wanted to find a team where I could learn the sport step-by-step from seasoned racers. Enter Tower Racing, I found the team via the USA Cycling team page and decided to join them on a Saturday team ride in the spring of 2009 only two weeks after buying a bike. I found myself among an incredible group of men and women who were ready and willing to invest their time and tenure into an eager rookie.

Tower Racing is one of the few teams I’ve noticed be able to put together a good leadout train in the lower categories. How much planning goes into that? Do you guys practice? Do you assign roles before each race?
Without giving away any team secrets, I would credit this advanced racing skill to our well-organized and purposeful training rides. We designate portions of our rides with sprints and hill climbs that force the group to keep a race-like mentality during training. `For a team to be successful we must race as a team not individuals. In one word, “selfless.”’As a team we like to discuss strategy before races. However, it always comes down to who is willing to work for whom. For a team to be successful we must race as a team not individuals. In one word, “selfless.”

How nervous were you before your first race?
It was the unexpected that made me nervous.

You won your first five races. How surprised were you by that?
It was a great surprise! And a great honor to be supported so well by my wife, family and team no matter what the next outcome would be.

You had no teammates at O’Fallon. How did that affect how your rode in the race?
As a sprinter, racing alone seems hopeless. However, the front riders did a great job during the race of pulling back any attempts at a breakaway that I would have surely had to join or bridge to in order to keep a podium spot alive.

Take us through the final kilometer, starting with the last big hill.
Approaching the final hill it was stay on the outside and run the risk of being pushed out over the center line, leading to disqualification, or stay on the inside and touch wheels or get boxed in. Well, I picked the latter and fortunately the group took the hill slow and allowed me to move up going into the final left turn.

At that point I was at the front of the pack and as the other teams were organizing their respective leadout trains. Nearing the 1km mark I realized that the chance of finding a wheel to follow was not going to happen, so I decided to lead myself out. I proceeded to mash my pedals as hard as I could expecting a leadout to come around me at any moment, and luckily I held off the pursuing riders long enough to solo across the finish.

What’s your plan for upgrading into the 3’s?
After getting wrapped up in a number of crashes already this year caused by unsteady riders, `I proceeded to mash my pedals as hard as I could expecting a leadout to come around me at any moment.’I would like to upgrade by the end of the season if possible in hopes to race at a more consistent and organized level.

What are your bike racing goals beyond that?
I don’t want to take myself too seriously. That said, I would like to make it into the 1/2 fields someday soon.

Now that you’re a cyclist, what do you care about more: the World Cup or the Tour de France?
I think you’re trying to get me in trouble. I love the Tour but the World Cup is only every four years! Let’s just say I will be watching a lot of both.

Well, I have Uruguay in my pool, so I hope they can stick it to Mexico.
Right on! They don’t have any superstars, but when they play together as a team it’s a beautiful thing.