PVCC Puma Press: December 2006

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	Photo credit by Bonnie Wentzel
	Kevin Arps, Behavioral Sciences Division chair, trains four to six hours per ride several times a week to reach his goals
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When Kevin Arps, PVCC’s chair of the behavioral sciences division, began bike training, he thought he could only ride 10 miles, then 20 and so on. Once he reached the 100-mile mark, he wasn’t sure how far he could ride. After completing two 125-mile solo tracks and winning both a 125- and186-mile event, he still doesn’t know how far he can go.

“My body doesn’t feel like there is a limit,” says Arps. “I feel like I can go and go and go.”

Arps teaches sports psychology. His experience as a cyclist helps his students and other student athletes to take him seriously.

“When I say, here is something I do that works, they know it is not hypothetical,” says Arps, who holds a master’s degree in sports psychology, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in motivational psychology. He is also the academic success coordinator in charge of approximately 150 PVCC student athletes’ academic success.

Arps chose the biking form of randonneuring, which according to the Randonneurs USA website is long-distance unsupported endurance cycling. Brevets are the individual long-distance events that can range from 125 miles, and incrementally increase to 745 miles or 1,200 km.

Kevin Arps’ long lean stature is built for speed and so far he has beaten the bike pants off the competition. He finished his first 125 mile race (200 km in October 14) in just over seven hours bearing out 13 other cyclists . He had hoped to finish in nine hours. He won his second race, with 20 competitors, at 186 miles (300 km on November 5) in just under 12 hours—he originally thought it would take 13.

Arps began his competitive riding six months ago with a solo event. These events are just the rider against the clock. Riders can test themselves on a predetermined course by contacting the Arizona Brevet and Randonee organization and registering. Riders are sent a queue sheet giving the route. His first ride was 125 miles.

“When you think about 125 miles in a metropolitan area, you can’t just go straight so there are a lot of turns,” says Arps, who explains that riders check in to designated convenience markets, gathering receipts to prove what time they reached that point in the ride.

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	'When I say, here is something that works, (students) know it is not hypothetical'
	—Kevin Arps, Behavioral Sciences Division Chair
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Documentation is sent in to the Randonneuring organization so official times can be recorded. Riders must be completely self-sufficient, so any items needed to fix bikes have to be carried with the rider. Riders can choose to pick up a few items at the markets but most feel the time is better spent riding. Part of the challenge is to stay on the course because not only does the rider have to stay on the road but he or she has to be on the right road.

Arps started comparing his times to others on the Randonneuring organization’s website and in its newsletters. He thought maybe he was fast enough to compete in a group race that is both against the clock and other racers. It was never a question of finishing the race. There are some advantages to riding in groups as opposed to solo riding. Key among them is the opportunity to work together to achieve even faster times through a system of drafting, where riders allow others to counter the wind in front of them.

“If you have ever seen the Tour d’ France, you know that groups break away. One person leads for a while to break the wind, and that position rotates within each group,” says Arps who is a huge Tour fan—so much so that he mimics each leg of the summertime race at half the distance. For example, if it is a 50 mile, mountain day on the Tour, then Arps will ride 25 miles of mountains. The big difference is that France’s July temperatures range from the mid 60s to mid 70s compared to the scorching 110 degree days in Phoenix.

“All of my training is individual about four to six hours by myself. It is a nice time to process relationships, goals, problems. Cycling has become my escape, my stress release,” says Arps.

His rides are anything but “nice” to the casual observer. He chooses his routes most days by which way the wind is blowing, usually heading into the wind for the first half. He points out that most people train with others, spending time “chatting” and not getting the most out of the time.

After years of being a professional volleyball player, Arps needed to find something that would cause less wear and tear on his body. At 45, he feels confident that he has found a competitive sport he can do for a long time.

“Biking really feels free like there’s no limits to what you can do or where you can go,” says Arps. When I go up a hill as hard as I can go, it almost feels like my breathing changes into this magical breathing and I cannot even feel it.”

There’s hill by my house that is exactly 1 mile. For years I could not finish the hill full speed. I would have to sit down (in the saddle) and finish it sucking wind. The last couple of times I have been able to finish it at full speed. Yesterday, I did that hill...it feels so cool to look at your watch and realize that you did it in 2:45. Normally. it takes me just over three minutes which is 20 mph. It feels so cool. I never thought I could ever beat three minutes,” says Arps. “You just never know.”