We had the good fortune of connecting with Chris Carmichael and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Chris, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Early in my career I didn’t perceive things like moving to Belgium with $300 in my pocket to race my bike for two years as risky. I was all in and had nothing to lose, so it was hard but not risky. Risk comes when you have something to lose. Before I started CTS, I had a successful career as an athlete and coach at the highest level of sport. Walking away from that to start a business was a risk. What I’ve found over the 22 years CTS has been in business is that risk pushes you into overdrive, which can be helpful for an entrepreneur. Risk forces you to take action, and because some of those actions will lead to failures, risk also teaches resilience.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
At CTS, we help endurance athletes – primarily cyclists, ultrarunners, and triathletes – achieve their athletic goals and change their lives for the better. We believe you can change lives – and ultimately the world – through movement. CTS was one of the first companies in the endurance coaching industry, and as the number of independent coaches and coaching companies have increased, we have had to innovate and stay on top of training technologies and emerging science to stay at the forefront of the industry. No one who has run a business for 22 years would say it’s been easy, but educating and developing strong professional coaches and working with tens of thousands of athletes has been fulfilling. The biggest lesson we learned along the way is to always put the athlete first. What do our athletes need in order to achieve their goals? When we can answer that question authentically, then we can create the business plan support it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
When my best friends are coming to Colorado Springs, they want to be outside and active. Pikes Peak is big draw, whether you’re driving or cycling to the top, taking the Cog Railway, hiking up and down Barr Trail, or mountain biking down from Elk Park. At the foot of Pikes Peak, there’s the Manitou Incline, a challenging climb up 2744 steps that ascends about 2000 vertical feet in less than a mile. And although other places are more famous for mountain biking, Colorado Springs has some of the best mountain bike trails – and one of the biggest mountain bike trail networks – in the United States. My favorite areas include Cheyenne Canõn Park, Red Rocks, and Section 16. After all of that activity, I love to sit out on the porch at Ivywild School with a local craft beer from Bristol Brewing.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
First and foremost, my family and the people closest to me deserve a great deal of credit for helping me become the person and business leader I am today. My mother and father, my children, their mother, and my partner. So many people played a role in my success and evolution. When it comes to a pivotal moment in my life, I would have to give a shout out to Jiri Manus, the US National Team Director at US Cycling during my professional cycling career. After I broke my femur and made it back to professional cycling, I wasn’t the same rider and I retired two years later. Jiri called and offered me an opportunity to coach at a development camp with young riders. It was my first foray into coaching. I realized I enjoyed it and had an aptitude for it, and coaching has been my career and life ever since. During that time, I also must credit my father for supporting my choice. I was uncertain about it. I hadn’t gone to college and wasn’t sure what to do next. He told me, “You have a Ph.D. in bike racing, and this is your opportunity to give something back to the sport that gave you so much.” Jiri and my father really altered the course of my life in that short time.

Website: https://trainright.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cts_trainright/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-carmichael-a496446a/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/trainright

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CTSAthlete

Image Credits
John Segesta Cory Bruno/CTS

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