Julia Violich

Adam Pulford

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – Victor Frankl

Team Role/Title: Assistant Director / Coach

Place of Birth: Perham, MN

Currently reside: Colorado Springs, CO

About Adam -

Adam was born in Northern Minnesota where he grew up in a family that supported all of his crazy ideas. Competing in nearly anything at an early age, team sports were the popular and available choice; cycling and its culture was a bit foreign to him, though he would pick it up later in life. Baseball, football, track and field, cross country running, and wrestling all filled the day when he wasn’t at school or helping on his uncle’s farm.

Going on to wrestle in college, he found cycling would keep his weight low in the off-season. Soon he started to compete in mountain bike and road racing as a way to channel that competitive spirit when he wasn’t on the mat. A change of study from Chemistry to Exercise Physiology mid-way through his college career planted the seed of becoming a coach and training athletes.

After working at the University of La Crosse, Wisconsin’s Human Performance Lab, he went on to an internship at Carmichael Training Systems where he would coach full time for 10+ years, as he still does now. He’s worked for the Olympic Training Center in various capacities over that time and has built the core duties of a coach including: physiological performance testing, body composition analysis, bike fitting, nutritional consultation, and running training camps. He’s also worked with various road and MTB teams as team coach and was the Team Director of TeamShoair/Cannondale. Adam has worked with national and world champions in both road and mountain disciplines, and his number one goal is to help athletes reach their full potential.

Career Highlights – working with athletes who achieved the following:

  • 2015 USA XCO National Championships – 2nd, 3rd Place, Elite Men
  • 2014 Colombia XCO National Champion – Elite Men
  • 2014 XCM Pan-Am Games Champion – Elite Women & Men
  • 2011- 2013 USA XCM National Champion – Elite Women
  • 2013 Costa Rican RR National Champion – Elite Men
  • 2013 GC USA ProChallenge – 6th Place
  • 2013 GC Tour of Utah – 7th Place

What do you foresee as some of the most rewarding parts about directing such a strong team of diverse female athletes?

With great talent comes a high expectation of performance. My job as a coach is to help the athlete reach their full potential, and I find joy in doing so. This team has great talent in various capacities, and the challenge of helping each one of them reach their highest level is why I am here.

You have a strong history as bike racer, what is it like making the transition to management from racing?

Well, my personal athletic history in wrestling and bike racing is nothing to write home about, but I found out rather quickly that I was far better at coaching than racing. Moving from strictly “coach” to “coach and manager” brings a new set of challenges that I like – you’re closer to the athlete, so you understand them more as an individual. And being at the races allows you to seeing the win, the loss, the laughter, and tears… all of which brings in the real human dimension that I appreciate, but also find strengthens the coach-athlete relationship to further help develop that full potential.

What are your ultimate goals/overall vision for the future of the team? The sport?

The vision is to create a culture and build a structure that produces champions. With a combination of making the best resources available combined with high performance standards we’ll be focused on the same goal as one unit: winning bike races and reaching our full potential. The goals are to win, at the highest level of sport, and get our athletes to the Olympics. Do this, and it means we promote our sponsors well, bring awareness to the sport, and encourage more women to compete, to pursue their dreams, and attract further supporters to provide more opportunity to the sport.

Who or what has been an inspiration to you in your life?

A dream, an opportunity… combine them together, inspiration follows. Yes, there are things and people that inspire us to dream, but I’ve always believed having the chance TO dream, and to HAVE an opportunity is inspirational in itself. We have both in this country, and we have both in this sport. An athlete can dream their goals and seek the opportunity - that’s a driving force. And deeper still, when I see an athlete who has a desire to dream and pursues that dream through opportunity, I’m inspired by them.

Tell us something that people wouldn’t know about you:

Goldberg (former WWF wrestler and NFL player) once crushed a beer can over my head when I worked at Sturgis Bike Rally in high school. J

TWENTY16 has an emphasis on education with the initiation of our Junior Scholarship program in 2015. https://teamtwenty16.com/education.htm Why should an athlete go on to college?

Your athletic career is a very short time period in the grand scheme of life; educating oneself provides opportunity beyond that. It also allows for a greater well-being through a higher level of awareness and larger skillset to provide back to yourself, organization, and community. Learning is rarely a bad investment, if at all.

What does Ridebiker Alliance mean to you?

RideBiker is an opportunity. It’s an opportunity for like-minded people that love bikes to come together and do what they do: ride bikes, at any and all levels, providing a chance for the professional and amateur athlete to enjoy the ride. It’s a chance for those who may not otherwise have a chance to do more in the sport.

Your favorite things to do when not directing the team?

  • Reading, writing.
  • Drinking coffee.
  • Thinking.
  • Enjoying a glass of wine.
  • Riding a bike.

Favorite Foods:

  • Chips and Salsa
  • Italian Cuisine
  • Peanut/Almond Butter
  • Wine
  • Coffee

Music you love to listen to (song and artist)

  • Pilot – The White Buffalo
  • Slow Dancer – Noah Gundersen
  • Acoustic #3 – Goo Goo Dolls
  • Empire – Shakira
  • Run the World – Beyoncé

Sho-Air SRAM Felt Bicycles ZIPP Quarq JL Velo