Published: September 05, 2008 08:27 am            

Racing against time

London resident to race in Tour de London as prelude to triathlons

Click here to see the Sept. 6, 2008 Neighbors section in its entirety


By Bobbie Poynter / Community Editor

If you’re a spectator anywhere along the Tour de London route this weekend, be sure to wave hello to Rodney Hendrickson of London as he flies by.

Don’t look for Rodney at the front of the pack because he is not entered in the first Pro group. You’ll find Rodney behind the lead vehicle for the Civilian group (those of any age who only race against themselves and the clock).

Rodney Hendrickson, 50, has been cycling for recreation since 2002.

“I just needed to get into some type of exercise program,” Rodney explained. “The doctor told me I was overweight and had high blood pressure. I started running and cycling at the same time, just for the variety. And once I got moving, the change was almost immediate. I started feeling better, and my blood pressure became easy to control.”

Aside from the competition, Rodney and his wife Alice enjoy the social aspect of cycling, as well.

“Alice is a pretty good bike rider,” said Rodney. “She’s strictly recreational, but she loves to ride, too. We love to ride together, especially along the east side of Laurel County, where the roads are sparsely traveled and all the little country roads crisscross throughout the beautiful countryside.”

When the couple feels up to a relaxing out-of-town trip, they join a thousand other cyclists from all over the country for Century Rides, which are not 100-mile races, but casual rides complete with plenty of rest stops, meal breaks, socializing and even the occasional live band to stop and listen to along the route.

Rodney and Alice’s Century Rides include the Hope Ride in Indiana, the Old Kentucky Home in Louisville and the Horsey Hundred in Georgetown.

However, when the competitive bug kicks into high gear, the couple has been known to take off to participate in some pretty hefty marathons, including the Top of Utah Marathon and the Niagra Falls Marathon. Closer to home, they’ve attended the Kentucky Derby Festival Half Marathon and the grueling Festival of Mountain Masters Trail Race in Harlan, with hills Rodney described as ridiculously steep and long.

“When you enter those types of marathons, you’re more competing against yourself,” Rodney said. “It’s an accomplishment just to finish those. Everyone has a goal and simply wants to run faster than that. Me, I’m a four-hour marathoner, nowhere near a world-class athlete. Age is catching up with me, but I can still occasionally run a 5K in 21 minutes-and-change, and on a really good day, I can still run a two-mile race in under 13 minutes.

“I’m just glad I can still get out there. I look at it this way — at my age any finish is a good finish for me.”

Rodney has become an avid cyclist, although his first exercise preference is and always has been running. Only recently has the London resident combined his two passions with a third venue of swimming, thus completing his qualifications as a tri-athlete. His first two trials as a tri-athlete will come this fall in the Danville “Help Make a Difference” Triathlon and Lexington’s “The Tri for Sight” Triathlon.

Rodney is riding in the Tour de London as part of his training for the upcoming triathlons and to help support the local event.

“Tour de London is great for Laurel County and southeast Kentucky,” he said. “I am not an experienced bike racer, but those that are say this is a first-class event.

“The guys that come in from other states tell us that the organization and its many volunteers are second to none. Even the scenery along the way is spectacular. For a small town, the prize money is great. Best of all, the top Kentucky finisher becomes the Kentucky State Champion.”

Every athlete has someone he looks up to for inspiration. Rodney Hendrickson is no exception. Both of his heroes are world-class athletes in their own right, however one lives close to home.

“I admire Greg Queen,” he said. “Greg is a local athlete who is paralyzed from the waist down. He races in the hand cycle division and wins almost every race he enters. He had every excuse to live a sedentary lifestyle — instead he chose to train and become a great athlete.

“Greg has won his division in the Tour de London and the Kentucky State Championship two years in a row. He also wins large events, like the Bluegrass 10,000, almost every time he enters.

“I also admire Ryan Hall, a U.S. Olympic Marathoner and winner of the Olympic trials. Hall is not only a world-class marathoner, but is very outspoken about his faith in Jesus Christ, and that his faith is why he runs. Hall places his faith above everything else he has accomplished in his life.”

Even in training, Rodney enjoys keeping his spirit lifted. There is never a loss for fun when training with his friend and neighbor Kenny Davis, whose family owns Davis Salvage in Corbin.

“Kenny’s stories make the time go by fast on the long training runs,” Rodney said. “Kenny talked to so many people in Utah that he could have gotten elected to public office by the time we left town.”

During his time off from training, Rodney Hendrickson is the Resource Conservation & Development Coordinator at Cumberland Valley RC&D in London where he helps local governments, schools, and organizations plan and find funding for national resource projects.

This year, Cumberland Valley Resource Conservation & Development was awarded the outstanding RC&D council in the United States because of its variety of projects completed throughout the year.

“My favorite project,” said Rodney, “was a tremendous undertaking where we installed $5.5 million worth of septic systems for somewhere between 1,200 and 1,300 low-income families. We not only helped improve the water quality, but we helped the families as well. It was my favorite project because it kept us in such demand. The need there was so great, and we had the opportunity to fill that need. We didn’t even come close to fixing all the straight pipes, but we would have liked to continue until they were all completely eliminated.”

On the job, in life, or simply cycling, Rodney considers himself a participant rather than a competitor.

“I am not fast enough to really compete with the big guys,” he said. “I will compete as long as my body allows me to. Racing? I think it would be great to get a medal in the 90-and-over age group in another 40 years.”

Rodney Hendrickson, a former resident of Evarts, has been married to Alice for 27 years. They have two children, Jimmy, 20, a junior at Eastern Kentucky University majoring in physics and mechanical engineering, and Autumn, 23, a fourth grade teacher at Arlington Elementary School in Lexington.

Rodney graduated from Evarts High School in 1976 and received a bachelor of science in agriculture from Eastern Kentucky University in 1979.

Rodney has a sister, Betsy, formerly of Corbin, whose husband, Billy Hicks, is a former Corbin High School basketball coach.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.