Lay off VisionQuest and Ventura
If you are from Lake County and like to cycle and do triathlon and you haven’t heard of Robbie Ventura or Vision Quest, well, you just aren’t paying attention. Robbie Ventura rode for US Postal as a pro cyclist. Yes, he did ride with Lance Armstrong. Since leaving Postal, all he has done is:
1) Built a successful coaching business;
2) Put out a great crit/training video for athletes;
3) Coach Tour de France Champion Floyd Landis;
4) Put together the strongest cycling teams in the Midwest (okay this one might be disputable, but I will explain later). Vision Quest and Ventura in the Midwest for cycling has become akin to the New York Yankees. Everybody hates them, but everyone wants to be on the team. Some local athletes might even dub Vision Quest as the “evil empire.” I contend all of this is unfair.
Robbie Ventura has used his position as an ex-pro riding for Postal to his benefit. Who wouldn’t? It is smart business. It is no different than sponsors wanting to pay athletes to wear shoes. Even closer is ex-pro players in any sport that get jobs as commentators or coaches of that sport. Why should Ventura be penalized just because he was an ex-Pro? Ventura has been masterful in turning his name into a brand people want to buy. I cannot fault him for that. As for his coaching services, yes, I have heard some negative reviews. I think that is true in any service oriented business. What I do see is his athletes performing well at races, whether it is cycling or triathlon. I see his cycling team working together as a team, not a bunch of individuals.
I think the problem for Vision Quest is that the people that pay for the service are serious, especially the cyclist. Being a part of Vision Quest is not cheap, so you better be serious about your sport. In cycling though, his racers work together as a team. They have obvious strategies, goals and team leaders. Their group rides are planned out for getting stronger instead of aimlessly riding. Also, the group rides are well attended and always have a coach present. I think the problem is that other cyclists are jealous as that is what they would like from their own team. Thus, since they cannot be a part of Vision Quest, they denounce…. just like people who aren’t Yankees fans. Vision Quest and Ventura have moved into the sport of triathlon. This has been met with huge resistance from triathletes. How dare Ventura enter into triathlon? Who does he think he is? Hey people, he is a smart businessman. Triathletes spend more money on their sport than cyclist as a whole. Triathletes will spend $2000 on a wheelset if it will save them 8 minutes on an Ironman bike leg. They buy a new bike almost every two year. I cannot even convince cyclists that they need a power meter or a HRM. So, why not try to tap the triathlon market? It is obviously working as I see more VQ jerseys at triathlons. These people are getting good results too. Hey triathletes, I hate to break it to you too, the sport is not like cycling. Cycling is racing. Triathlons are events. People that show up to bike races in the Midwest are serious about their sport. Doing a triathlon is an “event” for most, not a race.
I have read complaints from triathletes that VQ people are “cheating” by providing support or drafting in races. I have also heard cyclists state that the athletes are “jerks” that train with them. Come on people, we know this is all generalizations. Give me any large group, some people cheat, some people are jerks. I am pretty sure Ventura doesn’t advocate cheating in his pre-race pep talk. I am pretty sure he doesn’t tell his team to be jerks to other cyclists. Why? They are all potential clients. It is in his best interest to maintain good relations with all athletes. Plus, in the one time I have met Mr. Ventura, he seemed like a nice guy, along with Chris, another VQ coach. Finally, on another website, Ventura took a huge hit for doing the unthinkable. He participated in a triathlon. He was undertrained on the swim and run, from what I have read and posted a pretty pedestrian time of 1:11:34 in a sprint. Good for 32nd place overall. How dare he decide to participate in a triathlon? Come on people, all endurance athletes are supposed to be inclusive. Instead we have people blasting him because he showed up and did a triathlon. I give him credit for trying to understand his clients better. There is no doubt that VQ and Ventura are an asset to the Midwest endurance scene. After all, he is building something that can compete with the East and West Coast teams. So, maybe someday I will be lucky enough to be coached by VQ and Ventura. Maybe someday I will be able to afford it. Until then, I am on the outside looking in. I do know though that each time I hear another endurance athlete criticize Ventura or Vision Quest, it is probably out of jealousy. After all, I know I would like to be a part of a team like that.