Zach Owen

Young Achiever: Zach Owen determined to reach pro-status in road cycling

IT’S a gruelling daily routine, but Zach Owen does it with a smile – you can tell he sees the bigger picture.

In between balancing the regular pushes and pulls of teenage life, Owen pedals anywhere between 200 to 300 kilometres a week.

It used to be more, until his coaches recommended a quality over quantity approach.

He’ll be up at the crack of dawn, on the bike by 5am usually, where he’ll pedal for roughly two hours.

Then it’s back home, shower and head to school.

After that, every other day it’s work – from 5pm to as late as 10.30pm, then bed, all with the prospect of doing it all ahead front of mind.

It’s can be tiring, but the 16-year-old sees the value in his hard work, and keep his ultimate goal of becoming a professional cyclist firmly in his sights.

“Training has been going really well – looking at metrics and what we use to measure growth its been coming on in leaps and bounds,” he said.

“I had some good results early in the year, some wins at some junior tours, but the two main focuses, junior nationals in Perth and the Tour of Bright ion December, didn’t go too well.”

Rather than dwell on the disappointment though, Owen has quickly learned from his mistakes.

He says those two results have proven to be important lessons as he looks to take the next step in his quest to go pro.

“There’s a lot that goes into it, especially trying to keep track of how you grow and adjust the bike accordingly,” he said.

“There was a lot to take away from it – the difference between junior and senior racing is a lot.

“Ideally I’d like to go pro – obviously I’ll finish school and go to uni as a back-up, but that’s the goal.”

It’s a lofty goal considering the manner in which he started road racing.

Owen’s interest in cycling was sparked by his father’s similar interest in the sport.

He started with mountain biking, but eventually turned to the road, competing in his first event in Ararat a couple of years ago on a less-than-professional cycling setup.

“I might have finished third or fourth last,” Owen said.

“Obviously I didn’t do well, but I did OK, and from there I just fell in love.

“After that I got a coach, I got some better equipment, started training more.

“I learned a lot – it’s hard to explain but you learn so much as you go along.”

After a mix of breakthroughs and setbacks in 2018, there’s only one way for Owen to go from here – up.

The winner of the Norske Skog Young Achiever of the Year, from nine nominees, will be announced on Friday, March 15.