Putting together these young rider profiles is a source of inspiration for me. As Conor Klupar noted in his profile, “Being a high school athlete is tough if your sport doesn’t involve a ball.” Instead of succumbing to peer pressure (real or perceived), these young riders have both the motivation and support to pursue their passion for the bike.
Like Max “Missile” O’Neal, Ben “Jammin” Peterson is also currently at Ballard High School. Ben is a fledgling scientist with an affinity for the trombone and a mature understanding about cycling: “Looking pro in the sport of cycling is something that we all try and achieve, but what really matters is the motor in your body.”
Age: 16 years old
School & Grade: I am a junior at Ballard High School.
Place of Birth: I was born at Swedish Hospital in Ballard, February 24th, 1996.
Favorite subject(s) in school:
Science is without a doubt my favorite subject. Band is my second favorite. Trombones for the WIN!
What are your plans after high school?
My plans are to attend college of some form. If I can get a bike scholarship somewhere that would be cool. Another thing that I want to pursue in life is Marine Science/Oceanography/Fresh Water Ecosystems. I have kept aquariums with various types of fish since I was in kindergarten.
Are you involved in sports other than cycling?
Interesting story behind this… I would have never started racing my bike if I hadn’t gotten the stomach flu and missed the 3rd day of high school soccer tryouts. Looking back, that was the only time that I have ever been happy about getting sick. I still run in the off season and play pick-up games with my friends. My sister and dad are the real soccer geeks in the family.
What bikes do you own?
Cycling is an expensive sport, so I do not have a lot of bikes. What I do have works to get me through the needs of being a racer. I only have two bikes. A Fuji Roubaix, which is about to get set up to start using as my winter training bike. My race bike/team bike is a Lapierre Xelius 200 with full Ultegra and Fulcrum 7’s. New racing wheels are on the list; Looking pro in the sport of cycling is something that we all try and achieve, but what really matters is the motor in your body.
How did you get the nickname “Ben-Jammin?”
That comes from the Bob Marley song, Jammin’. My parents used to dance around with me when I was a baby singing that song, only substituting in “Ben-Jammin” for “Jammin”. Later my friends started calling me Ben-Jammin.
How did you get into cycling?
In 6th grade I started to ride my really heavy Schwinn mountain bike every day after school for 2-3 miles, which took me more time than I care to share with you… Eventually I wanted to go farther and that is when my mom’s friend Mary Ann Callaghan said that she would go with me. We started riding together every weekend working up to 15 miles. Neither of us had any cycling background. Then I started to ride with my cousin Kirk Anderson. We would do 45 mile rides every couple weekends. Me on my mountain bike and he would be on his fast road bike. From then on I wanted a road bike so I could go as fast as him. I started saving money and doing whatever jobs I could around the house. That year my parents pitched in the rest for my birthday and I was able to buy the Fuji Roubaix. I started riding every day after school and then on weekends. I worked my way up to riding the whole Burke-Gilman. The last day of summer between 8th and 9th grades I did my first century, by myself. I rode the whole Burke-Gilman and then around Magnolia four times. That day I went beyond bonking. The last 40 miles was done on water. I don’t recommend it. When I got home I drank three glasses of chocolate milk and fell asleep on the couch. I was addicted.
How did you get into racing?
My neighbor Robert Trombley told me that I should get in touch with Ryan Miller if I ever wanted to try racing. I eventually got his phone number and Ryan and I went on a ride. Through Ryan I got to know the people on Arrivee which was his team. We rode on the weekends and eventually they started asking me if I was going to start racing. I was terrified of the thought, but eventually I found myself lined up at the 5:30 Seward Park race. I finished that race without getting dropped. The same day I talked with Garth Billstin about the JL Velo Racing Team and I signed my very first set of by-laws. I was now on my first team.
What is your training schedule like?
I usually ride 5-6 days a week. The times of my rides during the day depend on my homework schedule and how tired I am. I usually race Pacific Raceways or Seward Park each week and then race the weekend races. My training was never very structured until I started to get coaching.
How many miles/hours do you ride each week?
I ride less than I bet most people would think. In the early months of this year I only hit 18-25 hours a month… yes I did say a month. Then during the summer I was able to bump up the hours to 30 hours a month. The increase in hours was due to the detailed coaching and mentoring I was receiving from Andrew McNett who is a teammate on JL Velo. Andrew greatly increased my knowledge of cycling by supplying resources like books for me to read.
Do you have any passions outside of cycling?
I play trombone in the Ballard High School Pep Band as well as in Wind Ensemble. Yes, this does earn me a PE waiver… Band is my home at Ballard. It has given me the opportunity to make most of the friends that I have in school. I am a hard core band geek.
Favorite post-workout recovery food:
Dairy Gold Chocolate Milk.
How are you able to combine school and racing bikes?
Lots and lots of coffee… and no social life. Seriously though, school comes first. If my grades are not good my life gets put on hold until they are fixed. I can’t function if I am not happy with my grades. On the flip side though, racing and training help me in school because it helps me to reduce my stress levels. The weirdest thing is racing at PR with the 1/2/3’s and then hearing them say how they are going out for beers afterwards. I just go home and get my homework done.
What are some of your racing highlights?
5th place in the GC at my first Cat 5 stage race, the Tour of Walla Walla.
1st place at the Washington State Junior Road Race.
4th place in the GC at the Rapha Northwest Junior Classic Stage Race.
What have been your most memorable races?
My most memorable race this entire season was getting 4th place in the Rapha Northwest Junior Classic Stage Race. The first stage was the time trial. It was 12 miles and I had a time of 30:36. I was stoked about that time because it was faster than I was in the State TT. The Criterium later that day was one of the hardest races of my season. I held on and retained my 4th place GC standings. The road race on Sunday was the most confidence boosting race of my season. Everyone said that I would have no problem on the hills, but I couldn’t believe them. I am not a hill climber. I was super nervous about getting dropped. The race occurs on the Vance Creek Road Race route in Elma, WA which has a huge monster hill that leads up to the finish. We were set to do it four times. When I finished that race I learned that I can climb hills. I learned that no matter how much pain my body is in, it will get easier later on. That was a huge moment for me. I started to believe in myself.
What’s your favorite Seattle-area ride?
I never get tired of riding from Ballard down to Seward and back, maybe taking a fast lap around Mercer. I want to start learning the roads out by Carnation, Duvall, etc. Those are nice roads to train on.
Do you have any advice for other teens thinking about getting serious about cycling or racing?
The most helpful thing to me was finding a team that was devoted to helping out juniors. You will get more attention there because that is their focus. You should always be nice to other cyclists and listen to everyone’s opinion. It is 100% acceptable to go up to basically anyone in the sport of cycling and ask them some questions. Always take the opportunity to read about the aspects of cycling, whether it is training books, nutritional books, rider bios, interviews or YouTube series like Beyond the Peloton.
One of the most valuable pieces of information I have learned so far is from a good friend of mine, Carlos Ojeda. He told me something along the lines of, “If you can find a proven veteran rider you will learn the most from them. They know what they are talking about and they have a lot of wisdom. If you can get them to share some of their knowledge with you it will make life a lot easier on the bike, you just have to be able to listen to them intently. If you can do that and then work hard it will bring your game to the next level.” At the Criterium races this year I would stay to watch the Cat 1-2’s race to learn how they moved in the pack. Carlos was there for most of them and he and I would spend time watching our friend Derek Wilkerson (Audi Cycling Team). I learned so much about when to move up, to rest and when to push hard. It was an awesome experience.
Lastly without a doubt, the best thing you should remember is to always have fun. If I wasn’t having fun I wouldn’t be doing this.
