The Campus Recreation Complex (CRC) is proud to create an environment for students to continue their athletics passions while in college. Sport clubs are part of the competitive sports program at the CRC, and all 40+ clubs compete inter-collegiately. They are student-led teams that work hard to find tournaments, coaches and necessary equipment. These inspiring athletes continue to play for the love of the sport without the added benefit of scholarships. CRC competitive sports intern, Emily Chang describes the following athlete as, “a very intense athlete who inspires many people.” We are pleased to introduce you to 4th-year biomedical engineering student and cycling club president, Perrin Clavijo.  

How long have you been cycling and what originally interested you in this sport? 

I started cycling my senior year of high school because I had some friends who were triathletes at their colleges and they were pretty inspiring. I did triathlons until I transferred to Tech in spring 2017, and after the transfer I switched to all cycling.  

What does your training schedule look like in the on and off season? 

I generally try to keep up my training year-round, but during our seasons I’ll do more focused training (like sprints). I used to be individually coached for cycling and I had a very strict training schedule that took up a lot of my free time. While it certainly improved my cycling, balancing school and that workout schedule became a bit too much, so I stopped being coached. After that I could tell my fitness declined a bit but I decided cycling needed to be more about the fun than the competition in such a stressful school environment. 

What do you love most about cycling? 

Honestly, I just love being outside. The competition is fun too but I mostly just like getting out there. I need endurance exercise in my life to relieve the stress of school; it helps me be more productive and it makes me feel better about myself which is also important for my mental health. 

What have been your major highlights/achievements in cycling? 

My best year of cycling was my first road season in 2017. I had several wins my first few races, some of which were with a long, solo break-away which was a great confidence booster. After I stopped my individual coaching, my performance declined but I was still excited to get out there, enjoy a day of suffering on the bike, and build new friendships with girls from other schools around the southeast. 

I heard that you ran a 50 mile race last summer. How was training for this event different then training for cycling? 

Training for an ultramarathon is primarily about consistency. Consistency is important in both sports, but in cycling, completing the collegiate races we do, it’s never a question of “can I finish this race?” it’s more, “how fast can I finish this race?”, and therefore consistent training will hopefully just make you finish it faster. For ultra running, especially a new distance, you’re constantly asking yourself if you will be able to finish your race, and the only way to have any confidence that you can on race day is if you’ve consistently trained for months leading up to the event.  

What is the greatest lesson sports have taught you? 

My greatest lessons from cycling and running are discipline and life balance. Ultrarunning (especially) tests your mental limits and the training for both sports requires a lot of time management and planning.  

What professional athlete do you admire most and why? 

Some of you may know her, Jackie Merritt. She is a physical therapist and neuroscientist at Emory, a few of my friends work in the same lab as her, but she’s also an incredible ultrarunner. She placed 7th in Western States 100 in 2017, which is the most prestigious and competitive ultra marathon in the US, and spent all last year winning other ultras while pregnant! Her ability to balance personal life, training, and work is inspiring to me and it makes it even more meaningful that we live in the same city. She’s also just a really nice, humble person which is surprising considering her achievements.  

What do you want to be when you grow up? 

I’d really like to be a radiologist eventually in my life. We will see how long it takes for that to happen but I know that there’s more than one right path to follow so I’m just trying to enjoy life along the way. 

What advice do you have for anyone interested in trying cycling? 

Cycling is totally doable for anyone! One great thing about cycling over running is it’s easier on the joints so it can be a life-long activity. I suggest you find some friends to ride with and start in a stress-free environment such as a park or the silver comet trail. Mountain biking is also super fun especially for those who find road biking boring. There are lots of great local trails to try out around Atlanta. 

If you are interested in learning more about the different sport clubs offered through the CRC go to crc.gatech.edu/clubs. With over 40 different clubs offered, there is something for every interest and experience level.