This is Jakub Valigura, he’s our resident international member from Europe and a winner of the Front Range Classic Road Race.
CU: Where are you from?
JV: The Czech Republic
CU: What year are you? What’s your major?
JV: I’m a Ph.D. student getting my doctorate in structural engineering
CU: Do you hold an officer position on the team? If so, which one?
JV: Yep. I'm race director for our MTB Snowmass Race in the Fall
CU: What disciplines of cycling do you participate in for the team?
JV: Road and Mountain for me
CU: How long have you been riding?
JV: Since most of my CU teammates were still in dippers or weren't even born. I started to ride my bike on this concrete humps, you could call it pre-pumptrack, behind my house, when I was like 3. But I didn’t start to race until I was like 18. Before that I played ice hockey.
CU: What category do you race in?
JV: A's in collegiate, Pro in MTB, and Cat 3 on road.
CU: What got you into cycling?
JV: As I said, I always biked. Then once my cousin took me to a race and that was it.
CU: What is your favorite kind of racing? What is your favorite collegiate race?
JV: Cross country mountain biking is my favorite. While most of the mountain bike race weekends in the fall are awesome, the Crested Butte XC course is really fun and probably my favorite
CU: What are your cycling ambitions?
JV: Don't get hurt in an accident or crash
CU: Are you sponsored by an outside team? If so, who?
JV: Yes, I race for 92Fifty/Elevated Legs.
CU: What do you do besides cycling at CU? Other clubs, jobs, etc.
JV: I'm a mentor for our EERI Undergraduate Structural Design Team, and of course being a research assistant is more than full time job...
CU: What is your favorite part about Boulder as a city?
JV: I like the people's healthy life style here. I'm not talking about those who think gluten/dairy free is healthy. I mean that almost everyone does some kind of exercise here, so there's always someone to go ride, run, or ski with.
CU: Biking is a big commitment time wise, how do you balance your academics and social life with cycling?
JV: I minimized my social life to taco night at Sepp's house once every two or three weeks, so it's really just balancing school and riding, and that's somehow doable.
CU: A lot of wise, successful cyclists live by a specific mantra… Do you have one?
JV: To quote [Coach] Jeff, “Chocolate chip cookies and ice cream are absolutely critical to success in life.”
CU: If you could have lunch with anyone, who would it be and why?
JV: The girl I have crush on, and I think it's obvious why...
CU: What's a fun fact about you?
JV: Even after being 5 years in US, I still have problems to spell out my name in English.
CU: You would say you are a ___________ person
JV: Dog
CU: What’s your favorite music to ride to?
JV: Punk and anything similar to it.
CU: What’s one thing you never ride without?
JV: A water bottle
CU: What bikes do you currently ride?
JV: MTB - Felt Nine C1, Road - Felt F4, Cross - Felt F65X, Trail - Author Agang Patriot
CU: What were some of your goals for the past season?
JV: Enjoy the riding and do my best at the races.
CU: Thanks for taking the time to talk! Anything else you want to say?
JV: Add me on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/kuba.valis