Rider Bio: Cody Tapley

The Tapinator... regular kid with a big heart!

Cody is just like any one of a million teenagers. He goes to school, hangs out with his friends playing football, has a part time job -AND- rides his bike, a lot...

Cody was introduced to DBCJRT by a neighbor. He'd see his neighbor, former DBC'er Trudy Bjornson, pedalling out of her driveway on regular basis. Soon he was joining her for hour long rides. Trudy put him in touch DBC, introducing him as an aspiring bike racer. The first ride is probably something the Tapinator wants to forget: suffering, sweating, pedalling, huffing, and puffing while trying to hang onto AWfoSho and Juge's wheel. Unfortunately, in the spirit of fun, his teammates won't ever let him forget about it. Perhaps the ride was more painful for AWfoSho and Juge as they "pedalled along at fourteen miles per hour."

Bicycle racing is a tough sport for kids to break into. Typically a teenage kid, full of spit and vinegar, wants to be like Lance. He jumps into his first race or ride with visions of glory. And, he's promptly dropped. The art of racing, the speed, the accelerations, the close proximity to twenty or thirty other kids trying to stay upright on two spinning wheels is something that takes time to learn. Most kids, having their legs and lungs handed to them, having their pride crushed, take a second look at racing and say, "I'm never doing that again."

Tapley, having more heart than most, never had second thoughts...

One hour spins were traded for hardcore training rides. His first bike, a steel-framed Falcon, was traded for a carbon Raleigh provided, in part, by a sponsorship through a local bike shop. Soon Tapley was riding off the front of the local Tuesday/Thursday race ride.

A Rising Star...

Now the Tapinator is training religiously with long rides, building a base for 2008.

DBCJRT has a long standing tradition of winning the NCNCA Junior Point Series. For four straight years they've taken top honors in the 15/16 category. The Tapinator has his sights set on upholding that tradition in 2008. Beyond 2008, Tapley's "goals for cycling are to just keep riding, I mean, I dream of becoming a pro, but, if not, it's okay. I'll still ride my bike."

When he's not on his bike training, Tapley is working on bikes at his part time job at Davis Wheelworks. A neo-mechanic, Cody describes his job as, "the Walmart bike mechanic." Wheelworks is the premier Northern California bike shop where it is routine to see $5,000 $6,000 even $10,000 bikes come and go through the doors. Cody is cutting his teeth on the inexpensive stuff first, and that is fine with him. "[It] is okay because I learn new things everyday."

Cutting his teeth in the bike shop, cutting his teeth on the race course. Full of heart, the Tapinator is going to make his dreams come true...