Meet Cody Kelley
Earlier this month we announced the exciting new addition to our sponsored athlete roster, Cody Kelley. Get to know this dynamite athlete in his own words below...
+ Name/ Location/ Sport
- Cody Kelley/ Salt Lake City, UT/ Mountain Bike Rider/Racer
+ Can you tell us what drew you to your sport in the first place, and what drew you to this level of performance?
- I’ve always had a massive passion for bikes in general to be honest, and just as big of a passion for competing. Growing up everything in life was a competition between my old man, my friends, and myself. Everything from who could make it into the supermarket first too who could chug their bottle of water the fastest haha… That translated over to bikes once I found them and got hooked on riding at a young age. Eventually it wasn’t enough just to race up and down the street with my buddy’s though, so my Pop’s found the BMX Track and I started racing on a weekly basis when I was 5 years young up until I was 17. Competed on various level’s from the local scene to the National Series, World Champs at the age of 13 in Canada, and my career in BMX eventually got retired when I was doing Jr. Olympic Camps at the Olympic Training Center in Cali when I was 15 and 16. The “Olympic” style track has a 3 story tall starting hill that are coupled with speed’s of 38-40mph and jumps up to 40ft long, I felt the sport was headed in a direction that was a little too hectic for my personal liking and that led to my transition into Mountain Biking. Which I’ve honestly been way more stoked on! Hard time beat time spent in the mountain’s as compared to City Parks where BMX typically were/are… Looking back I’m stoked that I made the transition to mtb and wish that I would have done it sooner in all reality!
+ When I am not training specifically in either swimming, cycling or running, what’s your second favorite form of muuvment?
- My second favorite form of muuvment is probably getting in a gym session, although it’s a necessity for myself to be in the gym in order to perform better on the bike I know for sure I’d be in the gym regardless if I raced or not. Always been a big fan of trying to take care of my body and push it’s limits, which at the end of the day is what the gym work really is… Building muscle and stability to prevent injuries while pushing the envelope on what you are capable of.
+ You Just finished a killer workout, what’s the first thing you’re grabbing from your fridge?
- Always been a biiiig fan of post workout smoothie’s! Chuck some frozen berries in there, some electrolyte’s, maybe a bit of protein and it’s a nice treat for the body and brain!
+ Early Bird or Afternuun Owl? Are you most likely to plan your workout in the morning or evening? Walk us through a day in your life.
- I like to get up and at em at a pre decent hour, typically around 7-7:30. But I take the first few hours of almost every morning to get some laptop work done and to drink a few cups of the good ol’ coffee then it’s time to get after the days training! Which is usually a training ride by around 11 for 2.5-3 hours and back home to refuel… After the refuel it’s some more laptop work if it’s needed on the day followed by some bike work and or a gym session. Then finally a big ol cook up at home and some time spent with the family!
+ Do you have any heroes/ idols/ mentors in your sport of choice?
- To many to list honestly! Fortunate that the mtb community is a pretty awesome group of people and I’ve been fortunate to cross path’s with quite a few of them that actually took the time to teach me the ropes. Some of the most influentials mentors/friends I currently have are my Dad, Curtis Keene, and Mitch Ropelato… All 3 of them are some of the best riding buddies anyone could ask for plus they’ve all taught me so much on and of the bike! Over the year’s I’ve been fortunate to have close connections with a lot more then just them though. Richie Rude, Jared Graves, Kyle Warner, and Enoch Tatton have all been huge helps along the way through my Mtb Career.
+What’s your favorite flavor & way to consume nuun?
- Strawberry Lemonade for sure! Reminds me of a being a kid and just pounding Lemonade like it was going out of style on a daily basis every time I take a sip… Would not recommend consuming that much lemonade haha, but those were rad times in my life with LOT’S of bike riding so it’s just a good memory/reminder of where it all started for myself!
+ If we’re talking big dreams, how do you want to be remembered in your sport?
- Obviously with my life long desire for competition I’d like to be known as fast rider and have some Goood result’s to my name, along with that I have always been influenced by very stylish rider’s and therefore tried to have style myself so it would be the dream to have a lasting impression of style. Away from competing directly I’d be stoked to be remembered as an advocate of bikes and just clean, active, and healthy living in general! With the way the internet and social media are in this day and age we as athlete’s have the ability to spread the stoke on these things on a very very large scale and I have big hope’s that what I do on bikes from racing to my video’s that it get’s people stoked on bikes so much so that they go out and ride and be active themselves… I know when I read a race article or watch/read an article on an athlete that I find influential, it has that effect on me personally so one could only hope that they too have that effect on other’s.
+ What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve had to overcome – mental or physical?
-Mental challenges have been my personal biggest battle for sure. Even when coming back from a physical injury, mentally knowing and believing that you are ready is tough… How well an athlete performs at the highest level of any sport comes down to how mentally strong they are. At that level in sport pretty much everyone has put in the time and effort necessary to win, it just boils down to who could put it all on the line when it counts. That said mental game has been a big challenge for myself and probably every athlete out there minus a select very lucky few.
Welcome to the Nuun Team, Cody!
