Peter Allen (“PA”).
Dubbed “Pain Administrator” by Tracy Muegge in a double entendre homage to his initials as well as his ability to continually turn up the pressure and put the hurt on the competition; with particular emphasis on the final eight hundred meters of a race.
PA’s palmares stretch all the way back to the 80s and he’s been successful at racing his bike in every decade since. He’s uniquely adept at spotting early, raw talent and then coaching that talent into winning form. A recent example is Yatwah (now a former teammate), who he spotted out riding on the ARBT a few years back, stripped-out in non-riding gear and sans a helmet.
PA invited Yatwah to ride home with him, gave him a helmet and offered to coach him at no cost; his only provision: never, ever, even once ride without a helmet or the deal is off. Pete kept his word, invested in the young rider and was highly influential in molding Yatwah into the phenomenal racer he has become today.
In the 90s, PA competed in a criterium on Sacramento’s Capital Mall in a race where, with three hundred meters to go, he found himself wheel-to-wheel with Eric Heiden. I suspect there was a “Sea Bisquit” moment, and then, PA posted a result not many can boast about: PA 1, Eric 0. That lifetime shut-out still stands today.
More recently, PA has become the de-facto leader of our Masters 55+ team, perpetually offering up sage advice on everything from bike handling, fitness, training and pack riding in order to increase the team’s collective race acumen. Most often, he does so quite effectively though his photographic memory as he replays training/race events providing commentary on inter-team communications, positioning and all things race related.
PA is an organizer, by trade as a Project Manager for one of the largest construction companies in the country, and also by nature. In the 55+ field, we are fortunate to have PA with his special ability to classify individual strengths and craft a team identity that’s inclusive of every teammate.
He is a subtle, effective motivator in that the person he is motivating begins to imagine that they can elevate themselves to achieve greater successes, at higher levels, because of the confidence they gain through the assimilation of the of the bigger, brighter word picture that he paints of them, and for them. In essence, he exposes latent, untapped abilities and coaxes them into fruition.
For all he does to encourage us and motivate us as teammates, please join me in acknowledging Peter Allen as a coveted member of Team Sierra Nevada/Reliable Racing!