In a time when cycling needs its characters to show through, Ben Norden took some time out to chat with a great cycling character in Cameron Jennings. A former professional Australian cyclist who is making big waves in the coaching world. Although Cam isn’t a household name, Ben reflects on what makes a great cycling character before chatting to Cam.
Professional cycling is a fascinating sport. I personally love it, although sometimes I don’t know why. On one hand there are the arguments people make against professional cycling – particularly at this time of the year with talk of enhanced performances.
What I love is the culture, the history, the characters and of course the beauty. And beauty can be found in the countryside that a local or distant race can traverse to the beauty of bike design and the craft of building it.
I often think about the characters of cycling and reflect on what aspiring athletes need to put on the line to ‘make it’. The insurmountable kilometres required might appear achievable when things are going well. What’s difficult is the relentless daily grind of chasing the dream to reach the pinnacle.
To do the sport at a decent level for a period of time takes a strong character. One of the characters that I’ve kept an eye on over the years is Cameron ‘Wormy’ Jennings. Cam’s story interests me because although he had success that many could only dream of, his career also had the disappointments. What I admire most is that Cam stuck to his values and persisted in one of the toughest sports you can partake in.
Here’s more of Cam’s story in cycling.
1. Tell us a bit about your cycling background Cam. How did it start for you?
Cycling for me would have started back in 1993/1994 I guess. My brother Warren (AIS Scholarship holder, Australian U23 Road Champion 1998 in Melbourne) started cycling as one of his best mates was a triathlete. Warren couldn’t swim or run, so started riding with his mate. There was also a teacher at Rockhampton State High School who was an avid cyclist, and he organised a Wednesday afternoon sports session at the Kenrick Tucker Velodrome that Warren would go to. Once Warren caught the bug, a year or so later I did as well.
2. Growing up in Rockhampton must have been special. There was a great track scene and some gun riders of a similar age…
Yeah growing up in Rocky and starting cycling there was great. Great club culture there on the track and on the road side of things driven by a dedicated group of volunteers (as you would know mate). Started off training on the track with the club coach, and then moved into Reggie Tuckers training group. To be in that group and train with the likes of Kenrick Tucker, Russel Tucker, my brother Warren, Glen and Mark Chadwick, and a number of other experienced guys was the best cycling school going around. Trained hard, had fun, learnt the value in hard work and doing all the small things right. Can’t put a value on being with this group and just soaking up the knowledge and experience. Then the Meares girls turned up, Miles Olman came along, Grant Irwin etc etc; it was a great time to be a young cyclist.
3. You battled it out as a pro in Europe for a few years. When you look back at that time, what was great about it?
Yeah battled it out for a number of years in Europe. Started off with the AIS U23 program in Italy after 2 good showings at the Commonwealth Bank Cycling Classic. Once out of U23’s, I headed to Belgium with the Chaddy’s and a couple of other mates in Team TDU. That is where I stayed, and rode 1 year at a Pro-Conti level in Belgium with DFL/cyclingnews. Rode some great races that year including Het Volk and Gent Wevelgem under the tutelage of Eric Vanderaerden and finished off that year with a stage win at the Herald Sun Tour into Wangarrata. We all thought that that year was going to be the start of something bigger, with a new sponsor coming on board, but that all fell apart in January of the new season and we were left scrambling to find a team for one more year over there. Finished out my European journey riding for Pezula in Ireland, before returning home to race for Team Budget Forklifts and a return to University studies.
What was great about it? Really just the mateship and bonds that were created. You go through a lot of crap and hard times, and it is through those hard times that strong bonds get formed. Knowing that you were heading back over to spend another year with Munge, Badger, Dag, Hankie, Chaddy and so on was always something to look forward to.
Sure I was never a big winner over there; was definitely more of a plugger who was consistent throughout the year, but I enjoyed just setting goals for myself, and took satisfaction from knowing that not too many people got to do what I was doing, so doing my best whenever I jumped on my bike.
4. Is there anything you would have done differently?
Not sure if I would do anything differently to be honest. Sure there are things now that I know from the coaching side of things that I wish I implemented back then for myself, but whether that would have made a big big difference I don’t know. I quickly realized and understood where I sat in the grand scheme of things, so going back to the previous paragraph, I just kept on doing what I was doing, setting personal performance goals for myself, and taking satisfaction from knowing I did something for the team, or had another solid/consistent race. Sure I would have loved to have been that big winner, but was happy with my lot in life and just got on with it.
5. At what point did you realize you wanted to get into coaching. And why?
Can’t really pin point when this would have been, but with the University background (Bachelor Human Movement Science), Exercise Physiology, Exercise Biochemistry and athlete conditioning was a strong interest of mine. I was self coached for most of my cycling life, thought I was doing a decent job with that, so thought that this might be an avenue for myself post racing. Now that I am coaching, it is the realization that I have helped someone get to a level (National Champ, National team selection, etc etc) that I was never able to reach, and that is extremely rewarding for me.
6. You shifted to Canada a few years ago to follow your wife (who had waited and followed you for sometime), and after several years have ‘made it’ as junior track head coach. What did it take to get to that point?
Yeah moved to Edmonton back in March 2012 as my wife got a job at the University of Alberta. It was tough to come over and effectively start from scratch again. My Australian coaching qualifications weren’t recognized here in Canada, so had to go back to the basic coaching modules, build a client base from scratch and go from there. I was proactive in seeking out coaching opportunities whether it be with the Alberta Bicycling Association and later Cycling Canada, even if it meant paying my way when required. The cyclists I coached here in Edmonton were getting results at a National and World level, and that success builds momentum; to a point where I have been appointed the Cycling Canada coach for this years Junior World Track Cycling Championships.
7. What’s the future of Canadian cycling like? Who should we keep an eye on?
The future for Canadian cycling is bright. It has always been a solid nation when it comes to cycling. In a way it is similar to Australia 20 or so years ago. Great results at a World level, but not at the same strike rate as what Australian cycling is experiencing now. On the track side of things, one only has to look at the Women Team Pursuit Team, who have been one of the most consistent teams at World Cups and World Championships post London Olympics.
Track cycling here in Canada has taken a big leap forward post London Olympics with the hiring of a new Women and Men’s Track Endurance Coach, a Sprint Coach, and also with the construction of the new Milton Velodrome. With the new hires and the velodrome, year long high performance programs based on successful models from Aus and GB have been implemented. For a big country that is under snow for 4-6 months of the year, there are only 6 velodromes/cycling tracks and only 2 of these are covered (200m track in Burnaby and the new 250m in Milton). There are almost double that number of tracks in Queensland alone, so Canada has been punching above its weight in my mind for a number of years. With the Milton track, and the High Performance programs being run out of there, cycling here in Canada is going to continue on its upward trajectory for a number of years to come.
Who should we keep an eye on? Women’s TP for sure as they continue their success post London and onto Rio. Men’s TP are getting quicker and quicker and getting closer to going sub 4min, and the track sprint here has taken a big jump forward since the creation of a dedicated track sprint program. From the Juniors, Evan Burtnik from Edmonton was 7th at the Junior Track Worlds last year in the Omnium, and he is leaps and bounds ahead of where he was this time last year. Might be a bit biased here, as he is one of the lads that I coach. There is a good group of U17 and U19’s inspired by these new/established programs that have been implemented, so things are looking good.
8. What about you Cam, whats coming up on the horizon?
Well I will be here in Canada for a little while longer that is for sure. I was successful with a job application, and 6 weeks ago I started working for Cycling Canada as the Women’s NextGen Track Endurance Coach. Role is to develop the next generation of Women Track Endurance cyclists as Cycling Canada looks post Rio Olympics. My wife (Cally), daughter (Ruby) and our dog (Azzurri) will be moving out to Milton later this year.
