The Phinney name is one of the most well-known amongst the cycling community and the prestige is undoubtedly deserved. Connie started kicked-off her racing career at age 14 when she was the youngest Olympian in the 1972 Olympics, competing in speed skating. Davis, her husband, is the winningest cyclist in US history and is thus recognized by his nickname “The Cash Register.”
Listen as Dirk and the Phinneys delightfully reminisce about the 1980’s heyday of road cycling and the progress (or in some cases lack thereof) of the sport. They also delve into neuroplasticity, living well with Parkinson’s disease and the undeniable importance of staying active while aging.
Stand-Out Quotes
“Through our foundation, one thing that we we’ve spent some funds in research of is the benefit of exercise for Parkinson’s people, as well as the benefit of specifically riding a bike. And in both those cases, both exercising in general and riding a bike, it’s kind of a mandatory prescription.”
“Isn’t that the beauty of cycling—that we can do it with other people?”
“I didn’t have much time to think about speed skating after I got into cycling. And cycling was just so much more fun. [I got to go to] so many different places, I wasn’t going around in circles all the time.”
“There’s other wins that I was a part of, that were not mine personally, like Andy Hampsten, just in winning the Giro…that was really a staggering accomplishment for a group of goofy North Americans.”
“I think the women’s women’s racing was really suffered into the early nineties, it just stagnated. And then we had the Lance years where the Tour de France was just the biggest show on earth… suddenly the women were just further and further ignored and marginalized.”
Resources
The Davis Phinney Foundation
The Davis Phinney Foundation Facebook
The Davis Phinney Foundation Instagram
