Tyson Kamp Tyson joined LGBRC in 2025.
We asked im how he first got into cycling.
He responded, "I got involved in the local scene in northwest Ohio when I was 14, and did club racing then a few USCF (later USA Cycling) races that year, in a leather helmet! I got the bug and trained, club raced and did sanctioned races as much as possible for the next 3 years, probably 150-200 races in total.
By age 17 I had won 7 races (junior and Senior 3) and was a Cat 2 junior, and got second in the district match sprint my first and only time on a velodrome. Cycling was how I got to see the wider world beyond the suburb I lived in. I wouldn't trade the experiences for anything.
He adds,
"At 17 years old I placed 8th in a Keirin style Pro 1, 2 race, beating the current national match sprint champion, the 1984 Olympic match sprint silver medalist Nelson Vails, and finishing behind but with some top 7-Eleven riders Doug Shapiro, Tom Schuler, and other world class sprinters Gibby Hatton and Mark Whitehead. It was very revealing riding with a stacked group with good prize money on the line."
He continues,
"I packed in cycling at 18, not seeing a path to being a pro in Europe and doubting I had the talent to push through all of the barriers. Being a high level rider confined to the U.S. was uninteresting. I went to school, and shortly after college I got a job in San Francisco and relocated from Toledo, Ohio in 1995."
"I love California and it would take quite a bit for me to move. The riding here is something I'd only ever heard of as a kid. For work I've been in software engineering, now cyber security and in a variety of industries. I also have spent 30 years doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and competed a lot there too, and I continue to train a few times a month."
"In addition to just being thrilled to have some riding partners on the weekend now, I hope to just enjoy the company of the other riders and make some new friends. If there are any asipiring racers out there I can pass along some lessons I learned, anecdotes, and I still have a few connections that actively promote cycling in the U.S. I kind of feel like I'm back in cycling which feels like being home."
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