Adam Alvarez, junior at Cam High, has a fast-paced life outside of school as a cyclist on the national USA team, LUX Specialized Development.

Alvarez is an average student but after school he bikes all night. This double- life he leads interferes with his work , social events, and family time.

“School can get hard sometimes.” said Alvarez. “When I was trying to find the balance between cycling and school, I would push hard in cycling but fall behind in school. Then I would  try harder in school and my cycling would suffer.”

Every morning he wakes up and dawns his normal street clothes, goes to school (or work) then comes home, like any other student. However, Alvarez can be found training after school on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to be “the very best.”

With a national competition only weeks away Alvarez is far from done training.

He has been racing since he was 12-years old professionally and over the course of his five year career he has risen to second in the nation. The last three races earned him two first places titles. “On the weekdays I train Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays anywhere from two to four hours a day,” Alvarez said. “Then on the weekends I train about three to five hours.”

Focus is Alvarez’s best friend. “An 80 mile ride really gets my mind off things. That’s just a pretty solid ride.”

Last year he placed second at nationals. “I was disappointed that I didn’t get first but that drove me to train harder this year. My new goal now is to take first [at nationals] and continue on to a professional career.”

George Chester, Alvarez’s coach since his start in professional racing said, “Well from the beginning I saw his [Adam’s] mental toughness and passion for the sport. Those are things that can’t be taught and over the years he has learned how to train and also learned tactically how to race,” Chester said. “Adam is very talented physically. But a lot of people are.”

Chester said that like most professional athletes, however, it’s not just Alvarez’s phyical ability that wins him trophies. “The more pressure the better he performs. He is a rare athlete that can go to the national level and consistently preform phenomenally. He has won every event he has gone to this year.”

“What pushed me into bicycling was my dad,” Alvarez said. “He always rode, then at an early age I started riding with him. At first I always came home earlier than him. Then later as I was thinking about a professional career, I would stay out longer than him.”

Alvarez, currently second in the nation, will battle to maintain and even beat his title this year in July at Nationals.