BY SCOTT HUNTER HADDOW
There's no party animal inside cyclist Thomas
Hums, just a driven, determined beast.
 |
| name="valign"
top >
Thomas Hums had done exceptionally
well with only two years of cycling under his
belt. |
With almost every second of his spare time
devoted to training and racing, Hums doesn't have much time for
a social life.
But it doesn't bother him, and his dedication
is paying off big time.
Hums, 16, has dominated the Ontario Cup
Circuit at the Under-17 level.
Hums, who trains at the Sudbury Cycling Club
(SCC), has won five of seven major races, including the
provincial road race championship and the
provincial criterium championship.
With all his success, Hums is the current
leader in the points race on the circuit.
He is fairly modest when it comes to his
victories, as he's looking out for bigger and better
things.
"I am happy with my results," said Hums.
"It's still early in my career. I didn't expect to have this
much success, but once it started happening...I wanted more.
It's a good experience for me because next year I will race at
the junior level, and that's really important to me. Racing
junior level
allows you to try and qualify for national
and international events. I still have a lot more that I want
to accomplish."
Hums is most proud of his two championship
wins.
"Winning the provincial road championship was
the most important to me by far," said Hums. "It's the race
with the most prestige."
SCC head coach Battista Muredda sees a
relentless athlete in the hunt for glory.
"Thomas' desire really stands out," said
Muredda. "He has the dedication and works hard. No matter how
good someone is, they still need the commitment or they will
not succeed. Thomas has a good head on him, he's smart and has
the natural ability. Thomas has known from last year what he
wanted to do. I gave him a program to follow and he did. When
you have the kind of dedication Thomas has, with hard work, it
pays off."
Muredda has seen a lot of great athletes in
his 31 years of coaching cycling, and rates the young Hums
right up there with some of his best of all time.
"Thomas has good potential for the future,"
said Muredda. "A kid like this doesn't come around everyday. I
look back on my 31 years of coaching, and I remember guys like
Gary Trevisiol, David Spears and Eric Wohlberg. These guys made
it to the provincial, national and international scenes,
along with the Olympics. I see Thomas being
like one of them. He's following in their footsteps. If he
continues, with his dedication, we will probably see Thomas
representing Canada at an Olympics."
What blows Muredda away the most is the short
amount of time Hums has been competing.
"Thomas has had an impressive season," said
Muredda. "Considering it's only his second year of competitive
racing, he has done exceptionaly well. He has exceeded all his
goals."
Hums is now preparing for the Provincial Time
Trails race, which takes place in Welland, Ont. on Sept.
25.
"All my spare time is being spent training
for this," said Hums. "I want to win this race. It would be the
icing on the cake for me."
