Riding With Resilience | Michael King in the Golden Age of Cycling

Michael King was top cyclist during what many call the Golden Age of American cycling, the 1980s and 1990s.

Michael raced against the likes of Greg LeMond, Bernard Hinault, and rubbed shoulders (literally) with every elite cyclist of that time period.

Winning over 150 races in his career, Michael rode for the Turin team out of Chicago, competing in iconic American races such as the Coors Classic in Colorado and SuperWeek in Wisconsin.

After his cycling career, Michael became a top salesman in the bicycle industry working for companies like Pearl Izumi, Cliff Bar, and Bridgestone. During this time, Michael was diagnosed as bipolar. What followed was a difficult time, including mental health challenges, substance abuse problems, and finally, recovery.

Today Michael King is happy, grateful and thriving. His journey serves as an example for all of us… an example of determination, resilience and hope.

Topics Covered on the Podcast: American cycling history, sport psychology, racing strategy, mental health, substance abuse recovery.

Iconic Cyclists Mentioned on the Podcast: Gary Doering, Larry Doering, Danny Van Haute, Gus Pipenhagen, Jack Simes, Mike Neel, George Mount, Jonathan Boyer, Morten Sæther, Gary Mulder, Davis Phinney, Tom Schuler, Andy Hampsten, Gerry Fornes, Bob Mionske, Tim Swift, Alan McCormack, Jeff Pierce, Mark Whitehead

Turin Bicycles in Chicago: https://www.turinbicycle.com

Tour of America’s Dairyland (ToAD): https://www.tourofamericasdairyland.com

Mental Health Resources:

Home

https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/national-helpline

About Michael Ceely: https://www.michaelceely.com

Disclaimer: Content is for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice.

Hello and welcome to the podcast today I have a real treat for all you cycling fans I have Michael King on the show Mike was a top cyclist during what many call the Golden Age of American cycling the 1980s and 90s he raced with the likes of Greg lamon Bernardino and rubs

Shoulders with literally every Elite cyclist of that time period winning over 150 races in this career Mike rode for the Turnin team out of Chicago competing in iconic American races such as the Kors class in Colorado super weak in Wisconsin and many many more after his cycling career Mike became a top

Salesman in the bicycle industry working for companies like pear isumi Cliff bar Bridgestone and more during this time Mike was diagnosed at bipolar What followed was a difficult time including mental health challenges substance abuse problems and finally recovery today Mike is Happy grateful and thriving we had a

Great conversation today on the podcast his journey serves as an example for all of us an example of determination resilience and hope Michael King welcome to the podcast thank you Mike happy to be here so Mike we’re gonna Dive Right In Here um little bit about your career as a cyclist you

Had the pleasure of really being in top form in what I would call the Golden Age of cycling in the 1980s and so what I like to start with here really is just kind of how you got started in cycling and from there we’ll we’ll cruise

Through your career a bit sure sure so you know as many things in life it’s a it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time uh I had injured my knee playing intermural soccer at NE East I started to ride my bicycle as

Rehabilitation for it I chose not to get surgery I was getting some acupuncture treatments and I would be on Sheran road which was the uh uh the one road where every cyclist in Chicago land trained on on the lakefront and I would Ambush these guys dressed in Lyra thinking that uh

You know I was a hot hot shot so to speak uh little did I know they were off on training rides and they didn’t care that you know some kid some wild-eyed kid came you know Wheeling past them um I was tipped off that there were

Training excuse me stock by races at the North Brook track on Friday night the uh United States cycling Federation races went on Thursday night I went out on my uh Raleigh super course I believe to the stock bike races on a Friday night and won all three races and I thought huh

This is I like this I like winning this is something maybe I could do um as a little bit of background my mother uh rest in peace was an aaou Champion swimmer and she was also a Runway way model and the reason I bring that up is she was prescribed speed while carrying

Me and so though I came out at 7 pound 7 ounces uh I’m much smaller than my brothers so you factor in your genetics right I have a relatively small stature and big lungs and you really can’t uh will yourself to being uh an elite athlete and I’m not sure I’m quite

Elite but you know somewhere on that scale uh I had very favorable genetics big lungs small stature um I went on from the North Brook stock book races I think I won my first half a dozen races as a category four uh I remember somebody taking my

Bicycle from me because it sounded like a shopping cart saying hey Michael we’ll take care of that for you and my first state championships maybe 1976 maybe 1977 I don’t recall I was in the pack and I heard some guys Danny vanhout and Gary during and Larry during and Gus pipenhagen all national

Team members talking about attacking on the next lap and I just ended up going with an attack and and lo and behold Gary doring and I were away by ourselves and I knew nothing and Gary kept saying man you’re breaking my legs you’re breaking my legs but keep pulling and of

Course he beat me in the Sprint but I got second in my first state championships and Al wires who was a legendary cron of estate rep took my license from me uh and went from a 4 to a one um category one being the top category of of amateur cycling yeah

Within the first few months not even six months of my cycling career I was made a one yeah and you know I I again I had this you know nice genetic background so riding then with the one twos uh was was not you know over my

Head um and I figured out pretty quickly uh though I didn’t have a Sprint uh that I had you know some ability to to read a race and and I used to attack first and and let the Breakaway form around me and towards the end of races I would get

Last in in any little group until I realized that these guys were just as Gass as I was and in fact many of them were breathing harder and that’s when I started to try to win races when I realized it was more about effort at the

End the ability and once I start started to win races that was very inebriating um so I I won a lot of races you know 12 to 15 a year um and uh you know had this lovely career so that’s awesome so you recognized your natural uh physical

Talent and abilities right away kind of surprised yourself riding with the the top guys in the country at the time kind of accidentally and then like you said you it was inebriating so like you you liked that that rush and feeling of winning so it’s a combination of just

Your natural Talent you’re like hey I’m good at this I might as well pursue it and then just kind of just the wonderful feeling of mixing up with uh with these guys in the competition yeah yeah yeah no exactly I mean there are a couple of

Points and I’m only half in just here but um not you know as you know many people go through their whole career maybe 80% of cyclists go through their whole career and don’t ever win a race could be as high as 90% you know the same guys

Always win so it there’s some psychology you know to your field of expertise in letting yourself succeed letting yourself win uh feeling worthy of that but also the the guy at the top step of the podium not only gets the biggest check but the agulation of the crowd and and back to

The inebriating and we can tie that back into my my story but there’s nothing like being applauded for if you ask any performer theater musician uh you name it you know getting applauded for is better than heroin it’s it’s the best drug out there and so I really enjoyed

Winning um and you know I I allowed myself to do it but I was very determined uh second was the first loser you know really and and in my world yeah you know and third fourth fifth whatever was you know that was a not really a disaster but you know it wasn’t winning

Winning was was where it was at so um that was fun that’s interesting Mike because I I talked to a lot of racers still and there is that that feeling of winning it just feels so incredible and I think there’s some athletes um who just kind of get addicted to that

Feeling and if they get a taste of that early on in their career and they have the natural ability I mean they’re Off to the Races as they say so that um yeah I think just getting getting a taste of that and liking it and certain athletes

May enjoy that taste of winning more than others so that kind of depends but with with you it again it’s that combination of having that natural ability and we can talk about Greg lond a little later I know you have a great Greg Lem Man story but like you do have

To have the engine and if you do have that and you love the competition and you love winning like that is the combin that’s a successful combination right there for sure so Mike I had the pleasure of racing with you back in the day and also being on on the

Turn team for a couple years and I want to fast forward to um to 1985 um there is a race now currently called tour of America’s Dairyland the United States takes place Wisconsin and run by Tom Schuler fantastic race um but it formerly was called super week which

Is a bit of a m because it was up to about two and a half weeks in its Heyday and corre one of the biggest races in the country great money and what I remember that Year Mike I was still a junior you were a senior you completely

Dominated that race and in fact that entire year and um I want to ask you and we had talked prior to the podcast here about how you got to that point of just when you show up on the start line now I’ve been there a couple times in my

Career where you show up on the start line you just know you’re G to win it’s just it’s a great confidence and I think 1985 was that year for you and what you know leading up to that what got you in that that completely dominant state that

Year what do you think yeah no I I’ve had a chance to take analyze it in hindsight retrospect it’s very clear um so in 1984 I went off to Venza Italy uh to race for GS auto transporti afol Lati so I was racing for an Italian team

Sponsored by boso sponsored um in in the means to get there by Lee Catz of Turan uh and at a level called diletante just under professional and 84 was of course an Olympic year uh and so I was at a level riding for a team riding in races

That had 400 Rider Fields now people will think that’s implausible but I’m not lying 400 Rider Fields because the Norwegians came down the swedes came down the Danes came down the Germans came down all to Northern Italy in the spring um so it was a very Cutthroat hyperco

Competitive uh time of of the year as well as you know time and cycling being an Olympic year um I fared fairly well I I finished uh races you know well in the first third I would make breakaways and the Italians like a big field Sprint so

We’d go off into the Foothills and even into the dolomites and we’ come back down off the dolomites and into the Foothills then finish on some big Auto Strada uh because they liked a Big Field Sprint and I’d get handlung literally handlung back into the you know back

Into the middle of the field so I never won a race in Italy um but I had the pleasure of training with the Norwegian national team and the Swedish national team the Norwegian national team was living in the hotel that I was residing

In it was led by a guy by the name of Morton sather Morton was fourth in the Olympics in 84 and the Swedish national team was led by Mor by Hans Nelson who was seventh in the world’s Road Race uh in 83 so really you know worldclass guys

And and we’ go off and and these guys taught me how to train so they did six hours on Tuesday four hours on Thursday we raced on the weekends and Monday Wednesday and Friday were recovery days we rode but you know when you ride six hours on Tuesday it makes four hours on

Thursday seemed like a walk in the park and then the races were you know hyper competitive with 400 Rider Fields um furthermore I was recounting this to a to Davis finny their day so often the training ride would be over with the swedes and the Norwegians and Morton

Sather Hans Nelson and I would go out for another hour and I I came to find out later that the other members of the national of the national teams of Norway and Sweden were laughing about you know this um what they considered uh something of a Rube American going off

To to train with you know two of the best guys in the world at that time and and I managed you know pull for pull um but you know came home pretty crushed but but I was but I was eager right I mean I was I was very eager to

Work so I had an Olympic aspiration I had a couple offers to turn pro uh one right when I got back to the US um for our trials uh Robin Morton called me to ride on the first Giani Moda team in 1984 that rode the J to Italia yeah and I

Told Robin at the time I said I’m stufo to Italia I’m sick and tired of Italy I want to eat some cheeseburgers I want to be with my girlfriend and I want to ride the Olympic trials yeah now I had been ninth in the big road race at the panm

Trials the year before in 83 and so I didn’t really have a chance to make the Olympic team if I had won all the trials races I still wouldn’t have made the Olympic team but I had an Olympic aspiration I was competitive um I went to the Canadian

Olympic trials which were being held uh or the team was being picked out of the field of a Canadian tour of Quebec tour of Mark BL I think it was called um and fared very well I was making the break every day uh Steve Bower and uh Pierre

Harvey rode away from us every day but I was fourth fifth sixth every day I joke I would have made the Canadian Olympic team but you know I’m not Canadian but I was riding very well and One race in particular uh was a 30mi loop road race

100 mile road race and for whatever reason the Quebec qua are a little bit uh relaxed I’ll say about many things um they didn’t have the feed Zone set up for either the first or the second lap I don’t remember but we were sharing water bottles in the Breakaway which is

Something you just wouldn’t normally do uh I shared a water bottle with a guy that was clearly sick um in retrospect and I got mono and it came on like a ton of bricks I remember just wanting to get air lifted out of Quebec I didn’t we

Drove home my father who’s a prominent guy got me a appointment with a internist who diagnosed me as having mono and an large spleen and said Son you can go to race the Olympic trials I don’t think you’ll do very well but if you fall you better tell somebody you’ve

Probably got a burst spleen because you’ll bleed out and die oh man and so I went to the Olympic trials in Spokane that year somehow it got out that I had Mono only Andy hamston was the only guy who would sit with me at dinner you know

Even though mono you I had to kiss somebody right to infect them yeah but you know I was kind of a perah I fared very poorly in the races I don’t think I finished any of them uh I came back and kept racing my bike because that’s what I did by 1984

I’d been bike racing for eight years that was really what I did for my living I I made a pretty good living at it in fact um and I didn’t quit that year till August when it got so painful my spleen against my ribs my enlarged spleen

Against my ribs it was so painful that you know I realized finally that I was really going to do myself some damage so I stopped racing in August of that year went to work at Lee Kat’s Bike Shop turn and I was so weak I could barely lift a

Bike onto a hook up above my head and so I didn’t ride my bike for six months uh recovered from mononucleosis that spring Lee sent a whole team of guys to Italy to race Gary Moulder and the mind gas brothers and Jerry forns and I remember being left

Off the traveling Squad and Lee thought I was damaged goods and I thought I was damaged goods but I started racing that year and all of a sudden I was Untouchable I couldn’t feel the chain as they say I won snake alley I won Molen um you mentioned super week I me I

Had a 100 point lead Maybe by day five because I had not been out of the top five I went second first you know first or second um and one super week easily and should have would have could have won nationals that year which were on the

The the uh Lakefront course uh in Milwaukee I I was just having such a great year um the the takeaway there is you know to answer your question no coach would say go train so hard that you get yourself sick to the point where you’ve got mononucleosis then take six months off

And then start again I mean that that the formula right I had this incredible volume of training at a very high level I had six months of rest and then 1985 I just I I could start at the back of a field I could do anything I

Wanted and and I don’t know if I won 15 races that year or 18 races but you know it was a bunch but I won big ones little ones you know pretty much uh maybe 20% of the races I entered I won so it was

Fun that like like you said that is not the formula a coach would prescribe but nevertheless it worked for you what I find amazing about that story Mike is just sort of like that that baptism of fire in Italy where you go from America at the time which was cycling was

Burgeoning but it’s nowhere near the level of intensity and passion as Europe you went there you had that experience racing with 400 man Fields learning a lot you know doing these sixh hour rides um after races doing extra training getting so into it um it it seems part

Of that is like you of course you’re you’re building up your body so that you have mono and the spleen issue um and you’re you’re diminishing your Fitness from that super super high level so that six months off yeah you’re you’re not you’re not at a level of like you know

Complete weakness you’re a level below that incredible level that you were in Italy before also makes me think um having a taste of that that Italian racing and pretty competitive I’ve heard stories of you know like you said getting pushed around in the field like it is it’s pretty intense over there you

Come back to the United States um take the six months six months off you’re you’re basically your it seems to me that your mindset like if if you experience something like you did in 84 um and you and you come back even after that rest your mind is still tuned

To win I would say wouldn’t you say sure yeah yeah yeah so you know what I realized in Italy was you know my teammates on GS auto transporti offal were the sons of mechanics the sons of farmers you know my experience in bicycle racing up until that point was

You know pretty bis it’s pretty you know it’s an upper middle class Caucasian male sport in the US and all of a sudden I was thrown in with guys if they won a race at my level at dilot tante they got a pro contract on the spot I saw this

Happen every race I mean so it was a transformation from working in their father’s uh auto repair store or in a farm field or what have you to Life as a professional cyclist so they would do anything they would crash you on the straight there were

No there were just there was no uh etiquette per se I mean it was literally doy dog um and that you know then throw in the Norwegians the swedes the Dan the Germans into the mix um and you’ve got sheer chaos I’m I’m pretty sure it was

Much more competitive you looking back I thought you know if I had ridden the jro that year professional racing is pretty controlled Visa V you know 400 Rider amateur fields in an olympic year so um I’m not saying it might be easier but you know on on paper there’s there’s some

Advantages so uh yeah it you know American Racing you know after that was was not a joke you know we were still racing for money and racing competitively but it was certainly more relaxed and and I didn’t have to worry about getting crashed in the straight uh just because somebody saw me

As a Potential Threat so um yeah it was it was a whole different deal right so yeah yeah and also at that time in the United States um you know I like to call it the Golden Age of cycling I think it’s been dubbed that the 80s and like say the early 90s

Uh so much was happening so you were talking about like uh the Kors classic was going on at that time the tour of Texas um super weak um the the milk race in Wisconsin um you know at later on tour to P tour to Trump like at during

That I’ll call it that era so like maybe 83 to 95 or something like that you had essentially you could race the United States all year long make really good money um great huge SP sponsors of course the 7-Eleven team would would you agree that that would be like the kind

Of the golden age of cycling and we were were moved away from that now um yeah so so absolutely I mean just let’s take the data you know I I made 30 grand a couple of years I when I won Moline it was 1,200 bucks when I won Super week I

Probably made three grand you know back to the tour of America’s Dairyland the pro1 12s are racing for $22,000 purses right now today in 2024 right we had $110,000 purses we were Racing for um the 711 guys who I knew quite well you know Davis and Tom

And Jeff and all those guys were buddies of mine they had a ,000 a day quot that’s what they were expected to to bring home in prize money you know to share with the team $1,000 a day per man yeah and then then do the math you know

Just punch in $985 to 19 you know to 2024 that 30 grand that I made a couple of years equates to what 100 G’s I mean I I I liveed pretty well I had a nice apartment I had a nice car I had a nice life you know and I didn’t have any

Expenses leak hats picked up everything you know our we had a you know a van and and gas money and you know some a stien for some food and uh um I could get start money from sponsors I could call you know so and so promoter from a race

In Tulsa Oklahoma and I could hey I’m Michael King I’m coming with the t Team you know what can you do for us that’s not the case anymore yeah it just it’s a completely different Dynamic and so you it wasn’t unheard of I never paid for an entry

Fee uh and it wasn’t a Hur of for me to get you know free lodging a couple hundred bucks you know meals um you could extract you know uh and and I wasn’t at the very top level right I I was you know maybe ninth best on a given

Day um you know and it was a big victory to be the first non 7-Eleven Rider right so you know they they would lock up the first six or seven or eight places how many ever there were of them then you had the Schwin guys and the Raleigh guys

And I was battling out with those guys um so it was it was a headyy time there were you know the tour Dupont there was a race I believe the Mohawk classic that had 100,000 prize purse right so there were remember that yeah there were some real dough and

Uh uh you could raise twice a day in in some cases you know you could so it was I wouldn’t say lucrative and and but people don’t really understand I was an amateur and you know rules for each Federation were different whether you’re an amateur Tas

Player or an Ure swimmer you know we were allowed to make up to a th000 bucks a day um but you know on these purses that I made 1,200 bucks or500 bucks the promoter didn’t it just it wasn’t even a wink there wasn’t any control you know it

Was nobody was looking over your shoulder so um they were good times and and they’re not they’re not that flush anymore so it’s it just is what it is but yeah why why do you think that is Mike I mean back back in those times uh what made

Made American cycling so lucrative and so popular and so prolific and and all of these races going on and nowadays it’s dwindled we certainly have some people um really helping out in the sport but it’s not like it was what do you think why do you think that is I’m

Not really sure what the Confluence of events that made it very popular uh but you know it was it was like Americans woke up that this you know sport of cycling which is the second most popular sport in the world is cool and so we had this ramp up from

You know I started in 76 um you know Le Man Came onto the scene you know we we just had this you know swell of of energy around cycling um there were some movies in popular culture you saw it in TV ads it was cool you know and then as you

Mentioned the Kors classic I wrote in 83 there were crowds of 30,000 people regularly yeah uh you know so I’m not I’m not sure why it’s not as popular in 2024 as it was in 1984 um but you know it just didn’t capture it hasn’t captured the imagination and then consequently the

Sponsorship dollars yeah uh are are just more difficult to obtain um so you know maybe there’s a little bit of luck in there but you know it was also kind of rotting this wave yeah yeah that uh makes me think just real quick Mike of there’s this

Race in uh Oak Park which is a suburb of Chicago uh sponsored by whein snack crackers and they were a big sponsor and yeah I think it was 85 or 86 and they had um prams every half lap not not every lap but they had a backstretch

Finish Line and a front Finish Line and you’re literally it was you know full gas the entire race with no less than like 50 or $100 every half lap and we don’t see that today yeah no no by by no means yeah so uh you know it was a it

Was really the Golden Era what what we haven’t mentioned is you know first it was Mike Neil that went to Europe and and Then followed by Jonathan Boer and then George Mount yeah um but I was maybe the 15th or 20th American you know to get to Europe I don’t know for sure

But you I was certainly anomaly and and novel and just fascinated you know oh An American in Europe you know so uh you know Lamont of course went over there and was a world beater uh but you know before you know there were the Raleigh

Boys rode the tour of Ireland and I mean there were some jack simes you know there were some were some other Americans you know in the 60s and 70s but really we were the first wave of guys you know knocking on the door then L man came over and kick the door in

Right uh yeah and and you know that that was just a a heady time right so and you know people people in Europe are fascinated by American culture and Americans in general we were we were celebrated so yeah uh yeah I think that’s just what you said like there was the the Pioneers

That were blazing the trail so so like the George Mountain the 76 Olympics was a big deal you guys over there on these Italian teams and then the lamond factor like it was such such a novelty for American cycling to you know have like a world champion um this momentum going in

The sports Southland Corporation invested 7-Eleven it seemed kind of like the perfect storm of like American hero and Lon and the novelty and the momentum um how how big of it do you think is for for American cycling to have that that hero be it uh lond or also like there’s

The Armstrong era which boosted uh bike sales a ton and boosted popularity do we need again like that super Champion American champion to get cycling kind of boosted again the United States yeah I think that’s a great point and and would certainly you know Galvanize uh support

Or you know have someone to to uh to celebrate um you know right now and over the past decade you know there’ve been a couple of dozen really good American Pros uh you know but lamon was such a outlier right he was so charismatic so as Shu and really Head and Shoulders

Physically above everyone I mean he was you know I mean he beat Sean Kelly and Sprints he beat Bernardo up mountains I mean he just yeah uh uh so he was fascinating right it was there was a Fascination towards Lamont and and he had that personality because he was

Honest and authentic uh that res resonated really well and you know then he learned to speak French you know very well and so the French embraced him and you know he lived in Belgium his wife lived in Belgium and he just he embraced the culture and the culture embraced him

Yeah and there’s really not been anyone like that since and and there may never be because you know he’s a uh such an iconic class you know such a a unique individual so you know and Lance certainly captured imaginations but you know um it’s interesting Vibes

Speak louder than words right I mean Lem man’s Vibe was just kind of a Shucks happy to be here you know very kind never refusing an autograph ever you know and Lance had an Entourage and bodyguards and you know couldn’t be bother I mean people pick up on that

Right so yeah it’s not surprising about you know L man’s enduring popularity in Europe you know he still celebrated and you know people could could give a a rat’s butt about yeah but arong you know just kind of the the difference between uh being you know a nice guy and a jerk

Largely I think yeah hey what do you think about this mic of like um you know an American super team conglomerate with we got some really great talent you know in the tour to France American cyclist um and having something like a Southland Corporation 7-Eleven some big Mega

Sponsor stepping up and creating like a super American team certainly EF education is great but like something and you know the the budget of like a yumba visma or something like that do you think that’s possible yeah I you know it’s a wonderful idea you know if

You could you know uh put sep cous you know on the same team as all the other top Americans but you know there there are some real talents out there and if you could support them in a way that they are culturally comfortable right I mean

It’s difficult being you know sep cus I would imagine on yumbo visma uh yeah you just don’t have you know it all matters right it all you know just your the commodity with your teammates the fluency of language the the director the staff you know all being American or you know some

Conglomerate of Americans or American themed um is invaluable uh you know to put uh you know put a Lexi greywall on a Panasonic team and he hated it you know and they hated him right I mean it’s just yeah so the intangibles are super important right so I I think you’ve got

Made a great point is your question was is it possible um yeah I don’t know so I’m just putting that out into the ether there if someone hears this if and and if you’re a billionaire step up and and create that American super team that would be kind of cool

Right sure yeah so Mike I want to segue now into uh sport psychology and tactics and talk a bit about that because I think that you are one of the Masters of this and um I’m going to share this story of um when we were racing together

On the turn team briefly I was a first year senior and I was all excited to be racing on the T team and I had a lot of fitness and I was doing sort of stupid attacks and you came up next next to me after like my third unsuccessful attack

And you said don’t attack it just excites the field and I was like oh it excites the field and it was the first time I had learned about like the the bike racing pelaton as an organism and sort of like the vibe and the energy of the pelaton depending on who’s there

Depending on the weather depending on the wind like all of that you use and you you sort of assimilate it all together and you develop a strategy out of that so I want to talk a bit about um you had this great ability to like read erase almost like having a six sense

About a lot of tactics um so be off camera we’re talking a little bit about um just how you would know like when you would get that instinct to attack and maybe you could share a couple of experiences where you like you felt that instinct yeah you know I so much of it

Was just being observant and and I I cite this all the time now even in my sales career that all I have to do is be observant I don’t have to be that bright but you know really observe and things will be evident to you you

Know and so to your point you know when you were attacking that race I don’t remember that specifically but you know if the field is all frothy so to speak with full of energy that’s not the time to attack you’re just going to get

Reeled in um you know but if you chose a time that their field has low energy or it es you know something like a surfing analogy you know where the wave is is starting to gain some momentum or it’s receding you could strike at a point point where people would all just look

At each other and go well I’m not going to chase them well I’m not going to chase them well I’m you know and then you had you know 15 seconds in hand 30 seconds in hand you could get you know out of sight out of mind but striking

When uh your opponent or opponents were were somewhat vulnerable and one thing we talked about off camera or in this break was um it was very simple to me to just go easy when it was hard and hard when it was easy to make sure that you always maintain

Your position because the race is is is dictated by the guys in the front um tactics are only implemented at the front and and most Racers are uh unnecessarily afraid of the wind and afraid of taking PS and afraid of riding at the front but but that’s where the

Race is dictated so you you had to you had to ride the front and the front you could certainly gauge your competitor’s uh level of energy um something just came to mind so I developed this Theory Mike when you go to the line you’re only racing against

10% of the field 10% of the guys of any number of field whether it’s 90 or four think they have a chance to win 10% the other 90% want to get top 10 top 20 just finish you know their aspiration is not to win yeah so if you

Got 10% let’s say 100 Rider Field that’s 10 guys the gun goes off five of those guys eliminate themselves they say oh gez I didn’t get this that or the other accomplished this morning my legs don’t feel good my girlfriend didn’t kiss me goodbye you know I didn’t have this you know

Whatever uh physical activity you know before the race well they’ve eliminated themselves they they didn’t warm up properly they didn’t take care of the the fundamentals so I determined you know pretty quickly I’m racing against Five Guys yeah let’s figure out who those five guys are and then assess

Their strengths and weaknesses and that’s where I started to get into people’s heads and and I used my tongue and I used my psychology yeah and and I was always talking I mean always talking to guys um you know in a trash manner really you know sometimes encouraging

You know if they were teammates or somebody I could see as an ally but most of the time I was trash talking and getting inside their heads and and I’ve got one story in particular to to recount but uh I eviscerated Bob meansi once for chasing me down at a a

Race Holy Hill in Wisconsin part of super week I mean I just lit him up upside downside and you know Bob went on to be fourth in the Olympics uh he was a very notable you know strong guy and he told me many years after he said Michael

After You’ uh berated me in such a way that day I never let another man talk to me that way I just thought that was funny because Bob could have taken me you know out with one punch he was physically much stronger than I was but I got

Inside his head that day and you know that that just was part and parcel of who I was um I let you know that you know I I thought I was The Patrone you know in a certain level race I mean if if Davis and the boys were there I

Certainly wasn’t the patron but uh you know if it was a a mid-level race or a Midwest race you know I I I thought I was the boss and I I let you know I thought I was the boss so that that benefited me for sure yeah being being

Vocal and getting in people’s heads is is part of the game and and meany was great at that too so that’s that’s funny to hear that story where you’re getting in his head um yeah yeah so now that that’s that’s great so for folks listening and viewing here so Bob me is

Fourth in the 88 Olympics was also in the 92 Olympics with Armstrong in Barcelona um so okay so if we’re talking like the psychology where you you have this really good perspective where you say to yourself it’s not it’s 120 man field but really I’m going to throw out

20 of those people because they’re just not even on par they had a bad day now we’re down to 100 now but really out of that 100 there’s probably like five guys who could actually win the race so I’m going to focus on those guys and I’m G

To be near them and I’m GNA even Whittle that down to the top two maybe who who out of me and this other guy are going to win and focus on that maybe I can get in their head use some psychology tactics um sure we’re also talking off

Camera Mike about um like the the attack moment that instinct s of like a gut instinct of like this is when I’m going to start my Sprint this is where I’m going to attack when when I’m going to attack and it’s it’s almost like an instinct almost like visualizing it

Before it happens and um I’m I’m guessing that happened to you a lot yeah it did yeah I just and and that’s something of you know natural god-given ability but I exploited it I I had this you know what you mentioned a six sense I I just had an intuition uh that came

To me while I was racing I I’ve often cited that a lot of guys can go 30 an hour very few guys can think when they’re going 30 miles an hour right and that was really difference and so you know you you’ve got a a you know all

Very fit guys lighing up in a you know cat one two race and uh even furthermore you you know select that down to a breakaway of of six or eight guys well maybe one or two of those six or eight guys can actually be playing chess you

Know in that Breakaway of six or eight guys or or three guys or whatever the the the the selection is yeah uh they’re guys that just you know they’re strong like a bull but you know they think like a bull you know I want share one one

Other story too of of like risk-taking and I think you were really good at that I had shared this off camera with you of um there’s this race in De Moine Iowa and it was raining and um you were you were definitely dominating but what I remember is that literally everyone was

Crashing it was like for some Reon it was downtown De Moine there was oil on the corners and you were taking the corners and I was watching the race at the time you were taking the corners really at almost dry speeds like full speed and people were literally like

Falling like flies around you and I and I was wondering like how is this guy doing this he’s like a magician or something and I remember the interview of you on the podium I was a junior and I was like watching you know Mike King I

Was like what how does he do this and you said through the corners I was doing two wheel slides so you were actually comfortable with a little bit of slippage on your tires and that moment I remember going wow and you also said no guts no glory and I was thinking

To myself like okay bike racing and risk-taking you have to be comfortable with that calculator you can’t do like stupid things but like you can be on that edge and it seems like you were really comfortable with that edge of risk-taking either in a wet Criterion or

You know closing a gap between some handlebars for a final Sprint like is is that for the sport of cycling do you have to be comfortable with risk-taking yes the short answer is yes um it helps to be a little crazy and you know we’re gonna touch on this later in

The podcast Mike I I wasn’t diagnosed as bipolar type one till I was 50 but people knew that I was a little nuts and and that you know turns out well in fact you know I have a mental health condition that I don’t have a filter I did not see

Fear you know you were you were not going to beat me to the last corner and if we both crashed so be it but but people knew just not to F with me and that I wasn’t going to back down and so you know VV racing in the rain you know

Back to my theory about you know only racing against 10% of the guys in the field in the rain it was even less than that I knew that 95% of my competitors hated racing in the rain and I had good bike handling skills maybe even exceptional bike handling skills and I

Was comfortable riding in the rain um I was comfortable with two wheel slides I was comfortable with you know taking it to whatever you know that adhesion point was and if I fell you know it’s in the rain you you slid you get back up yeah

So none of that bothered me and it was a huge advantage to me I knew I I just if it was raining uh there was one particular race I do remember that race in De Moine winning it but there was a raced in Greek toown in Detroit at

Night in a big crowd and the 7-Eleven team was there and Tom Schuler knew about my Affinity for riding in the rain and propensity for doing well and he gave me a nod at the start line he said you know something effect of you know Jing it’s it’s your night tonight and so

Uh I went off in a break way with a guy that had been a motorcycle racer and he cornered in a way i’ had never seen before where he kept the bicycle upright and he leaned his body and so it was the two of us away and towards the end of

The race I had to win because Tom Schuler gave me this opportunity to win in a big race big crowd big money and so I started attacking this guy and he was almost laughing at me because he could catch me in the corners he was doing the technique i’ never seen before I’ve

Never seen it after but I’ve I’ve seen it you know in like dirt track motorcycle racing where they they literally take their body off the bike right yeah uh this guy was skilled that way so I’m almost resigned to getting second because I can’t drop this guy or

I could drop him but he’d catch me in the turns and he’ catch up to me he’d be just chuckling like hey man you’re not gonna you’re not gonna drop me the last lap he decides to attack me Mike okay and he falls in the first turn wow and

So this was a this was an eight turn criteria downtown Detroit Greek Town I remember you know gingerly passing him as he’s sliding you know off into the curb and then I had the second turn to deal with the third turn the fourth turn the fifth turn the sixth turn by the

Time I got around to the eighth turn and the Main Street finish in front of a big crowd you know all under awnings all dry I was blowing kisses to the crowd I had been crawling that last lap just to make sure I didn’t fall right and Tim Tim

Swift came roaring up from the field and came under my arm I still beat him but it was one of those like oh my God I almost blew this WOW because I was crawling you know that whole last slap but this guyed me and

Fell but uh uh I could ride in the rain you know better than just about anybody um you know albe it this one guy or you know someone like Alan McCormack or Ian doralis somebody of really small stature you know 54 they they could out Corner

Me but nobody else could right it was just and and I had no fear none whatsoever so yeah that was a big part yeah that’s it right so having the natural ability skill desire to win and that no fear like you said what’s the worst could happen it’s the rain I just

Slide and you were comfortable with with that with that edge um yeah you know yeah just so for people uh you know non cyclists who are hearing all of these names that we’re talking about like Alan McCormack and you know Davis spinny and Tom Schuler these are like the icons of

American cycling back in the 80s I raced with Alan McCormack I remember how how that guy could corner is incredible based on his stature um so you’re saying you gota be like a little bit crazy um just remind I’m reminded of one story um Mark Whitehead May rest in peace uh like

An incredible risk risk taker bike Handler where um I think it was um the the race in Oak Park Chicago and I think it was 1985 where he won he was racing for the Schwin team at the time right Mark Mark White had he had like this you know this

Red mustache who was called The Outlaw he had like the first cycl to have a tattoo and it was coming into the final corner of this Criterium and it looked like it was going to be like Davis spinny and and maybe Schuler and like Jeff Pierce were going to get like

They’re setting finny up and um Mark Whitehead came in on the inside on the apex of the corner really hot and like it totally out audacious they weren’t expecting it because it was a crazy move and he came in so fast that he actually hit the curb on the other as he finished

His turn and he used the curb to kind of stop himself from actually sliding out right and ended up winning winning that race so um yeah you got to be yeah you got to be a little bit uh maybe a little bit crazy and be okay with risk-taking

To to really pull off some some good stuff right absolutely yeah n nuts did not hurt at all right so maybe not great in life but uh in bicycle racing it was a it was a big Advantage so yeah yeah for sure well I think I

Think this is a good uh lead in into uh talking a little bit about some of your challenges with um with bipolar and and by the way back in the day I I had had no idea that that was going on for you um but I think we were talking a bit

About how it can be an advantage but then also it’s one of these things that you know you need to manage you need to be honest about that and and by the way for anyone who’s listening like uh I consider you know in my profession what

I do um Psychotherapy and coaching I I look at Mental Health on a Continuum on a spectrum you know if you have a quote unquote disorder it just simply means you have a cluster of symptoms and I would say that pretty much everybody I don’t have the stats on this at one

Point in their life is diagnosable with one particular mental health disorder because we’re humans um so I just want you know lead off with that but maybe you could share a little bit about um you know some of the struggles where you started noticing like okay it’s not that

I’m just a a great racer and I’m motivated and I got a lot of energy uh but like something else is a little bit off here like when did you first kind of notice that well so you know I I thought it was just part of my charm that I was

Reckless right I I mean literally Reckless so I’d be at sales meetings uh through my sales career and people would swear off ever driving with me ever again I mean I did things that you know were were simply Reckless just not foolish in fact uh took risks I

Didn’t kill anybody I didn’t kill myself but people would get out of a car with me and say I’m I’m never driving with you again that that was not a comfortable experience so I just I really just kind of put that in my Hopper as you know that’s just part of

My charm I’m I’m a little bit um more prone to take risks I’m a little nutty I you know that’s just part of you know of my exuberance right and typically as you know bipolar is diagnosed very early in life it usually manifests sometime in

Your late teens or early 20s and so in my late teens and early 20s I was doing a tremendous amount of exercise yeah that lasted till I was you know 30 something I I went from bike racing to ski racing I took very good care of

Myself um I had a very difficult divorce at 40 or 41 or 42 uh uh and and that’s not unique a lot of guys have had difficult divorces um but I had a three-year struggle with my ex-wife and and ended up losing and divorce is often a kind of a sum game

Win loss I lost very badly and then I stopped taking care of myself um I’m a dual diagnosis guy I’m an alcoholic as well as bipolar so I started drinking excessively uh smoking pot excessively I was still working I was still winning sales Awards but not taking care of

Myself not riding my bike not eating well I tell people that my diet consisted of coffee and donuts until about 3 o’clock when I would switch to Cokes and then by six or seven o’clock I was drinking beers and eating a cheeseburger every day for years and people think wow that’s how’s that

Possible well I did it and I stopped rid riding my bicycle I stopped exercising um I’d keep my bicycle in my car and you just drag it around and do these crazy days from Madison was son to Chicago see six clients drive back to Madison and you know do no exercise you

Know have terrible Nutri nutrition and uh I got very very depressed now I saw a dozen maybe not a dozen half a dozen different psychologists and psychiatrists during that time maybe a dozen somewhere between six and 12 and I was prescribed every different uh anti-depressant known

To man I’ve been on paxel I’ve been on every serotone you know uptaken inhib Wellbutrin you know we go down the list I’ve I’ve been on every single one because you cannot diagnose bipolar and I’ve heard this you know directly from psychiatrists and experienced it you cannot diagnose bipolar unless you’re

Either manic or suicidal I mean it’s it’s called manic depression right is the old name for for bipolar yeah and so I went into a period of deep depression um I couldn’t remember a hotel room number I was still traveling still getting through life because I had

This volume of being a good guy and but a hotel clerk would say Mr King you’re in room 214 unless that was written down on a piece of paper or the the key code I would forget 214 I mean I was just was it was terrible I I was was very very

Unsettled by this and and people were trying to give me advice and they said well Michael maybe it’s your vitamin D maybe it’s this maybe it’s that you know and I’m still going to see psychologists I’m trying different meds and I’m just feeling awful Mike just awful so I

Stopped smoking dope I stopped drinking um for about nine months nothing got better and I said eff it right we in in AA we have the efforts right you know what that means yeah not gonna say it so and I started to uh smoke dope and drink again in the summer of of

1999 and I went into a manic episode and had I had not experienced that before um and it was me that did all these things uh but I committed uh not one handful not two handfuls but two handfuls plus two of felonies and the first one was I took a

Chicago policeman’s cap it was sitting on the back of his trunk of his car why I thought that was a good idea obviously you know I was out of my mind I remember cab driver looking at me and you know back to Vib speak Lou of the words he

Was like dude you really going to take that cap I’m like damn right I’m gonna take that cap uh I wore it that night to a strip bar the girls thought it was great they tore my shirt off you know I stayed there at the strip bar till it

Closed I’m riding my single speed bicycle on clyborn Avenue in Chicago back to my buddy’s yacht in Burnham Harbor because that’s how I rolled you I stayed on my buddy’s yacht and the spotlight of a police car shined on me said over you know where’d you get the

Cap well it’s actually a felony to steal uh a piece of a policeman’s uniform and I was thrown into cook Cook County Jail which is the most notorious County Jail in the country and I’m um a little out of place you know I was raised in kennworth Illinois and so I

Got out of Cook County Jail you know with a felony charge and on probation and this manic episode didn’t didn’t stop I I it didn’t uh yeah they go on for for for days yeah yeah well it went on it went on for about six weeks Mike and so what they

Called so once you’re on probation if you get arrested again they they charge you with felony Bond jumping that’s another felony okay and so when I say I’ve got you know two handfuls plus two I have 12 felonies but I’ve also got a Not Guilty by reason of mental disease ruling I stole

Bicycles uh from my biggest client well this was you know abnormal Behavior Not Guilty by reason of mental disease ruling is very unusual um happens maybe once you know an attorney’s career yeah uh but I was committed to the hospital for the criminally insane uh and and put on lithium and and

That’s not the psych wward right that’s not your your so you know you go into the hospital for the Crim ins sane and shackles are you know wrists uh and waist right it’s it’s just like the movies it’s it’s really bad um I was treated with lithium I you know

Became pretty stable I came back out well this tumble through life lasted uh quite a while they called it a crime spre um I was on probation in both Cook County and Dayne County I was on conditional release from the Mental Health Institute in day

County um I don’t know how deep we want to go into this but but ultimately uh after spending seven months on a bunk in jail in Dayne County I ran to AA and group of AA these people would tell me you know it’s gonna get better

And I said to them it’s gonna get better I have been promised 88 years in prison by the hanging judge of Cook County I had violated my probation in Cook County three times and been promised 88 years in prison wow now that’s you know pretty Draconian ultimately my father who was a very

Prominent guy a member of the attorney review and disciplinary Committee of Cook County uh rescued Me by calling the ardc and saying hey do you know anyone who could represent my son in front of The Honorable Charles Burns Charles Burns is the hanging judge of Cook

County he literally was he had lost his wife to cancer and his daughter to addiction okay so he was the nonsense judge that got all the drug cases and I was considered a drug case so my father hired an attorney who happened to be a sober Guy The Honorable Charles Burns

Happened to be a sober guy okay uh I can tell the story pretty quickly or I can leave it out about how my my appearance before The Honorable Charles Burns went but I was released of my probation and as he gavl and said uh and Tom uh Tom

Burns said hey we’re we’re free um follow me you know to the door outside not the door to streeterville judge Burns said don’t forget the 12-step young man which is to help another alcoholic and uh I thought he was going to ask me to recite it I was ready to

Evacuate my bowels I mean I was still convinced I was going to prison for 88 years yeah so you know the fellowship of AA uh really saved me by the you know we believe in a higher power the grace of God and and I’ve been working this

Program for more than 10 years um it didn’t really click for me to be honest I was adjacent to the program for about 10 years and it really clicked for me this past May 20th I had what we consider a spiritual experience I consider a spiritual experience um and my life’s been

Miraculous really every day since and so you know this is I’m I’m going pretty fast through some uh some ups and downs um you know so it was it was 913 of 13 that I got out of day County jail after spending seven months on a bunk yeah and

Uh I haven’t touched a drink of alcohol since then but I didn’t really get the whole program um until very recently and we say it’s right there in the big book of AA that we believe that you can be restored to sanity I mean there are cases of guys like me bipolar or

Schizophrenic or what have you that have serious grave it’s called grave mental health issues yeah but we feel and and I I know this is a a minority view um we feel we can we can be transformed yes and so you know whether that’s scientific or not I don’t

Care I I I simply feel like I’ve been transformed and yeah and I was so excited about this podcast because if I can help you know one other alcoholic or one other person that’s suffering from uh mental health difficulties yeah you know which mentioned are prevalent uh you know I I’d be thrilled

And and I I’ve I said I’ve been to Hell and and Hell frankly is pain without hope yeah right that’s suffering and so I gave up hope uh at so at some point during that past 10 years and it wasn’t in pil County jail or the hospital for

The Crim insane I gave up hope uh dry not drinking not drugging but not going to meetings not working a program and that worse than any incarceration or confinement that I’d ever been in yeah because I became suicidal and you know I’ve got three beautiful kids

Uh just try regain my composure um I thousand friends Mike yeah and nobody gave up on me no one gave up on me but I gave up on me so uh yeah I I came out of it I you know it Mak sound py but you

Know I feel like I was saved um yeah you know for for the purpose of maybe helping others I believe so yeah uh you know it’s it’s a daily reprieve I don’t drink or drug I don’t feel the need out you know need to um or want to you know

And I function well in society and I’m back in my career which is as a sales representative bicycle business and you know things are going great yeah miraculous in fact so yeah a rushed condensed version of my story but yeah well we we had talked a bit

Offline about your story and um I think it’s really courageous and and frankly heroic of you to to share this story because there are so many people suffering in silence and so many athletes also who go undiagnosed because they use the exercise and the sport as

Sort of like a a Sol or something to kind of smooth out the edges and that can even hide it for many many years um so your story I think is going to help a lot of people and um it’s you know we have other stories like people like uh

Steve Young of the 49ers who had anxiety so bad that he would vomit before every game and not sleep for two days before games he recently sort of like came out and told his story you have um like Kevin Love the basketball player who had

A panic attack in the middle of a game and had to you know had to go to the ER like it’s it’s so much more common than people think and know about because people are are quiet about it and or there’s a shame around it and if you can

Turn that flip it on its head and go hey look I’m human just like you You’ probably experienced some of the same things here’s my story and I’m telling you it and you can use it to your advantage and come back and be even stronger so so I think it’s an

Incredible inspiring story Mike and I applaud you for sharing it and um yeah it needs to be that drum needs to be beat more of like we’re all human we’re all going to have symptoms of any kind of a mental health issue during our life

And and get help you know get help and lean on your friends and don’t give up hope because if you’re in a it’s really is a temporary situation and we take this to sports if you’re winning that’s tempor if you’re losing that’s temporary same thing in life if you’re losing hard

That’s temporary right things turn around so that’s that’s really I want to Echo that message of of yours of just like don’t give up hope um there’s always always a solution out there and the solution is basically hang in there seek uh seek mental health um help

12-step programs are incredible I know a number of people who benefited from them and continue to work that so you know we all have um we all have our stuff man and so being I think that really being aware of it is the key like I have my

Quirks and I I fall into a funk from time to time I have enough awareness to know not to blame myself and understand that I have a brain which is fueled by all kinds of hormones and neurotransmitters it’s like you know uh it’s it’s a complex system it’s a

Complex system so um so yeah it’s a great story Mike and I appreciate you sharing it yeah thank you Mike I mean to summarize you you have to take care of yourself yes right so I can look back and I can say well Humpty Dumpty fell off the wall well Humpty Dumpty did

These things to to get to that precipice and where I fell off the wall right you know so nutrition’s important exercise is sunlight’s important good sleep’s important Community is super important alcoholics isolate so we know all this and and really you do have to fake it

Till you make it so esteemable people do esteemable acts that starts with making your bed in the morning brushing your teeth shaving showering I mean so you fake it till you make it and it it really is a I’ve got this four-wheel Theory Mike and and I’m certain I

Didn’t uh manufacture this I’m sure I read it and Amalgamated it but I’ve got a physical wheel I’ve got a mental health wheel I’ve got a spiritual wheel and I have a financial wheel and I have to put something into each one those Wheels every day to keep them round

Because wheels don’t stay static they go forward or they go backwards so you know we’re all works in progress um at at any time and and the other thing that I I’m adamant about is we’re all doing our best all the time so even when I was a

Dumpster fire you know and I was I didn’t get up that morning and say say gee I want to go to Cook County Jail or gee I want to commit a felony I mean I was doing my best my best was pretty awful no um and you know people were

Were you know they were as supportive as they could be but a lot of people just said you know man I gotta get away from this guy because you know I’m gonna get splashed so um yeah it’s it’s it’s simple but not easy right I mean this this this is

All well documented you know the way way out is is you know there is a yellow brick road you know it’s just one step at a time yeah uh but you got to do the work and you got to take care of yourself and and then ask for help get

Help um and you know help will present itself we’re my last takeaway is you know when people ask me if you to ask me what’s the meaning of life I’ll tell you it’s to help each other full stop Right Bingo that’s that’s it and so we’re all

Here to help each other life’s hard man it’s it’s it really is so um and I’ve gotten a ton of help and and lastly you know when I gave up on myself a thousand people were pulling for me yep thousand people were praying for me and I’ve run into a lot of these

People since yeah and they’re like man so happy to see you back we never gave up on you yeah and I I think wow how remarkable is that yeah because gave me and that’s that’s yeah that’s real that’s on earth right that’s real suffering so um yeah

Don’t give up if you’re out there and you you’re struggling with addiction issues or mental health issues don’t give up it’s it’s GNA get better but you got to do the work and and and some of it’s just simple right just yeah uh sleep right eat right get some

Exercise get some sunshine yes find a community right you know whether it’s church church or softball or it doesn’t have it could be any number of things but yeah you we’re human we’re not built to isolate that is so true that is so true yeah I think I think that’s really

The the key mic is that like you said like you know a thousand people were were pulling for you in your dark times and that’s I I think we don’t understand how much of an impact we make on other people um and that when we do isolate

And we feel like we’re in hell we have this completely distorted perspective we’re not really seeing big picture and that from the outside in people are concerned about you and maybe people might cut off from you because there is they’re scared of you but they’re still

They still care so it’s it’s really just understanding that you know if you’re in that dark place reach out there are people willing to help you if you fli the script and you had a friend who was going through something and they reached out to you most likely you’d probably

Give them some time so anyone out there who’s suffering reach out for help you can call 988 which is National Suicide Hotline you can reach out to AA if you’re going through substance use stuff you can call a friend um there are people there who care and just like I

Was saying before if you’re losing that is a season and that that changes if you’re winning same thing there if you have the the awareness and like you say do the work keep those Wheels moving the important ones in your life and you nurture that you’re going to be okay

You’re going to be okay but if you fall off you can get back on and uh and life can can still be awesome well I hope you enjoyed the podcast today with Michael King such an amazing journey such a hopeful story of determination and resiliency and it was my pleasure to

Talk with Michael today please share this podcast with other people who need to hear this story and we can make an impact and as always keep on leveling Up