VOL. 52 ISSUE 50 DECEMBER 15, 2015 P99
him behind me and in my pro-
gram. The best thing is, as far as
working together, I put that all into
his hands as far as the riding and
the training, and I trust him with
that, which is huge for me. I don't
have to think about it. I can just
do it 100 percent. He obviously
looks over all the information from
data and heart rates and every-
thing like that, so he can manage
the body. He can see how things
are working. It's amazing what he
can tell through all that. And then
obviously the information that
I give him, he deciphers it and
then we make the best decision
going forward. It's just nice to be
able to put more of my attention
and focus towards my prepara-
tion."
And a great side effect of
Baker's training is that Dungey
can maximize his time with his
family.
"You can enjoy life a little bit
more, actually," Dungey said.
"We're so hard at the grind that
that time is already minimal.
When you start cutting into that
time with your wife and your fam-
ily and friends, then it gets kind
of tough, especially through a
long season. So it's been huge
in that aspect."
RACING IN PERSPECTIVE
And here's where it all comes
together: Ryan Dungey is not
only an adult, he's a good man,
and his racing has brought some
things into his life that he hadn't
ever thought about before. A
few years ago, Dungey began a
charity cycling event to benefit
St. Jude's Children's Research
Hospital in his home state of
Minnesota.
"You know, you come home
and you're stressed out because
your job, or you're worrying
about this or that, but then there
are multiple kids in St. Jude's
Children's Research Hospital
who are fighting for their lives.
They're fighting cancer. I'm
worried about my job but there
are much bigger worries in the
world, for sure. And that's hard.
It puts things in perspective
pretty fast."
When he was young, just as
with basically all racers, Dungey
believed everything hinged on
his results on the track. Now,
he realizes that's still true, but it
isn't. Let him explain:
"In the beginning of my
career, I made racing so impor-
tant, but it's not," Dungey said.
"God is first, your family is next,
racing's far down in that line,
way down at the bottom of the
list. After my grandmother had
passed away from cancer, we'd
been able to start a foundation
after her and a charity bike ride
we do every year in Minnesota.
It's called the Minnesota Major,
and 100 percent of the proceeds
go straight to St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital. We've been
able to visit there a couple times
and it's very humbling. You see
these kids and they're five, six,
seven years old and they're bat-
tling for their life. It makes things
seem really small really fast."
As true as that has to be,
racing is still a priority, just for a
different reason. When Dungey
was young, racing was impor-
tant for his own, personal gain.
He wanted to win. Now, his
wealth and influence are helping
children fight through cancer.
Without the income and fame
that come from racing—from
winning, really—he couldn't help
OF PRESSURE IF YOU'RE
PERFORMING, BECAUSE YOU
KNOW WHY AND SO
THE PEOPLE WHO ARE
YOU TO WIN.
