Kalen Gruber
photo by Garrett Lau

Kalen is a Category 1/2 racer who joined the LGBRC in 2002. He contributes to the club on many levels: as the Elite Men's Team Captain, a Cat's Hill Committee member, a member of the Board of Directors. He does road, time trial and crits.

When we asked Kalen how he got started in racing, he replied, " Fearful of having my adolescence loitering the household during the summer before my junior year of high school, my mom proposed I take a bicycle touring trip through England and France.  I used the money I had been saving while working at Ruby Begonia's Pet Emporium to buy a bike and my mom covered the incidentals and travel.  I started riding my cool new Centurion touring bike immediately piling on the miles until I could do 50 without a problem.  Next step, I added panniers and loaded them with encyclopedias to simulate my touring weight." 

"Fast forward to the best adventure of my life and I was full-on hooked to cycling.  I came back from the trip a new person and wanting to do more with the bike.  Tuesday night time trials were discovered, followed by road racing and crits...the rest is history.  I've been riding and racing over 22 years."

What does he consider his greatest cycling achievement? He answers, "I'll never forget my first ride without training wheels.  It was the best."

We asked Kalen what else he'd like to add. He replied, "Let's see...I just got married last May to my very best friend, started working in a start-up health promotion company a couple years ago, which is THE greatest job I've ever had, and I love doing Sodukus, crossword puzzles, exploring new places--the more remote the better and am looking to buy a house as soon as we can.  Other than that, I respond to the nickname 'MacGruber'."

Kalen works as a behavioral coach onsite at Google and is a partner in a health promotion company called MD Health Evolution. He has a masters in Exercise Physiology and loves to stay abreast of the latest in performance training. His hobbies include hiking, reading, pottery, cooking (mostly experimental) and exploring.