Sioux City, Iowa --The prologue to Noah Holcomb’s story arguably began in July of 1996 when he turned 13. The East High School alum connected with the tight-knit cycling community in Siouxland and competed in his first mountain biking race.
The experience propelled Noah to a career as an extreme athlete and bridged the gap, as they say in the cycling world, to experiences Noah could only dream of.
Just a year after his first competition, Noah received his first national level team sponsorship with Cannondale Bicycles and SoBe Beverage Company. The level of support elevated his access to additional resources.
“I feel that my unusually early start in the sport enabled me to develop that early, developmental base fitness which I was able to more easily transfer to my elite level career once I graduated from the junior ranks,” says Noah.
After graduating from East High School in 2002, Noah moved to California to attend California State University in Long Beach and to train for cycling full-time. While he pursued a Bachelor of Science in parks and recreation management, Noah also trained up to 40 hours a week on his bike and traveled 30 weekends a year for competitions.
The work paid off.
Noah went on to earn not only his bachelor’s degree but a Master of Science in recreation administration from California State University. His post graduate work included an extended internship at the Irvine Ranch Conservancy where he acted as the organization’s mountain bike program expert, helping to develop skills courses and leading guided group tours within the conservancy.
He also stayed laser-focused on his cycling goals. Noah made his way from the development program to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Elite ranks, riding for Cannondale’s Factory Team. UCI is the world governing body for sports cycling, overseeing international competitive cycling events. Over the years, he represented not only Cannondale but also Shimano, SoBe, Bear Naked Granola, Oakley, Diadora, Bell, and others.
Noah had the ultimate experience of competing in events with his longtime heroes, cyclists he grew up watching on ESPN, including Tinker Juarez, John Tomac, Thomas Frischknecht, and even Lance Armstrong. In Noah’s words, those opportunities were “something pretty special”.
“The 2012 World Championships in Ornans, France, was extremely special for me. I spent the entire week before the race training at altitudes in Switzerland with my best friend Dana Weber,” recalls Noah. “While the torrential rain throughout the entire 64-mile race didn’t go very well for either of us, it was a good example of how sometimes the result isn’t the most important thing.”
Today, while Noah no longer races competitively, he follows the sport of cycling closely. He spent the month of July at the Tour De France, riding along for the famed race. He also stays connected with his family, including his wife Holly (a fellow East High School alum) and his niece and nephew who currently attend school in the Sioux City Community School District.
Noah says he owes a significant amount of his success to his family. His tenacity didn’t hurt either.
“If you know what you want to do, go all in. If you don’t know what you want to do, you can’t be afraid to take risks,” adds Noah. “I had a lot of people tell me what I was doing wouldn’t culminate in a meaningful career path, while those risks filled my Rolodex with people who saw me put in the work, providing me access to very tight circles. I was able to build that business into a successful venture, ultimately selling it several years later.”