Co-Captain Matt Robinson ’27 learned to ride a bike when he was three, and he has been biking since. Robinson started racing competitively in sixth grade and has now spent all three of his years at Andover on Cycling.
He shared that his favorite part about being a Co-Captain is spending more time with the team and engaging more with his teammates.
“I love being on the team, regardless. I don’t have to be a Captain, but being a Captain, I get to be involved in more things and spend even more time with the team in more meaningful ways. I think just getting to be more involved in all that is my favorite part,” said Robinson.
With a roster of ten athletes, the team is able to spend a lot of time together. Robinson described the unity of the team and how he has worked to build connection within the team.
“I think, by virtue of being a small team, we’re already quite unified, but specifically to create camaraderie, Cycling has a tradition of staying over after every practice to stretch and do core together. Trying to do these exercises that are, either some sort of competition or games, bring people together,” said Robinson.
Given his extensive competitive cycling experience, Robinson leads the team with experience. He described how he approaches leading as both a vocal and demonstrative leader.
“Especially with cycling where there’s a lot of technical skill and tactical knowledge that you need, I try to take an approach like leading the team in exercises and demonstrations of skill and tactics and presentations or videos. But more, [I try] to show the team what I mean, and so, I practice with them rather than just telling them and expecting them to do it on their own,” said Robinson.
Not only does Robinson lead the team in competitions, but also on how to optimize its performance off of the course. Arden Quan ’29 commented on Robinson’s advice on nutrition support of newer racers.
“He is very bright because he is always optimistic. He teaches a lot about what to eat before races. So he uses his experience to help newer people on the team like me,” said Quan.
Rachel Levitzky ’28 described Robinson’s relationship with his teammates, which lay in his strong leadership and being grounded as an athlete.
“He takes charge, but not in a bossy way. He’s very integrated with the team friendship-wise. So, he’s a leader, but he’s also a friend,” said Levitzky.
Given that the team welcomes riders of all experience and skill levels, Robinson shared his hope to continue to grow the team and invite new faces in the future.
“I hope we can get even more beginners [onto] the team and really add to their experiences as riders and develop them into strong and safe racers. So I just really hope we can continue to be a welcoming sport for beginners,” said Robinson.
