Rider Highlight: Owen Hatcher wins Wheels of Thunder

Owen Hatcher has had a turbulent season. After breaking his hip at an early season race, he’s coming back with a vengeance and is well on his way to cat up to a cat 1 by season’s end. Fun facts about Owen: he’s a vegan athlete and a pilot instructor!
Name: Owen Hatcher
Event & Category: Wheels of Thunder @ Flatrock P-1-2
Brief event/course description: 1 mile loop on highway training course. Course is open, smooth, fast, and safe with a slight rise near the end of each lap.
How’d the race/event go down for you? 
Right off the gate attacks were being sent. After the second lap a break went with 4 strong guys…it looked promising so I bridged up with another and we all started rotating smoothly. There were 6 of us total and we ended up lapping the field in about 30 minutes. Once we were back in the field things calmed down for a few laps then off we went in another break. This time only 5 of the original 6 were in this break. On the last lap there were some attacks and I countered on the uphill finish with 2 corners to go. I came in with quite a few bike lengths from 2nd and had a cat 5 victory post up. After my crash 2 months ago I haven’t really been able to sprint that well so I knew I had to attack earlier and hope no one would be able to follow. It worked out!
Which coach do you work with and how did your training help you prepare for the event?
I work with Zack Allison. Throughout the winter we talked about my weaknesses and what I’d like to get better at…Crit racing was one of them. He has set up my training plan to really help me out with crit power and how to race them.
What advice do you have for someone up and coming in your cycling discipline?
Work hard, Play hard….jk…The switch from cat 3 to cat 2 can be pretty demoralizing at first but if you keep training and get Zack as a coach then youll be set and winning races in no time.
What is your next event?
Cascade Cycling Classic
Read more about Scout Cycling Program, one of our ambassador programs, here.