July 10, 2000

Four years ago, 14-year-old Walker Ferguson of Telluride High (Colo.) was about to embark on a new snowboarding season in the mountains of Colorado. On his first day on the slope, however, Ferguson took a nasty fall and fractured the growth plate in his knee.

	Ferguson found cycling while rehabbing from a snowboard injury.

Doctors called for Ferguson to stay off his leg for six weeks. But how do you tell a highly active 14-year-old not to do anything for six weeks? You really can't. So, to keep busy and speed up his rehab, Ferguson hit the stationary bike in his family's house.

"I think it helped him work out the anxiety of not being able to do anything," says his mother, Susie Billings. "He spent a lot of time on that bike. I don't think any of us actually knew how much time he really did spend on it."

When the six weeks were done, Ferguson, who had ridden for fun in the past, decided he'd enter a cycling race just to see what it was like. The rest, as it is said, is history.

During the next four years, Ferguson, now 18, has joined an elite class of world junior cross country cyclists. Last month, he added a gold medal at the Junior World Mountain Bike Championships in Sierra Nevada, Spain, to his already numerous cycling awards.

While it's obvious the teen possesses natural talent, Ferguson and Billings see his success as coming from other places.

"I don't know how much everyone else gets ready, but I know I spend a lot of time preparing for races," says Ferguson, who won the Junior World Cup season opener in March. "I feel strong during the races, which helps me mentally get through each one."

"His personality type is the kind that when he finds something worth putting the time into, he becomes extremely focused," adds Billings. "Because physically, he doesn't look that different from everyone else. It's just the focus he has."

That focus culminated in the Junior World title, and it has taken him all around the globe. While being away from home on a regular basis could be taxing on a teenager, Ferguson says he loves the travel.

"I've never left for a real long time, about a month or so," says Ferguson from his car phone as he drives from Fitchburg, Mass., to Pennsylvania for the road racing national championships. "Traveling is definitely a big part of everything. It's nice to see places most people don't get the chance to."

Ferguson has seen a lot of the world. Along with his trip to Spain in June, the Class of 2000 graduate has spent time in Holland and Switzerland. He says he would like to visit even more countries, which could happen if he joins a professional international racing team.

Ferguson has been accepted to Colorado University in Boulder, but has taken a year deferment to concentrate on racing. The teen says if he spends a full calendar year just in the sport, he should know if he wants to ride for the rest of his life. If not, then Ferguson will re-enter the world of academia.

"It's incredible how he has gotten through the last two years of high school," boasts Billings. "With all the racing, he still kept a 'B' average."

While his mom may endlessly brag about her son, no one will catch Ferguson showing off his medals or trophies. In contrast to many highly decorated athletes his age, he has remained humble despite all of his accomplishments.

"It's a good feeling to know that I can place high with all these other great cyclists," says Ferguson. "Winning in Spain was amazing, but it took me a while to realize I had beaten all of these people."

Now the question is: After graduating from the junior division, can he continue to be one of the world's best cyclists? His mother, of course, thinks so. Ferguson, on the other hand, is taking the wait-and-see approach to the answer.

"I'm just hoping to get a contract with a team next year," says Ferguson. "After that, who knows?"