DALLAS, TX - Daniel Parks of Dallas is a rising star in the sport of cycling.
"Both of my parents race and they just took me out to a race one day and I was hooked," Parks says.
In June, he won the Junior National Time Trail Championship for 13 to 14 year olds.
"That was really an awesome experience," Parks says. "I spend the whole year pretty much training for it. I put in lots of hours every week and every day. It's always training, training, and training, and then finally it pays off."
On September 16th, Parks will be racing, in what is called a category two and three level of competition. It was added this year to the USA Criterion Championship finals which crowns a national champion.
The event has been held for the past two years at Victory Park on a 1500 meter course around the American Airlines Center. It has quickly become a focal point for cycling in America.
"In the cycling community, the media is now beginning to refer to the Texas Tough Grand Prix, because of its atmosphere, the super bowl of cycling," says Geoff Godsey, executive director of Texas Tough. "There is not another race in the country to compares in atmosphere and environment."
For Parks to race in Dallas, his category of racing had to be added. On top of that, each participant like Parks, had to raise at least 600 dollars for Children’s' Medical Center of Dallas. He did even better by raising a thousand.
"I'm really excited," Parks says. "There are going to be pro races, you've got Ivan Basso coming, so there is going to be lots of people at the race to give all the two/threes too right before the pros, it's really awesome."
The Dallas race is the perfect opportunity for the freshman from Spring Creek Academy of Plano, to show his friends exactly what he can do on two wheels.
"Here is an athlete trying to do something good for kids who need a little extra medical help and it's a really good idea," says David Parks, Daniel's father.
"We didn't start out thinking, hey let's introduce amateur races where guys can raise money, but it has kind of evolved out of suggestions on behalf of the volunteers," says Godsey. "Now you've got what will probably be one hundred thousand dollar even this year for Children’s for cash."
As the races grows, Geoff Godsey says there may be other amateur category races added to the event, allowing more and more bikers like Daniel Parks to participate and raise even more money for Children's Medical Center of Dallas.
