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Zach Nehr is the head of ZNehr Coaching, as well as a freelance writer and professional rider in virtual cycling.

Zach’s cycling career began on the Midwest criterium circuit, where he raced for the IS Corp Junior Development Team. After going from a Cat 5 to a Cat 2 in his first year of racing, Zach accepted a dual athletic-academic scholarship to attend Marian University-Indianapolis, the #1-ranked Collegiate Varsity Team in the United States. In three and a half years at Marian, he won multiple national titles in road racing and cyclocross, including a win in the Collegiate Varsity Individual Time Trial in 2017. Zach graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science and quickly earned his certification as a USA Cycling Level 3 Coach and TrainingPeaks Coach.

Zach has a passion for writing and has published hundreds of articles on his website as well as Velo, Cyclingnews, MyWhoosh, TrainingPeaks, Bicycle Guider, Cyclist UK, and more.

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The longer version:

Soccer was everything to young Zach. He started playing in elementary school and began making his way up the travel-club ladder. But a couple of serious knee injuries put an end to his soccer career when he was just 16. So Zach started searching for something new, and that summer, he was on a family vacation in Belgium when he saw the Tour de France in-person for the first time. Immediately inspired, Zach started riding his bike (a lot) as soon as he returned home to Wisconsin. Before he knew it, after his first local criterium, he was hooked. Zach trainer in the basement through the Wisconsin winter, and the next year earned his Cat 2 upgrade after just three months of road racing.

At Marian University-Indianapolis, Zach raced track in the fall, cyclocross in the winter, and road in the spring. While his natural talent had been enough as a junior, Zach soon realized that he was a small fish in a big pond at Marian. In order to better himself and earn a spot on the A-team, Zach went back learning to basics: bike-handling skills, training, nutrition, recovery, sport psychology, and much more. So strong was his passion for sport and exercise that he chose to study Exercise Science, with the goal of one making it into a full-time career. Zach was lucky enough to learn from the best of the best at Marian, whose graduates include pro riders Coryn Rivera, Kaitie Keough, Drew Dillman, and Zach Carlson.

While at Marian, Zach balanced part-time work, a position in Marian’s Student Government Association, and 15-20 hours/week of training in addition to a full-time class load. Through both his personal and professional experience, Zach has learned how to maintain a positive work/life/training balance, and he continues to work with both working athletes and full-time students.

After graduating from Marian, Zach pursued a career in road cycling at the highest level, competing in events such as the North Star Grand Prix, Cascade Cycling Classic, Joe Martin Stage Race, Redlands Classic, Tour of the Gila, Reading 120, Green Mountain Stage Race, and multiple junior, U23, collegiate, elite, and professional national championships. Some of his career highlights include 2nd Overall at the 2019 Cascade Cycling Classic, 9th at the 2019 US Pro National Championships Time Trial, and 4th at the 2018 U23 National Championships Time Trial.

After the 2019 season, Zach decided to retire from full-time road racing and focus on finding a better work/life balance with cycling. He began full-time work as a coach and writer at the beginning of 2020 – his decision turned out to be perfect timing as the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled nearly the entire 2020 cycling season. Nowadays, Zach competes in the Zwift Premier Division with NeXT eSport pb Enshored, participates in local races and events with Project Echelon, runs ZNehr Coaching, and spends most of his writing about bikes.

Zach helps his athletes deal with the ins and outs of traveling, whether it is for sport or work. He has extensive experience with host housing, travel logistics, and team organization. His clients benefit from his commitment to communication, timeliness, and professionalism, developed while balancing work, family, and school with traveling for weeks at a time. Zach is adamant that athletes never go it alone. “One of the most important aspects of training has nothing to do with training at all – It is having a strong support network around you: family, friends, riding partners, coaches, even friendly gas station attendants who will give you a free refill. These are the people who will help us through the darkest of times. They will help us up after we get knocked down. And they will be there smiling and cheering for us as we approach the finish line or stand on top of the podium… As a coach, I challenge my athletes, I support my athletes, and I help them get faster, reach their goals, and become happier and healthier people through sport and exercise.”