Completing The Cycle
It was a strange place to go to pursue mountain biking, but Butler High School graduate Angelina Palermo found herself on the plains of Indiana doing just that.
Palermo had crafted for herself a standout youth career in cycling and moved on to Marian University in Indianapolis to pursue her passion.
No mountains to be found. No problem.
It worked out pretty well for her.
“I lived in Indianapolis for four years, which I went there to race mountain bikes, which doesn't seem right,” Palermo said, chuckling. “What drew me to Marian was the program they had.“When I was younger, I had no idea you could do this much in cycling,” Palermo added. “I didn't know you could go to college.”Palermo began her collegiate career at Marian racing cross country mountain bikes on grueling, two-mile courses, but she switched to downhill at the urging of her coach, Dean Peterson.Palermo's response: “I don't know. Whatever.”The first time she tried it, she finished fourth. She was in shock — and also hooked.“My friend (and teammate, Frida Roenning), who was on the same path, said, 'Forget this cross country stuff; who wants to ride a bike for two hours?'” Palermo said. “We were full-on committed to downhill racing.”Roenning later transferred to another school, but Palermo starred in downhill at Marian.As a junior, she won the national downhill dual slalom title. During her senior year, she won the omnium — a multiple-event race in track cycling.She accomplished both of her collegiate goals.“My coach after the podium ceremony came up to me and said, 'I remember little Angelina coming here wondering if she wanted to do downhill, and here we are now,'” Palermo said.After college, Palermo was at a crossroads.She spent a year wondering what to do next — get on with her life or chase a shot at the Olympics?Palermo saw what her cycling friends were going through chasing that Olympic dream and decided it wasn't for her.“I fully support the people who do, but I'm not willing to bum off some people for awhile, live on their couch, live in a friend's van because that's what everyone does,” Palermo said. “I decided after college I was going to be done. My career was going to come first.”Her career turned out to be better than she thought.Not long after she graduated with a degree in marketing, a job opened up at USA Cycling.At first, she wasn't sure if she should pursue it. Palermo had limited experience and she thought surely there would be many more qualified candidates.She applied anyway.Palermo was hired — getting her dream job in Colorado Springs, Colo., at the age of 23.“The woman who hired me, who was my boss and since moved on, is now my best friend and lives 30 feet behind me,” Palermo said. “She was telling me there were other people who had more experience than I did, but nobody would know the sport better than me. I had grown up through all the different forms of USA Cycling, doing all the local events, regional camps and national events. Nobody would know it better because I lived through it all.”Palermo rose quickly in the organization.Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, she was slated to travel to national events, as well as the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.She was going to make it to the Summer Games after all.“There are a million things you have to know before you do something like that,” Palermo said. “I was freaking out about it.”Now, she has more time to prepare.COVID-19 has canceled most USA Cycling events and Palermo isn't sure if the Olympics will even be held in 2021.“I'm personally fully prepared for the Olympics to not happen next year,” Palermo said.In the meantime, she is launching an initiative through USA Cycling to get more girls involved in the sport.“I think it's important because mountain biking is a very male-dominated sport, and once you get into downhill mountain biking, only 10 percent of the racers are girls,” Palermo said.She remembers her days racing against other top girls in the sport and how they treated one another.“When we raced together, yes, it was a competition, but we were always there to help each other,” Palermo said. “We practiced together to hit the big jumps. I'm helping girls beat me, but we didn't look at it that way.“We were just a bunch of girls riding bikes.”
