While simultaneously working as the paraprofessional in the Colorado College Physics Dept. and being in the resident training program at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs as a member of the US Olympic Development Team, Lennard builds his first frame, for Sonny, whom he would marry two years later. In May, when his team-issued bike shimmies dangerously on the descents toward Silverton in the Iron Horse Classic race where he is the defending champion and course record holder, Lennard decides to use the knowledge he gained working on his senior seminar on bicycle stability for his physics degree to build his own bikes that won’t shimmy. That summer, Lennard races some 9-day international stage races: the Coors International Bike Classic in Colorado and the Tour of Ireland. In Ireland, he tears his gastrocnemius muscle and cannot ride for an extended period. He moves to Northern California and works for Tom Ritchey, building Ritchey mountain bike frames–the world’s first production mountain bikes.
