Andrew Giniat was on his bike nearing the end of a cycling race. The cyclists, including Giniat, were amping up their speed to get ready for the big finish. Giniat was exhausted but as the crowds began to edge onto the course, he and his competitors sped intensively, as if mirroring the crowd’s excitement. The cyclists kept going faster and faster around each lap. Teammates and even strangers shouted Giniat’s name.

This is the sport that Giniat loves. When he’s on that bike, feeding off of the crowd’s energy, he feels free and amazing. He feels as if he can’t let down all those people cheering him on and so he peddles harder, he works his muscles harder and enjoys the thrill of the moment.

When Giniat, a DePaul junior, was in high school he never thought he would be a category one cyclist, one of the top categories in the sports where he is competing against professional racers. He first became exposed to cycling with the help of a friend, who rode recreationally with his father. At first, Giniat was not really into it and although he did track racing for a while, he never thought about going professional.

It wasn’t until Giniat started working at a bike shop where his co-worker encouraged him to start riding with him more often.

“At that time, I was riding my bike to work just as a means of transportation,” Giniat said. “I liked riding bikes but not really using them for a sport per se.”

His friend encouraged him to ride more recreationally and Giniat really enjoyed it. Giniat’s friend eventually encouraged Giniat to go on to do his first race close to four years ago in a discipline called Cyclocross.

Cyclocross is a sport that takes place in the fall and is considered to be an off-road event where cyclists race off the road and can encounter grass, dirt, mud, pavement and much more. Cyclocross, which is a popular sport in Chicago, was a great preparation for Giniat and his current interest in road cycling.

Giniat takes part in two types of racing — road racing in criterium racing. Criterium racing is a short circuit on a course that is about a mile in length, lasting anywhere from one hour to two hours. Road racing takes place in a much bigger circuit and often times on mountainous terrain. Road races are usually anywhere from 75 to 125 miles long and last anywhere between 4 to 5 hours.

Today, his love of the sport has taken him to various races across the country and, although demanding, cycling makes him feel alive and free.

When Giniat is riding his bike, he is mentally focused at all times. His focus in cycling during races allows other things in his life to fade into the background. During that moment in time, all he feels is the wind maneuvering past him, his leg muscles working with every peddle maneuver and the sensation of speed as he peddles powerfully to try to get past competitors.

“I definitely feel free, and I feel strong,” Giniat said. “I feel every muscle engaging in firing to propel me forward and that’s also a really good feeling. I feel very efficient and alive.”

Giniat’s favorite thing about being a cyclist is the process, which includes everything that happens outside of racing, such as the training, the regimentation and everything that has to do with bikes themselves.

All the preparation done by Giniat is in pursuit of being as fast as possible when racing.

“The racing itself is very fun and it’s hard to distill down specifically what I like most about that, maybe it’s the challenge of (it being) very physically demanding, as well as intellectually demanding,” Giniat said.

Giniat explained that cycling professionally is intellectually demanding because a person always has to be thinking about a strategy when they are racing. Racers have to keep in mind where to position themselves at such high speeds, the speed they should be going in a specific time in the race and much more.

When Giniat is racing, he is always trying to ride as fast as he can while using the least amount of energy and that sometimes is easier when he is behind his competitors. Still, there has to be a winner and when Giniat is going to be that winner, he is usually peddling a little harder than the rest of his competitors since being in front of the pack means the wind is pushing against him the hardest.

“(Racing) requires a lot of self-awareness and it also requires a lot of will-power to be able to push yourself as hard as you need to sometimes,” Giniat said.

To be an efficient racer Giniat trains 3 to 4 days a week, totaling 10 to 15 hours of exercise per week. He is always pushing his body to increase his fitness level overall, his flexibility and core strength. Giniat says he every year he grows more and more committed.

However, sometimes his commitment makes balancing school, a social life, cycling and even sleep challenging. For the most part he balances his life and, no matter what, he makes sure to get enough sleep and to make time for personal relationships. It has also been a challenge to figure out what strategies work best for him as a cyclist.

“I’m very demanding of myself, I’m very impatient and I’m very driven and I want to do well now,” Giniat said.

Giniat’s drive was what got him appointed as a category one racer back in March and although his hard work has a lot to do with why he was selected, he says that his team has also been instrumental to his success.

Dustin Morici, founder of the cycling team Ego presented by Sammys Bikes, is a great mentor of Giniat. Giniat joined the team a few years ago after Morici’s manager saw Giniat’s good results. Giniat gained a lot as a cyclist when he joined the team as the people in it were experienced racers, including Morici.

“We’ve had him since he was in (category) three and now he’s racing at the top category against professional racers,” Morici said. Giniat is always eager to learn as much as he can even with so much success. He absorbs information, which has gone a long way in helping Morici and the team mentor him.

Outside of Giniat’s competitive sport, he is also part of the DePaul Cycling Club.

He really likes having a place at school where there are people that relate to his cycling passion and he likes being in a club where he can compete in collegiate races with his friends, train with them and just work out in the Ray Meyer Fitness and Recreation Center. It was in DePaul’s cycling club that he found mentors, too.

Anthony Ott, DePaul alumnus and previous president of the DePaul Cycling Club, has also been a great mentor and friend of Giniat.

Ott sees Giniat as a natural leader who makes great tasting and nutritious meals for his friends, and has a knowledge of coffee that is sure to impress most coffee aficionados.

“He inspires his peers with his hard work ethic. That same work ethic has led to his many successes so far this season,” Ott said. “I expect he will continue to have a stellar year.”

Giniat agrees he has been having a good year and is eager to see where the future takes him. In the next five years, Giniat sees himself still racing and becoming better at his expertise.

“It’s definitely my hope that I will be on a professional team racing with a group of individuals who all share the same passion as I do and are willing to do the work to have gotten to where they are,” Giniat said. “It’s my hope I’ll be racing at the top level in the U.S. and overseas as well as doing events like the tour of California and other high-level events.”

Giniat has the opportunity to race in China this September. Although he is not sure whether he is going yet, he is looking forward to all abroad opportunities now that he is racing at one of the top levels in the U.S. As of now, his bike and eyes are on the Tour of California.