January 2026 Athlete of the Month
By Del Moon, NSGA Storyteller
James “Jim” DeGoey, 76
Fitchburg, Wisconsin
Recumbent Cycling
Image courtesy Jim DeGoey.
Recumbent Cycling Time Trials were introduced to the National Senior Games in 2022, providing a way for cyclists with physical limitations a way to compete using specially designed low-profile bikes.
79-year-old Jim DeGoey, a veteran of more than 150 competitive races since he took up cycling in midlife, is grateful to have this alternative pathway after a horrific hit-and-run accident nearly five years ago.
“On an early morning training ride, I was struck by a kid on an electric scooter and thrown over the handlebars. My helmeted head impacted the asphalt trail surface,” Jim recalls. “I suffered fractures in my neck and upper back, along with four fractured ribs. Subsequent spine surgery fused 15 vertebrae that left me with slouched shoulders and an immobile neck, but thankfully, no paralysis. It took almost a year of failed attempts to realize that I would no longer be able to ride my road bike, let alone race my time trial bike.”
The First Pivot: Runner to Cyclist
While Jim enjoyed riding his Schwinn bike as a kid, it was running that captured his imagination at 15. “The first race I ran was a two-mile cross-country race at the boarding school my parents sent me to,” he says. “I broke the school record by a minute and a half, and that ignited me to be a runner.”
Jim made his varsity cross-country and track teams, but says bad coaching turned him off. “The joke at the time was that he was practicing a training method called PTA – pain, torture and agony,” he says with a laugh. “The coach sat under a tree, chain-smoking cigarettes while we were doing hill repeats.” He quit the team and did not try to join any teams while attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
He did, however, continue to run. A lot.
Right to left: Jim DeGoey, Tracy Drews (Jim’s coach), and Paul DeGoey (Jim’s bother). Image courtesy Paul DeGoey.
“I just ran just for exercise, and it got to the point that I was doing 100 miles a week,” he says. After becoming a freelance commercial graphic artist, Jim began competing in local road races. “I had no training. I had no coach. It was just the sheer joy of running.”
Jim only paused his pace to serve five years in the Army and four more as an active reserve. When he settled in Northern Virginia he hit the roads and trails again. “I didn’t compete at all. I was just running for fitness and fun for 20 years,” he explains.
As he approached 50, Jim had to pivot. “I developed a hiatal hernia, and my GP said my running was done and suggested I get on a bike. So I did, and when I went out on the bike trails, I’d get passed by ‘the hammerheads,’ the guys that were going as fast as they can. And I thought I can do that.”
Just like that, a competitive cyclist was born.
Jim initially self-coached and gradually joined a local bike team. Despite not finishing some races and rarely making the podium for a decade, he was determined to keep improving. By 2013, he reached a milestone and won his first cycling race, 50 years after his high school running triumph. Topping the podium fueled Jim to qualify for the 2015 National Senior Games presented by Humana with a goal of eventually winning a national championship.
Then, everything changed again with the crash.
A Life-Altering Setback and Ultimate Victory
Jim was determined to overcome his disability and new challenges. “Because I have a fused neck, I needed help to guide me across road intersections. If I want to look to the left or the right, I have to move my entire body,” he explains. “My regular bike just didn’t work out.”
There are two- and three-wheel recumbent designs, and the trike version turned out to be best for Jim, who quickly found the same joy of movement. “I started training in May 2022, and I’ve already logged 1,166 training sessions and almost 19,000 miles on it. It’s a part of my life.”
Jim lining up for the a Cycling Time Trial at the 2025 National Senior Games presented by Humana. Image courtesy Paul DeGoey.
With help and support from his brother Paul and coach Tracey Drews, Jim finally won his national championship when he captured gold in the Men’s 75-79 10K Recumbent Time Trials at the 2025 National Senior Games presented by Humana in Des Moines. He’s also working on a new goal: to write a book about his experiences.
“It’s titled ‘50 Years Between Victories,’ and it’s basically about how to resume an athlete’s lifestyle later in life,” he says with a hint of excitement.
Jim topping the podium at the 2025 National Senior Games presented by Humana. Image courtesy Jim DeGoey.
“I’m getting my ACE certification as a health coach. I’m a former USA Cycling coach, but I’m not building training plans. The reality is that it is not about reliving the glory years; It’s about finding a new game plan. If you want to reignite your passion for activity, you have to look at it differently than you did in your 20s. You’ve got the opportunity now to use the wisdom of your more advanced age.”
Jim plans to make the free e-book available by mid-2026 and hopes it will help many people in the future. “As an advertising designer, my work may last for a month, and then it disappears,” he observes. “This is a lifelong legacy that I can share with my family, friends and acquaintances. That drives me more than just setting records or winning races.”
