The Complete Book of Cyclocross, Skill Training & Racing

Scott Mares was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and started racing his bicycle when he was in high school.  Scott was an active racer in the community throughout his junior years.  Scott attended New Mexico Military Institute and graduated with a Liberal Arts degree and went on to the University of Oklahoma to earn a BS in Health and Sports Sciences with a minor in Microbiology.  While attending the University of Oklahoma, Scott was working in the Pulmonary Function Blood Gas Lab at University Hospital.  During this time, he became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.  He also was a cyclocross athlete at the Olympic Training Center in 1994, and in 1996 he completed an internship for the USOC during the Atlanta Games Super Camp. It was at this time that Scott graduated and moved became part of the cycling community in Colorado Springs.

After racing cross in Colorado, he put together local clinics for his cycling buddies in cyclocross and the word got out about his skill drills.  Scott then received a call from his buddy Jim Copeland to come and help out at the first ACA Jr. Cyclocross camp in Deckers, Colorado.  Jim asked Scott to come and coach, but at the time, he focused only on teaching skill.  Jim Copeland told him, “That’s perfect!”  Scott showed up to camp that morning and Jim informed Scott that he was in charge.  At the time of publication of this book Scott has been the head cyclocross camp coach for 9 straight years.  The cyclocross camps were free to kids and started out with 50 juniors.  By 2007, there were over 140 kids, making it the largest junior cyclocross camp in the world.

In 1999, Scott was having coffee with his coach and wanted a Titanium cyclocross bike.  His coach told him that he had an athlete in the Moscow Embassy that knew where the factory was.  This meeting eventually spawned the beginning of SIBEX Sports, a titanium bike components supplier here in the United States.