Juan Carlos Tarango
Age: 41
Resides in:Tempe
Family: Single
Occupation: Injury Prevention and Community Outreach Coordinator, Phoenix Children's Hospital. Prior to Phoenix Children's I led bicycle and hiking Tours in Spain and Portugal for 9 years.
Sport: Cycling
Hobbies/Interests: Travel, Languages, Politics
Sponsors: Phoenix Consumer Cycling Club
Competing in your sport since: 1987
How did you get into the sport? I started cycling with a friend shortly after coming to ASU.  I started slowly but within a short time we began planning a cycle touring adventure that would take us from Arizona to the Canadian border. After the trip, I was hooked and quite fit so I joined the ASU cycling team and have been riding and racing since.
Other sports: I do a little bit of running and have done a couple of half marathons.
On blending your career and passion for cycling:I am responsible for several programs directly related to my sport. I educate families and patients on helmet and bicycle safety both in the hospital and the community. I coordinate the Safe Routes to School program in 3 Creighton District schools. And I am a coordinator for Kids Rock Stars program in Central Phoenix, an obesity prevention program that encourages kids to run and walk a marathon.  It was a privilege to travel, cycle, and experience different cultures. I had great access to the Tour de France, the Giro d' Italia and the Vuelta a España. My career fits perfectly with my passions: cycling, physical activity and working with children. What keeps you motivated? I would say that I just love cycling and it does not hurt to have a great group of friends to ride with.
Who inspires you most? Greg Lemond and Miguel Indurain. Lemond's 1989 tour victory was the most impressive tour we have witnessed in recent history and I had the honor to race with Lemond. Miguel Indurain's 5 consecutive victories in the Tour de France were an amazing feat and the fact that I got to see him winning his 5th tour on the slopes of the le Alpe d'Huez and Champs Elysees in Paris is something I will always treasure.
Love most about your sport: I really love the places that my bike has taken me. From Europe to Machu Pichu  the bike has been the best way to see and experience the world.
Accomplishments: I have always said that my greatest accomplishment is to have raced with Greg Lemond and having a photo of him sucking my wheel to prove it!
Do you have a coach or trainer? Yes, Eddy Merckx and his training plan is: ride lots.
Weekly Training: Not as much as I would like lately. Long rides on the weekends with 2-3 rides during the week. I try to hit the gym 3 times a week and try to commute to work as often as possible.
Future fitness goals: To be a competitive Master's racer
Proudest life moment: Still to come
Favorite event: Tour of the Gila
Most memorable competing moment: Racing with Greg Lemond
Funniest moment: Too many to write from my experiences while leading tours in Europe with a crazy Spaniard as my co-leader.
Can’t live without equipment: a bike
Favorite quote: I don't care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.
If you could go to dinner with anyone: Stephen Colbert, I think we could have a blast making fun of our political establishment.
Book you are reading: For Whom the Bell Tolls - Hemingway
Favorite movie: Cinema Paradiso
Best advice received: Overtraining can be just as bad as lack of training.
Advice for others to keep motivated. If it does not kill you, it makes you stronger!
Must have nutrition: Anything with peanut butter.

—by Sue Berliner