Last fall, Solon set a record for a solo rider traversing from Mexico City to Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, Canada (18 days), then back again (18.5 days after a three-day rest in Ottawa). It was the most recent success for Solon, who left his position as an Assistant U.S. Attorney based in San Francisco 14 years ago to dedicate himself to the sport he loves: long-distance cycling.
“I’ve always known I wanted to be a professional athlete,” says Solon, 59, who played baseball, basketball and football though his childhood and college years before being introduced to triathlons in the mid-1980s. “I wasn’t good enough to be a professional triathlete due to the swimming leg, but I was great on the bike,” he says. He eventually decided to focus only on that discipline. Success followed.
After a long string of victories and new records, including the one set last November, Solon has set his sights on setting a new record for the distance biked in an hour on the track. He’ll make his attempt at the Olympic Training Center in Mexico City later this year. “The hour record is the most prestigious record in the sport of cycling,” says Solon.
Of course, a prize of this magnitude can’t be obtained without support. Solon is quick to acknowledge all the businesses that have sponsored him with funding, products and services, including Smothers European and Wraps in Motion in Santa Rosa and Sebastopol’s West County Cycle Service.
