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| PEDAL PUSHER: Doug Clark has cycled his way to the top of his sport. photography by Elizabeth Lavin |
MY PASSION
It started as a cure for boredom: Doug Clark, then unwinding a start-up company, began taking spin classes 12 years ago to fill his free afternoons. That quickly became a fun way to get in shape, as Clark dropped more than 30 pounds over the course of two years. Soon, he got the urge to take off his training wheels and hit the pavement, competing in ultramarathons up to 620 miles in length. But it was on the Superdrome track in Frisco where he really fell in love with cycling. “The competition and the camaraderie in a track event is just unbelievable,” says Clark, co-founder and COO of Compliance Depot, a web-based vendor compliance company headquartered in Plano. Three years ago, Clark’s coach convinced him to trade long distance for short sprints—200- and 500-meter races—and he has consistently placed near the top at state and national competitions and in the top 10 at world competitions ever since. This October, he’ll travel to Sydney, Australia, to compete at the global level once again. And with 70- and 80-plus age brackets, the 55-year-old peddler is in no hurry to retire. “I’m going to do this until I can’t pick my leg up and put it on the bike,” he says.
