2008 U.S. Armed Forces Cycling Team

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Sean Coleman

DOB: 23 Jan 1967
Current residence: Land O Lakes, Florida
Hometown: North Hampton, New Hampshire
Cycling strengths: Time trialing and long breakaways
Current military job: Aviation Electronics Technician. HH-60J night shift supervisor at Air Station Clearwater, Florida

Why did you join the military? I grew up in New England next to a Coast Guard station and worked on a fishing vessel for a year after high school. I would often see the Coast Guard helicopters fly over when I was at sea and felt that the Coast Guard would make for an exciting career.

Previous sports: Volleyball and Surfing

How did you get started in cycling: When I was younger I had a summer job in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire and I used to ride my bike back and forth to work every day. At first, I didn’t like it. But, over time I began to like it and would try to ride faster than everyone riding their bicycles up and down the coastline. I eventually began to wait for riders to go by just so I could go chase them though most of the time they would see me coming and take off before I could catch them. My first experiences of getting dropped!

Most memorable race and/or experience in cycling: When I won the Perry-Roubaix stage race in Georgia in 2007. The race had two professional teams, Jittery Joes and AEG Aerospace, with each team having had a couple of riders in the race. I was in fifth place overall after two previous stages and needed only 44 seconds to take the overall win. During the last stage in the road race I took a gamble at 35 miles in to the 96 mile race and slipped away over a bridge. I then had to ride across a four minute time gap to the four leaders. Upon reaching the four leaders there was an attack going up the climb and I bridged to a solo rider who had rolled off. I worked with the other rider to conserve my time advantage and won the overall stage race after the 60 mile break away.

Most memorable experience in the military: The time our crew flamed out a HH-3F engine off the coast of Haiti at 4:00 am in the morning. It looked like we would all be going swimming due to the extra weight from a large fuel load we had on board at the time. But, the pilot thankfully recovered the aircraft at less than 100 ft. after losing 250 ft. We made it safely back to our base in the Bahamas on one engine which later failed due to an over torque from that flight.

Top cycling results:
1st place Perry-Roubaix Stage Race - Pro/1/2, 2007
2nd place Deland Road Race – Pro/1/2, 2007
2nd place Perry-Roubaix Road Race – Pro/1/2, 2007
Florida State Road Race Champion – Pro/1/2, 2006
5th place Florida Cup Series overall standings Pro/1/2, 2006
5th place Florida State Time Trial – Pro/1/2, 2006
2nd place Jacksonville Finals – Cat 1-3 and 35+, 45+, 2004
3rd place Leo F Rehm Road Race – Pro/1/2, 2004
3rd place Florida points series overall standings – 35+, 2004
2nd place Georgia State Road Race – 35+, 2003