Cycling fans in Utah are familiar with pros such as David Zabriskie, Jeff Louder and Burke Swindlehurst. They're probably even aware that climbing machines like Darren Lill call the state home for several months of the year.
They might not be so familiar with Reid Mumford.
The Cottonwood High and University of Utah grad, though, is also competing in many of the nation's biggest races as a member of the Kelly Benefits Strategies team and just completed the Tour of Utah in a very respectable 43rd place. But Mumford also has something few cyclists can claim — a doctorate in particle physics from Johns Hopkins University. "Well, I don't know of any other Ph.D.'s out there," he joked Saturday after surviving the brutal Stage 4 finish atop Little Cottonwood Canyon. "It's kind of rare, I guess."
Mumford has spent the past few years balancing his career as a pro cyclist with the research that has taken him to laboratories across the country. "It was hard," he said. "After races, my team would be relaxing, watching TV and movies, and I'd be on the laptop writing code and trying to finish up my research."
Which begs the question: What's a guy with a Ph.D. in particle physics from one of the world's top research universities doing racing a bicycle for a living?
"I'm just going to get slower and slower as I get older," Mumford said. "But I'm pretty sure my mind will always be there. So I figure I can do this for a few years while I'm young and see what happens … I have a pretty good fall-back plan, yeah."
Becoming a cyclist took a back seat to academics for a while. An LDS Church mission to the Philippines was followed by a degree in physics from Utah and then admission to Johns Hopkins. It wasn't until then that he got serious about racing bikes. He quickly moved up the scale of cyclists and turned pro a couple of years ago. All while conducting scientific research.
"It was hard to balance," he said. "I was always busy trying to pass quantum mechanics and going to race at nationals at the same time."
Mumford, his wife Jenni and their young son Magnus maintain a home in Salt Lake City but spend most of the spring and summer in a motor home driving to various bike races.
"I'm going to race for a couple more years and see what happens," he said. "But I'm having fun, doing something I love and I'll see where my research might take me from there."