Meredith Nielsen

Specialties: Road Racing, Century Speed, General Fitness.

Home: Berkeley, California

Client levels accepted: Individual, SemiCustom, Custom, Consultation

Available to take on all levels of athletes both racing and non-racing.

Available for seminars, camps, clinics, and team direction on a contractual basis.

Meredith Nielsen excels in coaching beginning racers and endurance athletes, with a strong interest and emphasis on building the solid skill set required for road, criterium, and time trial events as well as centuries and general fitness.

Meredith is a Level 2 USA Cycling certified coach and is the head instructor of a popular Bay Area Beginning Bike Skills clinic that has been running for more than 15 years. The class covers many skills including basic handling, pedaling, braking, cornering and descending techniques as well as beginning paceline practice. She especially enjoys the opportunity to work one on one with clients who want to focus on and improve specific skills such as descending, sprinting and cornering.

Meredith has been an active ‘Winner Within’ mentor for the Northern California/Nevada Racing Association, riding alongside Category 4 (beginning) Women in their first races, observing and encouraging them and briefing afterward in a ‘what worked/didn’t work’ session. Meredith has also worked with cycling clients at their workplaces, teaching bike skills, leading lunchtime rides and encouraging companies to make cycling to work easier and more convenient for their employees.

As a rider who began racing when she was 43, Meredith is familiar with the many challenges of learning to become a better rider and racer while balancing a full life. Now after 13 years as a cyclist and racer, she has the experience and expertise to help others get the most from their cycling. Whether it is learning the basic skills that are necessary for road racing, century riding or riding for fitness, or honing those skills to become a faster rider/racer, Meredith can help you reach your potential.

Meredith's own racing has been highlighted by a #3 national ranking in Masters 45-49 Criterium and a silver medal in the District Criterium Championship in 2004. Though criterium racing has been her favorite, she has raced in nearly all of the road, criterium and time trial events in the NCNCA region, and completed all but one of at least 120 races from 1999-2006.

After retiring from active road racing, Meredith returned to training for endurance events, including earning a California Triple Crown (completing at least 3 double centuries in a year). She has also completed most of the classic endurance events in Northern California (centuries and doubles including the Death Ride, Terrible Two, Mt. Tam Double etc.), and continues to enjoy doing these rides.

As the Vice President and the first woman to be named a Lifetime Member of the Berkeley Bicycle Club, Meredith has given back to the cycling community by promoting many of the club's road racing events for over 10 years. She is also a member of the grass roots East Bay Bicycle Coalition, whose mission is to promote and encourage cycling as a means of transportation and recreation.

Meredith has always appreciated how participation in sports can help one learn about themselves as an athlete and a person. Her hands-on approach and genuine enthusiasm for the art and sport of cycling have helped her clients reach and exceed their goals.

Meredith graduated from Colorado State University with a Bachelor of Science in Wildlife Biology, and remembers how exciting it was to watch the Red Zinger/Coors Classic Bike Races in nearby Boulder. She is a native of the Bay Area, and currently lives in Berkeley. She and her partner Hal Danielsen have bike toured throughout California, including self-supported rides from their Berkeley home to LA, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. Meredith and Hal have also owned and operated a landscape design and maintenance practice for 30 years. When she is not on her bike, Meredith enjoys cooking, hiking and backpacking and studying native plants.  

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"...And if you didn't already know, I'd like to tell you what a great coach Meredith is. I have grown so much as a cyclist, and as a person having known her.  Thank you, ~ L. Trublood

"I met Meredith at the Early Bird cycling series in 2010, and again in 2011.  I was 38, and new to road racing, and Meredith took extra time to demonstrate and teach me safe bike handling techniques including turning skills and how to safely maneuver into a better position in a pack.  She was extremely approachable and patient as she encouraged me to transform my strength into solid riding and confidence in a peloton.  I took Meredith's coaching tips and encouragement and started racing in 2011, placing in the top 10 in my first two Criteriums.  She is an inspiration to all riders, both men and women, and a terrific mentor." ~ Laura Thompson, Taleo Racing Team

"Meredith Nielsen’s coaching was a great help to me as I prepared for my first century ride.  She is very knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and explains things clearly.  She has an excellent ability to relate to the problems and concerns of cyclists at all stages of development. Meredith was able to motivate me to do more than I thought I could, and I highly recommend her to anyone who wants to achieve a higher skill level in bicycling." ~  Laurie Kunit

"We are a lunch-time riding group that was looking to take our cycling to the next level.  Meredith put together a program that taught us some basic riding skills such as hand positions, emergency braking and individual leg training.  We progressed to turning techniques, emergency maneuvers and climbing.  We finished the series with a group ride where we put these skills together and learned some basic pace line techniques.  The group is now able to ride much more closely packed, and consequently much faster.  Personally, I have used the skills learned many times, including some of the emergency handling techniques and have increased my endurance dramatically.  We are looking forward to more sessions this year." ~ Scott Robertson