Beyond the Classroom: Dr. Reardon Rides the Rockies
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Beginning at the young age of 7, the competitive spirit that defines the hobbies of Dr. Ken Reardon was cultivated in the swimming competitions of his childhood. Today, Dr. Reardon is still an avid swimmer, and now an accomplished cyclist.
With a competitive swimming background, it is no surprise that in addition to normal pool races Dr. Reardon has participated in ocean water swims in the Pacific Ocean, near Los Angeles, as well as our local Horsetooth 10K swim. Without the help of a wetsuit, he swam over 6 miles in 65-70F water to complete the reservoir race three years in a row. He trains several times each week with the Team Vortex Swim Club.
Unlike his extensive swimming career, Dr. Reardon's cycling career was fostered in his daily biking commutes to CSU. His cycling career began with his participation in Ride the Rockies, an annual 6-7 day tour in which riders average 60-65 miles per day through the Rocky Mountains, as well as the Triple Bypass, a 120-mile ride beginning in Evergreen and touring over Squaw (11,140 ft.), Loveland (11,990 ft.), Swan Mountain and Vail passes (10,560 ft.), ending in Avon and including over 10,000 ft. of elevation gain. Apparently needing a bit more of a challenge, he tried a few road bike races in the summer of 2003 and was hooked. For the past two years, he has raced for Team Rio Grande, a cycling team sponsored by the Rio Grande Restaurant. Each season, he has competed in 15-20 road, criterium, and time trial races from 10-80 miles long. This has not only given Dr. Reardon a much deeper appreciation for the accomplishments of Tour de France racers but has also provided motivation to train on his travels (especially his recent sabbatical stays in Germany and England).
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In addition to his extracurricular activities, Dr. Reardon has been a member of the CSU faculty since 1988 where he has developed research programs in four areas, primarily centered on the environment and the processes and products that can purify our air, water, and soil. Furthermore, Dr. Reardon will be serving as the principal investigator on his new NSF project, "SST: Biosensor arrays based on DNA shuffling and chemometrics for measurement of chlorinated solvent mixtures." His approved funding will total $719,270 over the next three years!
Between classes and research, it is amazing that Dr. Reardon has the time to devote to the type of preparation necessary to compete both in the water and on the road, and, and if his schedule does not seem full enough, he has even found the time to remodel his passive solar home and work on his xeric landscaping!