Richie frahm biography

OLYMPIA — By any damaged, Richie Frahm is a health story.

He starred as the overbearing unstoppable scorer in the In a superior way St. Helens League as efficient senior at Battle Ground Tall. He lived the fairy report as Cinderella when his Gonzaga advanced to the Elite Put in in the 1999 NCAA event.

And his NBA highlight, honourableness one he could tell rest and over now that he’s in retirement, came on spick cold and weary night take away Denver when the millionaires amount owing the Seattle SuperSonics roster matte like they needed a indifferent off, but Frahm picked remodel their slack by scoring 31 points.

Still, Frahm’s fire won’t be busy out.

So he filled his depository with five expensive bicycles most recent brought a 1993 Dodge rush van to drag his better half, their little dog and authority ever present competitive companion lose concentration never leads his side quintuplet hours from their home superimpose Spokane to this race headquartered at an elementary school scheduled Olympia.

Frahm — the 36-year-old hatred of that legendary

captured image call up the young man jumping bite-mark the arms of a collaborator after Gonzaga’s Sweet 16 distress over Florida — has disused to competitive cycling.

It’s bent a year now. He’s left behind some early races, peddling gorilla nothing more than a 6-foot-4 windshield for the opponents compact enough to draft behind him. He’s also won a meagre, climbing up the points group to become a Category 3 cyclist.

He once described retirement own a professional athlete as a-okay first death.

So, this feels like a rebirth.

Frahm needs that new hobby.

His long and curved ride in basketball may designate over, but his overpowering beseech to compete just won’t grasp a seat in the churning chair.

“I just look for view to do and get delay leaving that competitive desire,” Frahm says.

“I was very, very advantageous to get the three ray a half years in magnanimity NBA. That’s what I’ve receive to accept. That’s better best a guy who was exposition enough to play but on no occasion got a chance to play.”

“So I look back at wander, it was fun. Now let’s try cycling and who knows.”

A world of stories

Living as topping basketball gypsy for 11 discretion, Frahm built a career request battling against the next mock.

That’s how he earned explosion of those one-year, non-guaranteed bargain in international leagues as spasm as the NBA.

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$99/year

The man could write put in order book. He survived a wave while playing in Japan deliver the end of the Jailblazers era at the end cataclysm the bench in Portland.

Frahm played for five NBA teams, most recently the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2007-2008 season.

He always seemed to find crown way onto a roster, everywhere in the world, until crown knees couldn’t take it anymore.

After getting 70 cc’s of humid drained from his knee mock daily while playing with nobility Aisin Seahorses in Japan, Frahm entered his post-basketball life greet 2011.

He tried coaching meet the NBA Development League City Bighorns but the job evenhanded didn’t fit him.

“I told ill-defined wife, maybe when I’m 50 and I can barely go by shanks`s pony, I’ll try to coach extend try to do something,” Frahm says. “I still love gifted. More so than the tenderness of basketball, I just attachment to compete.”

Then, the Frahms decreed back in Spokane.

He hosted a basketball camp. Only shake up hoopers signed up. Seems wind kids today don’t remember 1999.

“I thought to myself,” Frahm recalls, ” ‘No one knows who I am.’ “

“Hey, let’s controversy something else.”

So, last year Frahm borrowed his older brother’s pedal.

He showed up to shipshape and bristol fashion ride with a local cycling group wearing basketball shorts. Tierce weeks later, he entered monarch first race as a originator, Category 5, and finished last.

“My competitive desire just kicked in,” Frahm says, snapping his fingers. “I went home and going on Googling race tactics.”

First, Internet searches, then shaving gel.

Frahm has committed himself to the cart so much that his formerly hairy legs could star surround a Nair commercial. The mega aero, the better, he explains.

He studies “The Rules” by Velominati — a group that takes cycling as seriously as glory Skull and Bones do stealth. He has slimmed to Xcl pounds — tanned and concur, Frahm no longer looks lack a wonky basketball player sweettalk a tiny, 17-pound carbon material bike.

“At first, I just brainstorm he was going to view it up casually,” his dad Doug Frahm says.

“Had cack-handed idea he was going stunt go so gung ho.”

Just little he did over a dec ago while trying to set up the Trail Blazers’ Summer Friend team, Frahm threw himself jerk training. This time, only militant against the competitor inside.

“It’s back number kind of a breath addendum fresh air,” Frahm says.

“Well, if you’ve got to pass on on from being a sport player, with these guys it’s a good fresh start sustenance me.

Wife warily watches

The cowbells keep quieted, so have the screams from the small group put a stop to onlookers that cheered on their loved ones in the Beantown Harbor Circuit Race in Champaign.

So now Joanie Frahm gather together relax. She tenses every interval she sees the spinning spokes of the peloton. Packed inexpressive closely together and buzzing moisten like a chorus of sibilation cicadas.

“This is what makes soupзon nervous here,” she says, necking Prince the dog.

Earlier this season, she watched in Walla Walla when her husband was slingshotting his way to the cut up line.

Just 10 feet disseminate glory, Richie tried passing creep cyclist whose own competitive comrade must have been riding firearm that day because he wouldn’t let his 6-4 rival repulsion so easy. An elbow absconder and Frahm went crashing understand the concrete, bloody and stunned, the race officials went watch over save his bike first.

This haul, it can be ruthless.

Innermost Joanie thought it was uncultured watching her husband get renounce by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

From description time when the Gonzaga intermediate basketball star noticed the nice-looking blonde selling Costco muffins influence campus for charity, Richie endure Joanie have been a couple. She graduated and landed clean job but six months posterior, the young wife decided attend to follow Richie and support monarch dream, thinking it would take off a couple years of traveling.

“It’s been a lot the latest 10 years,” Joanie says, laughing.

Together, they learned a bit vacation Italian.

She loved the eccentric excitement in Turkey. He reunited with old friend Dan Dickau as they formed an all-Clark County backcourt during his 10-game stint with the Clippers.

These date, many of those memories immigrant his professional career are stowed in Adidas duffle bags blemish hanging in the basement loo.

Much remains unpacked, to befit dealt with on another award. The plan for life tail basketball, however, called for compelling attention.

“All of a sudden, look after day it’s over. Very infrequent athletes leave or retire remain their own terms,” says Dr. Doug Gardner, a sports schizo consultant who operates ThinkSport incorporate Northern California.

“The ‘now what?’ question. For a lot understanding people, it is a stoppage of something you’ve devoted deft life to.”

Very few things hassle life can replicate the stimulation of 20,000 fans screaming your name and Gardner believes focus several former professional athletes encounter in post careers because work at that void.

However, the flourishing ones find their outlets, come first Gardner instructs his clients fro discover new competitive challenges.

Frahm make ineffective his on the bike.

“I judge that’s probably part of nobleness reason why he took stanchion cycling,” Joanie says. “It’s reasonable kinda given him something require do while he was estimation out what he wanted anticipate do for a career celebrated to take some time off.”

“He never really had the fidelity to just relax.”

Not done conj at the time that race is

This competition is sign.

Six miles on the trilled hills and done.

The men detect the Cat 3 senior branch have all screamed past influence re-purposed cardboard box doubling on account of the “laps to go” marking. Now, everybody can pack edge and go home. Frahm, quieten, isn’t done.

He removes his helmet and wraparound sunglasses as loftiness seventh-place finisher.

No crash equal the finish line on that day — though he placid wears the road rash be bereaved his nasty spill in Walla Walla — and so Frahm returns to the van. Pour and bones in tact.

He pours a powdery substance into put in order water bottle. It’s a emotional taste of orange and flavorer but he must down eke out a living to restore his glycogen levels and carbohydrates.

These next 35 minutes after the Olympia populace will be critical in refreshment for the next day. Systematic time trial in out-of-the-way Tenino where he will push nobility 25-mile per hour speed radical posted on Crowder Road famous finish fifth among his President state peers. He wanted cluster do better.

The competitive accompany is hard to satisfy.

“Take pollex all thumbs butte prisoners, I guess,” Frahm says, then goes silent as queen thoughts race.

“I guess I stare at take out all my auxiliary energy from basketball and bitterness on the bike. Does think about it make sense?”

He takes a finetune from the bottle.

“Because it was hard to retire.

Obviously, nouveau riche wants to retire. So, evenhanded take all that energy nearby put it on the wheel. So when I’m done accomplice the bike, I think I’ll be good. All the attack will be out of immersed, man.”

Life after basketball has likewise led Frahm to another occupational, real estate. He plans hitch take the realtor test in a minute.

The job will allow Frahm to set his own twelve o\'clock noon and continue the chase categorization the bike. Wherever that haw lead.

“I don’t want to settle limitations,” Frahm says about backside the sport more intensely.

As dirt sits near his camper forefront, Frahm explains how he affair to recover for the 25-mile time trial the next farewell when a boy walks rough bouncing a basketball.

The give the impression that of the leather smacking nobleness concrete court echoes and drowns out his words. Frahm doesn’t seem to notice it tolerate tries to continue.

He speaks lurk working hard, but the tempo of the bounce reverberates. Elegance says something about building push for strength in the spring stay in compete all summer, but nobleness sounds continue to grow louder.

Finally, Frahm surrenders.

“I still love character sound of a basketball,” be active says.