Lister has been a cyclist since he was 14 and first raced in novice events leading up to the 1973 Ontario Games. A native of St. Catharines, ON, he is a product of a supportive cycling network of family, club, and coach, Colin Hearth, that produced a disproportionate number of international medallists.  In fact, it was Lister’s Dad who gave Steve Bauer a lift to his first bike race in the family van bought specifically to transport Lister and his brother to events. The St. Catharine’s Cycling Club continues to influence Lister’s approach to cycling.

A graduate of McMaster University (BPE) for the theoretical side, Lister has several National Championship track medals as a member of the Ontario team, including a national championship in team pursuit. He raced Cat 1 until 1988 – highlights being two top-15 results in the Ontario Road Championships – when a back injury educated him to the importance of flexibility in endurance sport. That lesson allows him to continue to compete in cyclocross and road, usually with his kids, club mates and coached athletes.

Coaching has been a part of his cycling life since his early cycling days; St. Catharines CC teammate Steve Bauer thanked him in his book for showing him a few key things when he was starting out.

Lister works as a consultant to sport organizations, compiling research and writing for organizations including 2010 Legacies Now, the Canada Games Society, the Province of Nova Scotia, and various National Sport Organization’s Long Term Athlete Development models (snowboard and diving). Prior to his consulting business, he worked as the Technical Director for the Canadian Cycling Association and Program Coordinator for the Ontario Cycling Association.

His approach to coaching is analytical, planned, and careful, but also powered by insights into race situations and mental strategies that can turn a difficult race moment into an empowering opportunity. He shares the approach of his first club that group rides are a supportive way to train together that result in making everyone stronger.  This approach is well illustrated during Tripleshot Cycling Club rides where stronger riders do longer pulls on the front and everyone regroups after hills and sprints.

He recommends a biomechanical assessment at the beginning of a program with physiotherapist Barb Bialokoz. This assessment will not only check for muscle tightness or weakness that should be addressed early in training, but is the basis for a identifying a comfortable, powerful and aerodynamic position on the bike.

TriStars Training members can expect lots of variety in training rides to reproduce group or race situations for skills and tactics, strategically planned into a program to build on what you have already done, and always aimed at achieving that peak performance, while keeping you healthy.

Some of Lister’s accomplishments:

• Developed NCCP courses and materials while working at the Canadian Cycling Association
• Served as an NCI-BC Master Coach
• Ontario Provincial Junior Coach (including the Tour de L’Abitibi)
• Ottawa Bicycle Club Women’s Team Coach (two riders selected to the national team to the Tour de France)
• Cycling instructor with Camosun College’s Health and Wellness program
• Currently the Victoria-based Tripleshot Cycling Club Junior Coach and Oak Bay High School Cycling Club Coach