Home » Top Stories » Road »

Gerlach's struggle with drugs featured on A&E

Published: Jun. 12, 2008

Former American pro road racer Chad Gerlach, once a promising U.S. Postal Service rider who became homeless and addicted to drugs, will be featured on episode of A&E’s “Intervention” next week.

Gerlach rode professionally for Montgomery-Bell in 1995, U.S. Postal Service in 1996, Navigators Insurance in 1997, Oilme-Klein in 1998 and Sierra Nevada in 2002. Gerlach never raced a grand tour, but won a sprint stage at the 1996 Kent Tour of China and two stages of the 1998 Tour de Langkawi.

Chronic back pain contributed to Gerlach’s addiction to painkillers, which eventually led to abuse of narcotics and a life on the streets.

Gerlach, who turns 35 this year, is quoted on the High Sierra Cycle Center's web site, a cycling biomechanical specialist, as saying, “At the age of 20, I was thinking of quitting cycling. My lower back and hips were killing me and it was too painful to ride.”

“Intervention” is a series that profiles those people whose dependence on drugs and alcohol or other compulsive behavior has brought them to a point of personal crisis and estranged them from their friends and loved ones. Each Intervention episode ends with a surprise intervention that is staged by the family and friends of the alcohol of drug addict.

A&E’s episode listing describes Gerlach’s troubled path: “After a troubled childhood that sent him to juvenile hall for felony arson, Chad's father introduced him to cycling at age 15. Chad went pro and cycled on the same team as Lance Armstrong. But after getting kicked off the team for ‘personality conflicts,’ Chad was crushed and turned to drugs. Now homeless, Chad spends his days panhandling, smoking crack and drinking. His family's many efforts to get him off the streets have failed. Their last hope is an intervention.”

The show will air Monday, June 16, at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.