She has mettle on the pedal

As a high school teacher, Kerry Litka isn't advocating peer pressure. Then again, she probably wouldn't have her other full-time job if it hadn't been for a desire to be like the ``cool kids."

Sports were the bane of Litka's existence growing up, and she experienced far more failures on the field of play than successes. Undeterred, a tireless work ethic molded Litka into an athlete, and today she is both a professional cyclist and a rising track & field star.

``I hated sports," explained 29-year-old Litka, moments after finishing a 69-mile course that looped several times around Mount Wachusett in Princeton before finishing at its summit as part of the 47th annual Fitchburg-Longsjo Classic cycling stage race last Saturday.

``I was always more interested in theater or music, but all my friends and all the cool kids played sports. It all sort of blows my mind now, because I really stunk at sports."

She has the e-mail to prove it, too. On her website, Litka recently posted an e-mail from her mother joking about how she couldn't complete even a single lap around the track at Masconomet Regional as an elementary school student.

The former Nashua resident proudly reports that she is now the reigning USA Track & Field New England indoor 5,000-meter champion, having won the event in a time of 18 minutes, 22.51 seconds last winter.

Standing 4 feet 11 inches, Litka may not look the part of a championship runner or cyclist, but her drive to succeed is unmatched. It is part of the reason she was brought aboard the professional team Terry Precision by the team's founder and chief executive officer, Georgena Terry.

``Kerry is a powerhouse in more ways than one," said Terry, who makes women's bikes, including the ones modified for Litka's height. ``She's enthusiastic, personable, and one heck of a competitor. . . . No holding back in that girl . She's a great role model for everyone."

Litka concedes that everything from softball to field hockey to candlepin bowling was a struggle for her as a kid. Still, she resolved to find something she was good at.

It wasn't track. While she ran for four years at Winnacunnet High School in New Hampton, N.H., where she still lives, Litka admits she was never one of the school's top competitors.

In fact, she planned to leave the sport behind when she enrolled at Keene State College in 1994 and joined the rugby club to stoke her competitive flame.

When injuries beset the school's track team, she was recruited by friends who knew of her running experience and she obliged.

``I still wasn't a great runner in college, but I got serious about it after I graduated and at the same time I got injured," said Litka, who was diagnosed with sciatica, or pain in the back, hip, and outside of the leg caused by compression of the sciatic nerve.

``I was told to stop running, but I had a mountain bike so I started riding it. I bought a road bike soon after and decided I wanted to try racing."

Immersed in the sport, Litka decided she would give herself five years to see what she could accomplish. By 2000, she had moved to Nashua to train and ride with some cycling friends. Eight years after first stepping on the bike, she's still riding.

And now she's a professional.

Before signing her pro contract, Litka typically spent $3,000 to $5,000 a year on expenses. With Terry Precision, her travel expenses, equipment, race entry fees, and racing apparel are covered. But she notes that only a few pro riders make money.

``The guys on the Tour de France teams can pull down a six- or seven-figure salary," said Litka.

``The women pro cyclists are more likely to get a stipend or a salary that is barely enough to live comfortably off of."

But whatever the financial rewards, Litka has dedicated herself to the sport.

``What stands out most to me about her progress as a rider would have to be her intelligence and willingness to do the hard work needed to succeed in cycling," said longtime friend and training partner Eric Marro.

While this is just her first season as a pro, Litka produced a 10th-place finish in the Women's Pro competition at the Longsjo in Fitchburg last weekend.

She did it while riding against some of the best cyclists in the world, including three-time New Zealand Olympian Sarah Ulmer, who won the four-day competition, and without any of her teammates, as the rest of the Terry Precision riders were at the Canadian Nationals.

``It's finally starting to sink in that, OK, maybe I'm not that bad at this sport," said Litka.

``I take it seriously, but I also have my full-time job as a teacher and I'm not quite ready to quit that to start sleeping on people's couches. I like what I do; this is my other thing. Everything just seems to be falling into place this year."

That goes both on the bike and on the track. Litka started to run again after an eight-year break and suddenly, she said, ``I don't stink."

But for now, she's focused on cycling . The school year recently ended at Winnacunnet High School, which serves several coastal towns in New Hampshire, so she doesn't have to teach plate tectonics or global warming for three months. Instead of talking about rocks, she'll be riding over them.

Watching Ulmer celebrate on Saturday, Litka said she could never reach that level. But her history suggests otherwise.

``I don't set limits; I just see what I can do each time out," she says. ``I have good years and bad years, but this is a good year. Things can come falling apart in an instant and you have to accept that. For now, I'm just enjoying it all."

Chris Forsberg can be reached at cforsberg@globe.com.