On the surface, one City College athlete has the confidence to crush his competition, but a closer look reveals that he is a source of knowledge and determination not only on the track but all areas of life.

Cody Bidlow, kinesiology major, just ran his personal best in the 100-meter dash, an astonishing 10.85 seconds, the fifth fastest time in City College history, at the Western State Conference Championships Friday, April 26.

Bidlow qualified in all three of his events (100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and 4×100-meter relay) to compete in the Southern California Preliminaries May 4 in Antelope Valley, Calif. The meet will determine who will advance to the Southern California Championships on May 11.

He is also running in the No. 17 spot in Southern California, within less than a tenth of a second behind the next seven placeholders.

The list of Bidlow’s accomplishments doesn’t end there. Somehow between all his practices and training, he’s found a way to run not one, but two businesses in his “free time.”

“I’ve always been very entrepreneurial,” said Bidlow, 21. “Every job I’ve ever had, I’ve hated because I have a boss and I’d rather just be my own boss.”

Bidlow runs his own mobile auto detailing service, Cody’s Car Care, and is a certified strength and conditioning coach at Fueled Sports Performance in Santa Barbara.

“I started by washing cars of family friends, and then I started doing a little advertising,” Bidlow said. “It ended up growing a nice little business, but I found that [car detailing] is not something I’m passionate about… I’m passionate about sports.”

This year is Bidlow’s first season of being fully committed to training for the track team. Last year, shortly after the start the season he tore his hamstring and spent most of last year working on his strength and recovery.

“That’s when I really got into the personal training,” Bidlow explained. “At first it was all about me, and then I realized that I could make a business off of all this knowledge that I have.”

Bidlow’s training is aimed primarily toward athletes. His exercises involve strength training and plyometrics.

“I’m not taking old ladies and making their thighs look better,” Bidlow said, smirking. “I can, but it’s a different mentality.

“I work a lot with nervous system training. Yes, you’re training muscles, but it’s secondary to getting the nervous system to operate at its fullest potential. It’s not your typical curls and bench press workout; it’s a little fancier.”

Teammate and friend David Battisti, 21, believes that if you want be fast, strong and powerful, you should definitely train with Bidlow.

“Plain and simple,” Battisti said. “We don’t have any specific sprint coaches; I will say that Cody is one of the most well-educated as far as sprinting goes. He is really smart about how the body works physiologically.”

Bidlow’s long-term goal is to be a sports agent and work with professional athletes.

But for now, he said, “I want to do this until I start another business, or until something else arises.”

For now, Bidlow will be enjoying his last few weeks at City College, and trying to accomplish his goal of placing in the top ten at Southern California Championships next week.

To advance to the championships, he must place in the top nine at the preliminaries this weekend. This will be his first time ever having a chance to run in a championship meet.

“I would like to progress to So-Cal championships, and set a personal best and progress,” Bidlow said. “Whether I win my heat or get the last qualifying spot, I don’t really care. It’s more about getting to the next meet.”

Battisti thinks this won’t be a problem.

“He’s got a good head on his shoulders and is really driven towards sprinting,” he said. “He has a good future ahead of him.”

Bidlow will transfer to either California State University – Long Beach, Arizona State University or Cal State – Chico in the fall, and plans to continue running track wherever he goes.

“I think my biggest accomplishment this season is just setting my mind to something and actually accomplishing my goals,” he said. “Proving to myself that I can do what I set my mind to is really the biggest thing. It may be cliché, but it’s true.

“I love running, but it’s not necessarily about that. It’s the things you learn that transfer into the rest of your life are most important.”