BEIJING – Taylor Phinney already talks about the 2012 Olympics. He doesn’t talk about if he’ll compete in London. He talks about when he will compete.The future helped ease his pain in the present. Phinney finished seventh in men’s individual pursuit, completing his remarkable emergence as a world-class cyclist.Phinney, a Boulder resident, never had a serious chance in his heat against New Zealand’s Hayden Roulston. He finished 4:26:644, five seconds off his personal best.

The opening rounds, he admitted, left him worn down. He found himself wishing the race was shorter.”That’s not a good sign,” he said.But Phinney immediately began talking about 2012. He turned 18 in June and so much appears ahead. Phinney’s finish was America’s best finish in the pursuit since 1984 when Steve Hegg won gold.Phinney has raced seriously for little more than two years, even though it would seem he would have placed on a bike straight out of the womb.

He’s the son of Davis Phinney, the first American to win a stage at the Tour de France, and Connie Carpenter-Phinney, who won a road race gold medal in the 1984 Olympics.

Taylor has hopes for his own medal. He came close here, but believes he can do more than come close later.

“By the time 2012 rolls around, I’ll have everything dialed,” Phinney said. He later explained “dialed” meant he would have everything figured out.

“This year was such a blur,” he said. “It’s been a crazy year. I couldn’t have ever expected being here at all 10 months ago. I was expecting to watch all of this on TV.”

Instead, he traveled with his family to China, came within one race of the final round and raised all expectations, including his own, for future Olympics.

Contact the writer: Columnist David Ramsey can be reached at 476-4985 or david.ramsey@gazettedev.gazette.com. Check out David’s blog at http://daveramseysez.freedomblogging.com.