CBR interview: Jeff Perkins

Ah, the bicycle messenger. Bane to cabbie and security guard. Savior to architect, lawyer and anyone in urgent need of a sandwich. While you're sitting in your warm cubicle, whining about insufficient foam in your latte, someone out there is risking his neck -- or her neck, natch -- through rain, sleet and inattentive drivers so that your closing documents arrive before deadline.

With 22 years having passed since "Quicksilver," they don't do it for the glory, and God knows they don't do it for the money. They do it because they love being on a bike all day, and they love going fast.

One such cog in the downtown machine is Jeff Perkins, 24, a new member of 4 Star Courier, the messenger collective you may remember from its 2006 cover story in the Reader. He has a strong racing background, having run the 400m and 800m at DePaul, and has become a well-known -- and feared -- figure on the local alleycat scene. He's 9th after two stages of the Tour da Chicago, and after an overnight drive to Minneapolis this weekend he won the prize for 1st out-of-town finisher in the Stupor Bowl, finishing 8th out of 360 registrants. Perkins spent 2007 with XXX Racing-AthletiCo, but now he's looking to tackle sanctioned road, track and cyclocross racing with the Chicago Cuttin' Crew, a team he helped found with fellow messengers.

This week I caught up with Perkins to discuss alleycats, messengering during winter and a certain set of leopard prints. (Note: CBR's official stance on alleycats is that they are illegal, dangerous and irresponsible. Also, that they are extremely fun and fascinating.)

What's scarier: Running red lights during an alleycat or racing a Cat 4 criterium?
Crit. Hands down.

Alleycats are scary for sure, but cars will stop when you're in a pack. (Thank you, cars.) Criteriums? I'm the worst when it comes to riding with people. I hate pedestrian and bike traffic the most, so I avoid them at all cost. When I'm surrounded by a bunch of squirrelly people who feel like wiping out is the end of the world, it stresses me out way more than necessary.

How do you compare the competition?
Alleycats can be so much more brutal. `When I'm surrounded by a bunch of squirrelly people who feel like wiping out is the end of the world, it stresses me out way more than necessary.’It's just a case of go out and burn yourself up and hope you are the lucky one who navigates the best and doesn't get caught at an unbeatable red. Competition wise, there's always the camaraderie of making it through the course safely and having so many stories to tell. Sanctioned racing brings out a vendetta between people that isn't nearly as prevalent in alleycats.

The Cuttin’ Crew is stacked in the Tour da Chicago but so far hasn’t come away with a win. What the hell?
This shit doesn't come easy. I will say on my behalf I'm not thrilled with my performance this year. Don't sleep on da Tour. It brings some heavy hitters. Last winter's time trial runner-up, Nick Frey (Time Factory Development Team), was also last fall's U23 time trial national champion.

Is it time to employ team tactics to beat guys like Nico West (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) and Ted Burger (Flatlandia)?
We're not the best with tactics yet. Had we gotten those down we would have locked up the last stage but that's why we're out there working and riding together. Nico rode brilliantly last stage. He never lost track of Adam Clark (Cuttin’ Crew), his early competition, and I wish we could run tactics that well. Ted? Ted's pregnant. You can't bully a man that awesome.

Pregnant? Is that some messenger slang I'm too old to get?
Ted's expecting a kid come September. He broke the news to Andrew Nordyke (Cuttin' Crew) and everyone in the middle of the race on our way down Grand. It was awesome.

Why form the Cuttin' Crew?
It was a goal starting as early as June 2006. I remember talking to Nico after the Velo-City Tour and he was flowing about how people should actually experience being on a team before they consider starting one.

In February of '07 I got word of the messenger posse being formed on XXX. It was perfect for a few reasons. One key thing being we wouldn't have to give over half a week's paycheck to join and race. It also got a buzz going in the city about racing and everyone started to consider racing.

With the posse we gained experience and interest. Within XXX, however, there was a chemistry issue. We have XXX to thank for our base, no doubt about it, but it wasn't exactly hitting the spot. We felt like there was a time warp from what the old-school cats were saying about XXX and the team now. I traveled and met a few more founders, and the stories they told and experiences they had were something incredible. I understood and could see us having those.

Those opportunities are gone with XXX being the team that it is now. It's too large and a stranger to us and its founders. This sparked that idea of branching off and starting something for the street circuit again. Once the idea was said aloud, it just spread like wildfire.

What's something you've learned about running a team?
C.R.E.A.M.

Huh?
Cash Rules Everything Around Me. It's a Wu-Tang reference. We've set goals of having the team pay for uniforms, licensing, registration and travel. The bar is high but we've had fantastic support so far.

Sponsors are a trip. We've had some people offer us discounts if we buy their random stuff, and they consider that a sponsorship! I saw it all like: "Wow, that's some decent gear. Not at all necessary, but cool." Everyone else was thinking: "Why the hell should we pay someone so we would have to advocate their product? We don't even need that stuff!"

We needed money to get off the ground and luckily we've had fantastic support from friends and very cool, like-minded people to help get us started financially. We intend to make them feel good about it.

It is very nice that people show faith in us, and we couldn't be happier representing them everywhere we go. With Marcus Moore of Yojimbo’s on board for all our services and planning needs, it doesn't get any better than that.

And I should correct you: It certainly isn't solely me running this thing. Everyone has a hand it and we are all learning the administrative steps.

Where do you see the team in 2018?
Maintaining the velodrome leftover from the Olympics!

Come on, Luke. You're asking 24-year-old where he plans on being in 10 years? A 24-year-old messenger?!? My mother must have sent you.

You're delivering to 555 W. Monroe, headquarters of Gatorade, and find yourself sharing an elevator with its executive vice president of marketing and product placement. What do you tell him about the team so that the Crew never wants for electrolytes ever again?
First of all, 555 Monroe doesn't let us messengers into the building. We have to use the dock because it has a mail room, a.k.a. the latest popular way of making sure we don't destroy their building or something, because we're such a threat to society and all.

Anyway, I would thank his employer for curing hangovers and show off the sponsors on my jersey when I wear it for work. (Yes, I'm the jersey-at-work guy.)

How long have you been messengering?
I'm an industry rookie. I'm only going on year four. I will tell you: A year in Chicago goes far everywhere else given the low wages and lousy weather.

Tom Skilling is calling for 14 inches of snow tonight. What's work going to be like tomorrow?
One thing that's great about 4 Star is we all know we won't call in to skip a day. Never for reasons like weather, anyway. It helps each of us get through the nasty stuff, and a sense of humor is always a must. Most streets will be plowed for necessary car traffic so I'm going to be running a blinky light all day, take it slower than usual and try to get noticed by insane drivers.

Another thing is to know appropriate hideout spots. Keeping feet dry is a myth. No matter what insane technology people think `You gotta commit to having wet and stinging toes. Once you realize there's no way around that, things are a lot easier.’they've come up with, unless you have some full-on wetsuit with booties you gotta commit to having wet and stinging toes. Once you realize there's no way around that, things are a lot easier.

Another thing is remind yourself it's only 10 hours out of your day. When people would ask me how I handled bad weather I used to tell them it wasn't that bad no matter how nasty it was. Eventually I realized that, yes, it actually is horrible, but I would say that to convince myself it is just a matter of dealing with it. Plus you get to brag about it.

Do you ride with brakes?
Aw, man, c'mon! Sex, business, politics and brakes -- all taboos.

OK, OK. I'm riding brakeless now because my beloved Bianchi is on its last stand. Most components are on that bike. I had to get rolling again, so I've had to resort to my backup.

It's funny how that air of elitism returns so naturally when I don't have a brake on my bike. Brakeless is fun and all but my Bianchi was the greatest set-up ever, and nothing stops you better than a fixed rear wheel and a front brake.

Bullhorns with a front brake attracts scoffs from the rookies until you carry two mail cartons on your handlebars and still stop in time for kids darting all over the place. I would tap the brake two or three times a day because it might keep me upright. It makes it so much easier and it always helps for when those city vehicles -- buses, cabs and especially cops -- stretch those yellow-to-red-to-blatantly-illegal-disregard-for-smaller-traffic "grace" periods at intersections.

Many coaches recommend two days of rest a week. What's a messenger do on a "rest day"?
Aren't people wondering why messengers never show up to races anymore? And now talk of rest days? I know it gets played out but there is truth to it: This shit is exhausting. In the winter? Forget about it. You go home and pass completely out by 10!

This year's Tour [da Chicago] says it all with the addition of the "Messenger" category. It's not easy getting back on the bike for another 10-hour stint every day. `It's not easy getting back on the bike for another 10-hour stint every day.’Plus, very few of us own cars, so when we go somewhere on the weekend, guess how we get there.

Rest day? I wish. At least now I can dispatch one day a week. That's a trip. Instead of being on my bike for a day I'm just thinking of what I would be doing on four or five other people's bikes.

You're starving in the Loop. You've got $5 and 10 minutes. Where do you eat?
Gotta hit up Gina while she's working at the Reggie's Pizza truck at the Madison entrance to 1 S. Wacker. She's great for a hug, a $2.50 slice and the best company around.

It's not good for my cred to eat at chains but I've been paying the rent for Potbelly.

Oh, and Billy Goat! Not the tourist one on Michigan but the Washington/Franklin or Wells/Van Buren ones. Three bucks gets you eggs, hash browns and toast. Good burger specials all week, too.

This joint called "AsiaGo Express" on the west side of Wells, just south of Lake, has a huge thing of fried rice for a little under $5. (Eat large Asian dishes in the middle of the day at your own risk.)

What bike shop treats messengers best?
Most every shop treats us well. It's a side benefit to having a low-paying job. Mechanics and sales people respect us for being out there and loving our equipment and their help.

Of course Yojimbo's first. Upgrade as close as second gets. Cycle Smithy, Irv's, Kozy's, Rapid Transit, Blackstone, ReCycle, Working Bikes -- all these places need props because they definitely look out for us.

My style-conscious readers want to know: Will you be rocking the leopard-print arm warmers again?
I love how everyone thinks those are arm warmers. I have the entire top and bottom to make it a complete disgrace to myself and the sport of cycling. Don't you worry, honey, they'll make a cameo.

CBR interview: Julie Eisenhardt

Julie Eisenhardt has called Chicago home for only two years, but already she's had quite an impact on our cycling scene. She's had a hand in founding two teams, most recently Half Acre Cycling, and she was part of the team that constructed the IRO Sprints apparatus. Twice she has co-chaired the popular Sadie Hawkins Day Alleycat; its 2007 edition raised $2,400 for the Chicago Women's Health Center. And while the endurance specialist earned several medals for her mountain biking in 2007, her biggest score may have come in December, when she accepted the marriage proposal of fellow bike nut Ben Popper (Killjoy).

This month the communications specialist headed to Colorado Springs, Colo., for USA Cycling's four-day mechanics clinic. She returned to Chicago eager to share new knowledge with her teammates, and it didn't take much cajoling to get her to share it with you, too.

Why did you go to the clinic?
Ben has gone to UCI [International Cycling Union] events where they say you need a mechanics license to get in the pit, so I thought that if I'm going to continue being his pit support at U.S. Gran Prix and UCI stuff, I may as well go legit.

How long were the days?
Breakfast at 7 a.m., first class at 8, last class ends at 9 p.m. Forty-five-minute breaks for dinner and lunch, but that's about it. And since the U.S. Olympic Training Center doesn't allow alcohol in the complex, if you want to grab a beer with the others, it's going to be a late night. I think it was 13 hours of sleep in three days.

What were the other students like?
Of the 56, two (me included) were women. It was about 2/3 shop mechanics, 1/3 hobbyists like myself. A good dozen of the younger guys were looking to jump on the caravan with a pro team or tour right away, and they were actually recruiting mechanics on the last day for a few neutral programs.

What do you plan on doing with your license?
Supporting Ben, obviously. But I got really excited about neutral support work, too. I'm trained on how to properly jump off the back of a motorcycle now. May as well use the skill!

What about the officials license that came with the clinic?
I've always been a sort of wonk about the rules anyway, so it made sense to get both. I'll use it to have snooty answers to people's questions. And I might fill in if folks need one more body at the races.

What's an important maintenance issue that the reader of this interview is neglecting?
Torque on crank bolts. It's supposed to be insanely high -- spec'd to 360! We pulled some of the USA team bikes and checked. Even they were ~100. `Find the problem before it finds you.’It's the pressure that keeps things tight, not the threads on the bolt, so torque matters.

Along with that, wash your bike and take time to look it all over. Don't just take the dirt off, but spend some time looking for frame damage, frayed cables or bent components. Find the problem before it finds you.

Any good tricks of the trade you learned?
So many I couldn't list them! The best has to be to carry a multi-sized squarehead wrench, so that if you're stuck at a hotel or facility where the hose hookups are hidden behind bolted metal plates you can open them and turn on the water without chasing around to get permission.

Also, Pam. For cyclocross and mountain events, cover your tires and the underside of your tubing in it to shed mud -- maybe not all of it, but enough. Just don't get it on your braking surface.

If a racer is fortunate enough to be in a race with professional neutral support -- Superweek, Downers Grove and Tour of Elk Grove come to mind -- what are some things she should know?
Even with neutral support, it's a racer's responsibility to have a functional bike. Neutral support can help with flats or little things, but make sure you can trust your rig.

Run a gruppo that's fairly universal: Neutral can't help if you're running Campy six-speed.

Always know where neutral will be, off the back or in a pit, and if you don't see them there immediately, keep riding!

Note whether it's "wheels in, wheels out" or full neutral support. With "wheels in wheels out" you have to have a wheel in the pit to get one, and the mechanics will do the wheel change for you using your wheel. Label your wheel with your name, racer number, and phone number in a way that you can get it off quick if you need the wheel. If you're unsure, bring extra wheels just in case.

You're racing an amateur crit and hear the dreaded hiss of a puncture. What do you do?
You're allowed to cut the course to go directly to the pit, and you're allowed one free lap to get a wheel change. After the wheel change, an official will work with your mechanic to get you back in the right place in the race, signaling when the mechanic can push you off into the pack. Remember, though, that if you think you're going to use the "slow leak" excuse to get a free lap and take a rest, it's the official's call whether the mechanical is legit, and you may find yourself down a lap. And if you took a wheel change, make sure you trade wheels back after the race.

What about in a road race?
Have a strategy with your team for what you'll do if someone in the peloton flats. Usually you'll want to stealthily slip back in the pack while a teammate takes your place, and ride in the back of the pack until you see neutral support behind you. Then, pull over to the right and come to a full stop. You can help mechanics by shouting which wheel it is. Once you're back on your ride, it's up to you to get back in the pack, and neutral support won't draft you back up, so it's a hard ride back in. Make sure you find neutral support after the race to trade back for your wheel. They'll be looking for you!

I was once told you should raise your right hand for rear wheel and left for front, corresponding with which hood controls which brake.
So few riders know that code at this point that they taught us to bring both wheels out anyway and look for ourself or listen for confirmation. Many riders who know the left/right hand thing just forget it in the heat of the moment anyway. So we're not supposed to trust it.

How fast can you change a flat?
The clinic focused more on wheel changes. The target is 15 seconds, and I'm around 20 at this point. Flats? Haven't timed it. I think about 10 minutes.

Other than the clinic, where did you pick up your skills?
I worked part time at a shop, but in sales. I've just been taking care of my own bikes and learning as I go since I got serious about cycling about 10 years ago. And I learn a lot by watching people. Sam Van Dellen at Rapid Transit has taught me everything I know about mountain bikes, much of it in the last year.

What are your racing goals in 2008?
My big goal is to finish a marathon. `It's great being on a team really proud of our community and committed to cycling and each other.’Yeah, running like a sucker. I'll be at the track, on the trails and riding brevets, too.

Do you let Ben wrench for you or is he strictly on soigneur duty when you race?
He's a really helpful wrench in the pit at endurance events, since we're usually losing our minds between laps. He actually chopped down some too-wide bars between laps in Wisconsin last year. But I'd never turn down a rub ...

What's the deal with Half Acre Cycling?
We were looking for a tight-knit team where we knew each other's names, we could really work together to get better and we were all friends. It's great being on a team really proud of our community and committed to cycling and each other. I'm excited about the potential.

Where's your favorite bar to get some Half Acre?
Village Tap on Roscoe has it on tap now. It's good stuff. Me, I go for the bottles. You can get it all over now. We're so lucky to have such a tasty sponsor.

CBR interview: Devon Haskell

Photo by Luke Seemann

Plenty of Chicago racers had good seasons in 2007, but none dominated a field quite like Devon Haskell (Team Get a Grip Cycles). In just her second year of competition, Haskell cruised to victory in each of the six races of the Chicago Cyclocross Cup, where she raced women’s 1/2/3, including Sunday’s state championship at Montrose Harbor. She also invaded our neighboring states, winning the state championship races in Indiana and Wisconsin.

The 26-year-old had a memorable road season as well. Racing for the University of Chicago, where she is pursuing a PhD in economics, she finished 3rd in the Division II women's road race national championship and 6th in the criterium. That earned her a spot on the Ryan Collegiate All-Stars, a women's squad that competed against the nation’s best professional women at June’s Nature Valley Grand Prix.

This weekend Haskell tackles the next level with the national cyclocross championships in Kansas City, where she’ll slog through the cold and mud not just once but twice. Even though she was busy getting ready for that and writing a big paper for school, she spared a few minutes this week to talk about her season and cycling’s many dividends.

What happened at the Nature Valley Grand Prix?
It was a fun experience until Day 4. I don't really remember what happened. The first 70 miles of the race were going along fine, and then I think I hit a curb that according to witnesses launched me about 20 feet onto my head. (Thank goodness for helmets!) I had a concussion that left me out for a bit. I missed out on some summer racing, like Proctor weekend and most of Superweek, which was a bummer.

How did you get ready for cross season?
I found a super coach, Brian Conant (Pony Shop), who prepared me well.

Did your success surprise you?
I didn't know what to expect from cross this year, so yeah, I was surprised.

You'd think women's cross would be popular: small time commitment, low risk of injury, high risk of incredible fun. Any idea why the ChiCrossCup fields have been so small?
I guess people just haven't`[Cross is] like being a kid on the playground while at the same time discovering and redefining your body's limits.’ learned how much fun cross is yet.

What's so fun about it?
You get to play in dirt, mud and snow, splash in puddles, dart through trees and jump over stuff. It's like being a kid on the playground while at the same time discovering and redefining your body's limits. It's difficult not to get hooked by that combination.

Will you be going to cross nats in Kansas City this weekend?
Definitely. I don't want to miss one more chance to ride my cross bike this year. I'll be racing collegiate and then elite.

With the cross season ending this weekend and the collegiate road season starting in February, you're not left with much of an off-season. You obviously can't do the traditional drawn-out prepare-base-build-peak cycle. What kind of plan do you have?
Apparently I have a short plan. It will be better than last year, when I didn't really know about the whole base-build-peak thing until February.

Where do you see your cycling career going?
This is a hard one for me. With this being my first full season, I haven't had a lot of time to figure that out. I've definitely developed a passion. All I know right now is that I want to keep riding and having fun.

Is it coincidence that you went to Dartmouth, alma mater of former collegiate national champion and UCVC rider Todd Yezefski (Nerac)?
Yeah. The only biking I did at Dartmouth was from one side of campus to the other. That's not very far.

One of your teammates has accused you of being "the sweetest and most genuine person that I have ever met." How do you plead?
My teammates are too nice.

I happen to have ample evidence that nice guys tend to finish if not last, mid-pack. Don't you think you'd go faster if you stopped smiling all the time and at least snarled a little?
:)

Do you ever apply economic models to cycling? Resource management? Cost-benefit and risk analysis? Tire inflation? You could do an entire thesis on a single race!
I could use a dissertation topic. Maybe we should talk some more.

Which would you rather bring to the University of Chicago: another Nobel prize for economics -- like it needs any more! -- or another national championship?
Well, if I do my dissertation on the economics of cycling, I'm pretty sure a Nobel prize is out of the picture.

CBR interview: Craig Johnson

Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson has made no small plans in his attempt to put his home on the map via the sport of cycling. Plans for his Tour of Elk Grove get even bigger in August 2008, its third year: A professional road race will make its debut, a JumboTron will help fans track the action, and the weekend's $225,000 payout will be theworld's largest for a three-day cycling event.

Part of what has made the Tour of Elk Grove extraordinary is that is has always included a full slate of amateur racing. What's more, its amateur purses have been the most generous in the Midwest, making it one of the few weekends where even a Cat 4 racer stands a good chance of a decent payday.

Since August, however, we amateurs have been wondering how the 2008 changes will affect us. To find out I went straight to the top and asked Mayor Johnson about what to expect. Some details remain to be finalized, but as things stand now:

• » Saturday's road race will start in Schaumburg and end with circuits of the 4.5-mile time trial course, a portion of which makes up that day's amateur criterium course, meaning racing will either be put on hold for or will be scheduled around the pros' arrival.

• » A two-criterium series for Cat 1/2 men will feature a $35,000 purse. (That's almost as much money as is on the line for P/1/2's over the entire 17 races of Superweek.) The overall will be decided by time, with time bonuses available at both stages.

• » Masters racing will expand. Cat 1/2 masters get a 50-minute race with a $6,000 purse, 3/4 masters get 40 minutes and $3,000, and Cat 5 masters get 20 minutes and awards.

• » Men's 3's score big: They'll get their own 60-minute race, after sharing a 20-minute race with the 4's in 2007. Cat 4's will get their own 25-minute race, and 5's will get a third field to accommodate demand -- this in addition to the Cat 5 masters race.

• » The good race director giveth, and he taketh away. To make room for added men's races, there will be no juniors races, and the lone women's race will have an open field. The women's purse will be $4,000, down from a combined $18,000 in 2007.

• » Portions of each entry fee will benefit the Heart of the Marines Foundation and the Elk Grove Village Fallen Soldiers Memorial Fund, which provides scholarships in the name of Elk Grove residents killed in the line of duty.

This next year brings many exciting changes but also some challenges.

• » Will the country's best teams return even though the race isn't on the National Racing Calendar?

• » Can the race shrug off any embarrassment from its 2007 winner, Nathan O'Neill, having tested positive for a banned diet drug?

• » Will spectators finally show up in numbers that do justice to the caliber of the riders?

• » Will Elk Grove and Schaumburg have the logistical wherewithal to pull off a successful road race? (Chicago cycling historians, help me out here: When was the last time there was a road race this close to the city?)

For answers to all this and more, here's the Chicago Bike Racing interview with Mayor Johnson.

What kind of cyclist are you?
I'm a newer cyclist. I bought my first bike since college two years ago when we were doing the bike race for the first time. But I've always been somewhat of a fan of it.

Let me explain how all this got started. Our community celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2006. I don't know if you've ever heard of a band called REO Speedwagon.

A little bit, yes.
We had them come and do a concert for the community. Back in the early '70s they played at our teen center when they were first coming out. We thought that would be a neat way to celebrate our birthday: Get a band that really made it big after it was playing little teen centers.

So we did that, and I was trying to think of a way to bring the world to Elk Grove. I had followed bike racing, and I said, "You know, that would really be neat if we could do something like that." `We can't bring the Cubs to play a game in Elk Grove. But we could have world-class cycling in Elk Grove.’We can't bring the Bears to play in Elk Grove. We can't bring the Cubs to play a game in Elk Grove. But we could have world-class cycling in Elk Grove.

It was going to be a one-time event. In order to get the community involved I thought, Besides getting the pros to race and the differing categories out there, why don't we do a community race, where we have a mayor's challenge?

The event was a huge success the one year. I'm not sure if you remember, but Floyd Landis was going to race that year.

I remember that.
And six days before our race he got caught. That was kind of a blow to us. We had ESPN coming out to cover the race. We had all the major networks coming out. This was going to be Floyd's first race, since he won the Tour de France, back in America.

It would have been neat to have that, but it was such a success in the community and so many riders liked it, and more importantly our community loved it, we decided we wanted to have an annual event now.

Last year we went from a one-stage professional criterium to three stages over two days: a time trial and a crit the first day and a final crit on Sunday. And of course we kicked up the purse, which is astronomical in the cycling world, as we're finding out. We had the largest purse for a two-day event in the world last year.

So we said, If we're really going to make this a real event that's going to be on the top level -- and we go back and forth on whether to be UCI sanctioned or not -- we really have to get a road stage in. So we decided that this year we're going to have a time trial on Friday evening for the top pros, we're going to have a 90-mile road stage with the neighboring town of Schaumburg, and we're going to finish with a final 110km crit in Elk Grove on Sunday.

We of course kicked up the purse, and we just got verification that we've got the biggest purse for a three-day, three-stage race in the world [$225,000]. That's exciting for us, because we want to make sure people realize we're making a premiere event here.

We've also expanded some other things. For example, we're going to do three Category 5 races. We've separated the men's 3/4 race into separate races, and we lengthened the time on them. The men's 3's race will be a 60-minute race. Even the Category 4, I think we're going to do 25 minutes and a lap. Last year we did 20 minutes. I'm eventually going to get the 4's to 30 minutes and a lap.

We also increased the purse. One thing we're doing that's unique is a two-day, two-stage Cat 1/2 race. It's almost like a little mini tour. The purse on that is $35,000.

Will that be two criteriums?
They'll be criteriums. Trust me, trying to do a road race in this area is impossible.

I believe it. What can you tell me about the course?
The road race is going to start in Schaumburg. They're working on that as we speak. They're going meander through the community a little bit and then end up in an area where they can do an 8- or 9-mile loop and do five or six of those. And then they're going to bring it back through the town, back into Elk Grove, and we'll have them finish up on our course. We'll use the same time trial course, which is 4.5 miles. So they'll do four or five loops or whatever we need to get to the 90 miles. We want we meet the minimum requirements and make it a 160km for a road stage, so there will be some loops in there. We're trying to minimize the amount of that.

What we're going to do this year that's neat for the fans is we're going to have a JumboTron TV with live feed for all the races. For the road stage we've already hired the helicopter and we've got the motorcycle rider that will carry the feed for the road stage live back to our JumboTron so the fans in Elk Grove will be able to see the pros going.

At the same time the pros are running in Schaumburg, we're going to run some races on our course, so they can check on the TV to see how the pros are doing at the same time they're seeing some racing in the village.

All the races, the Cat 5 races all the way up to the Cat 1/2 two-stage race, will be televised live on the JumboTron. So as they're riding the crit course, you'll be able to see them as they are away from the start/finish line.

We want to become more fan friendly. We're doing two nights of block parties. After Friday night's time trial with the pros and after Saturday's road stage is complete, we'll have live concerts and fireworks for the fans. If they want to hang around and have a beer or have a brat, they can do that.

We're going to have a Kids Fest area. One thing we heard from the parents is, "Hey, bicycling's fun for them but sometimes the kids get a little antsy." So Wal-Mart's going to sponsor a kids fest area, where they have the jumping gym area `We're trying to get in more races ... We're doing is we're tying to give what the riders are asking for.’and the slides and all of that. And all that is free to the community.

We're really trying to expand more. We're trying to get in more races. One thing I'm sorry to say will be eliminated this year will be the junior races. And we're going to cut down to just one women's open race. We're not going to have two different women's races this year.

And in all honesty the reason on that is lack of riders. One of the juniors races we were doing I think had seven riders. To take away time on the course when we had so many people clamoring for Cat 5 races -- we had to turn riders away for the Cat 5 last year. And I know the 3's and 4's wanted to be separated. We heard from them on that one. So what we're doing is we're tying to give what the riders are asking for.

All the races, we've increased the purses. I mean, $35,000 for a two-stage 1/2 race? It's unprecedented. No one does that.

The women will not be doing the road race?
No. They'll just have an open criterium race. I'm sorry we had to do that, but I was very disappointed with the women last year. The first year, we did a $6,000 women's P/1/2 race and I think we had 48 riders. And they came clamoring to me: "Mayor, it's great what you're doing, but give us some purses that rival the men's. C'mon, come through for us!" And I said, "I'll do it for you, ladies, if you turn the riders out."

So last year we did a one-stage criterium, P/1/2 women, $15,000 prize money, which is unheard for women -- and we had only 38 riders. We had 10 less riders than we had the year before. And I said, "Come on. You asked me for something, I delivered for you, even though a lot of the people involved said I was crazy to do it." I wanted to give 'em the chance, and they didn't come out.

So just one women's race?
Yes. It's an open, so you can be a pro on down to Cat 4.

The National Racing Calendar came out last month and Elk Grove wasn't on it. Do you expect it to get on there? What difference do you think that will make as far as what teams you attract?
I don't think it's going to hurt us because everyone knows now about the Tour of Elk Grove. We were disappointed with the calendar situation. I talked to USA Cycling about that. What happened was, we changed our weekend from the second weekend of August to the first weekend of August. At that time they already had two long-standing races on there. Obviously nowhere near the type of fields or the purses that we put out, but for this one year they said out of respect for those races they didn't want to bump 'em out. Next year, they've already assured us, we will be on the National Racing Calendar again.

The reason we moved it -- and we are now permanently set for the first weekend of August -- is that we have the Arlington Million going on. Our main paper sponsor, the Daily Herald, is in Arlington Heights to cover both, and they've asked us for years to move.

The other thing this year is the Olympics start the second weekend of August, and it would have been difficult to attain some of the top riders if we'd stuck to the second weekend. So we decided that, after talking to Chris Horner (Astana) and to Freddie Rodriguez (Rock Racing), and they can definitely make it over after the Tour [de France] to our race, and the other pros can. Matter of fact, they'd prefer to have it up that first weekend.

Everyone loves seeing Chris Horner there. Do you expect him back next year?
No question. Chris, we expect Fast Freddie back, and we expect a lot more riders from over in Europe. We've gotten a lot of inquiries, now that we've added the road stage, from the other teams in Europe. They're excited. So you'll see even a better field of pros. Christian Vandevelde, we expect fully to be back again next year.`[Chris Horner and Freddie Rodriguez] didn't come over to make appearances. They came over to race and to win.’

And if you noticed, Chris and Freddie didn't come over to make appearances. They came over to race and to win. This race, they view it as one of the top races in the world and they want to be competitive in it.

The amount of money you're able to raise for this is frankly astounding. How do go about getting people to contribute to a sport they may not be familiar with?
Our lead sponsor is Alexian Brothers, and they've got a beautiful commitment with us. It's a three-year rolling contract. In other words, after each year if they're happy with it, we're guaranteed two more years of sponsorship. So they're on line for not only this year but also for 2009 and 2010.

The other main sponsors -- Citi, Elk Grove Bank, Gullo International Development -- they're all good. And even the small sponsors -- The atmosphere we have here, the effect we have here with these bike races, it's a community event. And with the kids fests and the big-wheel races, anyone who wants to ride on the same course as the pros race on, they can. You and I, we can't drive our cars at the Indy 500. You and I can't go play baseball at Wrigley Field.

So I think one reason that it's taken off so well and the sponsors want to be a part of it is it's more than a bike race. It's a community and a regional and now it's becoming a national event. And they like that. They like the partnership, and they like the atmosphere we put on for them.

Will the criterium and time trial courses be the same?
The time trial course will be the same. The criterium courses will be the same: Saturday will be the longer criterium, Sunday will be the shorter criterium. The only difference is that when the pros come back from the road stage they will ride the time trial course when they do the loops.

What was your reaction to the Nation O'Neill positive test?
I felt bad for Nathan, but the feedback I got, and my feeling is, we did the right thing. We've always said that we're going to try to run the cleanest event there is in professional cycling. I feel bad that Nathan had the problem he had, but it proved to the riders that we're not kidding and we're not just giving lip service. We will try run the cleanest race in the professional circuit.

Remember, the vast majority of riders are clean riders, and they should face fair, equal competition. No one should have an unfair advantage. We're going to continue the testing, and we're going to look for ways to make it even stronger in the future.

I live in Chicago. Our mayor is a bike enthusiast, too. Who would win a 10km time trial between the two of you?
I don't know, but if you'd like to try it, I'd be glad to do it. I would love to do it.

Maybe that's a good way to settle the O'Hare expansion.
I'd be willing to do it, but I'm not sure he would.

CBR interview: Scott Van Maldegiam

Scott Van Maldegiam (Spin Doctor Cyclewerks) and I have have been trading race analyses ever since were citizens together at the 2005 Fall Fling. The 39-year-old mortgage broker has been a friendly face at races ever since and a regular contributor to the comments here. This week I checked in to find out more about him and his team.

As a father of two, any advice on balancing work, family and cycling?
Marry a woman who supports your cycling addiction. While I am very lucky to have a supportive wife, a person needs to find a solution that works for them and their family. Most people have time during the day but need to sacrifice something else like watching TV or surfing the net.

How did the Spin Doctors come to be?
The Spin Doctor Cyclewerks Cycling Club was formed by the shop to meet a need. Many of its customers were passionate about cycling but were relatively new to the sport. The group rides in the area were not meeting the needs for these riders. This was back in 2002. The club has come a long way since then. A few of us started racing at the end of 2005. Our club members have improved dramatically over the years.

We want to encourage new members, experienced and not so experienced. `Our primary focus is the love of cycling and pushing ourselves toward improvement.’We always welcome new members who are fast recreational cyclists or looking to become fast recreational cyclists. If someone wants to race, we encourage that as well. Our primary focus is the love of cycling and pushing ourselves toward improvement.

What are your team's goals for this season?
The team's goals are to increase our number of members racing Cat 5 races. I expect that a small group of riders will concentrate on time trials. Our biggest goal this season is to increase our numbers of junior racers. Last year, we had two junior racers. This year, I expect the club to have five or six juniors. I am really excited to see how two of our older juniors will do this year.

Why do some of your guys prefer time trials?
Some of our members just prefer the hurting of the time trial to the hurting of a crash that is always a risk in crits and RR's. Also, our team has always really enjoyed the team time trial, so many of our members use the time trials as a way of testing themselves in order to improve for the team time trial.

Next year I think we will use a time trial shortly before the team time trial to figure out teams. This year we had three teams and we hope to get four next year.

If you haven't ever tried this event, I recommend it. When you have three other teammates counting on you, you find ways of pushing you past where you would normally push yourself.

Will we start seeing some of you in the 3's?
Paul Miner will start out the year as a Cat 4, but I expect that he will get a win or two at the beginning of the year and then upgrade to. With Mike Moore and I, it remains to be seen. I believe it is a good idea to learn how to win at your current level before upgrading. All three of us, as well as many other members, are already working hard this off-season.

You get a lot of new racers. What do you tell people going into their first race?
I tell them to try to stay with the pack as long as possible and to have fun. I also tell them to not be surprised if they eventually get dropped. It is a great accomplishment not to get dropped in your first race.

More important, how do we get people to try racing for the first time? We encourage people to at least try it once. Usually they are hooked after that.

You recently got your Level 2 coaching certification. What do you hope to do with that?
I got started in coaching the same way that many people do: I was asked for advice a lot and decided that becoming a coach was a natural progression. I have started coaching cyclists under the name High Voltage Coaching. `When you have three other teammates counting on you, you find ways of pushing you past where you would normally push yourself.’ I became a coach in August with my Level 3 certification and got my Level 2 certification in October. I am now coaching four cyclists and talking with a number of additional cyclists. My goal is to help mainly Cat 4 and 5 racers improve and get results.

I have also started a blog where the main purpose is to pass long advice to other cyclists regarding training, nutrition and strategy.

What's your favorite ride out in Bartlett?
While I enjoy the Tuesday/Thursday evening club ride, my favorite group ride is our club's Saturday ride. We ride roads popular with cyclists west of South Elgin and Elgin. We ride through the towns of Burlington and Hampshire. The ride is 50 miles. We start at 6 a.m. in the summer and so we are done riding before 8:30 a.m. Also, a few of us ride start the ride at 5:30 a.m. in Bartlett to make the ride about 65 miles. We still have members riding on Saturday mornings even in the cold weather.

It's 30 degrees and windy and your program has you doing three hours of endurance. Do you do it outside or do you set up the trainer?
Personally I would do the ride outside, but you didn't specify how windy. This year I will ride down to 20 degrees. If the wind is over 20 mph, I would probably ride the trainer, but ride two hours instead of three.

The rule of thumb I use is that a ride on a trainer is worth 50 percent more than an outdoor ride due to no coasting and usually a more structured workout while on the trainer. If you are asking me as a coach, I might have a different answer. A coach needs to understand what their athletes will and won't do.

CBR interview: Ben Van Couvering

In my last interview I told you about Athletes by Design, one of Chicago's oldest and biggest teams. Now it's time to learn about one of the area's newest teams, Team Pegasus, which is wrapping up its first season. (Profiling teams seems to be a good way to get us through the dark period. If you'd like your team to be next, drop me a line.)

Pegasus made only occasional road appearances this year, but it has performed admirably on the dirt. In the Wisconsin Cycling Association Cyclocross Cup, Cale Wenthur leads the Cat 4 men and Katy Steudel is 2nd among Cat 4 women. And although he now rides for Killjoy, Ben Popper earlier rode the pink and black to some fantastic results in both mountain bike and cyclocross.

To find out more I caught up with Ben Van Couvering, 25, a Chicago software consultant.

How did the team come about?
In 2006 there was a group of people in Chicago and Milwaukee who had met each other in online bike forums. We wanted to compete in organized cycling and wanted to build something from the ground up. We designed the kit, we arranged some sponsors, and we signed up friends of ours who wanted to be on the team.

There are a lot of quality teams in Chicago and Milwaukee. Why not join one of them?
The important thing was building the team from the ground up. And other than XXX, there aren't many Chicago teams that accept new Cat 5's. More choice is a good thing.

I have so many questions about the kit: Why the squirrel? Why Pegasus? Why pink?
Cale Wenthur gets credit for the kit design, `The Pegasus is the most majestic and intimidating of all animals.’but here's how it breaks down: The Pink Squirrel is a drink, the Pegasus is the most majestic and intimidating of all animals, and pink kit looks awesome. But you already knew that.

What lessons did you learn your first season?
I learned a ton, something new in every race. The first thing I learned was that I needed to train a lot more. Track racing was a great way to start, both because of the great clinics that they run at Northbrook and because track races are shorter than road races I didn't need to be as fit to compete in track vs. road. Track racing is like a the highlight reel of a road race, so I learned a lot about strategy and tactics.

What race was the most fun for you this year?
That would be Sherman Park, because it was the first crit where I hung on and finished in the top 10. There was a real sense of accomplishment over the course of the year. Either that, or the Friday night at Northbrook where every Team Pegasus racer won a preme.


What changes are in store for next year?
The team's mission remains the same. We're going to keep on doing what we've been doing, supporting each others' development as cyclists. You should expect to see more Pegasus riders out training and to see more of us racing. We've also made some administrative/organizational changes, mainly to help us communicate effectively with all of the team members.

Do you plan to put on any events?
We're in the midst of planning for next year, but we do plan on putting on some events. We'd like to find some niche to fill, some clinic or race that people could get excited about. We're also interested in working with other teams to put on events.

How big do you expect the team to be in 2008?
We haven't finalized the roster, but the size of the team is going to be about the same as last year, about 50 riders. It's about 35 men, 15 women. It's also a pretty even split between Chicago and Milwaukee.

Where do you see Team Pegasus in five years?
I think we're going to have a core of Cat 2's and 3's, people who grew up with the team. By then some of us will have kids, so I guess we'll have to start a junior team.

What does someone have to do to join Pegasus?
We're pretty happy with the size of the team now, so we're not actively recruiting many new members. We want to know everyone on the team. Then again there are areas that we want to flesh out, like road racers and women, so if we meet a rider at a race or a ride and we think they would fit well with our team, we'll try to get them on board.

What kind of rider are you looking for?
We're looking for people with a serious cycling addiction and a good attitude. We want riders who we can get along with, but racing is what we're really about, so above all we want people who are serious about working together to become better cyclists.

Are you guys actually sponsored by PBR, or are you just fans?
Last year we were sponsored by PBR, and we are also fans.`Sometimes the cold beer waiting at the finish line is the only thing that gets a racer through a tough race.’ They were great, they gave us many cases of beer. Don't all teams have Wisconsin party weekends?

Do you guys do beer hand-ups at the cross races?
We've made vigorous support of our teammates our calling card. We're the folks with the cowbells. We try to keep it above-board on the course though. We respect other racers and officials, because we're going to be back next race, and next year. But sometimes the cold beer waiting at the finish line is the only thing that gets a racer through a tough race. And feel free to come by after the race and enjoy a cold one!

Who's the cyclist with who you'd most enjoy splitting a case of PBR?
It's a tough choice. Top 3 right now would be Bob Roll, David Millar (Slipstream), and Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto), but I'm going with Bobke, just for the laughs. I bet Bobke knows how to party.

CBR interview: Mike Ebert

Chicago Bike Racing has had a new sponsor the past few weeks in the form of Athletes By Design, which is promoting its off-season boot camp and its 9th annual indoor time trial series. ABD puts on more events than just about any other club around Chicago, including the Winfield criterium weekend, the Fall Fling and this weekend's cyclocross race in Bartlett. I'm thrilled to have the support of such a vital contributor to the local scene.

To learn more, I spent some time this week with Mike Ebert, ABD's outgoing events director. At 28 he's an accomplished racer himself. Although some bad luck kept him from having the 2007 he had hoped for, he's already looking forward to 2008 and has promised some big changes for himself and ABD. In fact, when I chatted with him he was noodling in Photoshop, working on new uniforms for ABD's elite squad.

Why the new uniforms?

The primary impetus is that a new partner is stepping in with our elite program.

That must be one of the big changes you've been teasing us with.
For 2008 we'll be known as the ABD/??? Pro Development Team. We added the PDT moniker because over the years we've sent just as many guys to the big leagues as anyone, and more than a lot of squads that use it.

There were a lot of former ABDers at Downers Grove this year, from Kirk O'Bee (Health Net) winning the stars and stripes to Reid Mumford (Kelly Benefit Strategies) driving the leadout that won it for Martin Gilbert.
It's awesome to see those guys out there. And most of them still stay in touch with the club, which is how it should be.

Do you have a tally of how many current pros you've produced?
Eight: Sarah Tillotson (Colavita), Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine), Brenda Lyons (Lipton), O'Bee, Frank Pipp (Health Net), Mumford, Bryce Mead (Jelly Belly) and Ben Raby (Kodak/Sierra Nevada).

How did you get involved with the team?
I've known Mike Farrell since he was the USCF regional coach in 1993. As a Junior I raced with the Pepsi team under Steve Thordarson (now Smart Cycling), and in '97 I moved to ABD, which at the time was the elite Junior squad. ("Elite" in that they ruled the Midwest. Guys like O'Bee, Dalton Koprek, Wes Young, Jeff Conrad, Eric Walters.)

Then when I was away at college, my Mom went into Prairie Path Cycles to pick up my training plan from Mike Farrell, my coach at the time. Farrell, the PPC owner and ABD president, was swamped with customers, and my mom, being the impatient yet friendly person she is, started helping them. She knew nothing about bikes, but her personality was huge. She would say, "Well, my son uses this," and people would buy stuff. After that happened a couple of times, Mike hired her and she soon became the PPC manager.

It was in the Fall of 2002, after a comeback season for me, that I told Farrell how much I wanted teammates. `Don't upgrade until you know how to win. I stayed a Cat 3 longer than some guys wished I had to learn that lesson.’ I took on management of the team that first year in 2003. Pipp and Frankie Dierking (Abercrombie & Fitch) both came on board, and we also picked up John Puffer (Texas Roadhouse) and Kurt Rees.

What category were you at the time?
I was a Cat 1 by about 2000. Some of the best advice Farrell ever gave me -- and that I tell other guys -- is, Don't upgrade until you know how to win. I stayed a Cat 3 longer than some guys wished I had to learn that lesson.

Tell us a story from that era.
I went to Belgium in 2001 for my second season racing there. (The first was in 1999.) Both times I went as an independent and just jumped into the kermesse circuit.

In '01 I hooked up with Kristian House (Navigators), who'd lined up this dive apartment on the Belgium-France border. We had no heat, no hot water, and the electricity often went out.

I dropped Noel Dejonckheere a few e-mails to let him know I would be around if he needed any riders for races, and the day after I landed he's like, "I need a sixth man for U-23 Tour of Flanders in two days." Uhhh, OK.

He picked me up, and I spent the night at the U.S. team house, got a jersey for the day and proceeded to get a flat in the first 40k of Flanders. Chasing back on through a euro caravan was one of the hardest efforts of my life. (Danny Pate (Slipstream) actually got 2nd that day behind some Boonen guy.)

Noel sends me back to my place, I race the kermesses for a few weeks, then I get another call: "I have a 200k race with cobbles I need you to do." It was the Omloop der Kempen in Holland. This course had two 10k cobbled sections. But this time I was one of only two finishers on the national team. The other guy was actually trying to set me up for the sprint before we got Dutch-dude-sandwiched at a roundabout with 500 meters to go.

I go back to my apartment, but with instructions to train with two five-hour days and a seven-hour day that week. `We got Dutch-dude-sandwiched at a roundabout with 500 meters to go.’ A few days later, Noel calls me up and says: "You're on the team. I want you to move into the house. You'll do a couple of 200k races in France, a Tour in Luxembourg and U-23 Paris-Roubaix." So, I move into the National team house. Comparatively it's paradise: hot water, satellite TV, internet, mechanics, soigneurs.

And the next morning I go to the 200k race in France, where I get shelled in 60k.

D'oh!
Noel says it's because I don't train enough, so he forces me to ride home with the rest of the guys 100k to the house. Mid-ride I'm shivering and seeing double. By the time I get home I'm a wreck. Noel says he can't afford for anyone else to get sick and takes me back to the apartment less than 24 hours later.

Turns out it was salmonella. I lost 18 pounds in three days.

That's one way to trim weight.
Exactly!

And that was it for you and the national team?
Yep. My season was over. I tried to ride because the invitation to race my dream, Paris Roubaix, was there, but a one-hour ride would make me sleep for a day and a half. It took me almost two years to get back to full strength.

If it weren't for a silly bacteria ... you could be signing for Astana right now.
Well, hopefully for a clean program!

What were you roles with ABD in 2007?
I continued to direct events and be the administrator behind the scene. I was definitely still the elite manager, and I'd really hoped to be one of the "go-to" riders. I was very excited to ride with Josh Carter and Jeff Schroetlin, who'd been my nemeses for so long. Unfortunately, it ended up being my second-worst season ever as a rider.

Because of the hernia?
Well, first the hernia, and second the hernia. But then a few things came up that were just bigger priorities than racing bikes. Don't get me wrong: I had an awesome year in real life, off the bike, and I have no regrets.

And now you've passed the events torch and will be doing something new in 2008?
I'm definitely stepping back from event direction, which I think is a huge step forward for ABD. I'm a micro-manager, which isn't what an event director should be. I established a decent template, but now all those ABDers who've been helping over the years can get in there and put their big ideas into play.

Is there anything else you do for a living?
No. My bank statement says I should do something else, but this is a pretty fun gig.

As far as I know you're the only Midwest club with a full-time administrator like that. That's got to be huge.
The secret for any club that wants one is to`My bank statement says I should do something else, but this is a pretty fun gig.’ suck somebody in who's fresh out of college, loves riding bikes and has no problem making less than $20,000 a year.

Tell me about what ABD does for club riders.
The biggest thing ABD does is help to create the "support network" that is the club. Everyone from our 10 year old Juniors to the Elite team relies on this network for just about anything from race advice to finding a job. In addition to that, we hold some social gatherings, a handful of coaching clinics, and organize deals for the club through the elite team sponsors.

That intangible support network is probably the biggest benefit one can get from a team. Is there much interaction between the club and the elite team? The interaction between the club and elite team is somewhat limited due to geography, but fortunately everyone really comes together during Superweek and the August crits close to home. ABD is making big strides forward in 2008, both in terms of what we offer the club members and how much more accesible the Elite team is.

How do you fill out your elite roster? Do riders approach you, or are you scouting and recruiting?
It's a mix of both. I receive probably two dozen e-mails a year, and then there's guys that grab my attention.

What are you looking for in an elite rider?
The primary thing is character. We want guys who are just as excited every time a teammate wins as they are about themselves. They need to really appreciate what their teammates and every ABD club member has to offer. "No man is an island."

The cross season ends in December, and then your first indoor time trial is Jan. 6. So much for that long off-season when I was going to read books, take naps and learn how to dance.
I know. It's a packed season!

One of your indoor time trials was my very first sanctioned events. I did it on my touring bike, tube shifters and everything. It was a great intro, especially since I was so desperate to try this racing thing out.
That's great. That's partly what the indoor time trials are about: introducing the sport to the newbies. The thing they also learn about the sport is how social it is.

I'm amazed by how many people come out. I'm also amazed by how many volunteers your able to get to all your events. That can make a big difference with safety at the road events. Is there a trick to getting people to volunteer? Hypnotism?
Having 200+ club members definitely helps, but we also have a core of about 40 people who are always involved. The big thing we do is that three hours equals a free entry fee. This year we also started tallying hours so that those people who go above and beyond those three hours can put "points" towards boxes of Powerbars or even jerseys.

You go back and forth between L.A. and Chicago a lot. Any advice on avoiding airlines' surcharge on bike boxes?
I always aim for the cutest agent I can find. Smile, flirt a little, and tell them how broke we bike racers are. My girlfriend can attest I'm not the best flirt, but once in a while it works.

Finally, you and Roger: Any relation?
I wish! I really got into film analysis in college and did a senior thesis on "American Beauty." If only I had an in. How cool would "Ebert & Ebert" be?

CBR interview: Carlos Cabalu

Last week I rhapsodized about the merits of joining a team, but there can still be a mystique in riding unattached: in taking on the entire peloton by yourself, in being the unknown factor from whom nobody else knows what to expect, in saying, "I write my own bylaws, thank you very much."

And so it is that I introduce our first sponsor here at Chicago Bike Racing: Unattached Rider.

It's a venture from a former Chicago bike racer and teammate of mine, Carlos Cabalu, who after spending a year in Philadelphia decided that the unattached rider deserved some better duds. He's come up with an attractive, witty line of clothes that practically demands you throw that U.S. Postal kit into the rag bin and save the generic black jersey for the training rides.

If the line takes off, Unattached Rider could grow well beyond mere classy clothes and into a movement, and I couldn't be happier to have helped with the launch.

This week I caught up with Cabalu, a freelance graphic artist, for some insight into what riding unattached means to him.

Why didn't you join a team this year?
I couldn't decide on one. None of the local teams had the vibe my last team gave off. In retrospect, that's mostly because I didn't start my racing career with 30 of their racers. I guess I was looking for a sense of immediate camaraderie when really they were strangers.

It helped to have joined XXX Racing-AthletiCo with a bunch of friends at the same time?
It sure did. A half-dozen of us goaded each other into joining. And at races it was easy to bond with the other Cat 5 racers because we were all terrified for our lives. At least I was. It was a good group.

I was looking for the same structure XXX had. Monthly meetings, clinics, coaching. The big teams around Philadelphia offered none of those. It seemed like you kinda just run into your teammates at the races.

But I don't want to give the Philadelphia cycling community a bad reputation. I just didn't understand the scene. In lieu of monthly meetings, people meet up during the group rides. There are over a dozen a week, each with a large attendance. Some rides have more sprints, some hills, one's like a crit. So you get your training in. I just wasn't clued in on that. It can be alienating being new to a city.

How did racing unattached differ from racing with a team?
This year it was hard to get motivated to train. `[Riding unattached,] you can be spontaneous. You can change your plans. You're racing your own race.’There was no pressure to target races. There was no reason to get up to the front. Honestly, I found myself in the middle of the pack thinking "What am I doing here?"

I've yet to be a successful racer. The best that I could do in the past was to try and do my part. But without anyone to do any work for I was really lost.

Tim Krabbe writes about having secret alliances with other riders in "The Rider." Did you ever befriend other unattached riders and collude together? "I won't chase you if you won't chase me."
There's always at least another rider going solo in my races. I bet if we were in a position to take action, we would've lent each other a hand. I mean, we're not going to get help from anyone else. But usually I'm just sitting in the back trying to hang on.

Are you like me, in that you cheer whenever you check the results and see (Unattached) after first place? It's like, "This dude wins without free Clif Bars or anyone blocking for him. Bad ass!"
Definitely. It's more than a show of fitness. It's a test of your will.

Explain that "will" part. Is there a statement being made when you ride unattached?
It's easy to show up for a race when you know several of your teammates are going to be in the field. It's a different story when you'll be at the start all alone and everyone's kinda ignoring you.

If you can get over the emotional obstacle of `I'd like [Unattached Rider] to achieve a level of infectious notoriety that the solo rider deserves.’feeling insignificant, it can be a driving force. You want to rub it in their faces. It sure sounds much cooler to have "forced your will onto the peloton" than to simply finish with the pack. Of course I'm still waiting for that day to come.

But are there advantages in being unattached? You can slip under the radar, for example. And although you say you miss the meetings of your old team, being unattached means you don't have to go to so many darn meetings!
Racing becomes an entirely personal challenge. There is no obligation to race and no one is relying on you to be there, so when you show up at the line you better know why you're there.

There is no one to coordinate with so you can make your move whenever you want. You can also take risks and make mistakes as it cripples no one else. You can be spontaneous. You can change your plans. You're racing your own race.

And yes. Most of the time people don't even notice you.

There are many perks to being on a team. I don't deny that. In fact it's a necessity to find success in the advanced categories. But at the 5’s and 4’s, you can do just fine on your own.

How did the Unattached Rider concept come about?
I can't make up my mind if it was resilience or stubbornness. Or are they the same thing?

I had a bad season this year. I got shelled from every race. I blamed my solo status but realized it had nothing to do with it. I had lost fitness. I let myself go. I wanted a do-over. I needed to overcome this funk and not let joining a team take credit for it. And so... I got inspired to try to get out of the 4’s unattached.

Now that I found the conviction, I just needed the outfit. Kinda like Bruce Wayne when he decided to strike fear into the hearts of men.

Something my girlfriend said struck me. "No one really takes you seriously when you're not wearing a kit, and that rubs off. You don't take yourself seriously either."

In fact, that's your tag line: "Don't be a Fred." How do you define a "Fred"?
Well, there are two running definitions. One is the poser with the pro kit and the Orbea who rides on the trail every saturday at 15 mph. The other is the bearded touring cyclist in tube socks whom you only see from behind because he's faster than you.

"Don't be a Fred" applies to both of them, though in the context of the racing kit its more towards the latter.

Basically people with either too much money or not enough style. (CBR reminds readers that 1. There's nothing wrong with tube socks. 2. Most of us started out as Freds, so be kind.)
Yes. But really that's just the-over-the-top persona I'm trying to promote. I have no problems with the latter Fred. I ride lugged steel, with lights, and always have a full set of tools on me. The former Fred, however, is unforgivable.

"Don't be a Fred." is like saying "Dress like a racer" in a "Snap-into-a-Slim-Jim!" tone of voice.

Where do you see the Unattached Rider venture going?
Well, at the moment the concept is just a week old. In that time I slapped together some kits, polled about 75 people on the boards, put together the Web site and got the group order started. Technology is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

I'm gonna take some time off and see how the group order develops. But in the near future I'd like to have a page serve as a portal to useful information for beginning racers. I also hope to put together a message board so unattached racers can coordinate. Perhaps even a directory of blogs. And maybe, just maybe, get race reports up when the season kicks into gear.

For now, it's just a whacky little kit project.

Do you foresee getting enough Unattached Rider jerseys getting in circulation that eventually two strangers could meet at a race wearing the same kit and say: "You're unattached. I'm unattached. Today we ride as a team!" Unattached Rider could wind up being the largest team in the world!
The best part about that is they can ride like they're on a team, or not. And no one can anticipate it either way. It's a wild card. Like a pick-up game of basketball. You show up not knowing who's gonna be there. You don't know who's going to be on your team. And you don't know if they're any good.

I really like that "mystery rider" potential.
I'd be so glad to find another rider in the kit. It can happen. There are more of us than you think.

Of course, there's a big unspoken perk of being on a team: the opportunity to meet women! This happens to have worked out handsomely for both of us. Perhaps "Unattached Rider" can take on a double meaning.
I'd have to design a jersey that says "SINGLE" out loud just for that purpose.

Back of the bibs would be a good spot for that. "If you can read this, you appear to be checking out my ass."
Perhaps not appropriate for all bib sizes.

These would make great Christmas gifts. (Someone should get Tyler Hamilton one.) Do you expect your Sept. 23 order to be the last chance to get something for under the tree?
It might be. This current order delivers early in November.

We'll have to see. The response after fulfilling the orders will dictate our next move. I'm hesitant to start another group order before we deliver this first batch without a snag.

Well, I for one hope it takes off.
Me too. I'd like it to achieve a level of infectious notoriety that the solo rider deserves. I'd like for spectators to say "Look! There goes an unattached rider!"

CBR interview: Tony Cruz

Photo by Luke Seemann

As I was leaving today's races in Downers Grove, I passed Antonio Cruz (Discovery), who won 1999's edition and placed third here last year while racing for Toyota-United. I hadn't heard anything about his racing this year until VeloNews' Friday preview. (This week Cruz announced he had signed with BMC for 2008 and 2009.)

Cruz was cooling down after Saturday's P/1/2 race. I was turning onto I-88. And here I present CBR's very first rolling interview, and an exclusive at that.

You racing tomorrow, Tony?
Yeah.

Good luck!

CBR interview: Brooke Miller

For some strange reason -- the weather? the terrain? the crazy drivers? -- Chicago isn't home to a huge number of international-caliber riders. One exception of late has been Brooke Miller (Tibco), who split time between her husband here and her PhD studies in California, where she researched the mating habits of banana slugs.

Miller, an elite volleyball player in college, didn't start cycling until graduate school. Like many of us, she struggled at first. "I would measure how well I did in a race by how close to last I finished," she writes in her bio. "Usually 2nd or 3rd [from last]."

Six years later, she owns a dominant sprint and has enjoyed a breakout season as a rookie pro. She reeled off four wins to start the season in California, represented the U.S. National Team in a European tour and won Stage 2 at the Nature Valley Grand Prix. She currently sits 20th in the National Racing Calendar rankings.

Unfortunately for Chicago, Brooke's husband has relocated to Cleveland, so Tour of Elk Grove and Downers Grove may be our last chance to see her for awhile.

You're going to be back with Tibco next season?
Yes! The team is growing tremendously and I really feel that I have been a part of the whole process. It is thrilling to not only
race for a team, but to feel as though you are a part of making
something great from the ground up.

After my spring racing in Europe, I knew I had opportunities to leave for a more established team, either domestically or internationally. But I am very loyal to (coach and director) Linda Jackson because she has been phenomenal to work with and has shown real loyalty to me. She is working hard to build a team that will be the best in the country. I trust her on the mission.

What's something you know now you wish you knew when you started racing?
I wish that I knew that women peak in sports like cycling so much later in life. When I started, I was 26 and just racing for fun as a graduate student.`[Pro women] are, as a rule, highly intelligent, well educated and interesting people who also happen to like racing their bikes.’ I had absolutely no intention of taking cycling seriously for two reasons: 1. I was focused on my PhD work and 2. I did not think that there was any point to it. I felt like I was too old to get good at a new sport and that there was no incentive to really try. I could not have been more wrong!

After attending the USA Cycling Women's Talent ID camp in 2005, I learned that some of the top pro women were in their late 30's and early 40's! Tina Pic (Colavita) did not start racing until she was 29. Linda Jackson never rode a bike until she was 33, and she went on to be one of the best in the world. Had I known that I was actually quite young still, I would have considered training back then!

Also, I would have liked to have known what opportunities were in the sport. I was very intimidated and had been told that the women's peloton was mean, catty and horrible to be around. I was afraid. Even local races with Cat 3/4 women were scary for me. I wish that I knew to not be intimidated.

Yes, sometimes people get mad at you and there is some shouting on occasion. But as a whole, I have tremendous respect for the women in our peloton and think that they are incredible people, on and off the bike. They are, as a rule, highly intelligent, well educated and interesting people who also happen to like racing their bikes.

Any thoughts on how to get more women into the sport?
This is a hard one to answer. I think that the best way is to make it a less intimidating atmosphere when trying to attract new riders. Group hammerfest rides are a great way to put off new cyclists, especially women. I think that women-only rides are a great idea, or no-drop rides.`Group hammerfest rides are a great way to put off new cyclists.’ To get more women racing, I think collegiate cycling is a great venue. It is a fun environment and a great incubator for the sport. (Ed.: Miller provided clinics for the Northwestern University team while she was here.)

The biggest thing standing in the way for new cyclists (particularly women) is equipment. Bikes are expensive. If there was a program to get bikes to collegiate women or other women with athletic
backgrounds, I think that you would see a tremendous increase in the sport. There are a lot of women who are athletes in other sports but are not cyclists since they don't have a bike. Getting bikes to those women will get them racing.

The pro women appear just as aggressive as the men when it comes to defending wheels and muscling out the sprint. How hard was it to get used to that? I don't imagine you had people trying to run you off the road when you played volleyball.
I am an aggressive athlete by nature. I grew up a tomboy and always competed with boys. Volleyball was a good sport for me in that there was a net separating me from the competition! I might have been too aggressive as a basketball player or soccer player. Once I got comfortable with contact on a bike (practiced bumping drills with friends), I was fine throwing elbows. I feel very comfortable on my
bike and only really worry about protecting my front wheel.

Just in case anyone reading this is not quite as comfortable with bumping and shoving: I am a sprinter. That is my job. Not all riders need to ride as aggressively.

Guys around here aren't used to world-class women showing up on their rides. What's it like to go on a ride where the local hot shots don't necessarily know who you are?
It is kind of funny. Guys are typically lumped into two groups: Either they are impressed and like to see strong women, or my ovaries get in the way and they are not happy to have me around!

For the most part, now that I am really a lot stronger, most men have been really respectful and are usually great. It is not that often that I run into guys who are real jerks. But, I have to say that when I first started to get strong, there were a lot of guys who had a problem with it.

I will never forget the very first group ride that I went on in Santa Cruz (groups of 80-100 riders hammering). I had been really intimidated and did not show up until I was quite strong. I had splintered off with a smaller group of riders who were doing a shorter loop and there was a group off the front. We were trying to chase and so I pulled though as hard as I could. When I went to pull off, they just sat behind me and would not let me off the front! None of them had said a word to me the whole ride and would not smile or make eye-contact. They seemed really happy to just let me sit up front and pull. I was mad that they would not pull through and knew that it was because I was a woman. I turned back to them and yelled, "Take a pull you frickin' pansies!"

They pulled through and never did it to me again! Yet I saw them do it to new women every single time they showed up. I always made it a point to be friendly to new women so that they did not get turned off by the men in the pack who had fragile egos.

When I arrived in Chicago and did my first group ride there (Wednesday night Turin), I was shocked at how nice everyone was.`I am racing [Downers Grove] to win it. I love the uphill sprint!’ The men there were super friendly by comparison and were very encouraging. They told me where the sprints were and one of them gave me a push when I was getting dropped. It was a bit different than what I had experienced when I was just getting started.

Beijing 2008: How's your Mandarin?
A little rusty. My Swahili is better, but that is not saying much! My goal for 2007 is to make the world championship team that goes to Germany. Beyond that, yes, I have Olympic dreams! But, the way I look at it, I just have to focus on each step before me and not look too far ahead. I want to focus on the things that I need to get done to get me to where I want to be. So, although I dream of the Olympics, I still have a lot of racing in the meantime!

What's more bad-ass and cutting edge: tattoos or braids?
All due respect to Nicky Wangsgard (Vitesse): The tattoos are bad-ass but not for me! The braids? Little bit girlie, but it has sort of become my "thing" on accident. My hair was long and would get caught on my number safety-pins. So, I started braiding it to keep it from getting caught. It sort of became a big deal and now I always have to have my braids!

Downers is next weekend. How's your uphill sprint?
Downers Grove was my very first NRC race back in 2005. I had just moved to Chicago and did it since it was local. I loved the course, and was thrilled to have finished 25th. This year I am racing it to win it. I love the uphill sprint!

CBR interview: Jon Reimer

This week I had an exchange with Jon Reimer, director of communications for Breakaway Event Productions, which promotes the 19 different races of the International Cycling Classic, better known as Superweek.

I wanted to know about the new races, and I wanted a promoter's perspective on safety. Among other things, we get this nugget: Parts of Superweek will be televised! Time Warner subscribers, start clearing your DVRs now.

How did the Blue Island and Evanston races come about?
Blue Island is right next door to Beverly, where we've been racing for several years. The folks in Blue Island liked what they saw so when they heard from our contacts in Beverly that we had an opening in the schedule this year, they were eager to jump on board.

We've been working on the Evanston race since 2004. Chris Mailing at Turin Bicycle has done a great job of planning for this race and he is the one who suggested the course that we'll be using.

This is a fabulous race course. "Figure eight" type courses are always attractive and this one has great sight lines for spectators at many different areas along the course. It`With the course layout and all the nice restaurants and shops along the course, [downtown Evanston] is a perfect spot for a race.’ should also be a fast course with smooth, wide streets for most of the circuit with one narrow section in the middle to make things interesting. With the course layout and all the nice restaurants and shops along the course, this area is a perfect spot for a race.

Does International Cycling plan to make Evanston an annual event?
Definitely. Whenever we bring in a new race we expect to keep it for many years. We really appreciate the relationships we've been able to establish at all of our host sites because they have allowed us to have a pretty stable schedule over the years.

Anything else new to look forward to this year?
We're expecting some great primes during the first weekend. Being able to open up with three races in the Chicago area is very exciting.

We're also pleased with how many races we were able to place on the National Racing Calendar schedule. For the P/1/2 men's series, we'll be offering a special $5,000 prize list to the top points winners during the NRC races.

We are also very excited by our partnership with Time Warner Cable. We'll be making an announcement shortly with more details, but there is going to be television coverage of several races this year.

What's the latest on the Milwaukee lakefront courses? Can we look forward to those in 2008?
When the Marquette Interchange reconstruction project began, we were informed that we could not use the lakefront courses until the project finished because those roads were being used as traffic detours. The project is scheduled to complete in 2008 but we don't know yet whether we'll be able to go back there in 2008 or whether we'll have to wait until 2009. We're definitely eager to return. Those are great courses and were clearly some of the most popular with the riders.

The Proving Grounds course has narrow, rolling roads not that different from the road race course in Illinois where a racer was killed last week. Will there be any extra centerline enforcement this year?
We are always reviewing our safety procedures for the road races and we work closely with our USCF officials, local law enforcement, and even nearby businesses to make the races as safe as we can. We are especially appreciative of the support we receive from the Wisconsin State Patrol who provide lead cars in front of our races. They provide a critical first layer of safety by warning oncoming traffic of the approaching riders.

Yellow-line enforcement is always a priority for our officials and they explain the "rules of the road" to the riders very clearly before each race.

I'm not familiar with all of the details and causes of the tragic accident to which you referred, but to`No placing in the final results is worth pushing the limit of the rules.’ me it was a painful reminder that no placing in the final results is worth pushing the limit of the rules, especially the yellow-line rule. When officials have to enforce this rule, the reason is because someone has decided to break it and that's not just unfair to the other racers, it's incredibly dangerous.

Will every race have a motorcycle official?
We will have motorcycle officials at all three of our open-road race
courses.

A lot of people are wondering about closed courses, or at least rolling closures. From a promoter's point of view, what would be involved in such a closure? Is it feasible for amateur races like Superweek?
Clearly, a closed course is the best choice when it comes to safety. That's one reason why we are so eager to return to the lakefront courses. However, it's very rare to find an interesting circuit where the roads can be entirely closed for six hours or more. A rolling enclosure can improve the safety margin, but it's certainly not a bulletproof solution either and it can be a challenge to get local approval to operate that way.

It's also a tough situation financially because road races remain somewhat popular with riders but the costs associated with operating them continue to rise dramatically.

For our races, I come back to my comment about the support we receive from the Wisconsin State Patrol. With them we feel that we have found a good formula where we alert oncoming traffic and get them to slow down and pull over while the race passes by.

There is another factor in road race safety that might at first seem entirely unrelated but is really quite important, and that is conscientious behavior by cyclists.`If we have the support of the residents along a race course, that's going to be a big asset toward operating a safe race.’ If we have the support of the residents along a race course, that's going to be a big asset toward operating a safe race. Supportive residents are going to be more aware of the races and will be more tolerant of any inconvenience the races may cause. They can even become our allies in making sure motorists exercise due caution on the roads during the races.

However, the support of residents can be lost very quickly by bad behavior. No promoter likes to see an angry neighbor come storming up to the finish line to complain during or after a race and that same neighbor can very easily kill the race when it comes time to seek local approval the next year.

CBR interview: Rob Ehrman

When I heard that someone had won the Spring Prairie 4/5 race by riding solo for the entire last lap, I had two questions: How did my 20 teammates in the field let that happen? And what kind of maverick would even try such a stunt?

That maverick turned out to be Rob Ehrman (Vision Quest), 28, a longtime triathlete and fixed-gear aficionado off to a cracking start in his first season of road racing.

His season started earlier than most. This winter he placed 7th overall in the Tour da Chicago, an alley cat series, winning Stage 2 on a fixed bike and beating such Tour giants as Donny Quixote (All9Yards), Andrew Nordyke (XXX Racing-AthletiCo) and John Gatto (Darcy).

Ehrman grew up in Lake Forest but now calls Chicago home. He just wrapped up medical school at Northwestern and is now starting a surgical residency at University of Illinois-Chicago, so we might not see much of him the rest of the year, but there's a good chance he'll be going fast if we do.

How long have you been racing?
I just started bike racing this year, largely due to the cycling-heavy nature of Vision Quest. They always encourage the triathletes to race in the cycling races, and even vice-versa. So I thought I'd give it a try, since cycling is my favorite of the three disciplines. Spring Prairie was my first win.

Will you do more triathlons?
I'll definitely do more. I have a few races coming up before long. I did Ironman New Zealand this past march, which meant lots of training over the winter, including 6-hour trainer rides, and 2.5-hour runs on some of the coldest and windiest weekends of the winter.

What's your favorite training ride?
As a triathlete, I've spent a lot of hours on the bike riding all alone, and still enjoy that sometimes: riding 4-5 hours by yourself can be great and terrible, sometimes in the same ride.`I always learn something [at the Mafia Ride] because there are so many experienced riders there. The biggest thing I've learned is to ride smarter.' But I've been more into cycling lately and doing more group rides, which I have enjoyed a great deal, and it so much easier to ride 100 miles with a group of 25 than solo.

As for my favorite ride, I'd have to go with the Mafia Ride.

It's a whole other level of riding, or at least what i had been exposed to. There are a lot of cat 1/2 riders, and [former pro and Vision Quest founder] Robbie Ventura is usually there too, so it stays pretty fast and intense. Part of why I enjoy it so much is that I always learn something because there are so many experienced riders there. The biggest thing I've learned is to ride smarter.

How long can you hang with the Mafia Ride?
I usually ride near the front, taking my turn with the pacemaking and all. I'm usually able to stay up there, not that I chase down every attack, but I've never gotten dropped. I'm pretty well knackered at the end of the ride, and the time and distance goes by so fast because all I can concentrate on is not getting dropped. I'm definitely a stronger cyclist since I started doing this ride.

Help me get a bead on the Vision Quest experience at the 4/5 level. When you show up to race, are you a cohesive team, or are you just guys who happen to be clients of the same coach?
It depends a bit on how many VQ'ers there are at a given race. Robbie always gives a little strategy talk before the start for those that are interested. Before the Spring-prairie race, I did a recon lap with Robbie where he talked a lot of tactics with me. These tips proved invaluable in the race, and certainly contributed to my success.

Many of the 4/5 folks are triathletes that are just there for the fun of the race, so there is less focus on strategy with them. Plus, many of the 4/5s are less experienced (including myself) so it is sometimes tough to actually carry through with whatever the plan is.

Most of the actual cyclists that would be 4/5 ride the masters races, where there is definitely a focus on tactics and winning. But there are some younger guys at VQ now who want to cat up -- Luca Lenzi, Bryan McVey -- so there will probably more race tactics coming into play.

You've just attacked and you're all alone with 6 miles to go. What's going through your head? How often are you looking back?
The attack kind of happened by mistake. I had gotten boxed in on the turn into the hill on the previous lap and wound up losing a lot of speed in the corner, which made the hill that much worse, and then I got stuck in the group and had to pick my way forward. So I decided that I'd try to be near the front on the next lap because I wanted to be at the front with a lap to go.

My actual plan was to attack on the back stretch. That section was slightly downhill, and I guess I had opened a little gap just trying to stay at the front. So I came into the hill and tried to go at a good tempo, again with the thought of being near the front of the pack for the last lap. I got to the top and there was no one around me. I looked back and saw that I had a decent gap. I hesitated for a second and then thought I'd just go for it. I figured I'd get caught pretty soon and would still have enough time to recover and attack again on the back straight.

There were some rolling hills that I went up pretty hard and I looked back a few times and I was shocked to see the gap increasing. Later I would learn that this was thanks to my teammate Luca blocking for me.

It was at this point that I decided to go all out for the win. I figured if I could maintain the gap on the hilly section I'd do OK because the rest of the loop was mostly downhill. When I went through turn 2 I looked back again and couldn't believe how much space there was. I bombed the hills and through turn 3 and saw there was still a huge gap so I put my head down rode as hard as I could.

The last section was kind of curvy so I didn't look back much. Then I hit turn 4 and started climbing. I was pretty beat, and then I hear people at the bottom of the hill screaming "Go XXX!" So I turned and looked and see the pack coming up the hill a lot closer than I thought. Perspective on a hill is tough, but they seemed a lot closer than I thought they were. At that point I thought I had blown it and was gonna get caught. I crested the hill and I was so tired and was sure that the pack was right on me.

In the home stretch I looked over my shoulder 5 or 6 times and was always expecting the see people blow right past me, and I knew I had nothing left for a sprint, so I was nervous. It wasn't until about 10 meters to go that I realized I was going to win -- I was so relieved!

Pardon my stereotype of the latte-sipping, sweater-vest-wearing, BMW-driving denizen of the North Shore, but how does a guy from Lake Forest end up doing the Tour da Chicago? And doing so well? What was that experience like?
First of all, I don't own a single sweater-vest. Or drink lattes. Anyhow...

I don't remember how I heard about the TdC, but it was a few years ago. It sounded like fun and I always wanted to give it a shot, but his year was the first year that I was able to do it. I love biking and racing and the idea of a stage-race alley cat seems like such a cool idea. Plus the fact that it is a winter race in Chicago adds to its mystique. And it was an awesome experience. The stages were really well planned and so much fun. Plus we got some true Chicago winter weather which was partly miserable, but again, that is part of the fun and allure of the race.

I actually missed two stages -- the Royalty Race and the Bricklayer -- so I was really bummed about that. But I was in New Zealand at that time. I was in good shape then because I was training for Ironman New Zealand, which is probably why i was able to do so well. Who knows what would have happened if i had made it to all the stages? Not that I think I would have or could have won. Andrew Nordyke annihilated the Stairmaster -- although I think I was three-week post-ironman at that point -- but it's easy to be seduced by possibility. I'll definitely be back next year.

What's your fixed-gear experience?
I've been riding fixed for about 5 years. I had a mountain I first started riding in the city for transportation purposes and that was just insanely slow. So I converted an old Peugeot to a fixed gear, mostly to be faster than an mtb but also cause I had heard that riding fixed was good for developing good pedaling cadence. And it was way cheaper than buying a road bike. Then I got kinda stuck on the simplicity and basic nature of having only one gear and it was easy to fix if something went awry.

What are your goals with the track, and how do you see the track figuring into your road racing?
I rode at the velodrome a few times in the past, but never competitively, just for fun. But this year I've been going to the clinics and Northbrook and raced a few times. I absolutely love racing on the track. Where else do you get to ride as fast as you possibly can with no fear? I feel like a little kid every time I get out there.

I'd like to upgrade to Cat 4 by the end of this year so I can race on Thursday with more experienced people, becauseI always try to look and listen to what others say and do and then incorporate it into what I do. Is that cheating? I always feel like you learn so much more just from riding with those that have more experience than I do. I always try to look and listen to what others say and do and then incorporate it into what I do. Is that cheating?

I don't have the greatest top-end speed -- that's not something that you really focus on as a triathlete -- but I hope to improve of the next few seasons and maybe be competitive in the Thursday races. But I'm really into track riding more for the fun than to win, and for the benefit it will have on my road riding, both in terms of handling skills and fitness.

Do you have a target road race for the rest of the summer? When do you plan to upgrade?
Unfortunately, since i am starting work as a resident, I don't really know what my schedule will be, or when I'll be able to get time off to race. I'm sure that I'll race again in the summer, just not sure when. I'm hoping to put in an appearance at the Hersher 2-man time-trial next weekend. My prospective partner -- Jason Glowney -- is an absolute monster on the bike, so I think we could do really well, as long as he doesn't blow me apart.

As for upgrading, I'd like to do it as soon as i can, but I guess I have to race in order to upgrade, so we'll see.

CBR Interview: Reid Mumford

I'd like to use this new site to occasionally introduce some of the people who contribute to the local racing community, from racers to officials, from coaches to promoters.

I'm starting with one of Chicago's great success stories: Reid Mumford (Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast).

Mumford, 31, started road racing in 2000 with the Johns Hopkins collegiate team. After he moved to Chicago to do research at Fermilab, he raced with XXX Racing-AthletiCo from 2002 to 2004 and for Athletes by Design in 2005 and 2006.

His third-place finish at the 2006 Snake Alley Criterium, in which he was the only amateur who could hang with Toyota-United's best, remains the most exciting thing I've seen in a bike race. He went on to place 6th at the national elite time-trial championship and 2nd in the road race championship.

Mumford continues to work toward his PhD in high-energy particle physics, but this off-season he signed a pro contract with Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast, a new professional team out of Minneapolis.

Disaster struck in April, however, while his team was training in advance of the Tour of Virginia. Mumford overshot a turn on a descent and crossed into the path of traffic. He narrowly missed hitting a minivan head-on, but the vehicle's rear wheel caught his bike. The ensuing accident left him with a 10cm laceration in his shin and a broken tibia plateau (the part of the bone right below the knee).

As soon as he returned to Chicago, surgeons screwed a plate to push the bone back into place. Mumford will remain on crutches for another 4 weeks, but he's already been working out on the trainer. He expects to be racing by July, and because of the great support he's gotten from his team, he plans to return to Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast in 2008. "It's good to be riding for a solid team. It takes the panic out of the injury situation."

When you started racing road in 2000, how far did you think you'd take things? Did you ever think you'd be a pro someday?
I never really thought about being a pro until last year. I always wanted to be faster than I was and that meant upgrading. No matter how good I was as a category 4 or 3, I always knew that the really fast guys were pros. Those were the guys that I wanted to be racing with and against.

I had some really good role models when I started. I raced for the Johns Hopkins collegiate team for a couple of years. We had a great team and took home four national titles in the two years that I raced for them. We had a great time racing, training and traveling together too.

When I moved to Chicago, I got a lot of motivation and energy from the XXX team.‘I always wanted to be faster than I was and that meant upgrading.’ A couple of us were pretty new to the scene and we kind of learned the ropes together.

The past two years, I was able to develop well under the Athletes by Design organization. It's a really well organized program, in the business of preparing and developing riders for the professional level. I had great teammates and I think that also made a big difference as well in terms of results.

When the opportunity to race professionally came, it wasn't an easy decision. I had a couple of offers and I wasn't sure about the time commitment to race professionally. I decided to ride for Kelly Benefit Strategies/Medifast because it was a really good situation. I have always admired Jonas Carney, and to have him as the team director is great. All of the management staff and behind-the-scenes people are great. It was a good fit for me, so I decided to give it a shot.

Most people are lucky to train 8, 10 hours a week. How on earth does one balance life as an elite cyclist, atomic physicist and husband?
I don't think that there are any secrets to the balance. It's tough. Most people have it a lot worse though than I do though.

I am lucky to have a wife who supports me and my cycling. She encourages me to do the training that I have planned for myself. She is willing to send me out the door to do the training that I need to do even though it would be more fun to just hang out together. She is great. I couldn't do what I do without her. The most difficult part of being on a professional team so far has been all of the travel and time away from home.

I try to get my riding in first. I think that the training quality is
better and it gives me a little more time I think. If I can train first, I have the rest of the afternoon and evening to recover, work, and spend time with my wife. Luckily my job and my boss are pretty flexible. Most of the time I don't have to be anywhere at any given time; I just need to get the work done. A blessing of the internet I guess.

Winfield is this weekend. You've done well there in the past, getting third the past two years. Any advice for racers?
The two Winfield courses are very different. The twilight race is a lot of fun. That is my favorite of the two courses. It's fast and technical. It has the longer hill of the two courses. It can be pretty selective, especially if you can nail the technical turns at the top of the course.

The day-two course is fun too. All of the action tends to take place on the last half of the course. The hill is the launchpad for a lot of action. It's good to notice that the the hill doesn't end until sometime after turn 3. A lot of people race to turn 3 and then think that the effort is over. After turn 3 is an excellent place to launch an attack.

A lot of beginning riders beat their heads against the wall trying to get breaks off. You're an ace time trialist and a breakaway artist. What's the trick? Can breaks work at that level or do riders just have to learn to cope with the field sprint?
I won most of my races as a Category 5, 4, and 3 in solo or small breakaways. It helps that I ride a strong time trial, but breaks are certainly possible in the amateur ranks. I wish that I would have tried to contend more bunch sprints when I was racing as a Cat 3. I think that I could have experimented a bit more and learned how to sprint smarter.

I would like to see more "experimental" racing in amateur races. Try something that you've never done before. Solo break, small group break, try launching one of your teammates in a move, try the bunch sprint if you've never really tried. If your fitness is good, then you can use each race to try to learn something.‘If your fitness is good, then you can use each race to try to learn something.’ Every bike race is hard, but it gets harder to learn skills in a race as the intensity goes up.

The last question I ask partly out of self-interest, having just broken my clavicle. What do you say to a someone sidelined so early in the season? When do I get to stop feeling pathetic every time I see someone having fun on a bicycle?
The injury was really hard for me too at first. It was a big lifestyle adjustment. My advice would be to start in on the trainer as soon as you can. Set some realistic goals for yourself and get back at it. To me, being injured is no worse really than training through the winter in Chicago. Every day is going to suck a little bit but with your mind set on your goals, each day goes down as another little piece of the puzzle.