At the ripe young age of 24, the bicycle rules all aspects of my world. This kick started a few years ago when my mountain bike was stolen, and my dad gave me his 1980 Miyata ten speed road bike. As a procrastinator, I fell in love with speed out of necessity, as I was always on the verge of being late to work or school. I got a job as a bike messenger, and shortly after competed in my first race. It was the penultimate stage of the 2005 Tour daChicago: The Stairmaster. I finished a respectable ninth place, and that was enough to get me hooked.
Riding a fixed wheel for my first two years of messenger work taught me a great deal about high cadence riding (smooth pedal stroke), rear wheel traction (improved my bike handling skills), and endurance (never being able to coast). I learned how to pedal through everything, no matter what kind of torturous conditions mother nature could deal out.
In the past two years, I’ve competed in approximately eighty six races. I’ve finished on the podium sixteen times on the local tracks in Northbrook and Kenosha, seventeen times in alleycat races, and once each in criteriums and time trials. I’ve thrown down against the nation’s fastest couriers in Philadelphia and San Francisco, and battled it out in the mud and rain with the world’s finest in Dublin, Ireland.
Lance was wrong when he said it’s not about the bike. What separates the Cuttin’ Crew apart from any other team in the area is the fact that we live our lives on the bicycle. We’re a tight knit family who are all working for a team win. The Cuttin’ Crew will be a major force, pedaling through the grit, grime, and sunshine.