Guy started racing high school, then took an 18-year hiatus before a return to racing in 2007. Upon his return he promptly jumped into the deep end of the swimming pool, so to speak: His recent accomplishments include competing at the Masters Track Nationals 2007-2010, Masters Pan-Ams 2008-2010, and the Masters Worlds 2010. In addition to competition at a very high level, he is a founder and sponsor of Thumbprint Racing (which won USA Cycling’s Best New Club Award for 2009.)
Age: 39
Education:
B.A. International Relations, Stanford University
Employment/Work/Career:
Started out in TV News with a stint at CNN Atlanta. Eventually drifted into the world of corporate propaganda. Now produce and direct films, videos and product rollouts for a range of corporate clients. Some of them make software in Redmond.
Year started cycling:
I started riding in 1984. One of my junior high teachers was an avid cyclist and her husband was the ride captain for the Orange County Wheelmen. They encouraged me to do the weekly Saturday rides and I caught the bug.
Guy getting focused before the Worlds Pursuit.
What led you to racing bikes?
I wanted to learn how to be a mechanic and got an unpaid apprenticeship with a delightfully salty Danish shop owner in Anaheim. He was my Mr. Miyagi and initially encouraged me to race (“Tucker…anybody can ride a bike for fun. You want to be a hard man? Shut up and race.“) About this time I saw my first track race at the Olympic Velodrome in Carson. I knew at that point I wanted to make left turns. Lots of them.
We moved to Seattle in high school and I started racing at Marymoor. Sometime after my freshman year of college I quit the sport. With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that I quit because I couldn’t handle failure. In sport, like life, you learn more from failure than success…and how you handle failure says a lot about one’s character. But I wasn’t wise enough to know that yet. So I left the sport for 18 years until I realized I could either keep missing it or actually do something about it.
You’ve tried several different cycling disciplines. What do you like about each?
Great question. As an adrenaline hooked trackie, I often find road races to be tedious affairs. But the sense of “team” you can experience in these races is unparalleled. Knowing that you have teammates counting on you to attack/counterattack makes the long miles incredibly rewarding. And tiring.
Cyclocross is a delightful, dirty, manipulative lover. She will coax you with a siren song of “hey…come on, baby…it’ll be fun”. The next thing you know you’re lying in a muddy ditch screaming expletives whilst your “friends” mock you with cowbells. You swear you’ll never go back to her arms…and yet…once the bike is washed and feeling returns to your toes, you want to see your lover again. It’s the very definition of an abusive relationship.
That said, I’m a trackie. I love the fact that all the intensity and strategy of road racing get packed into a short period of time. There is an incredible variety of races on the track and I enjoy the challenge of racing both sprint and endurance disciplines. But most of all, I love the community that surrounds these races. I think it stems from the hanging out between races…but I think the track community is a bit tighter than the road crew.
Within track, I specialize in the pursuit…but am hoping to focus a bit more on the kilometer in 2011. The pursuit can best be described as agony on slow-drip. It’s a very short time trial (typically 3km unless it’s elites which is 4km) that rewards consistent, steady depletion of energy until you cross the line with the tank on empty. The kilo? It’s awful. Horrible. And I kind of love it. Standing start….full gas….for one kilometer. It rewards power and an unthinking commitment to respond to pain by hurting yourself more. This would be the Marquis de Sade’s kind of race.
Tell us about how you got involved with Thumbprint and the vision for the team.
A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to sponsor a team but didn’t need the exposure for my business. As I thought about it more, it seemed clever to buy the naming rights on behalf of a non-profit. The non-profit would get some exposure and there’d suddenly be a bunch of lycra-clad individuals with a stake in their work.
I talked the idea through with a fellow racer Lisa Picard. She agreed to pick up a secondary sponsorship for FareStart and I bought primary title for the International Justice Mission. What we didn’t have was a club. Or riders.
We expected to start with 10-15 racers….but it kind of snowballed into a team of 50 out-of-the-gate. This year we’ll have 60+ racers who are good racers and GREAT people.
My vision for the team is that it will be a home for people who love to race their bikes but can relate with each other apart from bicycles. We’ve made great strides in getting our team to vest in our “sponsor” non-profits….but I’d like to see us dive even further as a team by increasing our volunteer involvement.
What were your athletic experiences before cycling?
Prior to my first entry into the sport, I played tennis. After I left the sport, I didn’t do a whole lot. Ran a little and played some soccer. But when I got back into the sport in 2007, I was basically starting from fitness ground zero.
What does your yearly cycling schedule look like?
I’ve worked with Dave Richter at Herriott Sports Performance (aka “HSP”) for two years now and he’s done a lot to train my weaknesses. Last year that meant a schedule that looked more like a true road racers in an effort to get more endurance. Dec-Feb we do a lot of volume…although we also throw in a day or two of intensity to keep the body sharp. Total weekly effort won’t get much above 16 hours or so. March-May I try to hit as many road races as I can and start getting some speed into the legs. May-July I have a lot of work travel so it becomes a forced rest period (unfortunately in the heart of criterium season). Then July-November the focus gets narrowed to power and speed for the track. On average my schedule is 12 hours/week.
Which other sports do you do? What kind of cross-training do you do?
When I first got back into racing, I was in the gym twice a week….year-round. I got out of the model the past couple of years, and am changing back to it this year. Core and upper-body strength is important for athletes…but particularly vital for trackies. While not technically a Cross-Fit workout, I do a lot of movements that you’d find in Cross-Fit gym.
What bikes are you currently riding?
Road: Ridley Noah
Track: Dual-purpose Guru customized for pursuit and mass start
Winter: Davidson Ti
Road Fixie: Probably my favorite steed. It’s a Pinarello Dogma that had a derailleur break in a crash this season. It’s been reborn as what may be the world’s only pimp-daddy magnesium road fixie.
Any other cycling gear you love at the moment?
Vermarc Rain Jacket and Vermarc Compression Base Layers
Guy focused during the Masters Scratch Race at the FSA Grand Prix.
Tell us about some of your cycling highlights:
My two highlights from this year had little to do with placings. The first was the Masters Scratch Race at the FSA Grand Prix. I was one of the few (if not only) Masters doing the full endurance and sprint schedules. That’s two days of high intensity Go-ville. The Scratch Race was right after the elite kierin semi-final, which I’d unexpectedly made. Basically…I was wrecked. I called my coach, Dave Richter, and told him I was thinking about pulling out. In a great moment he said, “You’re dressed for the prom…you might as well dance.” So I raced it and got 5th behind (and ahead) of a bunch of guys that I greatly respect. This sport and our bodies never cease to throw out the occasional surprise.
The other highlight was from the road race at Masters Pan-Ams this year. Anyone who has raced the Argentines will tell you: They are some of the fastest, most saavy racers in the world. These guys will pick you apart but do it in such a beautiful way that it’s hard not to appreciate the beat-down. We’d raced 5 full days of track before the road race. One Argentine rider gave me a nudge and told me to follow their move. They wanted me in the break. We got caught with a few laps to go…and I finished in the pack. But that simple gesture of respect is far more prized to me than any of the medals I’ve won this year.
My major results for 2010 include:
• 9th, Pursuit, Masters Track World Championships, Oct. 27
• 10th, Kilometer, Masters Track World Championships, Oct. 27
• 2nd, Pursuit, Masters Pan-Am Championships, Sept. 21
• 2nd, Team Sprint, Masters Pan-Am Championships, Sept 23
• 3rd, Kilometer, Masters Pan-Am Championships, Sept. 20
• 3rd, Sprints, Masters Pan-Am Championsips, Sept. 22
• 3rd, Pursuit, Masters Nationals, Sept 3
• 4th, Points Race, Masters Nationals, Sept 5
• 2nd, Team Pursuit, Masters Nationals, Sept 6
• 3rd, BARR, Masters Nationals, Sept 6
Guy stabs the beast during the Team Sprint at the 2010 Pan-Am Masters.
Tell us about your most memorable race or ride:
It has to be the Team Sprint at this years’ Masters Pan-Ams. It’s a race where three riders begin from a standing start, the first rider does one lap and pulls off…the second rider does the second lap and pulls off….then the third rider brings it home. Two of the top Masters sprinters in the U.S. asked me to do the ride…which was an honor since I’m more of an endurance guy who can sprint okay. They were also Cuban Americans so a lot was on the line racing in Havana. Not to bore you with details but I had a bad start and had to ride two laps in the wind. I hurt myself worse…and went deeper….than I thought possible. My first 10 meters sucked canal water and I wasn’t about to let my friends down. We took silver….off the pace of the winning Argentines by one second. Much of that had to do with my poor start. But I left everything on the track that race and know I could do no better.
As the 2010 road season winds down, what’s on your radar for 2011?
I really only have two goals for 2011. First, I want to give 100% in every workout and every race. Second, I want to earn the respect of the other racers in my field. I want to be at a level that when I hit the gas, they need to take note. If I can achieve those two goals, the results will follow.
What’s your favorite Seattle-area ride?
The Rocket Ride (hosted by David Richter and regarded as the toughest off-season Saturday group ride in the area). I inevitably get dropped and it quickly devolves into the Rocket Individual Time Trial for me. But in the winter months it’s great to be beaten down with brass knuckles once in a while.
Do you have any advice for folks getting into cycling or for cyclists thinking about racing?
Take a track class!!! Seriously…it’s hands-down the best way to dip your foot in the racing pool. Our velodrome program is the envy of every other track in the nation. When you take a class, you learn bike handling and strategy…all under the watchful eye of experienced, helpful instructors. It’s a fantastic test-bed to learn the fundamentals of racing in a non-threatening, supportive environment. Bikes are provided!
What keeps you excited about cycling?
There’s certainly a love of the discipline and a desire to see what level I can achieve, but in truth? It’s the people. It’s the friends I get to hang out with at the track….whether they’re locals at the Friday Night races or the nutty Portland crew at Nationals or the Puerto Rican Mafia at Pan-Ams and Worlds. The shared experience of self-sacrifice and suffering and competition create powerful bonds. Cycling has opened the door to incredible friendships.
Guy demonstrates the latest in aero gear at the Frostbite Time Trial.
What obstacles get in the way of cycling?
I know what you intend by the question (the day-to-day obstacles), but I’m going to tweak it. I think the primary obstacles that get in the way of being successful in cycling are psychological. I think most of us have a fear of failure. One of the best ways to counter that fear is to sabotage our own efforts. If we know that we haven’t prepared ourselves for a strong effort, then there’s no shame in failure, right? We torpedoed ourselves before the starter ever fired the gun. I think the big obstacle, at least for me, is in giving every effort 100%….and being okay if I still end up rolling off the back of a pack. If I only have time for an hour of endurance riding….then, dangit, that’s going to be the best hour of endurance riding I’ve ever done. If I have to do an interval….I want to bury myself in that effort. The voices will come…the ones that say to quit or to back-off or that you don’t deserve to succeed. Bullocks. To steal coach David Richter’s signature phrase: “you have to stab that beast.”
The Velocity Blog’s “Rider Profiles” highlight the accomplishments of some of our amazing local cycling athletes, and provides insight into their lives that may inspire us all.
