I think I am 34 but I am not too good at math. I was born in The Republic of Boulder, Colorado. I am one of the few people who did not move here from Texas or California.

How long have you been racing? How long have you been involved in cycling?

I began racing in the Red Zinger Mini Classics, a race series for kids aged 10-15, in 1988 and have been hopelessly addicted ever since.

What do you consider to be your "Home Track"?

Without question my hometown track is the USOTC velodrome in Colorado Springs. My first race there was in 1990. I rode a 12.5 200m and a 1:12 kilo. It could be said that I did not exactly set the world on fire.

What is your favorite track?

My favorite track in the US is probably Blaine, MN. I love the track in LA too, it is a beautiful facility and we are lucky to have a World Class venue like the Home Depot Center in the US.

My favorite track in the World is Athens. It was an outdoor track for years, then they used this lazer thingamabober technique to resurface it, and put a roof over it, but with open sides like the track in Cali, Columbia. The surface was perfect, the roof was gorgeous, and it had the atmoshpere of the Olympics.

What is your favorite event? Why?

This is a tough question for me. I love all bike races: road, crit, time trials, all track events, CX, MTB XC, even hillclimbs...with a gun to my head though, I would say points race. Or madison, just to get shot. The points race suits all my best abilities; high average speed (favors aero guys), repeated surges with short recovery, and tactics have a large impact on the outcome of the race.

I love the madison, it is like being in a real life video game, it is such a skilled event that when you and your partner get it down, you can go unbelievably fast on a bike, and its highly satisfying. It's also scary as hell.

What do you consider to be your biggest win?

Probably the Sydney World Cup points race. It was the ride that qualified my start position for the Olympic Games. I lapped the field with a breakaway of about 6 guys, then then lapped again later in another group. I was the only guy up two laps, and I beat all the best guys in the circuit ten days before Worlds in Melbourne.

What do you consider to be your biggest loss?

Probably Worlds points race and/or madison in LA. Everything was absolutely perfect for the three months before those races. My preparation was ideal, including the perfect combination of races, training and rest. I caved under the pressure in the points race and just rode unsure of myself. It was a huge disappointment to let that opportunity slide away.

In the madison I made the race winning move, and my partner swung up the track and took us out of the breakaway. We knew how the race was going to go that day and took advantage of the tactics as they unfolded. Late in the race, an opportunity came and I took it. The british attacked just after we did, and were maybe 30 meters behind us, when my parter swung up the track. The brits lapped the field about 10 laps later, it was the attack that was perfectly timed, everyone was throttled at that point in the race. The British ended up winning. My six year old daughter still walks around saying "daddy, if he didn't swing up, you would be World Champion"...

But, that is madison, I have been on both sides...in my first Worlds in Antwerp in 2001, Jame Carney and I stole an early lap. This was when madison Worlds were 60km. We led the race for 80 laps. I had been sick the week before and I started to get dizzy during the race and I could not hold the wheel. If we had just survived in the field, we would have been 4th, which would have been the best result ever in the madison at Worlds. But I could not do it, and we lost a lap and finished 14th. After the race it was like, what do I say? There is nothing really to say in a situation like that. Both partners have to execute perfectly to have everything go right.

Where does the National Hour Record fit in your list of accomplishments?

Wow, now I feel old. That was over a decade ago.

The US hour record was a great ride for me, everything was very optimized; my position, the bike, my training. It was sort of like the end of the first big chapter in my little teeny career. But the event was sort of a natural synopsis of everything I was good at, at the time. I did it without really growing as a rider, that was in years to come. So on the one hand it was a big accomplishment, and on the other I knew it was not anything to freak out about.

Now that you have retired, moved onto coaching, are you doing much riding? Do you see any racing in your future?

I don't consider myself "retired" from racing, but I am retired from US national team competition. It would be a slight conflict of interest to be like "and for the Worlds team, I name Myself!". Next year I will race whatever I think will be fun. Racing is in my blood.

I think my rule will be that I must wear a skinsuit in every race, so my races will include tt's, CX, MTB XC, and some other random stuff like Mt. Evans and Pikes Peak hillclimbs. I have not figured out how I will survive the 104 mile road race at the Parker NRC event yet...Hampsten road the Atlanta GP in a skinsuit, and that was 200km, so I think I can pull it off.

I am sort of nuts. So, I must keep riding, for me it's cheap therapy. Cycling is how I battle my demons. Everybody's got the demon.

As a former National Team member, nobody knows the state of the US Endurance Program better than you. While there has been some success over the past few years (much of it yours) there really hasn't been a "Elite Development Program". As the new coach, what are you doing to change that?

Pat McDonough has really been working hard on this. I am just a part of his bigger vision. He ran the T-Town program for years so he understands how to take what you have and make it into what you want. In this case he has quite a project.

The model will seek to utilize both athletes from the existing pool of track riders in the US, and from the enormous depth of road talent we have. We will introduce riders from the road to the track and teach them the skills they need to compete.

To lure riders from the road, we must give them means, motive and opportunity. Means and opportunity are being provided by USAC in the form of introductory track camps for road riders, during which we provide bikes for the riders to use and coaching on basic track techniques.

Motive comes from the Podium program, the details of which will be available on the USAC website in the near future. This program is results based, and allows athletes to qualify for national team support and funding directly from the USOC through achievement of time standards and results in World Cups, World Championships, and Pan-Ams. It has three levels of support, and the top level pays $15k, which I am sure any road rider will be interested in earning. Its a nice supplement to a road salary, and I wish it was around in my day of track racing!

The UCI has set up the "Track Team" concept which the Americans are taking advantage of. Spike, TIAA-Cref and USA Cycling are all fielding riders for World Cup Competitions. Do you think this helps US Riders?

Without question, the new Track Team model will benefit track cycling in the US. Through this system, teams are able to register as "track trade teams", a status which allows them to enter riders at World Cups and compete for World Championship start positions. Riders are scored in all events, even team events, as individuals. It is then up the the NGB (USAC in our case) to determine who will represent the country at the Worlds in these start positions.

This system effectively allows more US riders to compete at the World Cup level, which increases our chances of qualifying start positions for Worlds, and raises the level of our riders by exposing them to more international competition. The only hitch is that as of now, anyone with enough money can start a track trade team, so Billy Bob Thornton can come out with Angelina and race a madison if they want...there is no qualification process, so riders who do not belong at the World Cup level could be there, which is potentially hazardous for the other athletes. Maybe it would be Brad and Angelina, I forget who is with who these days.

It does seem that all three groups are working well together. Does your former involvement in the TIAA-Cref team aid in this?

Probably. At the LA World Cup, all three teams (US, TIAA-CREF and Spike) were in the same cabin, and we treated everyone as though they were on one big US team, as we were all there to accomplish the same goal: achieve start positions for the US at Worlds. Coming from an environment like TIAA-CREF enables me to see both sides of the coin, to understand the road pros' hesitations about committing to a track schedule, so it is a useful perspective.

For as long as I can remember, there has been a battle for recognition and support. Sprinters v. Endurance. What are you and/or USA Cycling doing to keep a level playing field?

With the introduction of the podium program, there will be a level playing field. Every benefit a US team member could conceivably qualify for, including health insurance, stipends, equipment, travel, camps, OTC resident housing, SRM usage, and everything else boils down to performance now. It was frustrating to watch the sprinters get tons of support over the years I was involved with the program, while not generating the results that justified that level of support. Now, support will be delegated as appropriate.

Gary West, Pat McDonough, Jim Miller and Steve Johnson have played the principle role in this re-allocation of rider support.

Coming off one of the best World Cup competitions in US History, do you think we have more success in the near future? Was this "home team advantage" or a sign of some great things to come?

We certainly do experience home team advantage in LA, but that can evaporate, as evidenced by our dismal performance in the 2005 Worlds. I think we are on the verge of a new chapter in US track racing. We are cleaning house, changing the guard, hiring new staff, and improving policy. It seems as though everyone at USAC across the board has a new perspective and a drive to change things, and this is one of the most exciting components of coming to work here. I came to USAC at the perfect time, and believe me the decision was not easy. I went from a silver medal at the Moscow World Cup points race to a coach 4 weeks later in Manchester, and it has not been an easy transition. But I am highly motivated by the new direction USAC is going. I have no doubt we will make history.

I think this process of change ultimately began when Gerard Bisceglia was hired as CEO of USAC. It was a fresh perspective which was needed.

Do you think we are well positioned to bring home some medals from the 2008 Olympics?

Yes. Just one example of many talents we have now is Sarah Hammer. She is riding times now that will place her in the top 3 at Worlds, and the games are two years away.

What can US Track managers and racers do to support track racing in this country and help it grow?

Track managers can make races hard. We need to push the level of racing up in this country. Do not be afraid to make racers work hard. Race formats need to be a bit clever, so that when you have a track which has a good sized user group that has a large discrepancy in user abilities, everyone can get benefit and improve. You don't want a situation where the two best guys are riding laps around the entire field every friday night. It is demoralizing and stagnating.

I recently did a camp in LA and Roger Young invited our group to race the final night. The format was one of the best I have seen for this type of user group. It was a 40km motorpace points race, where the motor is on the blue line the entire night. Groups of riders can drop down to the pole lane and take laps, or the riders with less strength hang on to the motor all night and get 40km of motor work in at 45kph. The last 20 laps, the pace gets pretty quick for a nice punctuation mark, but the majority of the time the field is intact. If you ran a 40km points race with the same group straight up, after 20km 2/3 of the field would be lapped and on the verge of quitting. So its much more beneficial to have the group paced.

The other format I like is handicap races. These allow riders of all abilities to contest the same event and even allow the slowest riders to win sometimes. I would encourage Track managers and race promoters to use these and other creative equalizing formats as often as possible.

Also, hold more madison clinics! This is a fundamental event for men, and can even be very useful for women. There is an old saying, nothing is better training than a madison...

Also, we need some sort of National Track Calendar, with every local series on it in the US, including Burnaby, and Bloomer Park (which seems to exist in its own universe), and every major event too. This way, when road riders have a week in some state they have never been in, they can head to the track and do some racing on Wednesday night. Maybe we could post the master calendar on some prominent track website...

Racers can work hard and always go for it. Everyone needs to raise the level of competition in this country, and the way to do that is challenge yourself.

How do you feel about track racing, in the US, overall. Do you growth? potential? Are we going in the right direction?

I think we are going in the right direction. Track racing in the US has been pretty low for a while. It has bright points, like the madison cup in T-Town, which always attracts an international, competitive field. But overall the level has been low. In the last year, Jim Miller has single-handedly brought more high level road riders to the track than we have had try it out in probably the last decade. Not all of them will go on forever, but you have to keep throwing the numbers at it, and some will stick. It's like when the sea turtle heaves its' ponderous bulk onto the beach and lays 200 eggs, only a couple will survive.

Sorry Jim, I guess I just equated you to a sea turtle.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Peanut butter. I like to share peanut butter.

What do you think of FixedGearFever?

FGF rules! We need sites like this to get people on the same page in track racing, and have a collective consciousness. Let the web make our little bike racing world smaller! Let people barter ancient 50T campy chainrings for Bell helmets! Let Mike Friedman blog himself into a corner and then paint his way out of it! Let there be photos and opinions and polls of who will win worlds!