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Chann McRae - Director Roxo Racing, Austin Police Officer

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Chann McRae

Director Roxo Racing

Chann McRae, former professional road cyclist, current cop for Austin PD, and now, new Director for Roxo Racing, Fort Worth’s newest professional women’s cycling team. McRae raced with powerhouse pro teams Mapei, Mercury-Viatel, and US Postal, where he raced alongside the sport’s giants. His successes in the sport accompany a fascinating career. As director of new pro women’s team, Roxo Racing, McRae sets his sights on podiums across the US, then the world. If you’re a fan of cycling, sports, amazing athletes, or inspiring people, please check out this Fortitude episode. Chann McRae does not disappoint!

Please enjoy the best Fort Worth has to offer.

Episode Transcription: roxo media house

0:14

welcome back to fortitude I am JW Olson uh the place where stories never die uh

0:19

thank you cap Tech’s Bank the cap Tech spank Studios where we sit today Chan uh they make all this possible for us

0:26

today’s guest this man right here Chad McRae some of you people out there have

0:31

heard of them uh he’s got an incredible story we’re about to talk about uh Chan first off thanks for being here we we

0:37

welcome you to the to the cap Tech studio in fortitude thank you for being here my pleasure it’s great uh you you

0:43

sir I’ve done quite a quite a bit in this early you’re fairly young for a guy who’s accomplished so much but you’re in

0:50

Albany Georgia native you’ve been a professional cyclist from 1996 through 2003 you’re a triathlete uh continue to

0:58

be a triathlete you’re currently with Austin PD as a bike patrol officer correct correct and you are now

1:04

currently one of the directors of rock Soul racing a female professional cycling team that will be uh launched

1:10

next year um but backing up from the beginning Albany Georgia how to how to tell people

1:16

about Albany Georgia and your childhood Albany Georgia that’s that goes way back

1:22

but um obviously my parents are from Georgia grew up in uh

1:27

Albany but moved to Virginia early on um memories and Albany are just

1:35

like a slow lifestyle nice relaxed and you know enjoyed my time there but it as

1:42

short as it was I just remember like the people in Georgia were awesome how did cycling come between come to

1:49

into your life how did they discover that you could ride a bike or even traffic type activities cycling did not

1:56

enter my life until I moved to Plano Texas okay and that had been

2:02

[Music] some time when I was in I think fourth fifth grade and

2:09

uh at the same time I moved to Plano Texas um

2:14

this other guy moved to Plano Texas his name was Lance Armstrong and I heard about him and we’ll talk

2:19

about him a little bit later but you guys are about the same age but we’re exactly yeah he’s born a month ahead of

2:26

me and so there I don’t know if you guys had it when you were growing up but the

2:32

president presidential physical fitness test like every Elementary School used to do it and I don’t recall that but I

2:38

might have but there were these standards as like how many push-ups how many pull-ups sit-ups um I think there

2:44

was an eight minute run involved and a few other things but I went at Dooley

2:51

Elementary School I held the record and then this new kid shows up it was

2:56

Lance Armstrong now and he claims that he crushed my record and all which

3:03

record are we talking about that for the entire test across the board for the sit-ups

3:09

the push-ups the pull-ups and the eight minute run okay he said that his score he outscored me and he went faster than

3:15

I did and I was like that’s not true because we weren’t competing ahead to head the the gym teacher was just taking

3:21

times and like she never displayed the time and I was like no you didn’t beat me and from

3:28

thousand I think fifth grade and from that day forward it was game on and just

3:36

grew up both entering triathlons both entering cycling events and

3:43

I think at a really early age it was hyper competitive were you guys friendly

3:48

competitive or was it beat each other no matter what then you would probably call it Frenemy

3:55

friend of me okay so to this day it’s still probably called Frenemy Frenemy beautiful I got a few people I could put

4:01

in that category too um when did you when did you personally realize that you were good you were

4:07

better than the average cat at riding a bicycle uh that was probably at the U.S national

4:15

professional long course Triathlon championships where

4:21

two at least two guys are the big four which were Mark Allen Scott Molina Dave

4:27

Scott and Scott timley they were the guys who like dominated a why Iron Man uh back in the day and

4:34

Dave Scott was definitely at the race and Lance was at the race and

4:41

I came out of the water like pretty much with Dave Scott and almost outbiked Dave Scott and then

4:51

Lance beat both of us off the bike and had about probably five minutes on

4:58

Dave Scott and I going into the Run and I ran Lance down and Dave Scott

5:04

ended up winning the event not ER and there was another guy named Kenny law he might have he was either

5:10

maybe Kenny gwa won Dave Scott was second on August third or fourth but at

5:15

that point in time the um U.S Olympic Training Center for the

5:20

cycling took notice of both of us Lance and I and they recruited us to go to Colorado Springs Olympic Training Center

5:28

and go race in the junior World Championships and Road cycling in Moscow Russia oh wow and that was

5:35

um kind of Where it All Began okay that it’s about what year was that when that happened I was I think I was 89 and I

5:43

was a senior either a junior or senior in high school and I had to leave my Plano East High

5:48

School I had to move out to the Olympic Training Center I had to do all of my credits remotely uh got

5:56

through that and then from that pretty much the junior World Championships forward I you know put everything into

6:02

professional cycling oh wow I see in 96 you finally you turned did you turn pro in 96 it well it was amateur up to that

6:10

point amateur back then what we were paid amateurs okay and I mean I could

6:15

make a living doing it we were paid quite well through USA cycling and then in 96

6:23

um I really probably should have turned Pro in 1995 because I had won the national championships for amateurs in 95.

6:31

and you also won it 92. yeah I wanted 92 but I still quite young so I wasn’t ready to go pro yet but in 95 I was

6:37

ready and I went to so in 95 went to tour of China

6:43

uh the current world champion was in the race Gianni buno and also a good friend

6:51

of mine uh Jonathan vaughters who runs EF right now

6:56

um was in the race as well with his team and we were racing to the top of this

7:03

climb that finished on the Great Wall of China oh wow and the race was super fast

7:08

I was having a really good day uh Gianni bunyo is the world champion

7:13

somehow after it whittled down to five or six Riders it was myself and Gianni

7:20

Bunyan and I was climbing next to him I was like this is awesome and I ended up beating him and then

7:26

Jonathan Waters team that he was riding on Santa Clara porcelona took notice that I just beat Gianni buno and they

7:33

asked me to race for them the next year in 96. oh wow and that’s how that’s what started my career in Europe

7:39

this is uh I’m gonna butcher the the pronunciation but is it was it poor

7:44

Solana yes porcelona Santa Clara Samara Samara that was the Russian inside of

7:49

the beautiful that was nice that was your first uh Team you’re getting paid if we can ask what what kind of money

7:55

are we talking about at 96 your first contract is it can we mention it as yeah you can mention it it’s not if you even

8:02

consider it worth mentioning but I think back then

8:07

um they’re like you can ride for us we don’t have much money we can pay you like ten thousand dollars but it’s a

8:12

good opportunity for you to like show yourself and get yourself in the spotlight and get to a bigger program that’s exactly what it did right it did

8:18

it did how are you making ends meet around that 10 if that 10 000 was your was your your base salary how are you

8:24

making other money by winning races and things like that well so Santa Clara actually provided the housing I lived in

8:31

Leon Spain and a flat with I think eight Russians and myself and Jonathan Waters

8:39

and they would pick us up if we were racing in Spain drive us to the races

8:44

drive us back our food was provided because there was a restaurant below the flat that I mean the food wasn’t very to

8:53

this day I can’t believe I ate that food because there weren’t really nutrients in it but I ate it and it sustained us

8:58

and uh the the guys on the team are awesome I mean

9:04

there was one existence I’m guessing right because you’re with your element you’re with your guys and it’s all about cycling right it’s all about cycling and

9:10

you’re just going from race to race to race so you’re not complaining you’re not unhappy you’re you’re loving this this period of your life they’re taking

9:17

care of you and you’re you’re performing there’s some I mean we weren’t always

9:22

performing though sometimes we were getting our buds hand it to us and you know you’d come out of those races

9:29

and you’re just like I just got completely destroyed um there were races Like Walter pays

9:35

Bosque which is probably the hardest five-day stage race in this world in the world to this day that I just remember

9:41

that it was just me off the back with like 10 or 15 other guys just struggling

9:47

to make the time cut and but that’s what pushed me to the next level so um why did why did that only last a

9:55

year you moved on to Die continentali the next year so the team went bankrupt

10:01

so that before we move on but is that a common thing with sports teams because I see a lot of these uh go out of business

10:08

because they’re running out of money it’s the sponsor just stops being interested in paying that or being able to pay for it so the team dies yeah well

10:15

simply put simply put yeah that’s it’s I think nowadays it’s

10:21

like if you’re talking about a world team it’s not it won’t go down like that but back then it was just like okay

10:27

let’s land the sponsor let’s you know perform the best we can I hope they’re

10:33

in for the next year and that’s just the way it went like for like and that was in the late 90s uh since then it’s

10:40

evolved where is your Frenemy in all the during this time 96 97. he’s Racing for Motorola okay which is a

10:50

a world team and he’s definitely thriving he became a world champion and

10:57

yeah so he was world champion I think it was 94 or 95 or something like that and

11:03

but at 96 um unfortunately he was diagnosed with uh testicular cancer and

11:10

had to take some time off but I mean he came back from that really strong in 97

11:15

so in 97 you’re with uh is it dyed continentali decontinentality it’s

11:21

actually like yeah it’s part of the it has connections with the Dortmund uh FC

11:26

team okay you won the Lancaster classic you uh the First Union Invitational a

11:33

couple of seconds and thirds that was a really big year for you it was a huge year for you actually right that that

11:38

opened the door for me uh I was pretty much saved my career was saved by a guy

11:45

on the national team his name is Chris Yankee and he’s like hey I’m racing for this German small pro team and the

11:52

continentali if you want come to my Orca join us there and then we’ll get you to

11:58

some of the biggest races in Germany and if you’re good we’ll get back to the States as well and just perform Man and

12:04

you’re on track but we still gotta finish it off right this sounds like an

12:09

amazing existence you’re traveling all over Europe you’re seeing it and you’re seeing it on the road I mean I can’t

12:15

imagine a more desirable thing for an athlete to be doing uh after uh the

12:22

second stop you move in 98 you went to Saturn another company that went defunct right another sponsor I don’t even sell

12:29

cars now not only believe there existence so uh Saturn when you’re Saturn you won a first in the in a one

12:36

of the German races that I couldn’t pronounce uh and you got a couple seconds that same year here as well so

12:41

right can we talk money what is what are you making in these days is it it went

12:46

up like it was I think I signed with Saturn for like

12:53

37.5 37 500. uh so that was getting a little bit better and

13:00

I um I had the opportunity to lead a really good team at like the peace race which was based in the form formerly uh

13:07

Czechoslovakia of Portland East Germany and when I was still well it was it was

13:14

Germany by then but it was still like you felt like you were in East Germany at times because you’re on that side of

13:20

the wall and that leading I led the peace race and

13:26

that was that race just has its notoriety and respect

13:32

is huge and I felt like it was just an honor to be there and be leading the race for six or seven days I didn’t end

13:38

up winning it but I was close and what’s the prize money to win that race uh first was probably somewhere between

13:46

try around thirty thousand dollars okay it’s not like the turn of France or anything like that but you’re not you’re

13:52

you’re not making millions of dollars but you’re definitely earning enough to to save a little bit possibly and and do

13:59

the things you want to do outside of cycling when season’s over you’re coming back to Texas right

14:04

I was I ended up you know in price saving enough to put a down payment down

14:09

on the house if you can call that saving but sure after after the season like just during this time in your life

14:15

you’re on a professional team but are you having to have a job when you’re not in season you come home are you just

14:22

training no I was training full-time full-time I uh I mean I was still on salary over the winter it didn’t stop

14:27

it’s you know a yearly salary so and then it really kicks up you get signed to my pay Quick Step in 99

14:34

a huge team huge known team correct as the ranked number one in the world for

14:41

and you’re riding with guys I mean you name some of the the faces that we’re talking about uh Johann Museum Tom

14:49

steals Freddie Rodriguez Michelle Bartoli Paulo batini yeah these

14:54

are good ones they’re all like classic winner Perry Bay winners The Edge best only uh world champions so

15:01

that environment was it was the top you can’t go anywhere you went from there as the manager of the team told me you’re

15:08

going down anywhere who’s managing my pay uh Patrick Lefevre

15:14

is Jonathan vaughters we know we know him in the second world is a team manager a director but most people that

15:20

I that we’re familiar with don’t know his his cycling prowess was he was he a pretty good racer he was an incredible

15:26

climber incredible crumb okay um you see you you came in fifth in the world championships World Championship

15:33

Road Race that year we went on the pay but you just mentioned Perry Ruby the

15:38

the hell of the north uh can you tell us a little about that race because people who don’t race myself included can only

15:45

imagine what that’s like but you rode Perry Ruby right no I did not no okay

15:50

that team was such a high caliber team that I fit in more for the hilly type

15:56

Classics like the edge fast only as Lombardi fleshwalon

16:01

um stuff like that Perry Ruby it requires a specialist and that team my

16:08

pay was stacked there’s like if I would have made the team I would have been the eighth person on the team

16:13

right uh no I didn’t race it with my pay I um

16:19

when I became a director for the um under 23 team for slipstream

16:25

I did know how to Recon that course and we ended up getting second and third in the 1993 version of Perry Roo Bay so I

16:32

spent a lot of time recounting those cobblestones it’s an amazing place to be

16:38

um after Mapei not to jump too far ahead you joined Mercury viatel who’s still

16:43

around the tour um correct and then that was a short stint went on to U.S postal right where

16:49

you finished your career for two years right right exactly and that’s where you were reunited with your friend of me Mr

16:55

Lance um in that period of time though you obviously you’re in you’re in the spotlight you’re riding the tour with

17:01

somebody who’s uh obviously done what he did in the tour but you’re riding with some you’re again you’re on one of the

17:07

best teams in the country or in the world excuse me if not the best team and some of the talents around you in fact

17:13

you uh you wrote with names like Christian vandeveld Floyd Landis uh

17:18

Freddie Rodriguez you told me is one of your still one of your friends George hin Cappy John Ulrich these are all like

17:25

these are massive names Roberto harass Tom boonen uh any of the anybody those

17:31

guys any stories you can share with us about any of those particular names since they’re on people’s brain who maybe aren’t the biggest cycling fans

17:38

all right well obviously uh what a name sorry

17:44

pick one there’s always report to harass tomb and um George Hancock y’all coming up and

17:50

Christian vandeville I’ll come and play because we’re all on the same team for velta Catalonia one year and harass took

17:55

the lead and this was right before the Tour de France and

18:01

I remember um sitting there that’s riding on the front

18:06

every single day and then as I had told tombstone in one day I was like okay I I think the um Flemish word

18:13

is full Embark which means full gas and it was right before a climb and then so

18:19

when I told this was before he was a big name and I was like okay hit it full gas and we’re doing like I don’t know 40 42

18:28

miles an hour on the flats and going around these roundabouts just flying before we had to make a right-hand turn

18:33

before the last climb of the day and we destroyed like the whole bunch

18:40

the bunch of the Peloton and completely destroy them hit the climb and the only

18:46

guys left are like some of the guys on my team that weren’t pulling and then like 15 other guys and then we finished

18:52

the race and in Cappy’s like comes up to me he’s like why did you tell Tommy to

18:57

go full gas man that was way too fast I was seeing I was pinned and I was like I don’t know man I just felt good and I

19:03

felt like we could just hammer it and uh and then we ended up winning the race

19:08

and uh Roberto was uh you know Walter Catalonia Champion so it all worked out

19:13

but I think the it was even cooler though when I became my Christians direct

19:20

vandeville’s director and I’m sitting there directing it I’m doing the tactics for him in uh turned Missouri is this

19:28

slipstream this is on slipstream and we’re sponsored by Garmin at the time and he wins that and everything comes

19:35

together and then I go to the next big race

19:40

um through Colorado we get second there um and then we go to tour of Utah and

19:47

Tom Danielson is um one of my guys that I’m directing everything goes down really well there

19:54

we win that and then we go to um tour of Alberto Alberta and uh Canada

20:01

and we win that with Rohan Dennis so it was just

20:06

is I don’t know I felt like is just felt rewarded that you could take something

20:12

that you did full time as an athlete and then you were able to apply that as a director and use the same tactics that

20:19

you learned from you know Johan boynell or Patrick lafem and put that all into

20:25

play and then actually have it come into fruition and that’s I just

20:31

that’s where I felt the most satisfied really for someone who doesn’t understand necessarily what does it feel

20:37

like to ride in a Peloton on a pro race is there a feeling you can describe for us

20:42

so because you get on the TV just just so just to clear up that it’s a lot of

20:47

people in a small space riding extremely fast in most cases is there is there a

20:53

feeling that it gives you that you could relay to us well if you’re raising it somewhere like

20:58

Holland it’s there’s so much Road Furniture we call it Road Furniture those are like

21:05

bike Lanes roundabouts all kinds like different obstacles in the roadway that

21:10

you don’t have here in the U.S so you’re basically playing Frogger this is this

21:15

video game that where you have to like get around all these obstacles on the

21:21

bike with 150 people around you going you know 30 miles an hour and hoping

21:28

that everyone can handle their bike as well as you can uh some people adapt to

21:33

it some people grow up doing it from the time they’re like you know 13 or 14 years old to getting you know adults who

21:40

are like 24 years old they just got their first contract in their from the U.S but they’ve never ridden in a bunch

21:46

like that they have a hard time adapting right like it starts at a young age and

21:52

I if if I think everyone can remember like their first days as a bike racer suiting

21:59

up as a I guess the starting level used to be category five or something and they put you in this category five road race and

22:07

you’re in your kit you have no idea how to handle your bike and about every five

22:13

minutes there’s a crash that can be um pretty much the same as the stage one in the Tour de France

22:18

so it’s it’s not easy and those skills are hard to pick up no doubt so you

22:24

mentioned crashing Chan what uh how many have you been involved in roughly and have you how’s your body have you broken

22:31

things over the years racing I have I’ve broken numerous

22:36

bonds I know that vividly remember crashing and

22:41

I think it was 2002 and uh Four Days of Dunkirk breaking my elbow

22:47

having to not be able to finish that race because of the broken bone going back to the

22:54

United States training with a cast on on my left arm

22:59

and just sitting there going how am I going to you know perform

23:06

at Nationals at us Pro and this was 2002. I was six weeks on my own in a

23:11

cast but I was training my butt off like people didn’t know it but I was being motor paced like every other day I was

23:18

putting in six hour rides and then the arms started getting better

23:24

um there are a couple warm-up races before yes Pro and I did okay but then

23:30

we hit us Pro in 2002 I was supposed I was working for George handcappy uh

23:36

Frankie andreo was our I believe yeah he was our director and

23:41

he’s calling the shots from the team car and I was like Frankie it’s like we’d already done like 140 miles into the

23:48

race or something like that and I was like Frankie I feel good I’m gonna attack the next time up to climb and he

23:54

was like sure go for it just know that George catches back up you’re gonna work for him in the Sprint I was like yeah

23:59

I’m fine with that well I attacked and only one or two other guys came with me

24:04

one was Canadian one was American Danny Pate so technically to become the U.S

24:11

Pro Champion I only needed to beat Danny Pate um so we come to the line in Philadelphia and back then Philly was

24:19

probably the biggest race in the United States and I was like I just have to be Danny paid in the Sprint that’s all I

24:24

had to do and I’ll get into Jersey and it all worked out I got the Jersey I was

24:29

us Pro champion and that all comes back to that me breaking

24:35

my elbow and four days of Dunkirk because that probably wouldn’t never happen had I not been sent home to do this specialized training that I ended

24:41

up doing right that’s incredible um just a couple highlights that I don’t want to overlook these but in 2000 you

24:48

were with Mapei you you came in 17th in the general classification in the geode Italia one of the biggest races in the

24:55

world 2002 your second in the US Pro championships first in the national championship Road Race Elite you were

25:02

the first in the team trial stage one in the in the Volta seclista Cataluna

25:08

messed that up I’m sure but that’s you had an incredible uh time trial team there but you guys came in first in

25:14

stage one let’s talk about um U.S post real quick since since they came up early but when you’re on U.S

25:21

postal with with Lance what’s the what’s the general Vibe on the team and how’s that look how’s that how’s that General

25:27

team concept work when you’re on that team the postal was is locked down there

25:34

wasn’t a lot of freedom there was more freedom on my pay to you know go into the we call it the

25:40

final of the races where you’re trying to get into the last 50k of the race and just throw down everything you got left

25:47

in you’re gonna throw down attack after attack and try and win the races at postal you had a little bit of freedom

25:54

to do that but the program obviously was you know tailored towards last winning the Tour de France every year and

26:01

it built you know every race built off of the one prior to it to be able to get

26:07

the team and Lance into perfect form for day one of the Tour de France

26:12

so the experience in general when I look back on it like with Johann bornell and

26:18

and Lance was it was a great experience I learned tons and it just for me I

26:25

don’t think it was the perfect team at because it’s like Lessons Learned when you go back you go back in time and look

26:32

at things and I’m like I should have stayed at my pay my entire career and Patrick Lafayette was right it’s like

26:37

wherever you go you’re stepping down dude you know it’s like I should have listened that guy was Johann bernil a

26:43

good guy to race for yeah he’s he’s incredible I mean he knows so much he’s tactically like

26:49

he was the best I mean is that what makes him unique is that he understands tactics in a way most people don’t yeah

26:56

he does be as he’s Belgian but he’s it’s that International flavor he’s raced

27:02

everywhere he’s LED he’s he beat Miguel entering in the stage in the Tour de

27:08

France I mean you know the guys the guy was a legit bike racer and then he became a brilliant director so awesome I

27:15

have to ask because people who watch us will only Wonder uh doping when you’re

27:20

on postal or before you can tell say whatever you want Chan but

27:26

we all know what happened with Lance how was in your mind what can you can you can you talk about that a little bit and

27:32

how whatever whatever it is you can share with us and how that affected you or didn’t affect you or what you saw or

27:38

didn’t see can you speak to the doctor the thing is that people always come to the assumption that

27:44

doping was like one person on the team does it so obviously

27:49

they think the entire team’s doping or the doctor for the team is providing you

27:56

know banned substances for the entire team but and back then that’s not the way it

28:02

worked it’s guy’s individual Pros we’re going out and seeking these like

28:08

sketchy doctors from Spain Italy wherever that may be hiring

28:15

them and giving um 20 or so of their salary oh wow and

28:20

yeah it wasn’t cheap and you had a choice like yeah you wanna

28:26

you’re already I mean to get to that level you have to be awesome you have to

28:32

have many national championships under your belt that you held the title or you

28:38

perform without substances and then you get to that point where okay

28:44

you make the choice do you want that one or two percent extra or do you want to

28:50

race like we called it Pani agua which means bread and water and stay where you are some guys made

28:56

that choice of yeah I’m gonna privately hire ex-doctor I’m gonna give them 20 of my

29:04

salary and you know I’m gonna get that one to two percent extra but

29:10

I think what the general public doesn’t understand is that you can’t make a donkey at their own

29:16

bread right and so if you’re already a thoroughbred just that was my motto is

29:22

just you know believe in yourself and you know you’re you can take it as far

29:28

as you want but it was the thing that sucked is that like you were getting these guys that I

29:33

know they weren’t very good but all of a sudden they were on another level right and you’re just like that’s just not

29:40

right that dudes I knew him as an amateur he was not that strong and now like he’s destroying me yeah well I’m

29:48

not Oprah as you clearly know but I’m asking did you have to make that choice as far as EPO or any of the doping

29:54

scenarios that we’re going I I if if I wanted well I did want to win the Tour

29:59

of France but I guess and I wanted it bad but not to the extent of blood doping right I just like

30:08

taking blood out and putting it back in just wasn’t something that I didn’t that was too far it wasn’t encouraged by by

30:15

Johann or any of the buddy on your team it was just like if you if you’re gonna do it do it stay private or was it

30:20

encouraged at all it wasn’t I wouldn’t say encouraged I would say that if a

30:27

rider was going to undertake that they didn’t need the encouragement to do something Fair okay

30:33

um will you return finally you retire from Pro cycling in the next chapter in your

30:38

life comes the board you you directed a development team in Belgium and then ultimately slipstream which you which

30:43

you already mentioned um this this is happening and then another thing happens to you you are

30:49

you’re you’re living in Austin at this point right and you’re introduced to potentially working for the Austin

30:55

Police Department uh how did this come to happen so yeah that it was

31:01

well prior to that in 2007 or eight I took the

31:07

the job with USA cycling did I overlooked a lot a big chunk I didn’t want to yes please continue there’s just

31:14

this bridge from 2007 to 2014 that I had the opportunity to work with USA

31:20

cycling and direct their their kind of as a co-director of the

31:26

national team and then be the manager for their trade team which was vmg um

31:32

hollowesco Partners which was awesome guys out of the Bahamas who totally to

31:38

this day still back cycling and I became really good friends with them and help

31:43

you know I ran the team as a DS as a manager and that just kind of

31:48

um Turned evolved into me working for slipstream um Mark halawesko Stefan Westco really

31:56

good friends with Jonathan vaughters and so Jonathan called me up I think it was in

32:02

2008 or something like that he’s like hey I need to have an under 23 team for my world team I want you to run it will

32:10

you do it and I was like yeah sure let’s go for it so that started the under 23 team

32:15

um which was back then the spot title sponsor was Garmin it’s currently EF now

32:21

and I did that all the way until 2012 or so and then I I guess I

32:28

graduated into the world team and started working in the world tour but at

32:34

the same time the challenge for me was always okay as a director you’re normally not you

32:41

don’t have the same luxury as a rider who’s getting two to three year contracts at a time you’re

32:46

going every 12 months you’re up for Renewal and I was like do I want to do this like until I’m

32:55

whatever old you know every single 12 months like having to negotiate another contract I mean I can do it and I enjoy

33:02

the sport but I started riding with some friends who are on APD they’re like hey

33:09

ABD pays well do you know that and I was like no how much they pay and it’s like that’s not bad it’s like and they’re

33:16

like you know that you get health insurance and a pension and you get to do cool work and all this stuff I was

33:21

like that’s interesting you wanted some stability in your life yeah it’s I mean it’s government work it’s it’s

33:28

stable um so I looked into it and I put in my application and I was accepted and from

33:37

2014 until and that’s what I’ve been doing since then really I gotta believe forgive me

33:43

but you got to be one of the best bike cops to ever live based on your previous life I mean can you share with us any

33:48

any Tales from the from the scene uh yeah well I mean I I teach the police

33:55

mountain bike school at the Academy as well so they at ABD they knew that okay well I guess

34:03

he’s an asset I mean he rides his bike all the time he knows how to handle his bike can he ride his bike and Chase bad

34:09

guys at the same time and do everything right in the process and yeah I mean

34:15

I’ve been in numerous Pursuits and you know where

34:20

some major felonies going off and I’m on my bike and I have to get there fast and

34:26

it’s about like knowing how to get from point A to point B safely fast and then taking a subject

34:33

into custody that’s just committed a felony without excessive force and also not getting

34:41

yourself hurt at the same time so it’s a really fine balance and

34:47

you really everything’s kind of on the line still for sure so you’re not jumping you’re not like jumping off your

34:52

bike onto a suspect and based on your I mean it’s not quite like that but you’re getting there quickly maybe quicker than

34:59

the the cop the cars because of your agility on a bike I’m assuming right yeah because you can take sidewalks you

35:05

can take alleys a lot of the stuff you’re doing is at night and it’s very dark and

35:12

yeah you do need to know how to Dismount your bike quickly and you know how it approaches the suspect and then you need

35:19

to see if the suspect’s armed right what are you gonna do what’s your level of force are you going to use or are you

35:26

gonna have to bring it way back down because this isn’t a call or anything like that sometimes you just don’t know exactly what you’re going into for sure

35:34

um you have uh let’s see 25th 2014 you started that so you told me and times

35:40

we’ve talked before you’ve run into like Bezos or several times in Austin just walking out of his building things of

35:45

that nature you’ve probably seen uh some of some of the friendly faces around Austin doing that are are you are you a

35:52

known entity on on the streets in Austin because of who you are and what you what you’re doing

35:57

uh uh occasionally so I’ll be sitting there with some of

36:03

the guys on my shift that like we have these um small grocery stores called

36:08

royal blue and we’re like let’s go get water we’re really thirsty or whatever and we’ll take a break we’ll sit down

36:14

and someone I’ll walk up to my shift mates and be like hey do you know this guy at APD his name’s chamic cray and

36:22

I’ll just sit there and they’ll be like yeah I know them I’ve never heard

36:28

eventually they’ll introduce me to them Etc but that’s great um they’re that’s usually those people

36:34

though were are in the cycling world you know and then they found out that I

36:39

became a cop locally it’s a huge cycling community in Austin obviously uh you know Lance’s

36:45

habitation there has made it a bigger scene but lots of people cycle down there so it’s a huge Community for

36:51

people like you uh working wise and then just for recreation recreationally you

36:56

are still doing triathlete type stuff in fact you just ran a Boston Marathon recently right I did I ran it actually I

37:05

ran in October which was the makeup year for 2020 because everything was locked

37:12

down so then they had it again in April so I raced in October and April how’d

37:19

you do in April April went better than October uh October was good I ran like

37:24

uh 259 it was solid but it I suffered for sure going through the Newton Hills

37:31

because my hamstring started getting tighter I think I had a little bit of a hamstring injury going into it uh the

37:38

mileage was good but training through the Texas summer for the October one was brutal

37:43

um but then I was like okay they opened up registration again for the April one I was like I know I can go

37:50

faster and I put in the miles again but this time the difference was I was

37:56

putting the miles in during the winter time right so the miles were higher quality

38:01

I went into the race injury-free and like we started and I don’t know I just

38:09

I was on a great day sometimes you’re just on a great day I look down I’m like 6 30 first mile I was like that’s good

38:15

that’s a little bit faster 6 30 miles I was like that’s a little bit faster than what it needs to be but I’m like my

38:21

perceived exertion’s really low and then I kept hitting I was like 6 30 6 35

38:26

creep up to 640 sometimes back down to like 6 35 and I was like okay well I

38:32

guess I’m just gonna go with it and I ended up hitting Newton Hills and I

38:38

remember um there was the Naval Academy had a team

38:43

and there were like five guys and they’re all in Naval Academy like kit and they’re talking they’re like here

38:49

are the Newton Hills these are a man I was like yeah I remember them from October but let’s go and there’s these

38:55

there are three hills that are they’re challenging because they come at like 17 miles and you can lose Pace big

39:03

time when you hit those and my goal is like okay no matter what I don’t want to run any of these miles under seven for

39:09

these three miles where these climbs are in Newton and I kept hitting them none of them went above seven and all the

39:17

Naval Academy guys they were just it the we were they were getting shattered

39:22

because at first they were all running together and talking but then I come um off the hills start coming into Boston

39:29

Proper and I look next to me I think it’s on my right and the guy running

39:35

next to me says NYPD I was like this is cool this is very random and everybody like finished almost the same time like

39:43

two hours and 51 minutes or so 251 and um that’s fantastic I was like wow I

39:48

just dropped a significant amount of time from October to now but for me it comes down to like I was

39:55

healthy uh no hamstring injury and putting in just better mileage because

40:00

the temps were so much cooler in the wintertime well done man that’s fantastic all right and coming to the

40:06

last part of your uh your of your interview today uh what are you doing these days you just become the director of a new team something magical seems to

40:13

be transpiring and you’re part of it what’s going on these days well as you

40:19

know uh rocks are racing is the team that I was asked to direct in 2022

40:28

and my first you know gig back was tour of gila and I had a great experience

40:35

there and I was like I still love this stuff I mean I still enjoy directing I still enjoy being with the writers I

40:42

enjoy setting the tactics for the day and being around these people is all just a super positive environment

40:49

um and then I was like and then there was this writer there who’s gonna

40:56

write for us in 23 Emily marcolini who was not supported at the race

41:02

had asked us prior to the race if we could help her out just with giving her water bottles like so that

41:10

you know she would be able to survive the race well she did a little bit more than survive it she actually won the

41:18

hardest stage there and I was like here you have like one of the fastest females

41:23

in North America coming over to our Airbnb to retrieve the bottles that she

41:28

gave us so that she can take all empty bottles back and refill them for the

41:34

next morning and then give them back to us with zero support and and we’re like man we’ll help you out however we can

41:41

we’ll do we’ll we’ll even make your bottles I don’t care but I guess I

41:48

this cool relationship formed and then things just started falling into place and we just started signing like these

41:56

really big names that they’re they’re at this level where

42:01

they’re good enough to be in a world team but I think like for 23 they want

42:07

to showcase themselves and we’re like we’re going to give you the platform we know how good you are maybe you didn’t

42:13

get the support that you needed and you know 21 and 22 but 23 you’re going to have it and you’re going to be able to

42:20

launch on this platform so right this Rockstar racing team is set to become a

42:25

uh not a pro national team next year with this one this Emily’s one of these women you talk about how many members of

42:31

the team will there be uh so far we have eight signed we’re looking at signing

42:37

two more two more um and obviously some people know this the Tour de France Femme just completed

42:42

a few weeks ago the first one in since 1989 uh is it fair to say that women’s

42:48

the women’s uh Pro cycling world is on an uptick right now because of this and

42:54

maybe there’s more to come I mean women’s cycling over the years has struggled is it is it it fair to say

43:00

that there seems to be some increased interest in the sport right now I I would say it’s completely turned the

43:06

corner beautiful um just I was during the tour to film I was in

43:11

Holland and obviously amonique won the Tour de film

43:17

um a lot of Americans probably don’t even know who she is unless you follow the sport closely but over there like on

43:23

the most popular talk shows like right after the turtle film finished she was in the spotlight so Amy Van

43:30

veluten yes tell me more about her real quick sorry she’s an incredible writer the way she

43:36

destroyed the field and uh she’s a celebrity in she’s a complete celebrity in Holland and so is Voss but like

43:43

they’re involves your speaker yes they’re basically like household names over there I mean they call Vasa goat

43:50

and as she legit is and then you have ammonique who comes in the Tour de femme

43:56

in the last two days like the way that she rode was just incredible I mean she

44:01

just destroyed the field and you’re like this this is where women’s racing is going and it’s it literally has turned

44:09

the corner and I think for the next decade it’s going to be the the thing will roxo racing see itself in racing in

44:16

Europe someday is that part of the goal our goal is to move from women’s Pro

44:23

Continental to women’s uh world team and I think

44:29

with the year involved JW and then getting some more guys on board that we’re going to make that happen it’s a

44:34

pretty incredible Chan well they’re lucky to have you your your bank of knowledge cannot be overlooked um what what nationally speaking women’s

44:43

cycling is it how healthy a sport is it right now does it still need does the European transition over to National

44:49

over here what does the sport need to proliferate it proliferate itself excuse

44:55

me I butchered that word but what does the sport need from fans and is it any more fandom more exposure

45:01

that’s these these writers I mean

45:06

I’m they to me they deserve to be like the marketing efforts that should be put

45:13

into it you need to increase like tenfold ah I mean like I said like in

45:19

Holland it’s there but for that to happen in the U.S just we

45:24

need to get marketing agencies completely behind it um because the potential is there it

45:29

just hasn’t been capitalized on yet awesome thank you for sharing that real quickly you’re married you have two

45:35

children how old are your kids uh 21 and 18. are

45:40

they cyclists so the thing is they kind of rebelled against cycling but when you put them on

45:46

the bike when you put them on a bike it’s like how do you know how to ride so well like they can handle their bikes

45:52

great so I mean if they do want to you know take up cycling then I’ll 100 be

45:59

behind it but they’re so busy in college right now is your wife a cyclist she’s ax Pro and she was won some major races

46:08

in North America and like was I think that’s where they get their bike handling from very nice

46:14

um thank you for joining us today one of the questions we ask our guests aside from marital Affairs family anything

46:20

family related what would you tell us is the best day of your whole life

46:26

if you’re able to that’s funny I don’t know if I’d say it

46:32

was just like shocked me I was like I best day or just say this is pretty

46:37

badass was that my youngest daughter who’s 18 now like

46:44

when she was I think like 11 or something she was Naga world

46:51

champion at jiu jitsu and we trained together a lot and then one day in our

46:57

house we were playing around and I was like she’s starting to get kind of like really good and like I’m not holding

47:05

back that much and she puts this rear naked choke on me and I’m like

47:10

dude she wasn’t letting go and I was like this is like she’s freaking trained

47:16

now like and I was just like this is so cool that’s awesome great answer great answer uh you mean and I forgot to

47:23

mention one thing is you got pulled into MMA training part of your training but you thought you have fought one MMA

47:28

fight uh in your life tell us briefly about that and then we’ll get you out of

47:33

here uh yeah that was a that was a big part

47:38

of my life I still follow the sport I just became a hobby that I put a lot

47:44

into uh training up to two to three hours a day of mixed martial arts training

47:49

and at one point in time I got the opportunity they’re like hey there’s a cage fight oh they need guys we think

47:56

you’re ready do you want to do it and I was like yeah I guess so

48:02

um okay we’ll talk to the guy the promoter we’ll see if we can get you in they got me in I represented the mixed

48:08

martial arts gym that I was training at and the fight the guy

48:13

um I thought my opponent had 10 fights I had zero so he had more experience but

48:18

the fight went deep into you know into the third round and we were only fighting three rounds it wasn’t

48:25

championship fights go for five but obviously this was an amateur fight we’re in the third round and on points

48:32

we’re pretty even uh he throws I think it’s at two minutes

48:38

and something into the third round he throws a good overhand right lands it

48:43

I I hit the ground he mounts starts ground and pound and I’m trying to

48:50

escape which I still did this day think I was going to escape but uh

48:55

um ref start stops the fight and so Tech it was a technical knockout and I got up

49:03

I was fine I wasn’t dazed I was like why’d you stop the fight uh and then that was that was that

49:11

awesome stuff Jay McRae it’s been a pleasure to talk to you you’re a fascinating uh guy we wish you luck with

49:17

Rockstar racing I think they’re in great shape with you as they’re one of the directors I can’t wait to see what happens with the team but you got an

49:23

awesome opportunity ahead of you thank you for what you do for the police department uh thanks for joining us and thank you cap Tech’s bank for sponsoring

49:28

all this we appreciate the time man likewise [Music]

49:34

thank you

49:44

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