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

roxo media house