Sal Scotto: the interview

By Daniel McMahon

LAST WEEK I was down in Phoenix, where I met up with Sal Scotto, recently of New York-based GS Mengoni, to talk about next year, during which he’ll be racing in Belgium, and to look back on some of the highlights of his past few seasons.

Daniel McMahon: Sal, in 2010 you’re going to spend a good part of the road season living and racing in Belgium on a team that includes Erwin Vervecken, the three-time world champion of cyclocross. How did that come about?

Sal Scotto: Basically it came about with Champion System. I worked for them, and they sponsor a team out in Belgium called Baboco. I spoke with them about possibly coming out for a few months and racing out there. And they said, Yeah, sure, come on out. So we worked out a deal, and now I’m getting ready and training.

DM: And Vervecken is going to be on the road team?

SS: Correct.

DM: That must be kind of cool and exciting.

SS: And a little bit intimidating!

DM: Ever raced cross yourself?

SS: No. I don’t like cleaning the bikes. [Laughs] Getting mud chunks all over my bike.

DM: Do you know how many guys are on the team?

SS: About eight or nine riders.

DM: Have you had any communication with anyone over in Belgium?

SS: Yeah, Tim Hussen. He’s helping me out, getting set up with an apartment and where I’m going to race and what not.

DM: So when do you go?

SS: I leave at the end of March or early April.

DM: What town are you going to be based in?

SS: Gent.

DM: So will you be racing Gent-Wevelgem one day?

SS: Hopefully! Fingers crossed.

DM: When did you get down here to Phoenix?

SS: Beginning of December.

DM: How’s it going?

SS: It’s been going well. I don’t want to overdo it too early. If you don’t have a job or anything down here, it’s very easy to say I’m not doing anything; I should be out riding. And you want to get in those four- or five-hour days every single day. But that’s actually putting you in shape too early, and you’re going to peak too early. So my coach, Charlie Issendorf, is telling me to get a job, keep my mind off it, do something else. So I now have a job, and I usually try to do about four to five days a week of two to three hours, then one to two days of harder, longer rides, and that’s usually the group rides I do on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

DM: What do you think of the area around here for training?

SS: Couldn’t be any better. You want flats, you can go to the flats. If you want extremely steep climbs, you can go to extremely steep climbs. If you want intermediate, which is like rolling, you can find that. So it’s perfect: There’s nothing you can’t find here.

DM: And as we speak there is a blizzard back in New York, and here it’s sunny and blue skies. It’s 70 today.

SS: I talked to a friend of mine in New York. I was like, how is it there? The first thing he said was, I’m not going outside until this shit melts!

DM: I’m not missing the Nyack rides or any of that stuff. But I guess I’ll be back to it soon enough. If you don’t mind my asking, what’s your set-up here? Are you renting an apartment?

SS: I’m staying with a friend I’ve known since grade school. He’s lived out here a couple of years, and I spoke about possibly coming out. He was more than happy.

DM: It’s going to be a big year for you next year. You mentioned to me when I met you last that this is the year to really give it a full go, dedicate yourself, and be fully committed.

SS: Yeah, I mean, there are so many younger guys out there who are coming up very strong, and they’re ready to go, and that’s what the bigger teams are looking for—younger guys who are good and who are going to get even better. And now I’m kind of at the point where, you know, I’m 24, and once I’m out of the young-rider classification it’s kind of either there or not.

DM: What does Charlie tell you?

SS: He said right now just get settled in. Come January 1, we’ll go over scheduling, what we need to do, what races we need to do in the States to get prepared for going to Belgium. Just keep my mind off it till then.

DM: You don’t want to burn out, right?

SS: Yeah, that’s the biggest thing.

DM: Have you ever really burned out in your cycling career?

SS: Yeah, there was one year early on—it was probably my second year of racing, and I wanted to get so good so quickly that I tried to do as many races as possible, and that was a big mistake, because I didn’t recover. I would then train after doing all these races, and you can’t rebuild if you’re constantly training, so toward the end of the year you mentally go first. Physically you’re still going to be there but mentally that is the first thing to go, right? Constantly racing you can do up to 80 to 90 races in a season, so 80 to 90 races without any rest? Forget it. You’re digging yourself a grave.

DM: What’s the greatest number of races you’ve done in one season?

SS: I think it was 90-something. There was a time that I did everything from February till October.

DM: You didn’t rest yourself at all during that time?

SS: No. You think, More miles! More miles! You watch the Nike commercial of Lance Armstrong going up a hill, and he’s like, I train six hours a day every day. So you’re like, Oh, I need to train eight hours a day. I want to be better.

DM: What year was that when you did 90 races?

SS: Probably 2003.

DM: So what’s the average number of races you’ve been doing the last few seasons?

SS: About 50 to 60.

DM: Do you think that’s going to be a good number for you going into next year in Europe?

SS: Yeah. I know it’s going to be different, but I’m estimating about 50 or 60.

DM: As for racing over in Belgium, you have the kermesse races. What exactly are those?

SS: It’s a circuit race in essence. It’s a larger criterium. So it’s probably a circuit of maybe six to eight miles, and you do however many laps of that, but it’s a big scene over there, because you actually have betting. I mean, you’re really a racehorse to them. So which racehorse are you going to bet on this day? That’s how you get odds on the boards and get bet against, and that’s how the system works over there. It’s a big thing for the community.

DM: Have you heard from people who’ve done this already? What have they told you about it? What’s the real deal?

SS: It’s very tough. They said it’s different than American racing, because in America we have lulls, like, you’ll have a big string of an hour really hard, then it’ll kind of taper on as the break gets away or something of that sort. They said in Belgium it’s just constant: It’s attack after attack after attack, until everything is obliterated. So, yeah, definitely have to prepare for that, getting that whole swing of things. You can’t really prep for it in terms of training; you can train your best to go there, where you’re not going to get cracked right away, but the racing is the biggest thing. Racing is the only way you’re going to learn.

DM: What other kinds of racing will you be doing?

SS: I’m going to be doing Classics racing as well. Maybe some smaller stage races of some sort. I’m not a stage racer in terms of being able to do it seven-plus days. Anything under that would be good. [Laughs]

DM: Have you ever done a race over a week long?

SS: Yeah, Superweek. I tried to race every day. Not smart!

DM: Are you going to have a team role, like, say, domestique, or are they just going to say, Hey, let’s see what happens—get out there and race!

SS: The kermesses will show what I’m capable of doing in races of that style. My real role I do not know for sure yet.

DM: The last time we met you said there were two types of weather in Belgium.

SS: Yes! I was told there is cold and cold and wet.

DM: So are there kermesses all over Belgium?

SS: I’m not 100 percent sure of all the kermesses that are held, but I’m pretty sure I’m going to be in one of the bigger areas for these kinds of races.

DM: How good are you on cobblestones?

SS: I think I’ve done two races with cobblestones, so we’ll find out. [Laughs] But the ones I did here in the States definitely will not compare to the cobbles of Belgium, because those are old-school, hundreds and hundreds of years old, grooved in and a real mess.

DM: Are you going to learn Flemish?

SS: I’ll try, but it’s a difficult language. When I heard Flemish for the first time I said “Bless you!”

DM: I suppose you’ll have to learn some of the basic curse words. In the pack you’re going to be hearing different things being thrown about to different riders, maybe yourself. Maybe you’ll be using them, too.

SS: Yeah, a little bit.

DM: Have you ever lived abroad?

SS: No. This will be my first time.

DM: So you’re leaving in early April. How long will be there?

SS: I’m hoping for early August, granted I stay healthy and all that. But August 1 I have to come back to be the best man at my brother’s wedding.

DM: What have your Mengoni teammates and friends said about the news that you’re going to race in Europe?

SS: I spoke with Mr. I, who runs Mengoni, and I told him what was going on, and he was more than supportive. So everything’s been on good graces with that, and everyone is pretty much happy for me and there’s lots of support. They’re like, You should do it now, because five or 10 years down the line you could be regretting not taking that step. So taking that step is a must in my life, regardless of whether I succeed or fail. I mean—hopefully succeed! [Laughs]

DM: Have you talked to anyone who’s raced over there?

SS: Yeah, Dave Wiswell. I’ve spoken to him, because he was a teammate of mine on Mengoni, and I knew he would let me know everything. I had a conversation with him after I left New York and was in transition to Arizona. And he was saying to make sure you keep in e-mail contact so that if you have any questions, and if there’s no one there who can answer them for you, shoot one over. He said he’s been through it all, the good, the bad.

DM: That’s very cool that he’s offering that up.

SS: Yeah, he’s a very good guy.

DM: So what were some of the things he told you?

SS: It’s going to be difficult for me to break through because there’s such a culture there. He’s like, You’re going to encounter people not giving a hell who you are, like, get out of my way. He told me you have to be aggressive. In terms of having that line in a paceline, for instance, being the third guy as opposed to the guy who gets booted back to seventh wheel, being able to keep that position to stay up there and force yourself to act like you’re coming into a final sprint is what’s going to get you the results. If you’re timid at all you’re going to end up getting dropped at some point because it’s constantly breaking up. He said I’ll understand as soon as I get there, like, what the whole sense of racing is. And then also if things didn’t work out, if something happens with housing or some issue like that, he said he knows people out there and to let him know, that he could help me out.

DM: That’s great. Did he go there last year?

SS: No, I don’t think last year. He came back after an injury. I know he crashed pretty bad; he injured his knee. Then he came back from that. I think he was out there maybe a couple of months, but it was pretty quick and the years prior to that he was there.

DM: How long have you been on Mengoni?

SS: Just a year.

DM: Before that you were on Sommerville?

SS: Yep, Sommerville Sports.

DM: How long?

SS: One year.

DM: Before that?

SS: SpeedZone Sport Performance. I was the lone rider on the team. So the gym I trained at that was getting me transitioning from wrestling to cycling, they got me a kit and were, like, Race for us.

DM: How long were you with them?

SS: About a year and a half.

DM: So that’s about three and a half years of racing you’ve done?

SS: Before that it was mostly unattached.

DM: How long have you been a Cat 1?

SS: Two years.

DM: How long did it take you to move up from beginner to Cat 1 then?

SS: I went from 5 to 4 the first year, then 4 to 3 the next year, and the next year 2 to 1.

DM: That was quick work.

SS: It’s good and bad. I missed some of the basic things that I had to go back and make sure I could do effectively.

DM: Such as?

SS: My bike-handling skills were an issue early on. I had the power to go away from guys, but in terms of feeling in the pack and being shoulder to shoulder and elbow to elbow with guys and bumping, that was something new that I had to go back and do once I got up to the 3s.

DM: Did your lack of these skills manifest itself in any particular race, or was it more of a general sense you had?

SS: It was a general sense. Where I learned to race in really close quarters and get up to that level was Superweek. I mean, you have 170 guys elbow to elbow on the constant attack. It’s 100 kilometers of criterium. It should be a circuit race of some sort, but it’s miserable, on the hoods the entire time, diving through turns, guys taking sharp-cutting turns. So if you can handle that you can handle about anything.

DM: Now, racing in Europe is everyone’s dream, or so I’d think. How do you think your racing experience in New York has prepared you for racing in Belgium?

SS: By far New York has been the best racing, in terms of throughout the year. Where else in the country can you race three times a week from March all the way till September? I mean, I know of no other place, unless over in Europe. There’s a lot of good local riders. And some of them are doing it to just stay in shape. But there’s a lot of talent, especially in the Northeast. You’re constantly racing those guys with a lot of talent. Either you’re going to succeed and get better or you’re going to be, like, You know what, I’m not going to do it and I’m going to quit altogether. And if you stay with it, there’s no option of getting worse.

DM: You did whatever was on the menu: Floyd, Prospect, Central Park, the rest?

SS: Floyd Bennett is the hardest flat course I’ve ever raced! [Laughs] I mean, the windiest place on earth. When it comes off the water there, you’ll be going 35 on one end and 14 on the other, and you’re probably putting out, like, I don’t know, 600 or 700 watts, like, I can do this! But that’s perfect motor pacing, so Tuesday is like your perfect motoring-pacing night. Then Prospect Park is your set-up race: the day before. I mean, there have been races I’ve been told to sit at the back and sit in the peloton, don’t contest the sprint, because it’s going to end in a sprint, just get your leg speed up, get a good two-hour motor pace with that, then, at that Sunday race you’re peaking for, go out there and destroy.

DM: So how did you get on Sommerville?

SS: Dave Sommerville! So, Superweek: I think there were maybe two or thee days left of racing. The day before I was in the gruppetto with Jared Bunde. So Jared was out there racing with Mengoni. He went out with Dave and, I believe, Eugene [Boronow]. So Dave was riding Anthem at the time. I remember staying with Jared for two hours in that gruppetto, and we were just talking. So the next day he’s like, There’s this young kid. And he was telling Dave about me. Dave Sommerville comes up and says hi. Gave me the pitch, and sold me. Hey, we’re from New York, trying to start up a new team, if you’re interested let me know. I’m like, I have family in New York, so I was pretty excited about it.

DM: You weren’t living in New York at the time?

SS: No, I was living in Wisconsin. So, a few weeks later, I went down to Florida, because my parents were living there at the time and I was doing some training down there, just hanging and visiting family. I think Dave sent me an e-mail saying, Hey, just want to know if you’re still interested. I said, Sure, I’m in. He lived three miles away from where I’d be living with my family. So it worked perfectly.

DM: Then the next year you went to Mengoni. Why?

SS: So at the end of the year Dave came up to me and said, Look, it’s time. You need to move up. You need to move up if you want to progress. You learned the basic skills that you needed to with us—you know how our system works. So as soon as Mengoni had a team I spoke with Dave. The good thing about New York is that nobody’s out to scalp riders. They’ll always go through the heads of state of whichever club or team is there and say, Hey, we’re interested in this rider. What do you think?

DM: Like the mafia when they have a sit-down?

SS: The mafia doesn’t exist! [Laughs]

DM: What kind of rider are you? How would you describe yourself to someone who’s never seen you race?

SS: A rouler.

DM: What makes you say that?

SS: I’m not really great at one particular thing, but I’m good at several different things. I’m solid; I can hold my own. When it comes down to it, I’m a gut rider. I can suffer pretty well. So regardless of whether I suck at climbing or not, I’m going to put everything I have into pushing it that extra bit.

DM: Where have you gotten your most important results?

SS: Most of my results have come from races like the Capital Region Road Race that I did this year. My process this year was to peak at the end, like for the Univest Grand Prix. That was my biggest thing. But I crashed just before that race at the Green Mountain Stage Race (GMSR), and that kind of put the halt on that. That was kind of like the prep race for Univest. But prior to that, Fitchburg was a big one for training. Now Fitchburg I knew wasn’t going to be a great race for me, because I wasn’t in great form and I didn’t want to be. So I used that as like an opportunity to beat myself down and then come back strong. So just after Fitchburg, that’s when everything started picking up, and I really wanted to peak for one race this year. I was putting all my eggs in one basket. So I wanted to make sure I did it to the best of my abilities for that one weekend. And I thought I did that—until the crash.

DM: What happened?

SS: So the first day at GMSR was the time trial, and I was told to go out there, use it as just prep: Don’t really care, you’re not really going out there for a time trail, don’t blow yourself up for 10 miles of racing. Not a problem. So I probably got in the 100-something range. The next day was the road race, or the circuit race, not the really steep one but the kind of rolling one with the incline. It was coming together at the end. It was probably four kilometers from the finish when stuff started to bunch up and people were really vying for position, and I moved up from the left side with Lisbon Quintero (Mengoni). I remember giving the hip signal where you tap your hip, like, Get on my wheel. And he obliged. [Laughs]

So we were moving up the left side and, with probably about a kilometer to go, someone jackknifed in the middle of the field, and it was like a domino effect, so I didn’t see until it was too late. All these bikes and people, bodies sliding right in front of you toward the cliff edge of the finale. And I knew instantly that I was going down.

It’s funny when adrenaline hits you: Time slows down. So I can remember in exact detail what was happening at which moment, so as I see bodies I analyze that, Yes, I am going down for sure. Yes, this is going to hurt. Possibly going to be done racing for a while. And the bike is definitely going to be broken. So when I hit the pile I kind of went up on my front wheel and Lisbon—because he was behind me—hit me, and that sealed the deal: I’m going down for sure. [Laughs] So then I buckled sideways, flew over the field, onto the gravel, into the ditch, then Lisbon landed on me.

So the frame was cracked and the fork severed through, but I rode it to the finish because it was about a kilometer, and I started getting help. But there was a lot of missing skin. It was sort of swollen. I could feel the throbbing, the pain you get when your muscles are really hurting. That was it. A little disheartening because you try to do so much up until a certain time, and you have crashes and little hiccups through the season, but for the most part I was doing what I needed to, and it halted right there. And it left something I was still wanting. That was it.

DM: What did you learn from that experience?

SS: Be at the front way earlier! [Laughs] Don’t try coming from mid-pack and try to moving around. Everyone’s thinking the same thing: How am I going to be at the front at this time? And I look at it as what I can expect in Belgium. Instead of four kilometers left, why not do it from 10 kilometers, before that last kick happens? So do it earlier, stay up there, be smarter about it, and vie for that position. Stay up in front!

DM: On our ride a week or so ago to Tortilla Flat, you talked about tactics and when to attack in a race. What’s your take on that?

SS: Well, I’m going to go from Charlie Issendorf, because he wrote some articles for TrueSport and he couldn’t have put it any better, because it’s exactly what you’re thinking in a race. At the point where you’re about to crack, like, the field is going really hard, everyone’s lungs are burning, your eyes are popping out of your head, you’re like, How am I staying in this? There’s that point in your head when you’re like, Am I going to finish? Can I stay with this field? When that point hits your head, that’s the time to attack. Because everyone else is thinking the same thing. And when they see you kick up and start attacking strong, they’re like, This guy’s on another level! There’s no way! So mentally you break them.

It’s like playing a card game. You have your cards, and you’re bluffing. Not necessarily bluffing, because you have to have something in the tank to be able to do this! But you’re showing them a bluff. And most of the time they look at that and say I can’t do it. I can’t do it. They sit up. They let themselves beat themselves.

DM: Have you used this tactic successfully?

SS: Yep! That’s basically how I raced this year. Just when it gets really hard, push it even harder. When that gets harder, try to suffer, and that’s it.

DM: What’s your favorite race?

SS: Favorite race?

[Editor’s note: At this exact moment two young women walk past our table at the coffeeshop, overhear us, and giggle. One of the girls answers, “I like Asians.” Sal and I fall into a laugh riot, as do the blushing girls.]

SS: Okay, that was hilarious! … So, my favorite race would have to be, believe it or not, the Mengoni Grand Prix. And the reason is, it’s crazy. It’s a melee. You get some great riders who come up, like guest riders who pop in. It’s flying. That’s probably my favorite New York race of all time.

Then Superweek had a race called Alpine Valley, which they no longer have. But that’s where Lance Armstrong would go prep when he was younger. Prior to the developmental team. He was riding with younger guys then. He’d come out and throttle people there. Just real tough racing. It’s got one real steep hill. It was something like 20 percent—just nasty. And it usually just got obliterated. But it was done in 90- or 100-degree heat, so it really drains on you, and that’s probably my favorite. Those races that are very tough, that over time are grueling.

DM: You told me about your take on sprinting, which I thought was interesting. I said, How do you do well in a sprint? You said, You can’t teach sprinting. What did you mean by that?

SS: It’s embedded in some people. I use Neil Bezdek because he’s the prime example of how to be a sprinter: fearless, not giving up his position. And the kid’s got kick. He explodes out of a line, and that is how he wins races. The biggest thing is, when vying for a position, like a few kilometers before, that’s what makes or breaks a sprinter. Anyone can be severely strong or have that great kick. But not many people can have the sense to be in the right position and stay in that position. Everyone wants third or fourth wheel.

Don’t want to be the lead-out guy, because you know you’re not going to win, and nine out of 10 times you’re finishing out of the top 10 because everyone’s going to go around you. The second guy, unless he’s gifted beyond anyone in the field, he’s not going to win. The third guy, he may hold on. But the fourth guy, that’s the guy you’ve go to look out for. And everyone wants that, that fourth-guy position. And somehow Neil is always in that fourth-guy position. He moves in, he edges around. Amaury Perez is the same way. They know how to get there. They’re bumping elbows. And they are not slowing their pedal stroke—they’re picking it up!

They’re making sure you know not to be in there. People think it’s dangerous, but it’s not. Those guys who are up there, they’re fearless. They’re not going to get hesitant at the end. It’s when a guy who doesn’t belong up there tries to sprint in with them that crashes occur.

DM: Is Mengoni the strongest team in New York City?

SS: Mengoni’s up there. I’d say either No. 1 or No. 2. Empire obviously has a very strong team, and they do a lot of training, actually in the Tucson area, about an hour or two south of here. But it’s a different type of racing. In terms of sprinters, hands down Mengoni. In terms of stage racers and road riders, Empire’s got proven results. But in the criterium range, it depends. If depends on if some guy gets in a breakaway or some guy gets in a field sprint.

DM: Who are the top riders in New York City?

SS: Neil was up there; he was definitely a top rider. Amaury Perez. There’s the Burrowes. They are very strong riders. There’s Lisbon. Alejandro [Guzman]. You know, Alejandro is basically the perfect all-around type of rider. He’s not great at one thing, but he’s great at many things. There are three or four guys on Empire who are very solid, though I’m not sure if they all live in New York. Margarite—he’s always good all year. Who else is there? Oh, what’s his name? He lives out of Rochester, New York. Very strong rider; impressive road rider. So, you know, different races cater to different riders, so to say that one is that much better than another overall is very difficult. But I would say top all-arounder is Lisbon.

DM: If there is one thing you could change about the bike-racing scene in New York City, what would it be?

SS: Early-morning races! [Laughs]

DM: I’ve gotten that answer a few times.

SS: It’s just sometimes you’re like, 5 a.m.? Ugh. It’s freezing outside. The sun’s not going to be up until halfway through the race. But that’s when you have to get into the parks because New York is a beast of its own.

DM: What’s the best thing about New York racing?

SS: So competitive. It really is. There are many guys who have possibility. And even though they’re not racing all the big races that you are, there are some ringers in there. There are some guys who show up and they are flying. And that’s what’s great. That unknown. It makes the racing a different caliber.

DM: If you’re an up-and-coming rider in New York City and you’re not a sprinter, what do you do? How can you win races? Do you just have to go for top 10s and wait for your moment in stage races?

SS: That’s a very good question. So being in the same predicament, because I am not a sprinter, I make things difficult early. I have an intention to get away. The benefit on being on a team with sprinters is that, regardless of whether I succeed or fail, someone’s going to be up there on the podium, so you play that in your favor. If you have guys on your team who are not sprinters, what you want to do is constantly be attacking. One of you at any time is going. If one guy gets caught another of you goes. Make it as difficult as possible, because sprinters don’t like to suffer that much until the end. So you want to make it as hard as possible to get away. And if you’re away, great, but odds are it comes down to a sprint.

DM: You’re a big rider, a former wrestler, and if I didn’t know better I’d say you look like a sprinter. Is it just that you were born without the fast-twitch muscles that allow you to get up to the velocity you need?

SS: Yeah, exactly. I mean, some have it and some don’t. I was born with a slow-twitch system where I can power a gear for a long period of time. I can get into a paceline, I can probably lead someone out very well, but in terms of that last 100 to 150 meters of just pure explosion, I’m not going to touch some guys.

DM: Would you say that has limited you just thinking about yourself that way, or do you still give it a go?

SS: No! You always give it a go. That’s how you learn. That’s how you become tougher. It’s part of your training to give it a go. There are races that I knew I’d try to get in the sprint. Unless the stars align perfectly for me, I’m not going to win that race, but I’m going to give it my best effort. Use that for your next race.

DM: I saw you win in Prospect Park this summer. You finished in a solo break. How’d you win?

SS: I was livid about a race I’d done just before that one—can’t remember which it was—but I was really lived about something. I remember going into that race, like, I’m going to make everyone suffer. Like, I’m in great shape right now. I’m going to go out there and do what I have to in order to win.

So I was probably in 20 different breakaways during that race, and nothing was coming together. On the second-to-last lap, I think it was Jermaine Burrowes who gave me the nod, like, I’m going—come with me. So we blew away from the group with six or seven guys, and on the last lap we were all kind of together, and we’re now away for sure, but it was coming down the hill that I was, like, Okay, there are guys who are way better sprinters than I am in here. I have to do something, and I’m just settling for second. And that’s not the point in racing. You want to go for the win at all times.

I remember John Durso, who rides out in New Jersey for Liberty Cycles, another very muscular-type rider, like my sort of style. He takes off, right at the bottom of the hill. And everyone’s looking at him. And all these sprinter guys are like, Who’s going to chase? Because that guy’s not going to win if he’s chased. Well, I’m on the lead of this group, and I look back, and I see everyone looking back at themselves. I take off. I don’t get out of the saddle: I just go to a harder gear and just start grinding. And I keep my head down. I glance underneath my armpit, and I realize there’s no one there: They’re all still looking at each other. Now I know I’m going to win. Because now, John’s gone too early, and I know I can catch him. It’s just whether these clowns behind me are going to start picking up the pace—and they’re not.

At that point I dropped into the hardest gear—I think my 53×11—and just got out of the saddle and started grinding. I could feel the burning of my lungs. I was like, I am not going to lose. And there’s that little voice in your head that says, Go harder! Go harder! I wasn’t sure if it was Jens Voigt’s Australian accent saying Go harder! but it was, like, You need to go hard now. I caught John about 500 meters before the line, and I dropped the gear to make it look like my cadence was a lot faster, and I flew by him. And psychologically it’s not whether I’m going that much faster—it’s just his seeing that leg speed and his knowing his legs are on fire, and that he’s not going to chase. So I blew by him. And that pit in your stomach, that excitement, that anxiety … it just releases. I remember thinking Thank god this is over. I got one finally.

DM: Was that your one win in 2009?

SS: Correct. That was the monkey off the back.

DM: What did Charlie say to you?

SS: Charlie was smart, because he’s known me for so long. He said, You did a great job. Congratulations. But he tries not to let my head get too big. So if I’m doing really great or flying at the time, he’s not going to get in my head and say, You’re doing really great. He wants me to be really constantly pushing, pushing, pushing. That’s the way to do it. If you get too cocky, then you become arrogant. Then you become a guy you don’t want to be. But he was really proud.

DM: And you trained a lot in Prospect Park, so that was kind of a home-turf win for you.

SS: Yeah. It was cool.

DM: What’s the best place to attack in Prospect Park?

SS: They say on the hill, but I disagree. I think it’s at the top of the hill, because everyone who’s attacking, well … it’s hilarious that you ask that, because I remember talking with someone as the attack was happening at the bottom of the hill. I was like, I guarantee that person is going to pop, and I don’t want to name names but—

DM: What team was he with?

SS: He was on Champion System. So, I was 100 percent sure that by halfway up the hill that person is going to pop, someone’s going to counter them, they’re going to be back. Pointless attack. You’re just cracking up. Sure enough it happened. Then someone attacks that attack. Then they crack at the top. So now everyone’s tired because there have just been two solid attacks. On that third attack then, that’s when I go, because now everyone is hurting. And only the people who are in great shape kind of look at each other, and that’s when everyone goes. That’s why you see the same guys in the same breaks. Because they all know.

DM: What about Floyd? What’s the best way to win there?

SS: Stay at the front, and keep pushing hard. Never look back at Floyd. There are times there that are so hard at Floyd that if you are behind the first group of five or six, that guy who’s in, like, fifth can pop, and that can open up a gap, and at Floyd it’s all about the wind, and keeping out of the wind. If you have that gap no one wants to close that gap, because that’s going to burn a match. That’s basically it. Stay at the front and keep the pace high.

DM: Last time we rode I noticed you weren’t riding with a power meter or heart-rate monitor.

SS: Right. Old-school!

DM: Indeed. So talk about that, because it seems everyone’s got a power meter these days, talking watts, watts, watts. What’s your take?

SS: Well, it’s a good way to train. It’s just not my cup of tea. If I’m concentrating all of my efforts on my wattage I’m worried too much about it. I try to simplify racing as much as possible. If I know I can go harder I don’t want a heart-rate monitor saying I can’t go harder. I don’t want something to tell me I have to stay within this range of watts. I want to go how hard I know I can go, regardless of whether it’s good or bad for me. It’s just the feeling that I have. And that’s what I stick to.

DM: Have you ever used a meter or a monitor?

SS: I used to use a heart-rate monitor originally, and that is why I stopped using it, because it would say my heart rate is at, like, 200 beats, but I know I can go harder. After that it’s like, You need to say in your range. In terms of the power meters, I just never got into them—plus, they’re expensive!

DM: What is one trend in cycling you’d like to see disappear?

SS: Hmmm. Well, this is the biggest thing. When someone yells “gruppetto,” so usually it’s when the breakaway gets away or something like that. It’s that trend of people easing up. Like, one time, I’d just like to see a Tour de France where the strongest rider actually wins the race. Now, that’s not always the case. I want to see them in the breakaway, like, get up there. I know they say, Oh, it’s not a smart strategy. But I want to see them suffer. I don’t want to see them coasting, drinking from the champagne glass.

I want to see them race on that last day of the Tour de France as if the victory were on the line. Like the one Armstrong-Ullrich Tour where Jan finished 20-something seconds down. He’s like, I’m not going to contest the last day. Contest that last day! And I’m happy they got rid of the race radios, because now it’s going back to the essence of racing.

DM: It’s like your take on power meters.

SS: Yep! Old-school.

DM: What advice would you give to the lower-category riders out there?

SS: Stick with it. That’s the biggest thing. All guys go through a season and may have a bad season and they are not advancing, so they might say, I’m done now. Or they’ll take too much time off. Like, I’m just mentally not there. Ride when you want to ride but stay with it. If you feel like going out for four hours, don’t say, Okay, I should go out for only two hours according to my schedule. Go out for four hours! You want to train the way you feel. If you feel like crap, take a rest. Don’t force it. Just go with the flow of things.

DM: You said to me last time we rode that during the season you raced weekend races, Floyd on Tuesday, and that the other days were recovery.

SS: Yeah, I would basically do a spin to and from work, maybe a day where I did a couple pick-ups, but that’s it. Everything needs to recover. Racing at those races is not easy. It’s not easy doing an hour team time trial at Floyd Bennett every Tuesday, after a long day at work, so you need to recover. That’s the biggest misconception people have is that, Oh, I need to be racing more; I need to be training more. You burn yourself out, mentally and physically.

DM: What do you do for training besides go out and ride your bike?

SS: At different times of year I’ll either be running or doing something like that. But that’s basically it. Maybe some field sports of some sort. Maybe some weights, get into the gym, get that power, because typically when you’re racing and getting to that point in the season when you’re peaking you’re not doing anything but riding the bike, so there are a lot of muscles you don’t use that you’ve atrophied down pretty heavily. And those are the ones you want to get back up.

DM: So I heard you’re into cooking shows and are bit of a foodie.

SS: I’m a definite fan of food. [Laughs] I try to eat as healthy as possible, but we’re all human. We get our times when we eat poorly.

DM: What’s your favorite guilty-pleasure food?

SS: The Qdoba burrito with everything on it: sour cream, guacamole, queso. That thing’s a monster. It’s a pound-and-a-half burrito, plus about 1,600 to 1,700 calories of food, just in one sitting. And I can have two of them sometimes—easily! It’s so good.

DM: Who’s your favorite pro cyclist?

SS: Jens Voigt, hands down.

DM: Why?

SS: Suffer. That man knows how to suffer. He’s is the perfect rouler. He can do it all. He’s not really great at everything, or anything in particular, but that mentality, like, This is not hard enough; I want to get going. They have clips of him talking to Bjarne Riis, saying like, It’s too slow; it’s time to go hard now. The whole concept that he wants to make people hurt. He really wants to test a person’s soul and capability, and that’s what it’s all about for me.

DM: What is your best racing memory?

SS: Hmmm. It had to be this year. So I was at the Capital Region Road Race, and just when I knew for sure that I wasn’t going to win the race—and this is why this is the best memory—so it was 97 degrees, and we were in a breakaway literally the entire race, like, from the first five miles of the 100-mile race. And I bonked. Not in terms of I couldn’t go any harder but that my body shut down. My calves started twitching and cramped up and locked up. I couldn’t pedal with one leg. Then I had the lead car right behind me. And I knew the three guys in the break were not hanging around, and once they saw me like that they attacked. So they were gone. And I knew there was a chase group coming up behind me. I’m like, I’ve got to finish this. I’ve come way too long. There were about six miles left. I wanted to get off the bike and fall over and pass out and wait for medical support. I was in survival mode. It was poor eating throughout. Not enough food, not enough water, didn’t have any feeds, so everything you ate and drank you had to carry on you.

Then I remember something Dave Sommerville told me. Those crazy guys in Europe? When they’re bonking, the salt crystals on your arm? They’ll lick that, and that is the sodium that you need to get back in you. [Laughs] As long as you have water with that it’s like Gatorade. It’s the purest salt you have. So I go to the commissar’s car and I’m pedaling with one leg because the other’s cramped, and I’m literally riding with one leg. I clipped out the cramped leg because any movement of it was like a stabbing pain. So the guy’s like, What happened? I said, “I’m cramping bad.” He pulls out a half-drunk water bottle. I uncap it, start licking my arm, and they’re all in the car looking at me like, What the heck is wrong with this guy!? I’m licking it, grabbing at the salt on my face, slamming the water. Then I’m like, It’s time. I have to finish. Don’t let these SOBs behind you catch you.

You can’t pedal high cadence at that point, so I had to finish in the 53×11, and I’m grinding at like a 30 cadence. And I’m like, I’m going to die. Even the commissar is like, You have to finish! You can do this! They’re rooting for me. And when I finally came across the line it was the best feeling. I think Jamey Driscoll was 10 seconds behind me. I pulled off to the side, passed out on the ground, someone came over with a soda, I see the whole chase group come up and roll in. I’m like, Thank god! I did it. That tested my commitment to what I was doing. That was my best moment I’ve had.

DM: And Jamey Driscoll’s no slouch.

SS: He’s very strong, so it was pretty awesome.

DM: I can just see you on your bike, pedaling with one leg, licking up and down your arms.

SS: It got the job done!

DM: Have a great year and an awesome time in Belgium. I’m sure it’ll be amazing. Stay in touch.

SS: Thank you very much!