The recent “Path to Professionalism” article on BRaIN is the perfect intro to this autobiographical account from Pro Continental team Rally UHC’s European Service Course manager.
Everyone wants to evolve, to grow. The impulse affects their profession, their obligations, their responsibilities. A career choice as a bicycle mechanic in the eyes of many, displays a simple life, one which pertains to ‘fixing bicycles.’
I remember the first day I walked into the bike shop that would change my life, Montclair Bikery in Montclair, NJ. I met Dave Adornato, the owner, that day. We had the most unorthodox interview if you will; 2 hours of just good pure conversation. Dave sensed something in me, something worth giving me a shot for. I sensed that this retail space would serve just fine as a launchpad into a full career change (I was an auto technician for 10 years prior).
In 2013, Dave gave me a shot as a bike mechanic in his service department. A few months later, He sent me to UBI(United Bicycle Institute) in Portland, OR. I came back a bit more confident with a few more friends and since then, I realized that I had the nack for this. Like I said, I was an auto tech for a while, clearly my mechanical inclination was there. Soon after, I made the 60-participant roster for the USA Cycling Bill Woodul Race Mechanic’s Clinic in Colorado Springs, CO. This was also a fun time and one that helped me network with everyone who was anyone in the bicycle mechanic industry. There I met Andy Stone, then Head Mechanic for Team Novo Nordisk.
Between Montclair Bikery, Some volunteer ‘wrenching’ time for RaceCF (I won the Junior Cyclocross National Champion with Peter Goguen in Boulder that year) and the Goguens in New England and now getting licensed as a race mechanic under USA Cycling, things were moving pretty quick for me. I remember the day when I had to tell Dave that I was offered a job by a Pro Continental Cycling Team. It was a hard day. Dave was like a father to me at that point, he already had done much more for me than my biological one. We had this heated argument in the service dept before the shop opened. I’ll never forget it. I won’t go into further detail but it was definitely a ‘coming of an end’ and we both knew it. Life was gonna change and fast for me.
In April of 2014, I began working with Team Novo Nordisk. I learned so much so fast. I enjoy apprenticeships and even though this wasn’t exactly that, I know when to shut up, sit back, watch, and learn. My first year was mostly domestic, as far as the racing went. I got my commercial truck drivers’ license before then and now I found myself driving all over the continental US with the team truck. Even just from the road, you learn so much. Whether it’s how weigh stations work or how driver manifest logs are filled out, where the best truck stops are, and prime hotel stops, all of these are things that just better you as the ‘bicycle mechanic’ you are. Then there were the ‘big’ races I went straight into, Tour of California, US Pro Challenge in Colorado, Tour of Utah, and a few others. To be mixed in a parking lot with some of the best of the best definitely keeps you humble. Again, I tried to forget everything I knew and learn from everyone around me. Afterwards, I’d find myself mixing it all up with some of the lessons I had learned from my years with cars.
2015 came quick and I found myself with a lot more global race experiences coming up. That year, I was still keeping track on my Samsung of all the cities and countries I’ve visited. I think it totaled to 16 countries that year. At this point, I was learning so much from observations and conversations, I wish I had written a book of the vast knowledge I gathered. The team allowed me to work races as the lead mechanic and this helped me with my confidence. I remember Tour of Croatia that year. I was working with an italian there, Lillo. This dude was cool as fuck, he was Paolo Bettini’s mechanic with the Italian national team. I still remember when we started working and he turns to me and just said “No no, Kevin- Capo”. To have Lillo’s respect and help was a great confidence booster for me. It helped me consider that perhaps I am cut out for this whole Cycling World.
In 2016, my life made a 360. I was already living in San Diego, CA, I now had a girlfriend in Atlanta, GA, and I suddenly found myself working for Jelly Belly Cycling p/b Maxxis. I remember back in November 2015, I was sitting on a 10 hour bus transfer in one of the Chinese races (if you wanna be a pro mechanic anywhere, I suggest you work a chinese race before) and I received an email from Danny Van Haute, Team owner of Jelly Belly Cycling. The team was headquartered 15 minutes from my house; Danny liked that, I liked it, in the end, we agreed on terms and a contract was drawn up. I was now the Head Mechanic for Jelly Belly Cycling. 2016 was the bee’s knees but with a lot of nervousness. I’m not the best at believing in myself but friends and loved ones helped me realize, “Bro, you got this, you bleed bikes.” Eventually, training camp came around and everything fell into place. We had such a stellar group of guys; the Morton bros, Big Ben Wolfe, Taylor Shelden, Jacob Rathe and a few others. Workhorses, all of them. The team had great chemistry and accepted me, the new guy, with open arms. To this day, Matty Rice, Jelly Belly’s Sports Director, is like my Aussie brother and Danny Van Haute (Beast), although we bumped heads at times, is a top quality guy to work with.
With that great team chemistry came some really fast wins. Some memorable ones were the Tour of the Gila with Lachlan Morton, and, of course, the biggest one for us and any Continental team in the US, The GC win at the Tour of Utah. We went up against 4 World Tour teams and on that day, we were over the moon. Shit, I was ecstatic. The end of 2015 was nothing but stress for me, the beginning of 2016 was the moment I realized I can do this and by the end of 2016, I had regained all my confidence and then some. In the end, only the winning cyclist is remembered, but on that day, the bike I built crossed the finish line first and I could not have be any more proud.
Fast forward to November 2018. I had some great years with Jelly Belly, building confidence, building global race experience, and working on my language skills (I speak Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, and can understand French). To be a global race mechanic, you definitely should be able to come out of your shell. Learn the languages, learn the cultures, bend a little bit of your ways because if you don’t, in the end, you’re going to just be miserable with yourself.
I’ve finally made it to the ‘big leagues.’ I find myself living and working in Girona, the Mecca for Cycling with many pro teams stationed here and tons of cyclotourism and retired cyclists owning cafes. I’m now Rally-UHC Cycling’s European Service Course Manager. A ‘Service Course’ is just an industry term to mean “warehouse” or “team HQ.” You can imagine some of the stress that came with this role. My family is back in California, albeit my wife and dog, and all my friends. Now, I begin to build our new life here, slowly but surely. I’m a dual citizen with Portugal, so to come to Europe and setup all credentials needed to be a race mechanic was a much easier task. Don’t get me wrong, European bureaucracy was still a hurdle, but my family back in Portugal was fully committed to my endeavor and I’ll forever be grateful for that.
Going back to that evolution talk I opened with, many people might hear you say ‘ I’m a bicycle mechanic” but few will understand what you might evolve into. Service Course managing entails logistical matters with all types of equipment whether it be team vehicles, bicycle equipment, or staff matters, inventory control, and even working on bicycles. The task at hand is greater, the responsibilities have grown, but the passion I have for the sport helps me thrive on the daily. There are days that I miss my wife and my Pomeranian but we both know that this will all be worth it.
“Great ambition is the passion of a great character.”- Napoleon Bonaparte
Follow Kev on Instagram @o_mecanico