22, June 2006

Greetings -

I hope you all are enjoying these, er, virtual introductions to the
key riders on the RS 'Cross Team. In this email I would like to
introduce you to Brian Hayes. In addition to being our lone U23
racer, Brian is also my lieutenant-in-arms when the season roles
around. He, more than most, gets the drinking-coffee-with-a-straw
rule that I strictly enforce, and has evangellically spread the word
to his Nerac teammates during the pre-season (commonly known
as road racing...). If you see skinny people with tan lines in lycra
who have starbucks and straws, the trend started with us yo.
In Brian's own words:

My name is Brian Hayes, I'm 21 years old and live in Connecticut. Unlike the last entries that you have read I'm relatively new to the sport of cyclocross. I started my racing career as a junior racing mountain bikes. After less than a year I made the switch to road racing. In high school I never fully committed to racing and it was more or less something that I would do with friends for fun. We would go on epic road or mountain bike rides only to come home at dark tired and covered in mud. It wasn't until after my freshman year in college that I began to really start to train and race competitively. That fall I was working with my coach, Justin Spinelli, to find something that I could do in the "off season". He suggested that I try cyclocross and I said why not, it seemed like fun. I got a bike and started to learn the fundamentals of cyclocross. That season I worked my way up from men's c races (sometimes racing on the course at the same time as Richard and Dave) all the way to the U23/men's elite races. At each race I slowly started to learn why people love cyclocross so much. You have a great group of friends and competitors, and it combines all of the physical stamina of road racing with the nuances, and mud, of mountain bike racing. That season I developed a strong passion for 'cross and new that next season it would be something other than just off season racing.

During the course of the season I had come to learn about the team that Richard runs and really came respect that it is one of, if not the best cyclocross teams in the country. That spring I got an e-mail from Richard asking if I would like to join his team. I was completely beside myself, to think that I would be racing in RED that fall was a huge boost in motivation for me. The past cyclocross season was one of the best seasons that I have ever had. I placed second to Jesse Anthony in the U23 Verge New England series, and had a few other U23 results. More importantly I have made new friends and have a huge amount of respect for the time that Richard, and our sponsors, take to make this team one of the best. Like you have heard already and probably will continue to hear from everyone else, racing with Team Richard Sachs is perhaps one of my favorite things to do and I look forward to cyclocross season every year!

As noted, Brian is an Espoir, a.k.a. U23, in UCI lingo. As such, he has
the years ahead of him, as well as the drive and potential to make some
real sparks in this category for the next two seasons. I believe he is
World's Team material and will support all his efforts to ensure that
nothing is left to chance and that he goes as far as possible with his
'cross interests.

Thanks for reading!
e-RICHIE©™®
____________________________
Thank you for your interest and support.
The Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team is sponsored by
RGM Watches and Rex Chiu as well as by Cane Creek,
Crank Brothers, Rudy Project, Oval Concepts, Challenge
Tires, VergeSport, Selle San Marco, JB Custom Paint,
PacentiCycle Design, The Wheatmarket, and Nelly's Deli.
TEAM WEBSITE:
http://www.richardsachs.com/rsachscybc.html
RESULTS/UPDATES:
http://www.richardsachs.com/articles/cybc0506crossresults.html
TEAM PICS:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bobbesrs/album?.dir=83fd&.src=
BLATANT TEAM BIKE PICS:
http://richardsachs.com/2006_cx_gallery/index.html
AWESOME 'CROSS PORN:
http://www.volarebikes.com/richie/rgm/