Indy car racers big cyclists!

http://pedalmag.com/index.php?action=viewdetail&blockid=821

by Matt Hansen

Photo: l-r: Paul Tracy, Patrick Carpentier

April 19, 2003 (Las Vegas, Nevada) - The 2003 season has begun with a bang for Paul Tracy. Racing
for his new Team Players team, the Scarborough, Ontario born 34-year old has taken the first three
races of the CART series, and looks poised to challenge for the overall.

To top it all off, the Las Vegas resident is a huge cycling fan, and, road cyclist. Tracy began
mountain bike riding when he lived in Scarborough, years before his fame. "I used to go riding
around Rouge river or in the Don Valley," Tracy said, "Sometimes we'd have a few beers and head out
with the lights for midnight rides with my buddies. It was great!"

Things changed when he moved away from Ontario, to Arizona initially. "It wasn't the same. I missed
my roots and the trails we have in Ontario. I gave up riding for awhile, until I discovered road
riding, a few years later." Tracy got the bug after a friend told him he should try riding, and come
out for some local group rides in Las Vegas. Sure enough, he bought a bike, and began cycling again
- but it wasn't easy.

"At first I didn't like group rides. I got dropped in the first few miles and it was really
demoralizing. It took me awhile before I had the fitness and the confidence to stay in the group.
Now I can ride with them for 120K. My fitness is many times better." His interest in cycling has
also created some interesting relationships in the cycling community. Soon after meeting Francesco
Fondriest (brother of Maurizio) at Interbike in Las Vegas, Tracy was given a Fondriest bike
sponsorship, getting the latest and greatest Italian frames every year. Apart from Fondriest, Tracy
has also become close friends with Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, after donating the $25,000
prize he'd won the WorldCom Most Popular Driver Award to the Lance Armstrong foundation.

So how much of a diehard road rider is Tracy? He rides two to two and half hours a day, and three
to four hours on the weekend when he's not racing cars. And he also rides a lot with teammate
Patrick Carpentier who is sponsored by Quebec-based Argon 18. Both drivers are nuts about cycling
and their favourite spot is Red Rock Canyon near their home-away-from home in Las Vegas. On a
Thursday before a CART race Tracy takes his road bike around the course to do a reconnaissance,
while most other drivers will walk or take scooters. Finally, before every race Tracy makes sure to
warm up on his indoor trainer for 30 minutes. "I have to ride before. It loosens me up and relaxes
me," he says, "But I make sure to do it in the Team Players camper van - I don't want the other
guys knowing my secret."

 

Thanks for the post. Tracy has lost ALOT of weight, and is driving better than in a long time. FYI,
Bobby Rahal was (is?) also a serious roadie. Greg Miller

 

"Bikerecker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Thanks for the post. Tracy has lost ALOT of weight, and is driving better than in a long time.
> FYI, Bobby Rahal was (is?) also a serious roadie. Greg Miller

AMA Superbike rider Matt Mladin does about 400 miles per week on the road for his fitness

Dave

 

Well if Indy car drivers like cyclist... Mario better switch to bikes before he kills himself...
"Bikerecker" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> >AMA Superbike rider Matt Mladin does about 400 miles per week on the road
for
> >his fitness
> >
>
> Cool. The Aussie who won the World Superbike Championship a year or two back
rides
> road a lot. When I lived in Little Rock, my club talked to John Kocinski (from North
Little
> Rock), ex-250 cc World GP champ, ex-WSB champ, about doing some rides with
us
> to talk about cornering, but it never worked out. He is off the radar
now.
> Greg Miller

 

Triatlete magazine says Paul Tracy lost 25 pounds in the last year. Recently he had the 12th fastest
time in a time trial field of 41 male cyclists. In the CART series this year he has won every race
run this season (3) To respond by email remove YOURDOG

 

I heard he did a 40k event in just under an hour and the winning time was 50 or 51 mins. He pretty
good actually considering his shape 18 months ago.

I can't find a link to his result though.

>Triatlete magazine says Paul Tracy lost 25 pounds in the last year. Recently he had the 12th
>fastest time in a time trial field of 41 male cyclists. In the CART series this year he has won
>every race run this season (3) To respond by email remove YOURDOG

 

"Bikerecker" <[email protected]> wrote in message

> When I lived in Little Rock, my club talked to John Kocinski (from North
Little
> Rock), ex-250 cc World GP champ, ex-WSB champ, about doing some rides with
us
> to talk about cornering, but it never worked out. He is off the radar
now.

From www.amasuperbike.com

John Kocinski: Motorcycle Racer and real estate investor, and international french architecture
expert by tracy hagen Monday, January 13, 2003

Over on the end of the magazine stand favored by your spouse one can find a weighty number titled
Architectural Digest, the self-proclaimed international magazine of interior design.

The January issue featured Prince Charles on the cover, and the cover before that was Ralph Lauren.
A tip: when you ask Spouse about AD, pronounce 'Lauren' as a single syllable.

The February issue is on the stand now, and the cover proclaims "New Designs in Beverly Hills,
Paris, Palm Beach, New York and more ..."

The Beverly Hills story is about none other than John Kocinski.

The story begins on page 228, and runs for seven pages. Kocinski himself is pictured in the
magazine, sitting on a 1960's-era Triumph.

Look closely and you'll see an Old World life-size painting of a bare-breasted young waif being
taught how to shoot a bow and arrow by an instructor wearing nothing but a metal helmet and a loin
cloth - a pretty comical painting, actually. Look even closer and you'll see the arrow goes straight
through Kocinski's head.

The house, though, is spectacular. Or gaudy. Or ridiculous. Picture the Hearst castle.

The magazine states: "French villa in Beverly Hills that might have amused the Sun King is not the
first thing that comes to mind when one contemplates the lifestyle of a 34-year-old
motorcycle-racing champion from Little Rock, Arkansas. Then again, John Kocinski is probably not
(probably not? are they joking? --hagen.) your typical biker.

"You see what we mean by quality?" Kocinski asks rhetorically. "My garage is finished the same way
as my living room. The door hinges on the electrical room outside are the same as the door hinges
throughout the house."

Okay, John, okay. We love the hinges, we really do.

Kocinski's neat-freak behavior was a near constant source of paddock stories during the 1990's.
Washing motorhome curtains so much they shrunk to an inoperable state. Taking furniture out of the
house in the middle of the night to blow dust off with compressed air, etc etc. Apparently, the
wine-sippers at Architectural Digest witnessed Kocinski in action:

The lawn is groomed to within an inch of its life with Kocinski's own equipment - including leaf
vacuum - to ward off foreign fungi. "Go to Versailles," he insists. "That's how they do it. There
can't be a speck of anything, not even a little leaf or pine needle, on the grass."

Okay, John, okay. We love the lawn, we really do.

From www.latimes.com:

Cycle champ shifts toward Bel-Air

John Kocinski, a 1997 Superbike World Champion with team Castrol-Honda, has put his Beverly
Hills-area home on the market at $8.75 million. Kocinski is moving to Bel-Air.

The house he is selling is in the gated community of Beverly Park.

Built in 1987 and designed by architect Richard Landry, the walled and gated French villa on 3.1
acres has four bedrooms and five bathrooms in slightly more than 6,000 square feet. The home also
has a guesthouse and a theater system.

The grounds have topiary gardens, hand-carved statues, lush lawns, stone walkways and a pool.

Kocinski, now 35, won the 250cc Grand Prix crown in 1990 and the 500cc main event at Laguna Seca in
1993 before switching to superbikes. In 2001 and 2002, he was a Yamaha test rider, developing
prototypes and new competition motorcycles. This year he has been taking a break from motor sports.

Bob Hurwitz of Hurwitz James, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

 

"Carl Sundquist" <[email protected]> wrote
> From www.latimes.com:
>
> Cycle champ shifts toward Bel-Air
>
> John Kocinski, a 1997 Superbike World Champion with team Castrol-Honda,
has
> put his Beverly Hills-area home on the market at $8.75 million. Kocinski
is
> moving to Bel-Air.
>
> The house he is selling is in the gated community of Beverly Park.
>
> Built in 1987 and designed by architect Richard Landry, the walled and
gated
> French villa on 3.1 acres has four bedrooms and five bathrooms in slightly more than 6,000 square
> feet. The home also has a guesthouse and a theater system.
>
> The grounds have topiary gardens, hand-carved statues, lush lawns, stone walkways and a pool.
>
> Kocinski, now 35, won the 250cc Grand Prix crown in 1990 and the 500cc
main
> event at Laguna Seca in 1993 before switching to superbikes. In 2001 and 2002, he was a Yamaha
> test rider, developing prototypes and new
competition
> motorcycles. This year he has been taking a break from motor sports.
>
> Bob Hurwitz of Hurwitz James, Beverly Hills, has the listing.

Wow. What does the listing for a double-wide look like?

 

"Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> Wow. What does the listing for a double-wide look like?
>

This should answer your question nicely.

www.woodcrest.net

 

"Carl Sundquist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >
> > Wow. What does the listing for a double-wide look like?
>
> This should answer your question nicely.
>
> www.woodcrest.net

They look better than some of the places I've lived. If I bought one, would Zabel's wife bake
me a cake?

 

"Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "Carl Sundquist" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > >
> > > Wow. What does the listing for a double-wide look like?
> >
> > This should answer your question nicely.
> >
> > www.woodcrest.net
>
> They look better than some of the places I've lived. If I bought one,
would
> Zabel's wife bake me a cake?
>
>

Can you speak 'some' German?

 

"Carl Sundquist" wrote
>
> "Robert Chung" wrote
> >
> > They look better than some of the places I've lived. If I bought one, would Zabel's wife bake me
> > a cake?
>
> Can you speak 'some' German?

Even less than the average Frenchman since I can say neither "Don't shoot" nor "I surrender."

And just to clarify, Zabel's wife baking me a cake is something to avoid.

 

"Carl Sundquist" wrote
>
> "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >
> > Wow. What does the listing for a double-wide look like?
>
> This should answer your question nicely.
>
> www.woodcrest.net

BTW, when I asked for a double-wide listing, thanks for not providing a link to a full-figured
dating service.

 

"Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "Carl Sundquist" wrote
> >
> > "Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > >
> > > Wow. What does the listing for a double-wide look like?
> >
> > This should answer your question nicely.
> >
> > www.woodcrest.net
>
> BTW, when I asked for a double-wide listing, thanks for not providing a
link
> to a full-figured dating service.
>

I figured with all the little white vans around Paris, you wouldn't need that.

 

[email protected] (Bruce Freeburger) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Triatlete magazine says Paul Tracy lost 25 pounds in the last year. Recently he had the 12th
> fastest time in a time trial field of 41 male cyclists. In the CART series this year he has won
> every race run this season (3) To respond by email remove YOURDOG

That's what happens, when all of you major competition jumps up, and moves to a different racing
league (IRL). I like Tracy, but the quality of the CART field is greatly reduced from last year.

-Erik