Normally there’d be a pithy introduction to this interview, but instead let me just nickname Jonathan Cannibalistic Humanoid Overground Dweller Roff. Behold your national TT champ!

Shen I hear you’re a relative newcomer to the sport and you came from rowing. How’d you get into the sport? How quickly did you rise through the categories?

Chodroff I rowed four years of high school at my local club and three years at Yale.  Rowing was a great experience. It has a unique team dynamic and and I made some of my best friends in the sport.  

I have always been fascinated with the sport but was always so focused on rowing. I bought a bike in the spring of my junior year.  However, cycling was just a form of cross-training for my final year of college rowing. But, I got hooked and made the switch.

So, that was the summer of ’06. I did a fair share of races that summer upgrading to cat 3 by the end, but the main focus was still rowing. The next year, with cycling as the main focus, I made some improvements. I had a great collegiate cycling season, won the cat 3 Fitchburg Stage Race, and did well at GMSR. So, I upgraded from cat 3 to 1 in a month or so.

Shen How’d you improve your TT’ing this last year/year and a half? How much was the engine, how much was the gear, how much was the position?

Chodroff I think it is a combination of all three. However, I think the position played the biggest dividends. I am putting out a bit more sustained power this year compared to last, but nothing crazy. For example, I averaged the same power for the ’07 and ’08 Fitchburg TT. I went 1:10 faster this year!

When I was training down in Tucson for the winter, I met Steve Owens from Colorado Premier Training and Wind Tunnel. He just gave me a general TT bike fit. In the end, he estimated that my new position saved me 30-40 watts from the original! Imagine, getting 30-40 watts extra in threshold power. Crazy! I still think I have a lot more room to improve. Just comparing some power numbers from nationals, I can shave some time off with a better position. Hopefully, I can get to a wind tunnel over the winter.  

Gear certainly played a part too. Empire’s bike sponsor, Cervelo, hooked us up with P2C’s. I have been renting wheels from Echappe all year. Last year, I was just running a set of 404’s. In addition, there is the nitty gritty. Helmets, shoe covers, tires, the list goes on….  I tried not to obsess about it too much, but when you’re going against the best in the country, the small stuff matters. You may call them aero geeks, but the guys from Westwood velo really helped me out in this department. Steve Goldman even let me borrow his wheels for Fitchburg!  

Shen Word is you’re a big engine that’s less experienced with road racing. How’s it going in Belgium? You learning a lot? How much are you racing?

Chodroff Experience is definitely my biggest weakness right now. I know I have the engine, I just need to learn how to use it properly. That is the main reason some directors are apprehensive to sign me on their team. I was just talking to my coach about this. It’s hard to believe that only a year ago I was doing the cat 3 Fitchburg stage race. This year, I almost did a full NRC schedule. The difference is huge. It has certainly been a trial by fire. My teammates have been great. Whether it be in the race or outside, they always have little tips and tricks to offer. I have had my glimpses of success. This last month and half or so, I have made some huge improvements. I am already excited about next year and am confident I can net some good results in NRC stage races.

Belgium is going well. The national team was nice enough to put me up in their place for a month. I went into this trip taking it mostly as a learning experience. Improve those bike handling skills and race IQ. I thought these races would be the absolute worst races for me. Pretty much 3 hr crits with lots of turning. You look down at your clock, you’re 40 minutes, and you’re like “f-ck” I have more than 2 hrs to go. But somehow, it happens. It’s a total race of attrition. Constant reshuffling and several small groups along the course by the end.

However, I don’t know if things are just clicking or what. I am in the mix of things and with my engine it makes it a hell of a lot of fun. I think in the past I was just too complacent with the race situation. Over here, you can’t do that. My new philosophy is, “if you’re not moving up, you’re moving back.” This weekend I got 5th out of a field ~60-70 in a Kermesse in flanders of 21x 5.7k.  Soloed out of a group of 8 for the last lap of 6k. A couple got up the road 50k in, and were just dangling by 20 seconds or so for the next 50k. Picked up 50 Euro along the way. I raced again, yesterday and netted a top 15.

Belgians are obsessed with cycling. You can race almost every day if you want. 3-4 races a week is enough for me and even that is very hard to recover from race to race. They know me over here now. I always hear a USA cheer during the race and someone always wants to practice their english after the race. In addition, I am on all the betting boards with pretty good odds. Yes, they bet on cycling over here!  

Shen Talk about the nationals. What was the course like? What was your pacing strategy? Did you ride with a power meter?

Chodroff The TT course rolled along Santiago Canyon for 20 miles. It was a very good course for me. It benefited a strong rider that could put out a lot of power. Two moderate climbs with rolling terrain in between. The first five miles of the course were mostly false flat and uphill. I knew a lot of time could be gained there. I really drilled it for the first 15 minutes. I knew I was going well when I passed Colby Pearce, my 30 second man and eventual 4th place, in the 3rd mile! After that, I kept it moderate on the rolling sections and hit it hard again on turn-around climb. I TT with an SRM but I do not let the numbers dictate my pace. I did, however, pay attention to it on the first climb. My coach and I had a number in mind and I stuck it dead on. After that, it was mainly perceived exertion. I think one of my TT strengths is pacing. I have a good handle on those specific body alarms, etc. When I need to pull back or push the throttle. It was a great day. I turned myself inside out. Put out peak 20 minute, 30 minute, and 40 minute power numbers. My coach peaked me perfectly. It was an amazing feeling putting on that star’s and stripe’s jersey. (Jonathan volunteered his numbers for nationals: 417 avg, 422 normalized, 44:15.)

Shen What’s in the works for next year? 

Chodroff Everyone knows it is a difficult year for riders. I have been talking with some teams, but nothing is definite. I think I will have to wait at least a couple weeks to see if anything materializes into an actual offer. I think some directors are a bit hesitant because of my experience. However, this can also be seen as a positive. I have put up some good results in a short period of time. I’m an investment and with the support of more veteran riders good things could happen. In the meantime, I think I could be a good workhorse just driving on the front!  

If things don’t come together, I still have a great team. Empire will have a very strong team next year, the atmosphere is very professional, and the guys are a blast! Team dynamics is important to me and Mike Sherry has done a excellent job with rider selection. This year we did a lot of large national level races, and put up some impressive results. In addition, Empire may provide me with one more year with a bit less pressure to perform.  

Shen You mention that your power output at Fitchburg was about the same as the year before. Do you see an increase in power, or weight loss?

Chodroff Same weight, a little bit more power. I think I was pretty much a brick wall in TT’s last year. I should have just worn a parachute or something. In addition, I paced myself much better, letting it all loose on the uphill part. Finally, I had far better equipment and a full TT setup. I didn’t even have a disk last year.    

Shen You could easily be pigeonholed into being a TT specialist. What kind of road racer are you/or would you like to be?

Chodroff Yea, that has already happened in many aspects. Every rider has their specialty. Mine happens to be time trials. However, I don’t want that to be cast as my only ability. It’s true my biggest results this year were time trials. It all comes in steps. I feel confident in regional races and put up some strong results, like Hilltowns. Next year, I am confident I will place well in larger national road and stage races.

I see myself as a rouleur who can hang with the climbers on long steady climbs. Certainly, I am a bigger guy (76-77 kg), but I seem to go uphill well. But, hey, I thought I was going to hate the Belgian style racing but it has been a blast. Now that I’m finally getting into the mix of things, with my engine, these flat, fast races suit me pretty well. And, obviously, any stage race with a time trial should fit me well!