Mihael Ginghina is a long time NYC bike racer, in his day possessing a wicked sprint. He is so straightforward that I believe he has a slight case of Tourette’s Syndrome. Here’s our conversation.@##=#<3,R>@##=#

schmalz: How long have you been racing, and why the hell should anyone care what you have to say?

Mihael: I’ve been racing for 20 years. Why should they care? They should not. But if anyone is interested, I started with CRCA and know all the old timers. At 36 I feel like 85 years old in CRCA bike racing years. I served on the CRCA Board one year. I raced just about every race in the Northeast and upper mid west. Bobby Julich asked me to feed him in a 100 mile road race at superweek 1993. More to that in “dumb things I did.” (Mihael will be doing a semi-regular column – ed.) I beat Wilson in a sprint in a club race and a Spring Series for wins when he was at his peak. I beat Charlie Issendorf in a $1000 spring park race as a cat 3 in a pro/1/2/3 race in 1993. I got into a verbal fight with Lance Leener. I managed 2 CRCA sub teams in one year. I won a club race (A field) after getting home at 3am drunk. Carlos Leon can vouch for that, he did not make it out that morning. Yes, name dropping. I got the “Most Park Miles Award” at the CRCA party in 1996. I might hold the record for sitting the most amount of time on “the bench” between 1992 and 1996.

schmalz: I think that many people might argue that you were drunk in most of your races. I know you love to name drop and post your results, tell us how many races you think you’ve won.@##=#<6,R>@##=#

Mihael: If you count all categories, I probably won 30 races. Oh, I also rode for the pro bike league for 2 years.

schmalz: Didn’t you try to support yourself with winnings from cat 4 races? Did you ever race with “Puck” in the pro bike league? Who were your teammates?

Mihael: I did. My last year in college and the year after that I made about 4K a year. In the Pro Bike league we had a different team each race. They paid us 300 each to start plus a bonus if we won. There were 2 teams in a race. We raced with shoulder pads and body armor on mountain bike with slicks. We were encouraged to take each other down. It was televised on Espn2. The best team we had was: Mike McCarthy, Kevin Monohan, Wilson, Jason Gould, Jason Snow and I. I only made the team because I was most willing to crash. Puck was on the West Coast team. I never raced against him.@##=#<5,R>@##=#

schmalz: How many of those races did you do? Did it last an entire season?

Mihael: It only lasted two seasons. I was part of 3 races. There were 2 local races and 2 travel races a year. It never took off – despite quite a bit of money and promotion that went into it. The guy that started it – Peter something, also started the NCL which did much better, but also did not last. He was marketing it as one of those extreme sports.

schmalz: It sounded more like a roller derby thing than anything else. Who would you consider to be the best racer you ever beat in a sprint?

Mihael: Wilson no doubt, but both times we were in a break and I jumped first. I did get second to him a number of times in field sprints. I also beat Vincent Oliver once in a field sprint at FBF when he was fit.

schmalz: Ok, so there’s two Mihaels: “when I was in shape” Mihael and “fat” Mihael, which are you right now?

Mihael: I’m 162 lbs now, my racing weight is 155 lbs, so I don’t gain a lot of weight, but I did lose muscle, and right now my fitness is very low. Every year I have an excuse now: 1st marriage, 2nd baby, 3rd another baby, 4th bought fixer upper house. This year I don’t have an excuse yet, but the year is still young.

schmalz: 1st marriage – are you planning another? Two wives at once for you? You are always painfully honest, what’s your assessment of my cycling skills?

Mihael: I can barely handle one wife.

I have seen you race a lot. You are a strong cat 3 who does not push himself to the limit too often. You try and play the numbers game by covering lots of moves instead of making one or two big efforts. You also waste too much time blocking pointlessly for a teammate instead of covering moves and attacking them, or counter attacking when the break is caught. Unintentionally your kind of racing supports field sprints, which I know does not favor you, or your team.

schmalz: I don’t think I block so much as I “inhibit”. Did I mention that I hate you?

Mihael: “Inhibit” = wasted energy. You knew asking me could be painful.

schmalz: Oof, what do you know? You’re a sprinter! So when’s the best time for a cigarette, before, during or after a race?

Mihael: I never tried during; it’s too hard to light it. Before and after races seems fine. Eddie Merckx smoked. He even did cigarette ads after retirement.

schmalz: Mmmm-kay… So you’re ReMax director for life, how do you find your talent? Where did you find Anthony Allesio?

Mihael: I don’t know about for director for life, but as long as Nicholas Barson supports us, I will stay with the team. I’ve done it since 1994. I was much more involved then. Now I’m much more laid back. I pretty much let the riders do what they want. I just give them an outline line of what the minimum expectations are. I picked up Craig Cook last year. I’ve know him since 1992. I traveled to a few races with him back in the day, and our paths have crossed many times since. Anyway, he has taken a leadership role on the road for us and recruited two new riders this year. In 2001 we needed a sprinter. Leon was not racing much (2 years later he was on fire), and I began my hibernation. I got the team was on a conference call, and we could not agree on the riders I brought up, then Anthony popped up in my head. There was silence, and everyone agreed, he is a good sprinter. When is this going to end? Is anyone even going to read this?

schmalz: Any chance of seeing Mark Siega race this year? Can you get him to stop wearing his helmet while driving to races?

Mihael: I think there is a good chance Mark will race this year. Whether he contributes to the team beyond his mascot duties remains to be seen. It does not bother me if he wears his helmet driving to races. It’s added protection if he crashes his mini-van, plus it can prevent serious head injuries.

schmalz: Yes, I would recommend constantly wearing a helmet, of course. Has anyone been in the CRCA longer than you?

Mihael: I’m sure there are quite a few. I would be curious to know how many. I wonder if CRCA has a record.

schmalz: You were on the board, how did that go?

Mihael: It was fun, but too time consuming for me, even then. I don’t remember what impact I made, if any. My biggest contribution was introducing LaCocina as a meeting place for the board. It was two block from my house, and Chung (also on the board) lived across the street. 12 years later, they still often meet there. I believe the CRCA party was there too last year.

schmalz: That’s quite a legacy. Is the secret to your sprint speed have anything to do with the fact that you do such a poor job of bicycle maintenance that your brakes don’t really work?

Mihael: No, I just don’t care about bike maintenance, as long as it works. There is a squeak I’ve have had since the fall that’s beginning to bother me.

schmalz: Are you going to the club race tomorrow? Do you just go for the breakfasts after now?

Mihael: I will go to the club race, I may marshal for a new teammate. But I’m mainly going down for breakfast with the team and friends afterwards.

schmalz: Mmmm, number 6 at the Hole. That’s almost a wrap, any last words?

Mihael: We usually get 10 at the Hole. I would like to end with some words of wisdom that I live by… Don’t take bike racing too seriously. It’s more fun that way, and you are likely to race better.