Mike Friedman is a 26 year old racer for Team Garmin-Chipotle H30. He first slipped across most people’s radar screens with a great performance in the long breakaway at this year’s Het Volk, where he eventually held on for 12th. Prior to his Spring Classic success, the Pennsylvania native raced on the track and across the US. New Yorkers may remember his win at Grant’s Tomb in 2005, but most fans know him as "Meatball", a nickname taken from the truck stop license plate that hung from saddle during the Spring Classics.

schmalz You are an inspiration to all cyclists who don’t resemble the prototypical pipe-cleaner armed Euro professional, how does it feel to be the hero to those who stretch Lycra to its breaking point?

Friedman They ought to make a Mike’s Big and Wide Cycle Shop eh? You know that song "I Like Big Butts and I Cannot Lie", you change a few words around and it has become a theme song. Lim always called my ass the "Cottage of Wattage". I always referred to it as my "Power Booty", and honestly, every time I’m out somewhere I get compliments on my ass, "My what a nice ass you have". Conclusion: Those of us with a better endowed booty may not be superior climbers, but what does "size matter" if you can still put the hurt on people on flat to rolling roads, and especially in the wind?

schmalz How did you come to be where you are in cycling today? By train? By car?

Friedman That is a rather in-depth question, really. Long story short I came up through the junior ranks into Espoir and quit when I went to college. I focused on the grades and the girl I was seeing until we broke up which affected my grades. In return I found I needed another focus to keep me on the straight and narrow, and I picked up the bike again. This time at nearly 200 lbs with somewhat of a brain. Using my size to my advantage I decided Track racing was better suited to my physique so I pursued that which led eventually to contract with Tiaa Cref when they began dabbling in the track. From there, JV threw me on the road scene and we just had some fun. If I had to equate it to a vehicle though, I’d say a train with a lot of cars. I started at the Caboose and jumped from car to car sometimes missing a car here and there until JV grabbed me by the collar as I was about to fall again.

schmalz What’s it like to be Maggie’s roommate? Does he talk in his sleep in his Scottish accent?

Friedman Maggie is like a brother man. He is no different than you or I and he really isn’t that big of a guy. He’s tall, but I bet I could take him. Puny little arms and weakened collar bones, I’d stand a chance. Plus I’m Round and Low to the ground (Hence Meatball), I can get in there and chop away at his core like a Balboa (haha). Honestly, Maggie has been very helpful for me. A great mentor with advice and stories. He’s opened a lot of doors for me and he knows what I’m capable of. He calls me his Diamond in the Rough. He doesn’t talk in his sleep in a Scottish accent, probably because he’s a Swede, but he does breath like he’s doing a Tour prologue.

schmalz What was it like to tow Gui Nelessen around at Grant’s Tomb? (Don’t worry – we know Gui, and we know you probably had to push him up the "hill.")

Friedman Gui Nelessen is actually a talented rider. Funny thing is if you give Gui a training schedule, good food, and a premium training environment he will ride slow, and one will have to tow him around. If you put Gui in a construction zone to work, give him some beer and a unicycle he will rip your legs off. Gui is actually one of the riders in the peloton who relishes in the idea that he can still finish in the front of races like the Tour of Somerville while doing F’all.

schmalz Did you ever make the trip to race in Prospect or Central Park at "Oh my God" o’clock in the morning? And those races were the perfect training for the spring classics, no?

Friedman Actually I never have. My father did though, as he grew up in Long Island. I was in the park the other day promoting Chipotle and the team, and actually regretted never experiencing those races. I’d like to rectify that and come race there sometime in the near future. I always here horror stories of how early, and hard those races are at times, so I need to come check it out.

schmalz It’s great to see more American racers in the mix for the Spring classics. Is this because of a shift in emphasis from the American teams?

Friedman Cycling is world wide sport. The race promoters for those races want as much high class diversity as possible so that people from almost all corners of the world have more reason to watch and share interest in the races. If by "Emphasis" you mean "clean" that helps too, but nobody is saying we are not racing clean guys. I think it has more to do with the fact we are an American contingent.

schmalz You’re now racing against guys you’ve mostly seen on TV, who disappointed you the most, who impressed you the most? Were you surprised to find out that Robbie McEwen could fit in your back pocket?

Friedman The guys I’m racing on a weekly basis are really no different than you or I. Okay, so they made the telly, but they are still human and beatable. There are a lot of guys there who I think are completely lame. I’m not going to name names because well that’s lame, plus I have to go back and work with them. I think one of the things really irks me is how much bitching certain riders from certain countries give you if you get too close, or make an erratic maneuver. It doesn’t matter that he just did the exact same identical move 10 seconds ago, Italians being some of the worst to just lose their heads. I never know what the hell they’re saying, so I just blow them a kiss and give the finger and make sure I chop harder next time. Actually, McEwen isn’t that small. He’s a rocket for sure, but the man is built.

schmalz Do you keep up with the fellas from T-Town? Those track guys intimidate me – do you guys have secret gang-style hand signals?

Friedman On occasion I do. A few of them from time to time. You shouldn’t let them intimidate you. It took me a long time to see that most of it was just smoke and that people looked down their noses. That’s the way it seems to have been years ago, and just followed. I will say though that things have been progressively changing there for the better. No secret hand signals, and it seems like the lame cliques that used to plague T-Town are slowly diminishing.

schmalz You seem to be racing much better now that you’re past last year’s health problems (in 2007, Mike was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism stemming from surgery for a saddle sore), how did your health issues affect your racing?

Friedman Ha, well I nearly died. I couldn’t race for 6 months on account of being on blood thinners. If I happened to crash and hit my head while on stuff that prevents blood clots from forming it’s considered a "Bad" thing. Once off of the stuff though, and the clots in my lung had dissolved, I was able to race, albeit in a lot of pain for the first few months. The scar tissue in my lungs was pretty significant and quite painful when I reached or surpassed a certain intensity. With time elapsed though, things have been coming around. It still seems like I’m only having spurts of good results, and haven’t been super consistent.

schmalz What’s your racing schedule for the rest of the year?

Friedman If I make the Olympic Track team then it’s all for the track and Beijing. If I don’t then it’s up in the air, but either way, you guys can expect a good second half of the season if it’s on the track or the road.

schmalz Can you please keep using the orange training flag on your bike? Maybe you can start wearing a reflective vest and a helmet rear view mirror also?

Friedman Ha, I used the Flag so that drivers could see me when riding and training on Coumadin (blood thinner/anticoagulant). Isn’t Argyle enough? What about my License Plate? Actually the flag was sweet. When I would do some group rides and go a bit hard on the front, the flag would bend over from the wind into the rider behind me, eventually causing him to sit back further out of the draft. Is there a rule saying I couldn’t race with it? I’m game if there isn’t.

schmalz Please tell us about the time you stuffed a banana in your chamois when you were on a ride, as I usually shove raspberries down there, and would like to know if it’s better.

Friedman Ha, this story will always haunt me won’t it? In 2006 when I was riding more than ever before to prove my worth to JV I had the worse saddle sore ever. On a particular ride it was so bad that I needed chamois cream, and now. Having nothing else but a banana I figured I’d go McGuyver on my taint and using a paper clip i mushed the banana and used it as…well, chamois cream, except it didn’t work. The minerals in the fruits burned the area so badly that I almost immediately dove into the woods stripped off the shorts and squirted myself off with my water bottle. It was freaking hilarious, but someone had to do it. Crazy thing of it is, that very saddle sore that we are talking about was eventually surgically removed later in the year, which ultimately led to my blood clot. I’ll try any fruit to alleviate that any day. I’m thinking Mango, Raspberries have seeds.

schmalz Are you the only former intern from Bicycling to have raced the Spring Classics?

Friedman I think I might be. Know what’s funny about that story? I got an interview with Mark Bowman, now a good friend, for that job. I was 20 years old and was the only guy to show up in a suit and tie for the interview. It was awesome! He just looked at me like I was drunk or something, but I was confident and got the job. Now from time to time I see the guys who were my bosses there. I saw Bill Strickland in BELGIUM! He should have come on the team bus for a coffee, but we were both busy. He used to intimidate me so much! I had a lot of fun working there, and would do it again actually.