Name: Shane Ferro
Category: 3 in CX, Road, Track, and MTB. Which I guess tells you a lot about the my enthusiasm for racing vs my enthusiasm for winning
Race Age: 26
Current team: CRCA/Rockstar Games
Day Job: I write stuff on the internet

How you got into cycling: When I was a freshman in college there was an optional camping trip before orientation started. The options were hiking, biking, or rafting. Cycling was the only option where you didn’t have to carry all of your stuff with you for three days, as there was a follow car. I guess you could say I got into it through my sense of adventure coupled with my extreme laziness.

How you got into racing: On that trip mentioned above, one of my group leaders was this older student named Anthony Hall. He was the only person on the trip wearing full kit and on a road bike (we all had rented hybrids). I was impressed with his dedication to spandex. He was impressed with my desire to ride fast while everyone else was chilling at like 12 mph. He told me I should join the racing team. I ignored him for about six months because it seemed scary.

That spring he finally got me out for a ride in Central Park. I didn’t really want to race, but half a lap in he had me agreeing to try it, and another half lap in I was agreeing to show up at 4am the next Saturday to load up a van and head out to race an uphill time trial at West Point. I don’t really recommend an uphill time trial at an army base as a first race. My second race was later that day (collegiate weekends are basically full stage races). It was a crit that started on a slight downhill incline into a 100 degree corner. I failed to clip in properly and was dropped immediately. I’m still shocked I walked away from that day saying, “Yeah, this is super fun! Can’t wait to do it again!”

Favorite local course and why: I was the promoter of Grant’s Tomb for two years, including that year that there was basically a hurricane (2010 I think? I’ve blocked it out), and then I won the 3/4 race there last year, so that’s the most emotionally charged course for me.

However, my favorite place to race is the track because 1) sprinting is fun, 2) you get a lot of different chances at winning during one day of racing, 3) there’s a lot of chilling between races and 4) the people are great.

Greatest achievement racing: I came in 6th place on the livestream at the Cross Vegas elite women’s race last year while a bunch of people I know were watching. The reality is that I got 47th, and I was getting lapped by Georgia Gould rather than fighting her for position, but it’s not my fault that the officials forgot to pull me.

Worst memory of a race: Red Hook Crit last year. It still gives me nightmares, and talking about it makes me never want to race bikes again, so let’s not.

Goals/Aspirations: I’ve been featured in NYVelocity so what else is there to achieve? More seriously, I aspire to live in a place where I don’t have to clean my bike in the shower.

What’s the most fun thing you missed out on in order to do a bike race: The obvious answer isn’t PG, so let me invert the question: Last September I flew to California for my cousin’s wedding instead of Gloucester to race ‘cross, and I think that’s the saddest I’ve ever been to miss a bike race.