Meet rider of the month, "Jeffro"

Jeff Cincoski has been named May's rider of the month. Here's a little behind the man of many talents...

First time you knew you had bike fever?

I first discovered that I loved the bike at about age 15. I worked at Grand Performance, a St. Paul shop where I mainly took out the garbage and put glue on tubulars. I was fascinated with the bikes and all of the incredible cyclists who raced them.

Most memorable ride:
My most memorable ride is probably as subject No. 10 in the 2000+mile “study” called Giro d’iscovery that was put on by the WPEM lab at UM. I had been a study subject for years and they pretty much asked a few of us who should do the ride. In the end, I rode 100 miles a day for 20 days with 9 of my best friends. It was amazing. Having your limitations quantified before you every day can be discouraging. I remember riding incredibly hard, almost racing half the time. I put in some opportunistic breaks when people would stop to pee, eat and cry. Infamous.

Favorite ride:
My favorite local ride is hands-down Holloman’s saddle. I go through Clinton, over the Schwartz and down Miller Ck. The climb is suburb and you don’t see so much as a house for the better part of two hours. In my earlier college years my roommates and I used to do the ride after a ridiculous night. We would recant the debauchery and sweat out the shame, leaving it all up on the saddle.

Favorite bike:
It’s hard to say. Since this is for NRO, I’d say my Blue R7 carbon-lugged carbon road bike. I was pretty much given the crashed frame by a Minnesota pro that had gone down in the tour of Ireland. It has J&B weld in the chain stay and I treat it like a stray dog rather than a baby. It’s nice to ride without worrying about your expensive carbon bike. Also, the long, sloping top tube geometry works well for a short-legged beefcake like me.

Who and/or what inspires you?:

I am really keen on the situations where a rider out-performs their ability. That may be why I love road racing. I feel that you don’t need to be the strongest rider to win. A little cunning at the right time gets you pretty far: like when you become aware of a moment of tenderness in you opponent and then exact the surge that breaks them. Likewise, I appreciate a great peak from a moderately talented individual-that moment from which they might define themselves as great. I’d say that I’ve seen some great moments from Josh Tack so far this season. In general, I’m usually pretty impressed by what Alex Gallego can do with a few hours of training each week. I guess it’s a matter of defining the champions around me and deriving inspiration from them.

What is something that people don't know about you?:

I’m a fairly open book- an oversharer- so there’s not a whole lot of Jeffy that folks don’t get in a few minutes. Maybe that’s the thing. When I’m quiet is most likely the time that I’m ready to breathe the most fire. It doesn’t happen all that often, but that would be my biggest surprise.