Eric loves riding his bicycle, but it wasn’t always that way. When he was 5, his parents tried to teach him how to ride a bike without training wheels, and he wanted nothing to do with it – literally screaming, crying, and kicking the bike. However, at 10, his addiction to BMX bikes began! He was riding his bike at skate-parks and local trails, even quit playing baseball so he could ride more.
At 15, he began working at the Peddler’s Shop. Soon thereafter he developed an interest in road bikes. Two months later, he did his first race and got dropped very quickly. For the rest of that year and into the beginning of college, he was on his road bike recreationally and for general fitness, throwing the odd race in occasionally but never getting any respectable results. As college progressed and with constant injuries from BMX, he started to ride the road bike more, and more seriously, and in 2010 began to train properly and in 2011 won his first race!
Height: 6’1”
December Weight: 180 lbs.
Race Weight: 175 lbs.
Birthdate: June 26, 1989
Childhood Heroes: “Seth Kimbrough, ‘Slic,’ Vic Murphy, and my Dad.”
Hobbies and Interests: “Movies, conspiracy theories, coffee, and – of course – bikes. Definitely a huge geek when it comes to keeping up on the latest bicycle tech and components.”
Favorite Movies: “Shutter Island, Inception, Wall Street, and anything that Kevin Smith has written or directed.”
Musical Tastes: “Literally everything. Hit shuffle on my playlist and you have no idea what’s going to come out, from death metal to classical symphonic music, from country to rap, from rock to techno and house. I listen to a little bit of everything. A few favorites are Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Mortal Treason, Metallica, Beethoven, Toby Keith, Johnny Cash, Steve Aoki, 311, Kanye West, Drake, Skrillex, and Atreyu.”
Favorite TV Shows: “Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Homeland, The Family Guy, South Park.”
Favorite Meal: “Good sushi, pizza.”
Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Life, although I’m trying to cut down on cereals/breads/etc.”
Favorite Pre-Race Meal: “Bowl of cereal or egg-white and turkey sausage on whole wheat toast, banana, orange juice, several cups of coffee.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Coffee.”
Childhood Dream: “When I was really young, I wanted to be a train engineer.”
First Car: “Dirty-olive-green 1986 Buick Century Station Wagon. It leaked in a few places so every time it rained I would have to shop-vac 2-3 inches of water off of the floor, and it broke down a lot.”
First Job: “I worked at the Peddler’s Shop as a mechanic from the time I was 15 until I was 21.”
Favorite Vacation Spot: “The Outer Banks.”
Pre-Race Feeling: “Calm before the storm. Very quiet and focused, in my own little world, almost zero ability to be social in the thirty or so minutes before a race.”
Early Racing Memory: “Jumping into a race at Branchbrook Park in the middle of March with snow on the ground. I had just purchased my first road bike about two months beforehand and had MAYBE 300 miles in my legs, at best. For some reason I had the idea that I would do just fine, and instead I was shot out the back in about half a lap. It was a wake-up call and the beginning of an addiction to road bikes.”
Funny Racing Memory: “Seeing Dave Kapigian crash into a curb because he turned around to stick his tongue out at Brandon Mazur during a race.”
Greatest Racing Moment: “Most people would probably put a good result here, but I think my greatest moment was actually saving myself from what could have been a very bad crash. At a race on the Greentree course, a couple of riders touched wheels, went down in front of me. Three or four hit the deck, including the guy whose wheel I was on. I immediately slammed my brakes, tried to steer away, which made my bike spin almost a complete 180. Thankfully, you really never forget how to ride a bike (and luckily for me some old BMX moves worked on the road bike!) and I instinctively unclipped one foot, threw it to the ground and jumped up again lifting the bike into the air with me. Spun it back around before landing, continued riding without having to unclip my second foot or take my hands off the bars (footplants were my favorite trick when I was riding BMX and I could do them on just about any terrain as well as into and out of other tricks). Everything happened so fast that I didn’t even realize what I did to stay upright until a few people who were behind me explained it to me after the race.”
Most Painful Moment In Life: “Losing my grandmother to lung cancer.”
Worst Injury from Racing: “Severely fractured my ego on a few occasions!”
Closest Racing Friends: “Everyone from the Action Wheels/Viking Yachts and the Caffeinated Cyclist teams.”
Funniest Racer: “Dave Kapigian. He is always goofing around, making faces at riders when he passes them and waving at the people spectating.”
Favorite Race: “NJBA Team Challenge and Bob Riccio Memorial Tour de Pitman.”
Embarrassing Racing Memory: “Showing up late to a Blue Claws crit and having the officials delay the start of the race for Justin Davala and I while everyone else sat at the line cooling down, waiting for us to get ready. Just felt like an asshole after that.”
Toughest Competitors: “Sean Cunningham from Caffeinated Cyclist Racing and John McLeod from Cycles 54.”
Favorite Athletes to Watch: “Flatland BMX riders, baseball.”
Qualities You Most Admire in People: “Honesty, unfailing ideology.”
What You Love Most About Riding Your Bicycle: “Getting away from all of the ‘hustle and bustle’ of everyday life and drifting off into my thoughts while riding down an empty, rural road.”
