John Fiadjoe

John grew up playing tennis, playing on his high school team, then college team for 4 years. Basketball also became a passion in college, but by his late-30s the knees started to act up and the orthopedic surgeon gave him two options: surgery to remove the damaged meniscus or…cycling, to strengthen the muscles around the knee joint. John chose the latter and fell in love with cycling. He has now been cycling for 3 full years and just entered his first race this past season. ‘Cross is now in the mix! And time trials soon to come… 

Height: 5’10”
 
December Weight: 172-175lbs.
 
Race Weight: 172 lbs.
 
Birthdate: September 13th, 1972
 
Childhood Heroes: “Bugs Bunny, YulBrynner”
 
Hobbies and Interests: “Chess, music.”
 
Favorite Movies:Little Miss Sunshine.”
 
Musical Tastes: “Don Williams to Lily Allen to Bob Marley to The Mighty Diamonds.”
 
Favorite TV Shows: “Lost.
 
Favorite Meal: “Any Sashimi platter.”
 
Favorite Pre-Race Meal: “Sweet potato.”
 
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Pistachio.”
 
Childhood Dream: “To be an astronaut.”

First Car: “Toyota Tercel, AKA: “The Hoopty”. Once had a passenger in my car say, ‘You better never light a match in this car because the whole thing will blow up.’ I didn’t get it, just because the exhaust was somehow routed to the car vents didn’t mean there was residual fuel coming through! Had one wiper and rearview mirror fall off if you took the corner too hard, and the lights were duct taped. I cried when the ‘save the children’ crew said they were going to scrap it for parts!”
 
First Job: “Supermarket bagger.”
 
Favorite Vacation Spot: “Jamaica.”
 
Pre-Race Feeling: “Excited.”
 
Early Racing Memory: “Trying to go out on a break too early on my first race and blowing up big time.”
 
Funny Racing Memory: “Was so far behind in a ‘cross race that by the time I was getting to the end on my last lap, some guys were warming up for the next race on the course. I didn’t realize it and followed them off the course and had to take the long route to the finish – cost me about 4 places!”
 
Greatest Racing Moment: “5th place on a hilly crit. Hey, I’m a big guy – climbing is not my forte.”
 
Most Painful Moment In Life: “Getting rheumatic fever and living in the hospital for four months.”
 
Worst Injury from Racing: “None yet…knock on you know what.”
 
Closest Racing Friends: “Rupert Cooper.”
 
Funniest Racer: “Don’t know many racers yet.”
 
Favorite Race: “Green Mountain Stage Race, Unionvale Road Race.”

Embarrassing Racing Memory: “Put my water bottles in the freezer the night before my race so they would be ice cold for my race the next day. Well when the race got going, they were still frozen. No fluids the whole race…”
 
Toughest Competitors: “The entire field.”
 
Favorite Athletes to Watch: “Lionel Messi.” (Messi is an Argentine soccer player on FC Barcelona and captains the Argentina national team, mainly as a striker. He is regarded as one of the best football players of his generation.)”

Qualities You Most Admire in People: “Work ethic.”
 
What You Love Most About Riding Your Bicycle: “The feeling of freedom.”

Favorite Quote: “Success is built on a mountain of failures.”