The first time Erik tried to bike up a hill, he made it halfway, told his dad that biking was stupid, and went home.
It wasn’t until Erik had gotten injured playing soccer and running that he found cycling as the sport that would come to have a profound impact on his life. Going to school in Berkshire Country in Massachusetts, he became enchanted with the freedom, adventure, and suffering of exploring the largest mountains in the area by bike. Starting his sophomore year in college, he started racing in the best cycling conference in the world, the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC). What started as a fun way to hang out with friends riding bikes in cold and miserable conditions evolved into a lifelong passion.
Indoor riding was at first merely a necessity when training through long and cold New England winters. He probably watched the DVD highlights of the 90s Tour de France races a dozen times while pedaling on a stationary trainer perhaps even older than him. It wasn’t until he moved to Boston and started residency training that the time crunch of work started to push him towards the world of indoor racing. He hasn’t looked back, loving the efficiency, rigor, and pure fun of the sport. He now gets a chance to ride with the most badass team on Zwift.
When Erik isn’t riding his bike, you can find him hanging out with his dog Luna and fiancée Sarah.
Interesting facts about Erik:
Has never won a sprint in his life
Favorite athlete is weightlifter Ronnie Coleman and has been known to yell “YEAH BUDDY!” while putting in attacks up climbs.
Is usually a nice guy but a total jerk until he drinks his morning 3 cups of coffee.
Ate a jar of peanut butter per week for several years in college.
Entered a chili eating contest once because he thought it was a way to get free bowls of soup. Turns out it was a different type of chili. He ended up winning the contest but paid the consequences for several days to come.
“Back of the Card” Rider Stats
Stands 5’9” tall and weighs in at 142-144 lbs depending on how many cookies he’s been eating recently
Will listen to everything from Taylor Swift to Swedish House Mafia to Run The Jewels when putting down the hammer
The longer the climb, the better. Loves riding to the top of Ventoux and Alpe du Zwift
Holds records of the Mount Greylock, Mount Mansfield, Mount Ascutney, and Mount Kearsarge hillclimbs.
Tries to average about 15,000 miles and 1,000,000 feet of climbing per year
