Brady Kappius...

ok...

brady kappius.. you are one of the TIAA-Cref grommets... and you are on
your way to ride two world cups and maybe worlds too... you are a rider
for the future...

so what is your schedule going to be like day to day?.. are you gonna
live in noel's garage?...

Yep, I'm headed over to Europe in a few weeks. I will hopefully be able to race in the World Cups. There are only 5 spots and there are 7 U23's headed over, so if I'm doing good, I think I will get to race. Its all up to Geoff Proctor (The US cross team coach and the man behind the euro camp). If nationals goes well next week, I might even go to worlds. Not something I was really thinking about at the beginning of the season being a first year U23, but I would be ecstatic if I went.

Here is the race schedule:
12/24/05 Sat
1hr 30
Belgium
Diegem
Cat 1 SP
Juniors; U-23; Elite Men

12/26/05 Mon
Belgium
Hofstade
WCS
Juniors (but we probably won’t do this with juniors); U-23; Elite Men (WCS for Elite Men only)

12/28/05 Wed
Belgium
Loenhout
Cat1GVA
Juniors; U-23; Elite Men

12/31/05 Sat
Belgium
Hooglede
WCS
Juniors, U-23; Elite Men

01/02/06 Mon
Belgium
Sint-Niklaas
Cat 2
Elite and U-23 Men together

01/04/06 Wed
Holland
Surheisterveen
Cat 2
Elite and U-23 together, Juniors

I get to the USA Cycling house in Izegem, Belgium on the 22nd. It is not really Noel's garage, it is actually a pretty sweet deal. Each room has some bunk beds in it and a TV. There are a few crazy European toilets and a bathroom with a series of showers.
It looks like I will do up to 6 races. The days are pretty routine.

Wake up around 8-9 am, grab some breakfast downstairs in the kitchen. Usually some cereal, yogurt, banana, and a rice pudding. Depending on the race time and location, we will leave sometime in the morning. We pack up our lunch and head off in the caravan to the race. Once we get to the race, we pick up our number and suit up to go ride a few laps of the course. If the course is muddy we will grab our other bike and finish warming up on that one then switch back at the start. Then we race against all the crazy euro dudes. After the race we head home, clean up and eat some dinner. In the evening we usually screw around, watching the euro trash music videos. Then repeat.

where did you come from?... why are you a cross racer?... do you have any ambitions on the road or do you only think of cross?

I started racing when I was 4. I did all the kids races at the MTB races my dad did. I never really took it too seriously until about 5 years ago. I would usually just go screw around on my bike, doing jumps and sweet stuff like that. My roots are in mountain biking, and I did the cross races in the fall on my MTB.

In 2002 I was still racing cross on my MTB. I placed 3rd in C's race as a 15 year old. In 2003, I started racing in the B's with my first cross bike. By the end of the season I upgraded to the A's. 2003 was my first year going to cross nationals. Because worlds is in January of the next year, they take the next years racing age, so I raced in the 17-18's. I ended up 4th in the super muddy conditions. I was amazed at how well I did. It was one of the best races of my life, I was just in the zone.

I was hoping to go to worlds that year, but USA Cycling's crazy selection procedures left me out. They expect juniors to go travel the country collecting UCI points, but at the race that everyone is at, nationals, they only take 2 of the top 5 to worlds. Last year, I had my sights set on worlds. I was able to travel to all the US Grand Prix races (the worlds selection series) with the help of my team - TIAA-CREF / Clif Bar. I ended up 4th in the series then took 3rd at nationals.

I went to the camp last year and had a great time over in Belgium. I learned a lot about racing in Europe. I earned a spot on the worlds team with my strong season. Worlds was a great experience, but the race itself sucked. I had a lot of bad luck including a crash in the first 10 meters. This season I came with the goal of making it to the euro camp again. With some awesome races in California a couple of weeks ago, I earned my spot and ended up 4th in the USGP series. So here I am.

I also race on the road and mountain bike too. Right now, I would say that cross is what I excel at, but I am not kicking road or mountain biking out the door yet. I still love riding my bike, no matter which one it is.

as a young kid do you respect the top US riders?... obviously they are faster than you.. but are you the kind of bad ass kid that looks right through those guys like they are nothing because you have your sights set on Nijs?...


I have a lot of respect for guys like Trebon, Wicks, and Page. I got to spend last year in Belgium with Trebon and Wicks, they are super cool guys. For Page and Trebon to dedicate themselves to cross and living over there and racing deserves a lot of respect. That is something I hope to do when I get older. The difference is I want to be fighting for the win, not fighting to get a top 10. We will see what happens, I still have a lot of time to get there. I have 6 years till I'm Trebon's age
and 11 years till I catch up to Page. That is a lot of time to get better!

Also, if anybody wants to help my teammates and I pay for the trip to Europe, you can donate here - http://www.bikereg.com/events/register.asp?EventID=2869

am i paraphrasing or are you saying that tree farm and page suck and that they barely make the top ten and when you are elite you are going to be fighting out the win?...

I am not saying that Tree Farm sucks, but he needs to work on those technical skills. like what the hell is this shit -

http://www.printroom.com/ViewgalleryPhoto.asp?userid=abbiorca&gallery_id=297305&image_id=31

You building a frickin sand castle?


So... i'll leave it at that.. and we will see what tree farm has to say about playing in the sand box... so if anybody wanted to follow your exploits do you have a website or something?....

Here is the site for our blog - http://eurocrossers.blogspot.com/ It will be up and running soon.