It’s rare to see the Jelly Belly Pro Cycling Team sitting still. But we managed to gather four of the riders – Jeremy Powers, Bryce Mead, Brian Dziewa and Michael Cody – for a casual discussion about the world of Jelly Belly Cycling.
And while it was extremely casual, with the jokes flying almost as fast as the guys can race, the team was very forthright about their thoughts on Jelly Belly, the season, life on the road situation and much more.
Note: This interview took place before the team’s big win at the Tri-Peaks Challenge, in which Brice Jones won Stage 2 and Andy Bajadali won the overall race.
From left: Jeremy Powers, Brian Dziewa, Bryce Mead
Jelly Belly: So how would you assess the team’s accomplishments so far?
Brian Dziewa: It’s been good. Baj (Andy Bajadali) won (The) Redlands (Bicycle Classic) so that’s a big deal. We won a race at the Tour of the Gila (Brice Jones won Stage 4 of the Tour) as well.
Jeremy Powers: We’ve been on a lot of podiums, and it’s just been really solid so far. And I think it’s going to get even better. The (Amgen) Tour of California was really a training race, so we were happy to do it. But for us it was super early, and we always said that our first race was going to be Redlands, so we definitely showed up prepared. Baj said he wanted to do well there, and the team rode well, so that’s a huge win for us. Alex was third (in the overall) also.
Better than you expected or what you expected?
JP: We have a really good group of guys this year.
Bryce Mead: Yeah, I’m really surprised at how good it actually is. I thought it was going to be a little more intimidating. Instead I get along with all the guys pretty well. It’s a nice family situation, so it’s a lot more comfortable on the road than I thought it was going to be.
Michael Cody: It’s a lot of fun traveling. Lots of jokes tossed around, especially from Mike Jones and this guy (pointing at Jeremy).
JP: And just talking to The Bird, it’s kinda funny, you know?
BD: He’s kinda funny looking.
BM: You are very fortunate to hear me talk.
Brian Dziewa (pronounced “Ja-va”)
Were all of you in the Tour of California?
BD: The three of us were (Brian, Jeremy and Bryce).
JB: What was that like?
BD: Pain. It was just really hard, really fast, really early in the year.
BM: It’s difficult because it’s February, very early in the season. You don’t have many races in your legs. I’ve never raced against a ProTour team, and you had several ProTour teams there. It was a tough first race really.
BD: You had Discovery (Channel) riding at the front all day every day, kind of like they were when they won the Tour de France seven years in a row.
What would each of you say is your biggest strength?
MC: Probably sprinting and being able to handle technical criteriums and stuff like that. Reading the ends of some of those races and figuring out what’s going on.
JP: So far I’ve just been able to help out the guys and be a really good domestique – trying to get bottles and make sure that guys are delivered to their climbs properly. Just doing my job. I try to focus on that and hopefully at some point I can win a race, maybe in a breakaway or something. But I’m happy with my role.
BD: I’m really good at math (laughing). When I was an amateur I could climb all right, but this year I’m just trying to do what I’m told the best I can. But I can count how many guys are in the race!
BM: I’m a pretty good team player – helping out with the team’s accomplishments.
JP: He just flaps his wings back to the team car to get some bottles, and he’s right back to the front again. That’s why we call him The Bird.
What would each of you like to work on?
MC: All-around. There’s so much to learn, so I try to get as much as I can from all the races.
JP: Every race is a good race. There’s always something new – something different happens. You really never stop learning. The constant learning process is great.
BD: I want to get better and staying in better position towards the front of the pack and out of the wind, so I don’t waste as much energy so it doesn’t take as much out of me when I go back to get bottles or cover attacks. And I can save energy for the final climb.
BM: I agree. Reading a race and saving energy is really important. As Jeremy said, you’re always trying to learn how to race your bike a little bit better.
For the new guys, what’s it like being on the team? How is the chemistry?
BD: You know actually, I didn’t know what to expect. In the past couple years, there wasn’t good chemistry in the amateur team I was on. But this year, it’s just a really fun group of guys. Even after the racing it’s just really fun to hang out. It makes everything flow better and more naturally because you’re having fun. It’s been so much more fun than I thought it would be, because like I said, I didn’t know what to expect.
MC: It’s good. It’s a bunch of really interesting people. Like when you get a new job, you have coworkers and it’s always fun to meet new people.
JP: It’s funny to call your teammates coworkers, but it is true. Sometimes you have to worry about saying one thing or another because it might offend someone. But it’s easier (to get along) in bike racing because we’re all there for the same goal, to win races and it’s easier to achieve that goal if everyone works together. It’s working out well, I think.
Jeremy Powers
Does Jelly Belly keep you busy with functions and events that maybe your other teams didn’t?
BD: For me it’s my first year as a pro, so I never really got to do other things besides race.
BM: The amateur team I was on for the last few years got most of its money from the club riders (casual riders who pay to join the team), about 300 of them. They held events like indoor time trials, and I got used to helping in those events. But that was just one day, compared to three or four days traveling across the country to work events. So it’s pretty much the same, there’s just more of it.
BD: This is part of being on the team. When someone pays you to race your bike, they’re also paying you to be a face for the company. We’re trying to create Jelly Belly consumers through racing. Just being associated with the company gets people excited. At the Tour of California, on the routes, half the people didn’t know who we were personally but they were just screaming all the time, “Go Jelly Belly!” That’s who we are. We’re Jelly Belly.
JP: It’s really easy to identify with the team. People know a team like Discovery Channel because they’re really good, but if you had to choose between Jelly Belly and someone like Health Net or Colavita (wine), it’s a pretty easy choice (which team to cheer for). It’s really nice.
Jeremy, you had a good cyclo-cross season. Do you feel your road skills are improving as well?
JP: Yeah, if I can stay healthy they’re great! I was sick a lot last year and the beginning of this year as well. But cyclo-cross is great and I’m hoping I can come back (to road racing) in June and do some really good races. I’m racing a lot. I did 80 races last year – it’s a lot of racing and a lot of traveling. I was pushing myself hard. Hopefully I can slow down a little bit in the future and stay healthy for the whole season. But either way it always works out well and I’m happy with how it is.
What races have been your favorite in the past and why?
JP: Philly (the Philadelphia International Championship on June 10) is awesome. It’s one of my favorite races. I’ve actually never finished it, but that’s why I like it so much. It’s the most challenging one-day race in the States.
BD: The Tour of California was pretty awesome. The stage in Santa Rosa, there was just so many people on the circuits you couldn’t hear yourself. It was so loud. It was really cool.
BM: Tour of California was a good experience. The fans were awesome. I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily my favorite race because there are a few local races back home that are always a lot of fun for me because my family can come and watch me. But the Tour of California was out of this world, for sure.
MC: I think I have two. One’s the Green Mountain Stage Race in Vermont; it’s kind of like a hometown for me since I’ve moved around so much. And Tour of Virginia was pretty epic. Not necessarily the best race for me, but it was really fun. It’s a really beautiful area.
Can you even enjoy the scenery when you’re in a race?
BD: It depends on how you’re doing in the race, if you’re on the front and how hard you’re going. Every once in a while you can catch a glimpse (of the scenery) out of the corner of your eye.
BM: It’s funny, there were some photos of the Tour of California in a newspaper when I got home. My girlfriend and my mom were asking, “Do you remember this part of the race? You rode through there.” And I was like, “Hmmm…nope, I don’t remember that at all…I don’t remember anything from that day to be honest with you.”
JP: He was like, “That’s the day it was raining. Me and Powers got dropped getting rain jackets. Powers was cursing at me and…that’s it. That was a great day!”
BM: Right! (laughing)
JP: One day it was really bad though. It was me and Bryce or me and Mike Jones, we got in trouble on the back trying to get jackets to all the guys.
What races are you looking forward to and why?
BM: Philadelphia. I think that will be a great race, and I’ve never done it before. I think it’s 156 miles. It’s a longstanding race, and you hear about it all the time, and if you’ve never done it before it’s a new challenge. It’s always good to do hard races like that.
BD: I’m looking forward to the Tour of Missouri because I live in Missouri. I think I’m the only pro that lives in Missouri. That’ll be fun.
JP: I’m looking at ALL the races when I get back. Every single one of them. I’m just looking forward to getting back out there.
MC: There are a bunch of bigger criteriums at the end of the year that I think will be fun. But the Nature Valley Grand Prix (On June 20-24 in Minnesota) will be pretty cool because my parents live in Minneapolis and they can come out to see that one.
Michael Cody
Who were/are your cycling inspirations?
MC: I couldn’t even tell you off the top of my head.
JP: I couldn’t really tell you either. I think a lot of things come together when you’re racing bikes. First it starts off as killing time. Then you start racing and you’re thinking, “Wow I really look up to these guys.” Then you get to a certain level, and you’re like “This is a good person to look up to, I think.” I hope that makes sense.
MC: It’s a style of riding that you look up to, but that changes.
BD: My dad, because he got me into it and taught me to love it. I remember when I was little and not even old enough to know what was going on and my dad telling me about Greg LeMond winning the Tour de France and I thought that was cool. But in reality in America, between when LeMond won and when Lance Armstrong got big there was no one. And that’s when I grew up. So I got into cycling because of my dad and because it was fun.
BM: I agree with Jeremy and Michael. You look up to people when you first start and when you get to a certain level you don’t look up to them the same way. Personally, my family has helped me get here and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them getting me into the sport and keeping me in it.
JP: No one gets to this point alone, that’s for sure. There are so many people involved that you need to thank.
Bryce “The Bird” Mead
What are your personal goals for the season?
BM: Hopefully I can possibly win a race this year. It’s always nice to win something, but I just want to keep improving. If I don’t keep improving, mentally it messes me up a bit. So as long as I’m improving and helping the team I’ll be happy about that.
BD: I’d love to win a race too, but as Bryce said I just want to keep getting better and better, and hopefully help Alex, Brice, or Baj win another big race after Redlands. I just want to feel like I’m a major contributor to the team.
JP: Once I get going again, I’d like to win a big race this year. Just one stage, maybe out of a breakaway. I tried a couple times last year and came close; I hope this year’s the year. We’ll see.
MC: Just to make a positive impact on the team.
What do you guys like to do on the road?
JP: I can tell you some things the Bird likes to do…
BM: We won’t talk about those. Maybe off the record.
JP: I like to fight. We have a pair of boxing gloves in the team bus and I pretty much uppercut Dziewa every time he speaks. Okay, that’s a joke. But Cody does crossword puzzles.
BD: Seriously, Tour of California was like: you wake up, you eat, you race, then you transfer. There was very little free time. The only free time we had was between San Dimas and Redlands and the five of us just hung out in Mike Jones’s RV.
JP: There’s plenty of entertainment on the team though. Guys are always joking. There’s hardly a serious moment.
Michael Cody, Jeremy Powers
How about in your off time?
MC: I have a job, so I do my training first thing in the morning, then go to my job. I’m in tech support.
JP: Right now I’ve been doing a lot of physical therapy, acupuncture and massage, almost every other day. I’ve been really trying to take care of myself. My parents own an ice cream business and I help out with that in the summertime. My family lives about an hour away from me, and with my girlfriend and everything, I stay busy. I like to clean up my 1990 Cadillac Caprice. It’s pretty sweet.
BD: I hang out with my fiancée. My parents own a restaurant and I work there.
BM: Do you want to tell them what I do?
JP: Bird owns a bike shop, specifically called “Bryce Mead’s Bike Shop.” He says he named it that so it’s first in the phone book.
BM: I’m kind of a big deal back home (in Sterling, Illinois), population of…25. Seriously, I do own a bike shop. It’s nice to have a little extra money and have something for the future. We pull in a couple million dollars a year…
JP: A couple million (laughing)!
BM: We have some shareholders coming onboard. We’re on the S&P 500.
