He’s a long way from the Masters or Golden level of athletic competition. But it’s from observing and following his father at major cycling events around the nation that led a young Joey Rosskopf to his own level of racing prowess that just days ago had him pedaling through the terrain of a European nation.
Joey Rosskopf is the 26-year-old son of Ken Rosskopf, 76, a former USA Cycling Masters Road National and Georgia State Masters champion. Ken was a participant in Wednesday morning’s 40K cycling road race in the 2015 Georgia Golden Olympics that started and ended in front of the Grovania United Methodist Church.
Joey, on Monday, returned home after participating in this year’s Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) that began Aug. 22 in the town of Porto Banus and ended after 21 stages in Madrid. They are from Decatur, and Joey represents BMC Racing.
“(Vuelta a Espana) is one of the three grand tours of the (UCI) sport,” said Joey. “A grand tour is a three-week long stage race. I’m finished for the season now.
“All season we do week-long stage races. There are a lot of one-day races, but the longest we normally do is seven days.”
Joey described his run as “pretty mediocre” – 124th out of 158 participants – but note that it was his first such tour. He highlighted the fatigue involved.
“I felt good for the first week, even the first 10 days,” he said. “That’s a pretty normal distance for us to race. After that point, I was …”
Typical training for Joey is anywhere from 20 to 30 hours a week on the bike when there’s a break between races. He picked up serious training for competition with Ken when he was 16.
“My dad’s the reason I started cycling,” said Joey. “He’s been doing it since before I was born. He has a lot of national championship medals in the Masters category. It’s easy to start when you have hand-me-down bike parts, when you’re always around bikes.”
Needless to say, the Golden Olympics was a “smaller production” than the Vuelta and much more relaxed.
“There’s not teams with million-dollar budgets here,” said Joey. “This is how I started cycling, coming to races like this. It’s not too far to drive down and support my dad. He’s come to many races to support me. This is the simplest way to do it and the best atmosphere for it. You get to a professional race, it’s all stress and business.”
The Golden Olympics cycling for the 40K Wednesday had a modest sized turnout of men age 50 up to 81 (50-64 started first, then 64 and up five minutes later). There was also a 5K time trial scheduled for Wednesday, and then on Thursday a 20K road race plus a 10K time trial.
The Rosskopfs met up with John C. Taylor and his wife Sally. Taylor is now 94 and back from Atlanta to participate in the Games one more time. The main topic of discussion between the families was the Taylors’ motor home, which had Taylor’s bike attached in the back. Taylor also showed the medals he received from last year’s National Senior Games in Minnesota.
Ken talked about getting into cycling seriously in his late 40s. He said he had a disc removed from his back, which ended his time as a runner and got him onto a bicycle. In high school, he swam competitively. Training helps, but Ken said it also takes a bit of obsession.
“I’ve always been competitive,” he said. “I have a competitive nature. I won three national championships … and a Russian national championship.”
Ken is a lawyer by trade, semi-retired from practice. His main message to his son about cycling was to stay motivated and keep it fun.
Richard “Lamar” Mauney of Lilburn had the best time in the 40K, 1:06.54, to win overall for the fourth time in five years (one year he did not participate). He and a teammate were discussing how riders love to race in the “boondocks” because of the low rate of traffic. Even more for the Golden Olympics, they said the volunteers and staff are great at creating a family atmosphere.
“I broke away when it started to rain,” said Mauney. He and his friend agreed that a pack riding mentality hurts a rider in those conditions because stuff like water and dirt get sprayed on them. “It was better to be up front.”
For Mauney, this was his 10th race competition of the year. He was fourth in the USA Cycling Marathon Mountain Bike Nationals in Augusta in May and rode in the Georgia Time Trials Championships in Gainesville in August.
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