With the resurgence of cycling in the US and the fact that we now have, I believe, 17 Professional cycling teams registered here in the States I thought it would be a good time to introduce you to a couple of friends and former teammates of mine who took the path less traveled and pursued a professional cycling career in Europe, not as Americans on an American team but instead Americans on Belgian teams.
The first cyclist I would like to introduce is Seth Pelusi. Seth is from Texas and spent some time on the US National Cycling Team and his last race as a Pro was the World Championships in Portugal 2001. Because Seth still lives in France I sent him some questions via email and he responded. I was excited to get in touch with Seth and get some of his insite. Most of the questions came from any interested friend of mine and Rivet Cyclesport on Facebook.
The next cyclist I will interview is Pauly Burke. He raced on 3 different teams in Belgium and I am looking forward to what he has to say as well.
RC- Seth, thanks so much for answering these questions. My first question is What is your athletic background and what got you involved in cycling?
Seth- I've always been a cyclist and it was my father who got me involved. he and his riding buddies would drag me around on all of their rides, I was 13.
RC- As a Texan what was the cycling scene like when you began racing?
Seth- Much better than it is now. I don't live in Texas any longer but I know there are alot fewer races available than there are when I was racing there.
RC- I remember racing every Spring weekend in Texas, criteriums, road races, and tt's. It was great
RC- What steps did you take in your journey to turn Porfessional?
Seth- I went through the national team as a junior and espoir. In 1998 when I was racing for a French amateur team, Rene Wenzel the director for team Saturn gave me a call and thanks to my friend Levi Leipheimer, who gave good word to Rene that I was a good rider to hire, I turned pro with Team Saturn.
RC- What did a typical training week consist of? Did this change as you went to Belgium?
Seth- Depends completely on the week, but usually between 20 and 35 hours of riding. In Belgium it was the same except we had much shittier weather to do our 20 to 35 hours in.
RC- What was the major difference in racing as a pro in the states and Belgium?
Seth- I really enjoyed racing for Saturn. It was a great team, great staff, and great teammates. Mercury was a good team as well. But as a pro in the states all we did were parking lot crits. That is what I didn't like. In Belgium I raced for a division2 professional team called Flanders-Prefetex, it was a poorly organized team but we did some amazing races! Because of our division2 status we got into all the Belgian classics, some of the best and greatest races in the world.
RC- Where in Europe did you compete?
Seth- All over Europe, all of the Belgian Spring classics except for the world cup events.
RC- Did you have a specialty on the team?
Seth- Nope, I was average at everything.
RC- Who of the "famous" pros have you raced against? beaten? Lost to?
Seth- I got my ass kicked by all of them! But I was always happy to when I could do some ass kicking of my own at some of the smaller races!
RC- How were your arrangements in Belgium? Where did you live?
Seth- I had an apartment with a few of my teammates but I went back to France as often as possible to be with my wife.
RC- Did it take a while to adjust to life in Belgium?
Seth- I'm adaptable and because I was traveling so much adjusting was not a problem.
RC- While racing did you hang out with mostly english speakers?
Seth- In Belgium everybody speaks english but in France, you absolutely need to speak french.
RC- There are alot of new methods to training and alot of new cyclists tend to want gadgets to help them train. As a professional was the team ever concerned with watts or heart rates?
Seth- On a professional team they don't care what you do as long as you perform.
RC- Do you have any secrets to riding in cold wet weather?
Seth- Nope, but I wish I had some.
RC- Some people who ride bikes are really concerned with what type of tires they ride whether it be a clincher or a tubular. They are also extremely concerned about what types of nutrition will help them perform the best. So, do you have a favorite tire?
Seth- No, it never mattered to me. Either one is fine. However, tubulars can be a bit lighter so better for hilly racing.
RC- How about nutrition? Did you have anything special?
Seth- Nope, not at all. We ate what the sponsors fed us.
RC- Seth, what do you do now? Where do you live?
Seth- I live and work about 30kms north of Nantes and I work as a slate and zinc roofer.
RC- Do you still race?
Seth- Absolutely! I still race as an elite amateur on a team called CC Chateaubriant. I cannot live without racing!
It has been about 15 years since I last spoke with Seth. He is a couple of years younger than me and was always very fast. It was very cool to see his career go the level it did. He was never a household name but believe me the challenges and efforts he endured to race even at a division2 pro level in Belgium is just as admirable as the efforts of the "famous" pros. Unfortunately in America we are fans of only the stars and guys like Seth never get the respect or notoriety they duly deserve.
