Sports-Pictorial.com
|
|
Doing
the
Math
with
Jamie
Paolinetti
Story
by
Jaime
Nichols
Photos
by
Jaime
Nichols
and
Scott
Schaffrick
|
|
Jamie
Paolinetti
|
At
38
years
old,
and
with
over
14
years
of
racing
under
his
belt,
Jamie
Paolinetti
is
one
of
the
most
experienced
journeymen
in
American
cycling.
A
veteran
rider
who
has
raced
with
and
against
some
the
biggest
names
in
the
sport,
Jamie
is
also
a
filmmaker
and
writer
with
a
documentary
about
American
racing
almost
in
the
can.
|
Last
week
he
successfully
defended
his
title
at
the
Shelby
Criterium
in
North
Carolina,
one
of
the
toughest,
fastest
criteriums
on
the
national
circuit,
beating
the
stiffest
competition
in
the
country
to
the
line
with
only
two
other
teammates
from
the
first
year
pro-cycling
team
he
now
leads:
Schroeder/Incycle.
The
Daily
Peloton
sat
down
with
Jamie
and
talked
about
his
career
in
cycling,
his
film,
his
approach
to
racing
and
leading
a
first
year
team
on
the
National
Circuit,
and
how
he
managed
to
repeat
his
win
in
Shelby.
|
Jamie
races
to
team
victory
in
the
Pomona
Valley
Stage
Race
|
|
Taking
the
start
in
this
year’s
Shelby
Criterium
as
the
defending
champion,
Jamie
Paolinetti
knew
how
impossible
it
would
be
to
win
on
pure
strength.
With
a
scaled
down
team
and
the
odds
against
him,
he
knew
it
would
come
down
to
smart
racing
if
he
had
a
chance
to
win.
"We
only
had
three
guys
there,
and
we
knew
we
wouldn’t
be
able
to
overpower
the
field.
Going
into
the
race
we
had
a
basic
plan
to
watch
the
combinations
of
the
breakaways;
who’s
in
them,
and
what
team
they’re
on,
and
to
make
sure
we
were
in
the
good
ones.
This
involves
riding
at
the
front,
being
ready
to
cover,
or
bridge
to,
any
break
that
goes
and
looks
threatening.
It's
an
on
the
fly
evaluation
that
has
to
be
done
quickly,
and
you
have
to
constantly
be
working
to
be
in
the
right
position."
|
Now
a
master
strategist
with
the
motor
to
bring
his
plans
to
fruition,
Jamie’s
introduction
to
cycling
was
by
chance:
"a
freak
thing."
He
played
baseball
in
college,
but
had
stopped,
and
was
in
his
last
year
of
school,
looking
for
something
to
do
just
to
stay
active.
He
was
surfing
a
lot
at
the
time
when
a
friend
of
his,
who
was
a
Cat
2
racer,
came
to
him
"one
day
when
the
waves
had
been
flat
a
long
time
and
said
‘Come
with
me
for
a
bike
ride.’
"
|
Jamie’s
fit
with
cycling
was
instant
and
perfect.
Physically,
mentally
and
analytically
engaging,
it
satisfied
"everything
I
thought
I
was
about
at
the
time."
An
immediate
string
of
strong
results
and
victories
moved
him
quickly
through
the
categories,
and
within
a
few
months,
he
found
himself
on
the
start
line
of
the
district
championships,
encompassing
all
of
the
west
coast.
Out
of
a
field
of
approximately
300,
Jamie
took
15th,
which,
along
with
his
previous
strong
showings,
qualified
him
as
a
Cat
2
racer
within
an
amazing
seven
weeks
of
hitting
the
local
circuit.
His
first
start
as
a
Cat
2
was
at
a
race
in
La
Jolla,
California,
where
he
found
himself
riding
with
the
big
boys:
"Alexei
Grewal,
Davis
Phinney,
and
Jeff
Pierce
were
there;
superstars
who
had
just
come
back
from
the
Tour
de
France.
It
was
a
huge
step
up,
and
even
though
I
had
been
on
a
bike
just
seven
weeks,
I
was
hanging
in
there!
So,
I
kind
of
figured
out
that
I
had
something.
Some
knack
you
need
to
do
the
sport."
|
Jamie
finished
his
first
season
with
good
results,
got
a
spot
on
the
best
amateur
team
in
Southern
California
at
that
time,
and
did
a
full
year
as
a
Cat
1.
During
that
year,
he
and
his
team
did
over
110
races
and
by
the
end
of
the
season
he
had
an
offer
from
a
small
pro
team,
and
went
on
to
ride
the
national
circuit
and
a
few
international
races
for
the
first
time.
|
In
1990,
Jamie
was
offered
a
place
on
the
newly
forming
Chevrolet/LA
Sheriffs’
team.
"Jeff
Pierce,
of
Tour
de
France
fame,
came
over
here
and
wanted
to
start
a
domestic
program.
He
and
I
were
the
first
two
pros
that
were
hired."
On
Chevy,
he
was
part
of
a
team
that
included
riders
like
Malcolm
Elliot,
Steve
Hegg,
and
Bobby
Julich.
They
rode
the
National
circuit,
winning
over
half
the
races
they
entered.
The
team
was
dominant
and
the
racing
was
great,
but
eventually
the
heavy
schedule
took
its
toll
on
Jamie.
By
1994,
he
was
really
feeling
it:
"I
had
been
racing
since
1988,
and
by
that
time
was
doing
120
races
a
year;
full-on,
full-bore
for
ten
plus
months
a
year,
and
I
was
just
tired."
The
last
three
years
on
Chevy/LA
Sheriffs
were
especially
intense.
"When
you’re
on
a
team
like
that,
Like
Mercury
or
Saturn
are
now,
you’re
expected
to
win
every
race
you
go
to.
That’s
your
job:
win
every
race!
For
the
strongest
teams,
the
onus
of
making
the
race
falls
on
your
shoulders,
and
that
pressure,
that
kind
of
workload,
is
insane.
Every
week
you
travel
all
over
the
country,
you’re
back
and
forth,
and
you
never
know
where
you
are
or
what
you’re
doing.
It’s
impossible
to
get
any
kind
of
steady
training
schedule
in,
and
there’s
always
pressure.
I
was
physically
and
mentally
exhausted."
|
There
were
some
personal
changes
on
the
horizon
as
well:
Jamie
was
getting
married,
and
starting
to
worry
about
what
the
future
would
be
like
for
a
retired
bike
racer.
In
August
of
1994,
when
the
rumors
that
he
might
retire
started
to
trickle
out,
he
was
approached
by
Bicycle
Guide
Magazine
and
offered
a
position
as
an
editor,
which
he
accepted,
retiring
from
racing
at
30
years
old.
The
decision
was
a
tough
one,
and
being
so
near
the
sport
he
loved,
but
not
racing
proved
to
be
tougher
than
he
anticipated.
"About
halfway
through
the
first
year
working
at
the
magazine,
I
realized
that
it
probably
wasn’t
a
smart
thing
to
do
for
me,
because
I
had
just
left
the
sport
in
a
hard
decision,
but
after
two
months
of
not
racing,
not
training,
and
not
getting
ready
for
the
next
season,
I
wasn’t
tired
anymore!
I
was
ready
to
go.
Three
months
off,
that’s
all
I
needed!"
he
laughs.
By
that
time
it
was
too
late
for
him
to
go
back.
The
season
was
underway,
teams
had
long
since
been
solidified,
and
for
Jamie,
being
so
close
to
the
sport
and
following
it
for
the
magazine
while
regretting
his
retirement
proved
to
be
a
bad
combination.
"I
had
to
write
about
it
and
follow
it
when
I
couldn’t
be
in
it.
I
was
30
years
old,
and
had
just
finished
the
most
successful
year
in
my
career,
it
was
just
too
much."
|
Opting
to
get
further
away
from
the
cycling
world,
Jamie
went
back
to
school
at
UCLA
to
study
his
other
passion:
filmmaking.
Eventually,
he
went
to
work
for
the
local
cable
companies
producing
commercials.
Before
long,
he
had
started
his
own
commercial
production
company,
and
was
working
steadily.
Around
this
time,
he
was
approached
by
a
friend
who
had
just
started
what
would
become
the
NetZero
cycling
team,
and
was
asked
to
join
them
in
the
local
criteriums.
"He
told
me
‘We
don’t
care
what
you
do,
just
show
up
when
you
can!’
"
It
was
1997
by
then,
and
Jamie
hadn’t
raced
at
all
in
three
years,
but
when
he
came
back,
he
came
back
strong,
and
was
"Winning
everything!
I
think
I
won
about
15
races
that
year,
including
the
Manhattan
Beach
Grand
Prix,
which
is
a
National
Calendar
race."
|
By
the
middle
of
2000,
Jamie
was
racing
again
and
running
a
successful
business.
That
year
the
film
and
advertising
industry
suffered
a
huge
blow
when
the
commercial
actors’
guild
went
on
strike,
shutting
down
all
production
for
months.
Jamie’s
production
company
floundered
with
no
work
for
8
months,
and
finally
went
under.
During
the
strike,
he
found
himself
with
a
lot
of
free
time,
and
"just
started
training
and
racing
all
the
time,
with
NetZero."
The
team
had
a
lot
of
successes,
winning
big
local
races
and
traveling
to
some
national
races
and
winning
there
as
well.
"By
the
end
of
that
year,
the
strike
was
still
on,
and
the
guys
from
NetZero
came
to
me
and
said
‘look,
we
want
to
put
in
more
money
and
have
a
professional
team.
What
are
you
gonna
do?’
and
I
said
‘I’ll
do
it.’
"
|
Jamie
saw
another
opportunity
in
his
return
to
bike
racing.
In
1994
he’d
written
a
treatment
for
a
documentary
about
the
sport.
He
wanted
to
make
a
film
about
domestic,
professional
racing,
and
saw
his
opportunity
to
race
with
NetZero
as
a
chance
to
pursue
that
dream.
"I
decided
I
could
look
at
the
strike
in
two
ways,"
he
says,
"I
could
either
see
it
as
something
that
put
me
out
of
business,
or
that
it
had
finally
given
me
the
opportunity
to
make
this
movie
I’d
been
wanting
to
make
for
years."
With
the
prospect
of
making
the
film,
Jamie
signed
on
to
race
with
NetZero
for
one
year
as
a
rider
and
as
the
coach
of
the
team.
|
Jamie’s
goal
for
2001
became
his
documentary.
Jamie
Paolinetti
the
bike
racer
happened
to
play
a
role
in
the
film,
and
was
the
coach
of
this
team,
"but
for
me,
the
real
person,
I
just
wanted
to
make
this
movie."
NetZero
went
on
to
tremendous
success
as
a
first
year
pro
team,
and
Jamie
shot
his
documentary,
capturing
an
inside
view
of
grass
roots
American
road
racing.
He
is
currently
polishing
and
editing
the
film,
and
hopes
that
it
will
give
people
a
unique
vision
of
the
sport:
"I
wrote
it,
directed
it
and
am
editing
it
for
people
who
know
nothing
about
cycling.
I
think
it’s
going
to
get
the
people
who
are
fans
already.
Hopefully,
it’ll
get
the
bike
riders,
too,
who
will
get
view
of
the
sport
that
they
couldn’t
have,
because
you
just
can’t
know
what’s
it’s
like
to
race
professionally
until
you’ve
walked
a
mile
in
those
shoes.
I
think
my
movie
is
going
to
give
everybody
a
really
cool
look
at
what
this
sub-culture
is
all
about,
and
at
the
strange
life
that
these
people
live."
|
Schroeder/Incycle
|
By
the
end
of
the
2001
season,
things
were
going
badly
for
the
NetZero
team,
as
their
sponsors
fell
victim
to
the
dot.com
meltdown.
By
June,
they
were
out
of
money,
and
still
had
the
whole
summer
to
go.
"I
had
to
pay
my
own
way
to
races,
and
I’d
never
done
that,
ever
in
my
whole
life;
not
in
all
my
years
on
the
bike!
But,"
Jamie
laughs,
"the
riders
stuck
it
out.
That’s
what
bike
racing
is
all
about."
By
the
end
of
the
year,
photography
for
the
movie
was
finished,
and
the
team
was
folding.
Jamie
knew
it
was
going
to
be
a
huge
job
to
edit
and
market
his
film,
and
that
he
wouldn’t
have
time
to
train
and
race.
He
wanted
to
focus
all
his
energy
on
the
movie,
and
retired
from
cycling
for
the
second
time.
|
The
film
turned
out
to
be
an
even
bigger
job
than
Jamie
imagined,
and
"as
can
be
expected
with
a
project
of
this
size,
things
go
wrong,
and
take
longer
than
you
ever
expect."
Coming
into
this
year,
Jamie
started
to
hear
rumblings
that
a
new
team
was
brewing.
Some
of
the
riders
on
the
Schroeder
Iron/Incycle
club
were
wanting
to
start
a
pro
team,
and
they
approached
him
and
asked
what
it
would
take
to
get
him
to
come
and
run
the
team.
Jamie
was
approached
by
Frank
Schroeder
through
some
of
the
guys
who
rode
with
the
Schroeder
amateur
team,
and
they
told
him
"about
a
plan
they
had
in
the
back
of
their
minds,
asking
what
would
it
take.
We
started
a
series
of
meetings,
though
at
the
time,
I
really
had
no
intention
of
racing
again."
Jamie
was
still
focusing
entirely
on
his
movie,
but
as
time
went
on,
and
the
film
wasn’t
done,
he
started
looking
seriously
at
the
idea
of
the
new
team,
and
started
to
see
the
potential
of
racing
with
Schroeder
as
an
opportunity
to
promote
his
film,
and
dove
back
in.
|
The
Schroeder/Incycle
team
is
"really
a
rollover
of
some
of
the
NetZero
guys,
and
guys
who
were
on
the
Schroeder
amateur
team
last
year,
and
there’s
a
huge
range
of
talent
and
experience
on
the
team.
The
NetZero
guys
have
a
year
of
pro-racing
at
a
pretty
high
level
under
their
belts,
and
that’s
hard
to
get.
The
others
are
at
the
beginning
of
that
experience.
If
you
can
press
through
an
opportunity
like
that,
and
you
can
get
to
some
of
the
bigger
races
and
learn,
that’s
how
you
get
better.
For
some
of
these
guys,
even
though
they’ve
been
racing
forever,
this
is
really
their
first
year
in
the
game,
and
they’re
going
to
have
a
learning
curve,
while
others
are
ahead
of
that,
have
ridden
under
me
for
a
long
time,
and
know
my
style.
I’m
looking
at
it
like
the
NBA.
In
the
NBA,
there
are
a
lot
of
coaches
who
can
come
into
a
team
and
turn
it
around
because
they
have
a
style
of
play
that
works.
That’s
kind
of
how
I
look
at
what
I
am
attempting
to
do
as
the
lead
rider
and
director
of
Schroeder.
I
have
a
style
of
racing,
and
a
coaching
strategy:
a
way
of
looking
at
the
sport
and
it’s
been
proven
to
work.
Teams
that
I’ve
been
involved
with
have
won
every
race
in
the
country."
|
|
Jamie
Paolinetti
and
team
sponsor
Frank
Schroeder
(click
for
larger
image)
|
|
|
Racing
Philosophy
|
Asked
to
nutshell
his
racing
style
and
coaching
strategy,
Jamie
says
he
really
can’t.
"The
simplest
part
to
explain,"
he
says,
"Is
developing
an
understanding
of
the
intellectual
side
of
the
sport:
understanding
that
it’s
not
an
individual
test
of
strength.
If
it
were,
we
could
all
line
up
and
do
time
trials
and
see
who
would
win,
but
bike
racing
is
not
about
that.
Understanding
that
there’s
more
to
it,
and
being
able
to
develop
yourself
with
that
in
mind
is
really
what
I
preach.
Understanding
that
what
you
do
as
a
team
is
going
to
make
the
difference
is
the
first
step,
and
a
lot
of
guys
can’t
get
past
that.
So,
once
our
riders
start
to
learn
that
there
are
a
million
things
they
need
to
know,
that’s
where
the
learning
curve
starts.
I’m
trying
to
teach
these
guys
what
I
think
the
sport
is
all
about."
|
The
rest
of
it
is
impossible
to
nail
down
in
black
and
white
terms,
as
so
much
comes
down
to
developing
an
intuitive
intelligence
that
will
lead
a
rider
to
respond
with
an
instinctual
acuity
to
specific
racing
situations.
"In
every
race
there
are
times
when
the
smallest
little
thing
can
cost
you
a
race.
It’s
something
you
couldn’t
see
from
the
sidelines.
It’s
closing
a
gap
at
the
wrong
time,
or
not
letting
the
gap
open
at
the
right
time;
it’s
jumping
across
to
a
move
that
you
shouldn’t
have
jumped
across
to,
or
not
moving
over
on
a
guy
in
a
turn
that
you
should
have
moved
over
on;
and
literally,
it
can
cost
you
the
race.
One
tiny,
tiny
little
thing.
Of
every
race
I’ve
ever
done
in
my
whole
career,
there
are
only
one
or
two
where
I’d
say
that
we’ve
done
it
perfectly.
The
harder
the
race
is,
the
fewer
mistakes
you
can
make.
The
easier
a
race
is,
the
more
mistakes
you
can
make
and
still
win."
|
Although
cycling
is
a
competitive
sport,
Jamie
says
he
doesn’t
consider
himself
to
be
a
competitive
person.
"Cycling
is
my
job,"
he
says,
"I
need
to
try
to
win,
but
it’s
more
than
that.
I
know
that
if
I
do
everything
right,
and
my
team
doesn’t
make
any
mistakes
and
I
have
a
good
day,
I
will
win.
I
guess
I
look
on
it
as
more
like
solving
a
math
problem.
If
you
have
an
equation,
and
you
know
the
rules
and
do
it
right,
you’re
going
to
get
the
right
answer.
It’s
not
going
to
help
to
get
all
fired
up
and
competitive,"
he
pauses,
"but,
it’s
like
it’s
the
most
complicated
math
equation
there
is,
because
there
are
so
many
variables!"
|
Solving
the
equation
takes
a
willingness
to
work
with
a
team,
rather
than
every
man
riding
for
himself.
I
asked
Jamie
what
he
thought
contributed
to
mistakes
riders
make
in
the
races.
"A
lot
of
the
time,
it’s
that
desire
to
prove
yourself,"
he
told
me.
"You
have
to
put
that
in
check.
If
you
go
into
the
sport
like
a
raging
dog,
or
like
a
guy
going
into
a
street
fight
and
say
‘I
gotta
kick
this
guy’s
ass,
no
matter
what,’
you’re
all
pumped
up
and
not
thinking.
If
you’re
riding
on
pure
adrenaline,
I’ll
beat
you
every
time.
I
don’t
care
who
you
are.
That’s
why
I
say
I’m
not
competitive;
because
you
can’t
afford
to
be
in
a
competitive
mind
frame
during
the
event.
With
all
that
flowing
through
you,
you
can’t
reason.
The
next
time
you
get
really
angry
and
something
just
completely
sets
you
off,
if
I
threw
the
simplest
algebraic
equation
at
you,
could
you
solve
it?
Not
a
chance.
You
couldn’t
even
see
what
color
shirt
I’m
wearing!
You
can’t
see
anything
in
that
state,
and
that’s
how
most
guys
race.
You
have
to
separate
that."
|
|
Jamie
grins
from
the
start
line
with
teammates
Ken
Toman,
Peter
Knudsen
and
Schroeder
amateur
rider
Sean
Watkins
(click
for
larger
image)
|
Jamie
has
a
background
in
Martial
Arts.
He
started
studying
when
he
was
young,
and
has
studied
at
least
a
dozen
martial
arts
over
the
years.
He
has
a
black
belt
in
Shotokan,
a
form
of
Karate
that
stresses
form
and
discipline:
correct
posture,
correct
joint
alignment,
and
a
formality
of
basic
technique
above
all.
It
also
teaches
a
measure
of
mind/body
separation.
For
Jamie,
this
has
a
connection
to
cycling:
"Once
you
can
start
to
separate
your
mind
and
your
physical
state
from
one
another,
then
you
can
start
to
reason
out
the
really
complex
and
complicated
problems
that
are
going
on
in
the
bike
race.
If
you
can’t
do
that;
if
all
you
can
think
about
is
how
badly
you’re
hurting,
how
badly
you
want
to
do
well,
and
how
badly
you
need
to
get
up
to
that
move
and
go
harder,
you’re
not
even
in
the
race.
What
happens
sometimes
is
that
guys
just
get
so
jacked-up
and
want
to
do
well
so
badly,
that
they
can’t
think.
When
your
heart
rate
is
at
190
beats
per
minute,
give
me
anyone
on
the
planet,
and
I’ll
ask
them
what
their
mother’s
maiden
name
is
and
they
won’t
be
able
to
tell
me.
You’ve
got
so
much
adrenaline
going
through
your
body
at
that
point,
and
you’re
in
so
much
pain.
What
makes
a
great
bike
racer
is
the
ability
to
separate
yourself
from
that."
|
|
Jamie
looks
thoughtful
at
the
startline
|
While
the
mental
side
is
important,
it’s
not
the
only
factor.
There’s
also
the
physical
ability
to
race
a
bike
at
the
professional
level
that
is
partly
genetic,
and
partly
the
result
of
a
lifetime
of
fitness.
"Give
me
a
group
of
guys
who
have
that
motor,
and
out
of
that
group
of
guys,
5%
are
going
to
make
it
in
bike
racing.
Give
me
another
group
of
guys
that
don’t
have
the
motor,
and
I’ll
try
to
teach
them
the
same
thing,
and
they’ll
never
make
it.
First
of
all
you
have
to
have
the
motor.
If
you
don’t
have
the
motor,
you
don’t
have
a
chance.
After
that,
it’s
a
question
of
if
you
can
learn
the
sport;
if
you
have
the
mental
ability.
For
the
average
pro
out
there,
though,
the
motor
isn’t
enough,
and
if
you
want
to
be
one
of
those
guys,
you
have
to
know
what’s
going
on."
|
"What
we’re
trying
to
do
right
now
on
Schroeder
is
find
out
what
we’ve
got.
Who
has
the
motor,
and
who
has
the
ability
to
learn
the
sport."
There
are
a
couple
of
riders
on
the
team
who
have
a
proven
record,
and
Jamie
is
in
the
process
of
assessing
the
potential
and
strengths
of
each
rider.
"Right
now,
it’s
a
matter
of
seeing
if
they
can
learn,
develop
the
physical
ability,
sharpen
the
bike
handling
skills,
and
find
out
where
they
fall
in
the
dynamic
of
this
team,
and
it
makes
for
some
interesting
racing."
|
Jamie
with
teammate
Ryan
Barrett,
formerly
of
NetZero
|
|
Peter
Knudsen,
Jason
Bausch
and
Jamie
Paolinetti
recover
from
their
effort
in
the
Pomona
criterium.
|
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Next
-
Victory
at
Shelby
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