Date of Birth/Location: May 24, 1963, Cleveland, OH

Current Residence: Oakland, CA

Education: BA in Journalism from The Ohio State University University, 1985

Family status: Married to mi novia, Christina. We have one big dog and two cats who aren't happy about it.

In his own words

What is your role for the team?

My work cuts across a fairly wide swath. I do a good amount of sponsor relations, manage all the content for the team website, produce press releases and race reports to send out to sponsors, fans and media. I'm also contantly working with our Web Manager and Creative Director, Alfonso Estrada, to come up with creative ideas for more dynamic content that keeps people coming back to the site time and again. I'll also continue to work on getting more media exposure for the team in the cycling press, though all the winning makes this an easy task. In addition, I'm collaborating with Samir Bulsara, our Director of Media Relations, to boost exposure in more mainstream media to bring greater value to our sponsors' investment in the team.

What is the greatest challenge you face in that role?

Getting the riders to respond to emails and return phone calls, though they're getting better about it.

What is your business/professional background?

It's been something of a long, strange trip. My first job was working on Meat Processing Magazine. Seriously. From there I went to Landscape Management, then into PR for an ad agency in Kansas City, MO. Quickly got tired of the PR side and somehow ended up in the creative department writing ads and brochures and the like. I've been an ad copywriter ever since, and have been on my own operating Cobalt Creative since Labor Day Weekend, 1997. Over 10 years now. My how time flies.

What made you decide to get involved with professional cycling?

The schwag. Hopefully, Jeff Corbett hasn't warned new DS Mike Tamayo that I'm a schwag hound. I'm actually not so bad. At least not as bad as I used to be. But anyway, part of that aforementioned strange trip included befriending a guy named Mitch Dorris when I lived in K.C. In some respects, he became like an older brother to me. He's from Sacramento, and raced there at Sac City. Mitch is the one who turned me into a cyclist, as opposed to someone who simply rides a bike. This was maybe 15 years ago, and from that point on, I became hooked, and started following pro racing - starting with mostly European racing. I came to know Thierry Attias after I move to Oakland, as he owns the bike shop in my 'hood. When he started the Health Net pro team in 2003, I also started paying much greater attention to the domestic scene. The opportunity came up in 2004 to become part of the organization. I thought it would be a great way to get more closely involved with the cycling world, and I'm proud to be a part of it.

Have you ever competed as a racer? If so, please list teams, years and any results.

A bit. I've only done a few races the past couple years for a local club, which is now known as Team Oakland. I just haven't had the time to train properly. I was looking forward to doing a lot more racing in 2008, but a partially torn calf muscle incured during a cyclocross race right after Thanksgiving put a hold on my winter training for a solid two months. So much for the early season races. We'll see how things go later in the year. But I need to train more specifically for 'cross. As my aforementioned friend Mitch notes, the collagen isn't as flexible as it used to be.

What are your interests outside of cycling?

My wife and I adopted a Malamute/Akita/California Black Bear mix puppy right after Christmas 2006, and he still consumes quite a bit of time - and space. He's up to about 80 pounds. Now I know why people who want kids start with puppies. Just not sure why they still want to have kids after having puppies. I definitely enjoy spending time with Christina. I also keep up on current events, especially, politics. Also still trying to learn Spanish.

What are some of your favorite movies?

It would be too easy to say Breaking Away, though I did attend Indiana University and saw two Little 500s in person. Beyond that:

Almost Famous, Citizen Kane, A Midnight Clear, To Kill a Mockingbird (the book was even better), Lord of the Rings trilogy, Catch Me if You Can, Being There, every Pink Panther movie, Dr. Strangelove - OK, just about any Peter Sellers movie, Harry Potter movies (Yeah, I admit it. Just started reading the books, too. Easy and entertaining reads.)