Epic Teams: Tradewind Energy

Can you tell us more about team Tradewind Energy and the teams history?

Tradewind Energy is one of the largest wind and solar project development companies in the U.S. In my mind the very best company to work for! They are the title sponsor of the team and has been that for about 7 years. The team started out as the BikeSource Team in 2002 (I think). Then it became the Trek Stores team, and now it is the Tradewind Energy Cycling Team. The core team members are Bill Stolte and myself. Steve Tilford was a team member from the beginning as he led the “blue/red/green train” until tragically passing away in April this year. He was the figure of the team and the best friend and teammate anyone could dream of. Needless to say, he was a huge loss to all of us.

Currently we have a very small road, gravel, and mtb team but we add multiple riders to the team at the start of the cyclocross season every year. Matt Gilhousen, who is one of the founders of Tradewind Energy, is an avid cyclocross racer and he enjoys that we put focus on cyclocross.

Who is the team bringing to this years Epic? Can you tell us a bit about each rider?

Joe Schmalz – Raced pro for multiple years (Elevate) but will be joining Tradewind Energy Cycling Team full time in 2018. Great choice! I would put my money on this guy to win the Epic in 2018.

Garrick Valverde – One of the best road and cyclocross riders in the Midwest. He has been part of the Tradewind cyclocross team for several years and will be joining the team at gravel races. I would never enjoy a two up sprint against this guy!

Bill Stolte –  Bill hasn’t told me he will be racing, but I know he wants to 🙂 Bill is the veteran on the team and has arguably as much knowledge about racing as Tilford did. He is not as outspoken as Tilford was, but he is of the same breed. Tough as nails!!

Brian Jensen – Winner of 2014 DK200 with a finish time that is still the standing record of 10:43.42hrs.

Brian, you’ve had some epic accomplishments in the gravel and mountain bike world. We’d love to hear more about that and your goals for the future.

My goal is to keep racing and try to minimize my decline in fitness as I age. I am not much of a road racer anymore and have moved onto gravel and mtb racing. I find racing on dirt more fun now and I prefer riding where there is no traffic for safety reasons. I now live in Colorado where I enjoy mountain biking in the mountains whether it is through racing or just out shreddin’ the trails in training 🙂

The Epic is known for it’s over 12,000 feet of climbing in 150 miles. How will the team prepare for an event such as this?

I don’t think there is anything we will do specifically to train for the race. However, we will probably pick races leading up to the Epic that will best prepare us for the hard race. We will also be sure to put in a few extra miles during our long rides on the weekends so we can endure the distance and the hills. It will for sure be a hard and Epic ride!!! Can’t wait!