Long time team member Zane Godby tells his story with Team CLIF Bar. From starting out as a racer, to becoming a mechanic, Zane shares how Team CLIF Bar has shaped him.
If you have been around the cycling industry long enough, there are a few
questions that you will always get asked. Those questions are: When did you get in
to racing? How long have you been racing? And what’s on your schedule this year?
Each of us have different answers for these questions, but when it comes down to it
they are all very similar. Without further adieu here are my answers to these
questions.
When I first got in to racing there were experienced racers that I looked up
to, and most of the time compared myself to. Some of these people became my role
models. It may have just been a coincidence, but all those people were some how
related to the CLIF Bar Team. The people that made the biggest impact are Ben
Turner (team manger), Brady Kappius (pro rider), and Myron Billy (cyclocross team
mechanic).
Ben has been a family friend since I can remember. My dad and he met in the
summer of 1999, they started riding and hanging out with each other at the races.
Ben became the director for the TIAA CREF/CLIF Bar cyclocross teams. This was
about the time I was getting in to the racing scene, so I would see the team colors all
around. Once I was old enough, Ben gave me the opportunity to race for the team
that I had always dreamed about being on. The years I raced for CLIF Bar are some of
my most memorable and teachable years.
Brady has also been a long time family friend. When I was only a few years in
to my racing career, Brady was beating up on the older guys in the senior categories.
He was the racer that I looked up to the most, I always would have to stay a little
longer at the races so I could watch Brady bunny hop the barriers or get the hole
shot. Once I got a little older and was finally lining up next to him, it felt like I had
finally made it to the big leagues. Fast forward a few years, and I have the privilege
to work with Brady at his wheel company, Kappius Components. Working in a
smaller business, it gave me the freedom to travel around to races and work with
the CLIF Team.
I remember when I first met Myron, it was at one of the big UCI races that I
traveled to as an 18 year old. It may have been my shyness or just the nerves, but he
scared me. Little did I know what the next years had in store for me. My racing years
came to a close, and I had no idea what I was going to do next. Ben and Myron came
to me and asked if I wanted to help the team as second mechanic. I couldn’t turn
down an opportunity like that! That’s when I decided to start my wrenching career.
Working with Myron wasn’t only about working on the bike and driving around the
country, he taught me more life skills than I can even remember.
The CLIF Bar team has been one of the most influential parts of my cycling
career, both racing and as a mechanic. Not only have I seen growth in myself from
my previous experiences, but now being a part of the development of younger
racers has been fulfilling as well. One sees devo teams around the country with an
emphasis on the growth as a rider, the CLIF team has always taken it a step farther
and taught the kids not only about racing, but about how to make a bigger impact in
the world, i.e. “start global cooling,” and other initiatives put forward by the CLIF Bar
team.
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