Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

I Kevin's garage is rather small, though he is ,having a larger one built next to this one . He does do some of his own wrenching . no wa y I co u ld keep u p wi th h im. Every time I th o u gh t I was doin g p re tty we ll, Kevin would sta n peda ling hard er a nd eas ily pull away from m e, especiall y o n th e hills. It was dark by the ti me we got back to his house a nd I was exha usted and freezing. "Tomorr ow a bunch of my frien ds ' are co mi ng over and we 're goi ng on a real mou ntain bike ride," said Kevin. " We' ll start a bo u t noon a nd ride 'till it ge ts dark." "He's an a nimal, tha t's almost five hours," I thought. I barely lasted 40 minutes today. The next da y, th e wind ch ill factor set th e tempera tu re a t a bo ut 15° b elow zero, and Kev in h ad m e wear in g th ese su per th in , skin- tight mountain bike pants, a nd an equally , th in shirt with a lightweig h t jacket on top of that. Kevin was p umped a nd co u ldn ' t wait to go riding. I had n o prob lems waiting. " We' ll rid e mostl y ,in the woo ds. It 'll be a litt le bit wa rme r in th ere," 'said Kevin. ' Kevin h ad p la n ne d o n h avin g abou t 10 o f hi s frie nds ride with us, .....but th ey a ll won't show up," he said. "They' ll whimp o u t because the y thin k it's cold ou tside . I tell ya, it's 'to ug h fin ding people to go m o unta in biking wi th m e. Us ually they ride with me for abou t a week, then I'll never see 'em again . Except for my friend, Dr. J. H e's the o nly one who lik es rid ing with me. He's a n an imal. We've gone on some ki ller rides toget her. " Kevin and I, and Dr. J . and two ot her of Kevin 's friends braved th e frigid co ld th at day and hit th e trail s. It was a ride I'll never forget. Kevin had us ri di ng th rough tig h t woods, carryi ng o ur bicycles over ice co ld streams a nd up steep hill s, a nd ra cing do wn kill er downhills. Mu ch o f th e terrai n around Kevin 's h ouse is sand, a nd, on a bicycle, sand is no fun . Lucki ly, ,it was so cold o u t th at th e sand ,was frozen h ard , and it was like rid ing on as phalt. Alt hough I wa s ge tt ing tir ed, I n ever wanted to stop, because as long as I was moving, I was warm . Kevin was awesome. He pedaled or ra n up all th e hills, never los ing his brea th nor showing a n y signs of fatigue . O n th e o the r hand, I was gasping for a ir w hi le Kevi n waited for me to catch up. "Y ou're not doing bad for a n L.A. boy," said Kevin. " You ' re probab ly no t used to clean a ir." , As we sta rte d head in g back, with th e su n dropping behind the hills, th e h eadwind wa s stro ng a n d ext rem ely co ld. I co u ld barel y move m y lips to tal k, m y fingert ips were frozen an d m y feet were numb. ..It m ust be 20° below zero n ow," said Kevin . " At lea st we don ' t hav e to worry about fro stbite. If it was ab ou t 40 below , th en we wo u ld have to worry." That was co m forti ng 10 know. We fin all y a rrived at Kevin 's house. While I was sitti ng in Kevin 's li vin g room , tryin g to tha w o ut, Kevin sa id he wanted to cook di n ne r. " I love to cook, " he said. "I t's a lo t of fun ." ' Kevin cooks a mea n q uesadilla. Kevin 's eating hab its are typ ical for a serio us ra cer . "A bout four years ago I dec ided to rea lly wa tch what I eat, " sa id Kevin. " I no lo nger ea t red meat, dairy products or any junk foods. I mos tly eat seafood a n d Mexican food ." T ha t n igh t one of Kevin 's frie n ds, Henry, ca me b y with fresh ly ca ugh t sca llops and flounder. Kevin hel ped with th e co o ki ng a nd then we fea sted. Kevin rea lly isn 't the p artyin g type whe n he's home. " I u su all y go to bed by nin e o'clock." But he ma kes up for it by ge tti ng u p ea rl y to go trai ni ng, whi ch usuall y invo lves mountain bik in g , tra il riding, J et Skii ng or wa ter skii ng, or all o f th e a bo ve. , Sa turday n ight, once aga in, Kevin wanted to go to bed ea rl y in o rde r to co m pe te in a eig h t-m ile sprint mountain bike ra ce with h is friend Dr. J. th e first thing in th e morning. We arrived at the race site shortly before th e start of th e ra ce, a nd it was aro u nd 15 degrees. In the ex tra time, Kevin and Dr. J . decided to prerun th e eigh t-m ile co urse instead of wai tin g around for th e star t. About five min u tes a fter p rer u nning the cou rse, a nd n o t th e sligh test bit winded , Kevin sta rted out o n th e ra ce and finis h ed third overall , just one min ute , 20 seco n ds behind seco nd p lace finisher, form er Cyclo -' cro ss Champion Paul Curley. " I' m rea lly happy abo u t th at ," said Kevin. " I would really like to ta ke m ountain bike raci ng m ore . serio us ly." For fini shing third overa ll, Kevin too k home $20 of th e purse. " T hat's more m oney tha n I'veever made in a n end u ro ," sai d Kevin . Wh ile the m ountain bike rac e was goi ng on , abou t.4 0 mi les away, a n othe r ac tivity was in th e works. Kevin told me it was called the Slip Shot, a popular, o nce a year, organized m otorcycle tra il ride promoted by th e King Ph illips Mo torcycl e Club. Kevin's first intention was for us to ride th e event, bu t with the cold weather a nd frozen grou nd (Kevin said h e did n 't ha ve any studded tires for his motorcycles), he decid ed to ride the mou ntain b ike race. " Bu t we wo n 't miss th e best p art of the ride," sa id Kevin, "and th at 's the gaggers and sin kers." I h ad no idea what he was talk ing abo u t. ' " After th e ride, th ese guys party ha rd a nd ea t ga ggers and sin kers, " he said. I found ou t that gaggers are a type of h ot dog , a nd sin kers are ex treme ly greasy fren ch fri es. I never co u ld ge t a stra ig h t a ns we r from. a ny body when I as ked what kind of m eat gaggers were, b u t I was p retty sure th a t wha tever it was, it wasn't USDAapproved. ' " T ry -o ne, Ki t, " said Kev in . " You 've go t to h ave one . Yo u' ll love 'e m." " O h yea h ? Wh at do th ey taste like?" H don 't kn ow , I won't eat 'em," I sai d Kevin. •••• • S tep ha ne-A n ne C la ir e Ber gatti, "Stef," is Kevin 's fiancee. Kevin a nd Stef starti ng da ting five years ago, and ever si nce th en , Stef has ada pted to the end u ro scene as th ough she inve nted th e sport. Stef ha s p layed a ma jor ro le in Kevin 's end ur o career. Sh e travels to nearl y all the National enduros with Kevin a nd , ba sica lly, is hi s pi t crew, and a good one at that. " I' ve know n Kevin ever since I was 10 years old," she said. " I used to li ve righ t ac ro ss the lake fro m here a nd th at 's h ow I go t to know Kevin." " Before Kevin an d I sta rte d dating, I didn ' t even know wha ta mo torcycle was . Now I ca n hel p Kevi n .work on the m, program (enduro ti me keepin g ) co m p u ters , just abou t do a nything. " " I try to help h im in every way p ossib le with h is ra cing," sai d Stef. " At first it was a little difficult, because I , was learn in g so much about th e sport. H e would co me in a fter a n end uro an d yell a t me if some th ing bad hap pened to h im ou t o n' th e tra i I. I used to th ink he was yell ing a t m e, but I began to realize he was just yelli ng a nd letting o ut stea m. .. At the ra ces , .I ca n n o w tell , sometimes if there is some th ing wrong with hi s bike as he comes into th e pits. If he needs an exhaus t pi pe or someth ing, I ca n ge t o u t all the too ls he needs to get it fixed rig h t away. For me, it's like bei ng a p art o f th e race, making it more fun. I'll h elp any body, too , b ut Kevin always co mes first. " " We' ve been p la n ni ng o n ge tting married for a lon g time, but with h is racing an d a ll, it 's been to u gh go ing th ro ugh with it. We p lan on ha ving a fa ll wedd in g, but we don't kn ow w hi ch fall yet. We have p lenty of time. " What is Kevin like romantically? " He's n ot th e mush y type," says Stef. • *' *' *' *' Kevin plans on a t least one m ore season of raci ng. " I'm definitel y goi ng to defend m y tit le nex t year ," said Kevin. "After tha t I' m n ot exactly su re wha t I' m going to do. Mos t likel y, I'll keep rid ing, bu t I' d lik e to ge t more in volved in bicycle racing. That 's a lo t of fun . I a lso p la n on going back to sch ool a nd take engi neering , or someth ing lik e th at." • Stephanie-An ne Bergatti, better known as Stef, is Kevin's fiancee . Stef is heavily involved in Kevin 's racing.

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