December 3, 2005 – One of the most exciting aspects of Canadian cycling for the past few years has been the growth and success of the BC-based Symmetrics team. After an incredibly successful 2005, which included having the top Canuck at the Tour de Beauce Bell, Road National 2005 titles, and a slew of wins both in Canada and the USA, the all-star Canadian team has even more plans for 2006. Symmetrics’ co-owner, Kevin Cunningham (Kevin and brother Mark are partners), took time to speak with Pedal about the team, its plans, and what it’s like being at the helm of one of the biggest success stories of Canadian cycling. Here is part one of this three-part interview.

Symmetrics is well-known and many of Canada’s top pros are on the team now. Can you tell us about your past and how you and Mark got into the sport and the genesis of Team Symmetrics?

KC: We got into cycling through motocross back in the ’70s and early ’80s. My brother Mark was racing at a high level as a teenager. Motocross was taking us all over North America racing and it was a lot of fun. At that time the best motocross racers in the world were using cycling as part of their fitness program, so when Mark was 14 years old he bought his first bike (a Vitus) he started to ride to improve his motocross and he actually entered the Tour de White Rock in ’82 or ’83 as a cadet when he was 15.

Later when motocross started to wind down, and because of university commitments as well, we started to ride and train for triathlons in the early/mid ’80s. We come from a family of eight children (six boys and two girls) and there were times when we had five brothers and one of my sisters in the same race. It was a great time as the sport was really growing and as a family we were very active in the sport. Mark and I were the most serious and tried to be as competitive as possible. We had some success at the regional level but most of all it was just a lot of fun. While we were competing in triathlons we often went to watch local road racing. We grew up in Langley, B.C. and there was and still is a lot of bike racing happening and we also went to the Gastown Grand Prix each year. Back then it was on July 1 and I always thought road racing was so cool – but it scared the shit out of me!

I remember watching guys like Scott Goguen, Brian Walton and Alex Stieda and I couldn’t believe how fast they were. At the same time the Tour de France was on TV and I was glued to the set watching Greg LeMond win. From that point on I would say I became obsessed with cycling. One of my cycling highlights has always been cheering for Steve Bauer. I was a huge fan of his when he raced, and I was so proud he was Canadian. Having him wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France is still a big highlight of mine. This year while in the team car at the Tour of Georgia we saw Steve Bauer on the side of the road on the steepest pitches of the climbs cheering for all the athletes. I hope he was giving our guys a little extra!

When did the Symmetrics Team begin and how big was it in the first few years, and are there any original riders still on the team?

KC: Mark and I started to talk about putting a team together in the spring of 2002. We were both getting back into the sport again as we were both very busy in the ’90s starting and building businesses. We knew Tony Zarzadias (fiancée of Canada’s Erinne Willock/Webcor) quite well and he actually was the one that got us started on this crazy fun venture. He convinced my brother that you could put together a top elite team that could race regionally and be competitive during BC Superweek against the big American pros. Mark kept asking me if I was interested and initially I said no!

He and Tony kept at it and finally said I would be willing to help out with financial support of the team. We knew very few of the top riders as we were just starting to get back into the sport. Through a training friend I was introduced to Jamie Davidson and we met with him. This was September of 2002. It was my understanding that every year in BC there were always rumours of new teams starting, but by Christmas most ideas were dead as they simply had no money to get off the ground. I think Jamie came to the meeting thinking this was going to be the same old story. When he left, he wanted to help out as much as possible. He introduced us to Norco and Scott Goguen and at the same time introduced us to Min Van Velzen. This was the start.

At the same time our family experienced a terrible time as one of my older brothers was killed in a horrible accident at his ranch in Petaluma, California in September 2002. For me personally, I needed to get involved in something that was fun, exciting and something I felt I could contribute to, and have a positive impact. This team, therefore, took on a whole new meaning for me and I have never regretted a minute of the time I spend on it – believe me I spend a lot of time! Of all the logos and sponsors we have on our jersey the one that means the most to me is the memorial GMC logo for our brother Gary. Gary had many loves but his two greatest were horses and bike racing. He would always call to talk about cycling as he rode a lot. He usually made these calls while riding one of his horses. So for me this team means a lot more than racing and winning bike races.

We will get into this more in part two of the interview, but can you give us a hint of what’s to come for the team? What changes will there be, and how goes the sponsorship for ’06?

KC: We are moving into our fourth year and one thing I am quite proud of is how our major sponsors have all grown with the team. In year one we had very few sponsors but Norco had backed us along with Symmetrics (Mark’s company) and Westlam (the company I have ownership in).

As we enter year four Norco has moved up to a level I would never have believed back in 2003. They are not only supplying us with over 50 road and TT machines but they have injected much needed cash into the program. The real growth in sponsorship happened in 2004 when Northern Feathers came on board. They are still very committed to our team and are back for 2006. Also for 2006, our new sponsors are Shimano, Ritchey and Sugoi. The sponsor process is one we are getting much better at and we feel confident we will be able to bring on additional sponsors on board over the next 12 months.

We have spent a lot of time with experts in the field of sports marketing and have been taught a lot over the last five or six months. We are now taking those skills to the market. The best news is we know this team offers great value to sponsors and we now have a better idea how to market it to new potential sponsors. This is where most of my efforts and my brother Mark’s efforts have been spent in the last while. Let’s hope we have success so we can continue to grow the program.

2006 is the first year we don’t have any of the original riders coming back. Our first athletes signed in our initial year were Min Van Velzen and Scott Goguen. Min retired at the end of this year and Scott has decided to ride for another local team this year. For me personally it was tough to see both of them go. Both Min and Scott will be missed in 2006. Scott put a lot into this team and poured many hours of effort into what we are today.

I did think it would take longer to grow the team than it did. Unfortunately there just aren’t enough well-funded teams in Canada for all of the great athletes in the country. As we have grown it has been easier to recruit and retain the athletes, but what’s been difficult is having to turn down superb and proven Canadian riders that have won a lot of races because we can’t afford them. It is also difficult to turn down athletes who we are very impressed with and feel they have great futures, but we can only carry a certain number of riders. This year we had ten of our men returning so we only had a couple of spots to fill and signed Ontario’s Brandon Crichton and Andrew Randell. We also signed two new women – Stacey Spencer and Naiomi Cooper.

Next week, Kevin Cunnigham talks more about plans for the Symmetrics Team in 2006 and more about the early years, sharing some little-known facts about Canada’s number one pro road team…stay tuned.