Pedal: Robbie, you played a lot of hockey growing up in Chicago. How old
were you when you started, and when was the last time you played at a
competitive level? College?

Ventura: I still play a little here and there in a men's league during the
winter. I played junior hockey for a year before I played three years at
Lake Forest College. It was shoulder and knee injuries that ended my career
before my senior year. I think hockey is the best game there is….

Pedal: It's the playoffs now. Who is your favourite player, and what are
your predications for the final? Who are you rooting for?

Ventura: I like Mike Modano, so I hope the Stars (Dallas) win the cup.
Originally I thought that Detroit was good enough to win again but I think
that the loss of the dominator (Dominic Hasek) hurt their playoff run.

Pedal: Will you be watching hockey every night during the Tour of Georgia
this week? And what's your role this week?

Ventura: I love playoff hockey. The problem is that sometimes it is late a
night and I do not want to start watching a game because you end up staying
up later than you want. Especially with every other game going into
overtime. So I catch the highlights on ESPN in the morning.

My role here is to survive my second race of the season. There are a lot of
flat sections so I will get bottles and go back for flat tires all day.
This is not a race I can win so I hope to do well in one of the early stages
and help the team as much as I can.