Seven Question with Jack Shuckra of EMPYR
Criterium Nation: You are, gasp, born in the 2000s; however, most of your teammates are solidly in their 30s. What's it like being the young guy on EMPYR? Do you basically have like 7 older bike-racing brothers giving you equal parts advice and a hard time?
Jack Shuckra: Yah it does kinda feel that way, they all have real jobs and families and then there’s me, the broke college student mixed in with them. It’s super fun being around them because they’ll make references that I don’t understand then I’ll say some new term that just flies over their heads which makes them feel old. However, most of the time I don’t even notice the age gap because that's how bike racing has always been for me. I started racing when I was about ten and was the only junior in Utah who consistently raced. This forced me to talk, ride, and travel with adults from a young age so the age gap with teammates has been the standard. Sure it would be nice to have a couple teammates my age, but at the moment I wouldn’t want to have it any other way because I can learn and gain some wisdom from them.
CN: You've always kind of been a trendsetter when it comes to bike racing, you were the kid in your high school shaving his legs and racing bikes while others were out playing football. As a junior you were the guy racing road in Utah where NICA is huge and other kids are racing MTB. To what do you attribute your desire to break the mold?
JS: I didn’t choose to bike race to stand out or do something different from everyone else, I chose to race because it seemed very intriguing and interesting. The speed, tactics, culture, and the techy gear hooked me. From the start road racing stuck out to me more than mountain biking due to the increased tactics and the ability to win without being the strongest guy, which I feel is the main theme in crit racing. However, I still competed in all disciplines of bike racing because I loved it. In Utah, there were a couple of junior road cyclists, but when it came to the mountain bike scene it was a totally different world. Today there are around 8,000 high school students racing bikes which is just insane and so cool to me. I had the opportunity last year to announce for one of these races and cheer on all levels of high school cyclists. What is amazing about NICA in Utah is how inclusive it is. There are no tryouts. Everyone can participate no matter what their background is AND teammates hang out around the course before and after races to cheer everyone on. I haven’t seen anything like that in other high school sports. It would really be cool to see this culture incorporated into crit racing one day.
CN: Speaking of setting some trends, we gotta talk about the kit...that beautiful 1980s inspired kit. For those that didn't see it last year, it was this spray paint motif that was a vibrant purple with highlights of hi-viz green and splash of red thrown in for good measure. This year it's going to be a mix of yellow, purple, and red with one white and black shoulder. With bright colors comes great responsibility to get results, are you ready for it?
JS: Yeah man! Coming out of my rookie year in the pro field I now know what it takes to hang and compete with the big dawgs in American crit racing. We are so lucky to have ASSOS of Switzerland as our kit sponsor this year. They used last year’s flashy kit to inspire this year’s. But like you said, with these high quality sponsors supporting us with their top of the line gear we have to be ready to ball out. I have definitely been using that as motivation for training during these cold snowy winter months here in Utah.
CN: Initially, when we saw the name EMPYR we thought this team had to be from New York, the Empire State. Then we looked closer and realized that there were some vowels missing from that team name. Teach us about the origins of your team's name?
JS: Hahaha, honestly I am not really sure where the name came from. When I received the call from Pat Casey and Joe Waters to join Empyr I thought the team name was in reference to Empire Pass up in Park City that the Tour of Utah used to race up on the final stage. But now that I've had time to think about what the true meaning behind it is, I have come to believe Empyr is meant to represent the wealth of cycling companies that operate here in Utah. We have some of the top brands in the world headquartered here, who are also sponsors of the team including Enve Composites, Ventum, ASSOS, and Rotor. In addition to these, there are several other large cycling companies with distribution here including Specialized, Scott, Fezzari, and of course Backcountry/Competitive Cyclist. I like to think the name symbolizes Utah as a powerhouse in the cycling industry, and we are trying to carry the torch as Utah’s Premier Crit Team and promote the brands that have shown us so much support.
CN: Your fame last year came during the coverage from day 1 of Salt Lake City. Unfortunately, your performance has since been overshadowed by a post-race incident; but we want to get people's memories refreshed on what you did. You found yourself up the road in a solid breakaway with the legend Frank Travieso, the Aussie sensation Xander White, a legit experienced pro like Tyler Williams and Ama Nsek. You took your pulls, you didn't skip, you put in the effort like you belonged. And, you almost made it all the way to the end, off the front. Sadly you all were caught around 2 or so to go. While you were up there with those hitters did you feel any type of imposter syndrome or thoughts that you were in over your head?
JS: Of course the imposter syndrome hit me, but that was back in Tulsa during staging of the Blue Dome crit. I was so nervous going into my first pro crit race, Tulsa Tough, and racing against the top crit racers. I know that might sound a bit bad having your first pro crit be the largest one on the circuit, but I had raced my fair share of crits in my junior days which can arguably be scarier than the pro crits. But when the race started all my nerves went away and it felt like any other crit that I’ve raced before. Obviously it is important to be aware of who you are next to, but when I was riding next to big names like Justin Williams and Luke Lamperti I just told myself I deserve to be here and kind of left the imposter syndrome behind. I used the opportunity of racing next to these big names to learn and watch how each team and individual raced and maneuvered through the peloton. Bringing my fitness and new knowledge back to Salt Lake I didn’t plan at all to be aggressive because I wanted to have a good finish and let the big teams do the work. But let's be real, the fans don’t want to see showdown after showdown of the big teams. In Salt Lake I actually found myself in two different breaks, one at the start with another stacked lineup and then the one that stuck which had another stacked lineup. I jumped onto these breaks because they had at least one teammate from most big teams, which as I saw in previous races were the breaks that had the largest chance of staying away. To be completely honest, in the middle of the race I was too boxed to have any thought of imposter syndrome going through my head and was just set on taking my pulls and trying to survive out front haha. I was focused on staying out in front as long as possible so my hometown could see Empyr and myself at the front of this big race.
CN: We know you had a secret weapon at Salt Lake City, or at least, that is what we've been told by reliable sources. Salt Lake City is obviously the biggest local race on your calendar, and we know you had plenty of supporters in the crowd because we could hear them on the live stream. Did you really time your pulls so that you were on the front when you went through the stretch of the course with your supporter's group? And if so, did it help?
JS: I don’t think I would’ve performed as well as I did without all of my friends, family, coworkers, the entire Utah cyclist community, and our local sponsors. They were the real stars of the show. And I got lucky with how we timed our pulls. It was a five-man break, but in reality it was a three-man break because Legion and Best Buddies didn’t want to work. This led to the rotation that put my pull during the finishing stretch where my supporters were. After I was caught and dropped and came through on my final lap I have never gotten more cheers in my life. That was truly so special to me and I was glad I was able to put on a show for my hometown crowd and sponsors. When I was able to meet up with my friends after the race they were so stoked and congratulated me, but then all of a sudden chaos erupted right in front of us and a fight broke out. My friends were cheering and yelling at the two people fighting because you know it’s a fight. Let me tell you, it was a bummer the fight happened BUT that was top-tier entertainment for my friends. Now I constantly get asked when the next race is from them because they want to watch it for all the action that occurs.
CN: Now you are a known commodity, and people are going to start expecting repeats of the work you did at Salt Lake City. What are going to be your priorities and goals for 2023?
JS: With this new year and motivation I have my eyes set on a couple goals such as good placement for the ACC overall, Tulsa, and Nationals. However, when it comes to priorities cycling is lower on the list. I am a full-time student at the University of Utah studying biomedical engineering and working at preclinical-stage life sciences company, Rebel Medicine. Personally, I prioritize school and work over cycling, but I use crit racing as an escape from the intense learning and startup work. With that in mind I always have to be having fun with this sport and not making it too serious. My best races always happen when I am able to have a few laughs on the start line which helps me relax and perform. Empyr is full of laughs, adventures, strong teammates, and great times so I am not worried about the pressure and expectations from others negatively affecting my work for this upcoming season.