In tandem In tandem (July 09, 2004)

Twin brothers chase greatness on the bike

By Colleen Corcoran

"It's all about suffering," said Andy Jacques-Maynes as he and his twin brother, Ben, described racing with numb hands while unable to see straight and sprinting up muddy hills with 20-pound bikes on their backs.

"Most people just stay away from it," Andy said. "And the kind of person who would race that, like me and Ben, the worse the conditions are and the worse things seem to be, the better we do."

It's Ben's third year road-racing professionally with Sierra Nevada Cycling. Andy raced on the team last year, but has returned to amateur status and part-time training. Both continue to race on the cyclocross circuit and live in Mountain View. Both are 25. Andy is five minutes older.

After placing seventh at Cyclocross Nationals, Andy ended his professional career at the World Cyclocross Championships in France in January. Cyclocross is a combination of off-road riding, running over obstacles and slogging through mud. It's cycling's version of the steeplechase. He finished 33rd on a brutal course few Americans qualify for, much less finish.

Earlier this year, Ben finished eight minutes and seven seconds behind Lance Armstrong at the Tour de Georgia. Ben returned to Los Gatos to win the Cat's Hill Criterium in May and, from June 9-13, claimed the overall victory at the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota -- an individual breakthrough as well as the biggest stage-race victory for the three-year-old Sierra Nevada team.

Stage racing involves biking day after day usually over the course of a week.

"I focus on the day-in, day-out consistency," Ben said. "I'll just keep at it, keep plugging away and suddenly there's no one else around you."

A typical weekend

From June 16-20, the two competed at four events in California and in Nevada -- a typical Jacques-Maynes weekend at the races.

At times, they cruised with the lead lap, having a drink and breathing through their noses. Other times were spent practically breathing through their eyeballs, unable to hold on.

On June 16, Andy finished 80 of the 100 miles and 8,000 of the total 10,000 feet of climbing at the Amateur Elite Road Race National Championships in Redlands. One hundred and thirty entered. Twenty-three finished. Conditions were hot, hilly and painful.

A day later, Ben competed, sick, to finish eighth in the 48km Time Trial National Championships. Two days later, it was Ben against the nation's finest at the 189.6km Olympic Trial course, just outside Redlands in Moreno Valley. Conditions for Ben were even hotter and hillier. He made it four hours into the five-hour race.

Finally, on June 20, the two arrived at the Nevada City Classic Criterium to ride a loop of 40 half-mile ascents. Ben placed third and Andy fifth.

"There's a thousand different ways to win any bike race, and I race over 100 times a year," Ben said. "So many different combinations and possibilities of how to make it happen. It's an incredible mind game that you're playing with yourself while going as hard as you can as well."

At any given race, eight team members work in tactical unison to achieve the goal of the day -- lead Andy to a sprint finish, get Ben to the base of a climb, or whatever it may be. It's several races in one: attacking, chasing, plotting and scheming.

"It's all about sacrifice in the team and making my effort count for getting someone to the finish line first," Ben said. "It doesn't matter if it's me."

Two of a kind

Time not spent racing is time spent training from the Jacques-Maynes base camp in Mountain View, riding one-lane Santa Cruz Mountain roads or the flat lands north to Walnut Creek and south to Morgan Hill.

The two grew up in Berkeley, mountain biking through Tilden Park, Redwood Park and the East Bay Hills.

"We'd crash our brains out 30 miles from home and call our mom: 'I'm bleeding. Come pick me up.' She was like, 'Not again,'" Andy recalled. "We'd always just egg each other on a little, and I'd say a healthy amount of a competitive streak in us got us going really good."

"You have a really good yardstick to measure yourself against," Ben added. "If Andy can pedal that hard, I have a pretty good idea I can pedal that hard. If he can pull that jump, I better make it too or else I'm not going to hear the end of it."

They took physical tests last September on stationary bikes, posting identical numbers across the board. Same wattage at the same heart rate. Maxed out at the same spot. Must be the twin thing.

There is one difference: since Ben weighs less, he climbs hills quicker. But Andy accelerates to a higher speed.

Of riding together on the Sierra Nevada team, Andy said, "We were able to totally feed off each other. It was a one-two punch. I can attack as hard as I want because I know I'm not going to drop him. Anything I can do, he's going to do too and so I'm always going to have that backup ... The two of us are a lot stronger than each of us separately."

The next stage

Now that he's retired from the pro-cycling circuit, Andy is designing bikes for Specialized, hoping to stay in the scene and to remember that cycling is what he loves to do: "When it's not fun, I won't be doing it. And when it is fun, I'm on it."

Ben will be on the bike and in the airplane for the rest of the summer, racing in Canada, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Illinois, among other places.

"It feels like it doesn't stop," he said. "If someone asks me if I want to go on vacation, it's like, no, I want to be home. Just looking forward to spending some time on my couch for a while."

But Europe -- a continent where cyclists are rock stars -- still looms.

"I would need to show some more improvement in America in order to make it over there," he said. "Or else just suck it up, go over there and get killed for two years straight and then maybe have an opportunity to make it ...

"I've won a couple of races this year, but how many have I lost? Only one guy can win every race -- that's just the fact of the matter. I'm used to losing, so when I win, it really feels good and pays off because all the other times are vindicated by one win. It makes it all worth it and carries you on for the next time."

E-mail Colleen Corcoran at sports@mv-voice.com

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