Tre had a few moments to spare as he was finishing up cleaning bikes, so we did a quick interview and got into the nitty gritty of life on the road as a professional race mechanic.

Who is the realest rapper in the game right now?

“For my money, either Action Bronson or Li’l Boosy. But I got a soft spot for Li’l Debbie as well.”

What’s the best part of being a race mechanic?

“Things like the drive today. That descent was probably almost as much fun for me as you guys, pushing the boundary of legal driving. And just traveling and getting to see a lot of cool places like Fayetteville, AK or Guerneville, CA or other places that I wouldn’t get to see otherwise.”

Worst part?

“Probably the long hours at times. Say when we get back late from a race, like 9:00 at night after a late crit and I know I have a least 3 hours of work to do. I like being the only mechanic in that I know I have a very tight control of how the work gets done on the bikes. But that also means I have more work.

Or hearing over the race radio that there was a crash or a broken chain or a mishap, I hate that. I hate hearing that anyone went down.

There are images in my head from that crash at Gila that will probably never go away.”

Celebrity Crush?

“I’ve been watching a lot of Parks and Rec lately, and Rashida Jones is a nice looking lady.”

What do you do in the caravan when it’s boring?

“Honestly? Nap. It’s a little embarrassing. When I did the tour of Utah I was the Jumper in Car 2, which means we followed the breakaway, and I fell asleep 4 of the 7 days.

Some people would say that’s bad, but I take that as a sign that I am relaxed and comfortable in my element.

My first time in the caravan was at Redlands last year and I was white-knuckling the headrest in the caravan. So I’ve come a long way in a year.”

Special skills or talents?

“I’m pretty sure I could build a wheel blindfolded. That’s like a mechanical skill.
I have freakishly long arms. I have a longer wingspan than Michael Phelps. I can touch the floor and the top of a standard doorway at the same time.”

Favorite moment with the team?

“The Costa win at nationals was great, getting you in the white jersey at Joe Martin, being part of a podium ceremony is pretty cool. Getting Owen on the podium at Dairylands was pretty cool too.”

Favorite moment period?

“A toss up between feeding Jens out of the car and being with the break on the last day of Utah when Cadel made that comeback to take it, coming down a switchback mountain pass, doing 70-80 mph on the straights and having him pass us, that was pretty great.
Shoutout to Brian St. Amant for being the best caravan driver I’ve had the pleasure of jumping for.”

Spirit animal?

“I’m gonna say my dog, Max, honestly. I’m fortunate enough that I get to have my spirit animal with me all the time. I’m hardworking, I’m loyal, I watch out for people.”

If you weren’t a mechanic what would you be?

“I like doing security. I would like to do private security for a celebrity or a politician. Probably a celebrity, I don’t really like politicians.”

Weirdest thing you’ve seen in the last 6 months, anywhere?

“I see some weird shit man, I dunno. I work nights in a neighborhood that has the most active nightlife in Seattle so I’ve seen some weird stuff. And I have friends that go to the darkest depths of the internet and send me things.”