Getting to Know Evan Bausbacher

Collegiate athlete? If not, ever wonder what it’s all about? Well Evan Bausbacher is the 2019 Collegiate National RR Champion, and took the time to give us a bit of an insight into his cycling journey.

Evan, tell us about yourself a bit. How long have you been riding? How did you get started? What do you love about riding? What do you hate about riding, if anything?

I’ve been riding since my freshman year of high school at Jesuit Dallas, where I joined the cycling team after not making the baseball team. I had ridden occasionally with my Dad and the Richardson Bike Mart team as well, but really started racing in high school. Since I’ve started riding, the thing I have always loved the most was being outdoors, which is why the thing I hate about riding is having to ride indoors on really bad weather days. Thankfully I can pop on some sports radio or movies to help pass the time, but it’s always less ideal.

What are the workouts that you get really excited for and what are the workouts that you really dread doing?

I get really excited when I have group rides or heavy load accumulation rides, where I go out in the hill country and try to ride really hard for 4+ hours. Pretty much anytime I can ride outside for a long time I will be stoked, unless it is a TT bike ride because it's hard to find roads I feel safe in the TT position.

Would you rather ride alone or with teammates?

There are certainly benefits to both. Riding alone means I get to listen to The Ticket sports radio the entire ride, which is incredible. I usually ride alone during the week because of school or specific rides but riding with friends and teammates is always fun, especially when we go out for a “large file”.

Looking back on 2019, what race stands out as super memorable?

The most memorable race from 2019 was winning the road race at Collegiate Nationals for the University of Texas. Being such a big sports fan I am super passionate about the Longhorns, so to be able to win a national title for them is a pretty awesome feeling. I really like the concept of collegiate cycling and racing against all the schools you see on TV in the fall during football season, so it was pretty nice to win something big help alleviate the sadness from the football team’s struggles.

Favorite place you've ever ridden and/or singular ride you've done? What made it so great?

In 2016 I went to Belgium for the first time, and I ended the trip with the coolest ride I have ever done. Some friends and I rode to the velodrome in Roubaix, and then from there I went solo and covered the last two loops of the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The ride ended up being 140 miles with all of the famous climbs, and I remember smiling and loving every part of it.

Looking ahead to 2020, what visual gets you out the door on a cold Texas day? We should note that we assume a cold Texas day is still 45 degrees, please correct us if wrong.

Yes fortunately Texas is the greatest state and has pretty nice winter weather. We usually have a handful of pretty bad days, but generally 40+ degrees and windy. On those rare cold days, I’ll still get outdoors and battle through it because I know that the odds are, tomorrow will be much better and I can always over dress. I get motivated in knowing that the work put in on those lousy weather days translates into mental strength for the season, which is crucial to success.

Top 3 Favorite things Texas

Hardest question ever because I love Texas, but I’ll go with Tex-Mex food, football, and warm weather.

Top 3 songs on rotation at the moment

1. Old Town Road - Lil Nas x ft. Young Thug and Mason Ramsey

2. Drip too Hard - Gunna & Lil baby

3. Hitting Bombs - Phil Mickelson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA4HrWTmw1Y

Favorite sport other than cycling, either to follow or play?

This is a really hard one for me to answer, since I enjoy just about every sport there is, but I would choose football as my favorite. Being a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan is probably the most stressful part of my life, but I absolutely love following it and can never get enough. My loyalty lies with all the major sports teams in Dallas, as well as the Longhorns on the collegiate level. As far as other sports to play other than cycling, it’s certainly golf.

You're a student athlete, what are you studying?

I am a junior at the University of Texas at Austin, studying Electrical and Computer Engineering and specializing in Software Engineering and Design.

How do you balance racing at a professional level and being a full time student? What tips do you have for other student athletes?

It’s certainly very tough, but I think the challenge actually makes me more disciplined and focused in both athletics and school. Every night I look at what ride I have the next day, and what school work/classes I have to get done. Then I just write down when I am going to do it in between the hours of 6AM and 10PM. I keep a very detailed calendar of school work and responsibilities so I can stay on top of things and try to avoid overloading school work on one day. I also have to remember to have fun and be a college student, so this balancing act keeps me motivated and locked in to these goals.

You've just finished a big day of training. You can go where you want to eat - but it can't be Chipotle - where are you going to eat?

I usually just make some food at home but if I was going somewhere other than Chipotle, it would probably be Chick-fil-a for a spicy chicken sandwich. Their chicken just hits different.

Open forum shoutout to the homies - GO:

Would like to shout out my high-school cycling coaches and teammates as well as Richardson Bike Mart for all their support. The local Texas cycling community has been incredibly supportive and fun, and the weeknight crit scene is the best in the nation. Also a shoutout to my roommate JD for providing some of the coldest sports opinions out there, so I can debate with him for hours at home and the golf course.