"The Interview"

It’s Christmas Eve, and Cycling Times’ Rodger Neil sits down with Tod Smith at his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. After years of eluding the media, Smith agrees to meet with us to discuss a range of topics, centered on both past and present that surround this controversial figure.

Perhaps influenced by the comfort of his home, with wife Tammi, and daughters Alexis and Madison in close proximity (in fact, the girls are in the adjacent kitchen working on the family’s Christmas Eve dinner), Smith is surprisingly willing to answer our questions, taking the tough ones head on. Occasionally guarded, even defensive, Smith seems for the most part quite relaxed, having just returned from a long winter “base” ride with his Bicycle Haus teammates. As we speak, he’s laying on the couch of his family room, sipping a recovery shake, legs elevated at an uncomfortable looking angle, sporting compression socks, with ice nursing his left knee.

RN – Tod, thanks for agreeing to sit down with us, but why now after evading the media, particularly in recent years?

TS – Well, I guess I just feel like there is so much crap out there. So many stories or rumors with no substance. Utter nonsense. As much as I try to avoid it…not listen to it...at some point I need to set the record straight, and I feel now is the time to get that done.

RN- Great. Well to start, how you feeling? How’s the training going?

TS – Things are going great. I’ve been concentrating on my strength, spending a lot of time in the gym lifting, yoga. It’s the time of year…

(Tammi is clearly overheard from the kitchen, interrupting, “This is such bullshit. He’s a fucking accountant for crying out loud. I’m so sick of this shit”.)

TS- Hey, hey, Tammi, please stay out of this okay! For crying out loud…So anyway, yeah, I was saying, lots of gym work, core. I really think it can be a differentiator for me this year.

RN – Well, it also looks like you are taking recovery quite seriously. I mean you have a lot of stuff going on there. Is that an age thing?

TS – Look, we agreed we’d stay away from age. It’s just a number, right? I don’t buy into statistics. I just think recovery is really critical. This is when we get stronger, taking in lots of rest between hard sessions.

RN – Look, your age is of interest to…

TS – Not going to discuss it!

RN – Well, I guess having your feet up at the office during your day job helps?

TS - Well, it’s not really a job. It’s a hobby. We all have different ways to relax. For me, it’s being a partner in an accounting firm. I don’t know, for me working on corporate recapitalizations, mergers, acquisitions, IPO’s. This kind of stuff just relaxes me. I forget my troubles. Clears my mind so that when I get on my bike I can focus.

RN – Tammi tells us that it’s really this… well, what you refer to as a hobby…that supports your family’s financial obligations?

TS – She’s nuts. Lost her mind. I had a decent season this year. There’s tons of money floating through the local Arizona race scene. You can get rich performing well in crits, picking up lots of primes, targeting the big events, like, for example the Hungry Dog Crit. I could go on.

RN – Your wife mentioned to us that it’s mainly pairs of sock, a box of cookies, stuff like that. But hey, I can tell you’d like to move on. Okay, you mentioned your season, what were your goals? Did you target any one race in particular?

TS – I was really focused on going good in August, for Leadville. My whole season centered on that race. I was really, really motivated. Got my weight way down. Lot’s of rest. You know.

RN – And the pay out for this event?

TS-What’s your point? What are you getting at?

RN– The winnings. What was your take home from this event?

TS – Well…for this one event, it wasn’t about the money…it was just about fulfilling a dream. You know, targeting something important and reaching that goal. Sometimes it’s not about the money.

RN– Okay. We get it, no pay out for this race. No big deal. Moving on, how did you prepare for this event? What training program do you ascribe to?

TS – I’m really disciplined. It probably ties into my hobby…the accountant in me. I use Joe Friel’s periodization approach. Making sure I have a plan and sticking to it. Making sure my easy days are really easy and on others days I train with a specific purpose. That’s why I’m such a big fan of social media. Twitter. It’s a way for me and other athletes to give back. You know, to share with the up and comers our approach to training.

RN – Is Joe Friel your coach?

TS- No. I’m not using a coach right now. I feel like I really understand my own body and have an approach that works for me. I’ve really got it dialed in.

RN – Okay, well let me be blunt. Your wife mentioned to us that she feels you need help. A coach so to speak. Mental help…a shrink.

TS- She’s referring to a sports psychologist. Someone that can help me take my pain tolerance to a whole new level. It’s all about suffering, and we as humans can take way more pain than we can possibly imagine. I feel…

(Again, Tammi from the kitchen, “He’s fucking nuts. Neil, when you leave, do me a favor and please take him with you.)

RN – Look, you’ve been open with us thus far. Let’s deal with the tough stuff…the rumors. Is it true that you intentionally ran into the street in a pair of shorts and slid across the road on your knees to create scarring…to toughen up your image for the crits?

TS – That’s such bullshit. Who in their right mind would…

RN – Alexis says she watched you do…

TS – It’s bullshit.

RN – We’ve learned from a reliable source that you refuse to go to the upstairs portion of your home. That it hurts recovery. That you have even reached out to contractors about the installation of an electric chair lift. So you won’t have to walk the stairs.

TS- Well there is some truth to that but it’s about extending common courtesy to guests. My parents are getting older and I just thought that when they come to visit it would be nice if they didn’t have to take the stairs.

RN – Tammi tells us that your family doesn’t like visiting you. That ,they too think that things are just not right with you these days.

TS – I don’t like the direction this interview is heading.

RN – I’ll change subjects then. Your daughters tell us that the only thing you talk to them about is what you eat and don’t eat. That they are both surprised that they do not have serious eating disorders. That you weigh yourself up to three times a day, and that you will never, ever weigh yourself in the morning until you’ve had a cup of coffee, triggering a massive bowel…

TS- Look, you are going way off course now. This conversation is going to end unless you act more professionally and cover the interest of my followers.

RN – Your Twitter account would suggest that you only have 13 followers. And that most of these are simply establishments you’ve frequented. Mainly restaurants.

TS – This interview is over.

RN – It’s almost impossible to talk about cycling and not talk about doping. However, you’re a believer in transparency and have published your blood panels and power tests on your website. From this data, it’s evident that you are either clean, or the drugs you are taking are not working. Your power to weight ratio is somewhere around, well, an average Cat 4 racer at best…

TS – That test was taken before I had peaked...seriously, you are pissing me off and this interview is over.

RN – Okay, okay, settle down. Let me ask one final question. One more time, how old are you?

TS – That’s it, get out. I knew I should never have granted this interview. Leave me in peace…this kind of stress is not good…this could set me back weeks.

Editors note – We’d like to thank Tammi and the girls for the hospitality during our visit into their home. As extensive as Smith’s problems appear, his wife and daughters are delightful, and we pass along our heartfelt sympathies to each of them. In fact, they graciously walked our Velo Times team out to our car, profusely apologizing, and leaving us with a variety of freshly baked holiday treats. Smith, in expected fashion, refused to get off the couch, as it would have interrupted what he called a “critically important recovery session” before lunch with (according to Tod) "Cipo".