This is Mitch Tarr speaking and today we are doing the first in a series of member spotlights and we have with us today Mr. Kevin Ferguson. You most likely have seen him in the I Love Cycling VIP Group in the past year . He was one of our earlier members and he is certainly one of our most active members. I am going to ask him a few questions so you can learn more about the most interesting Kevin. So let us start at the very beginning, just tell us a little bit about yourself, give us a bit of a back ground for those people who may not know much about you?
Kevin: I am 52 years old. I am a retired deputy sheriff from the City of Richmond Sheriff’s office, I retired with 29 years of service.
Mitch: And so how long ago was that? And how long have you been basically riding?
Kevin: I have been riding actively for 3 years, but I retired actually 16 years ago last month.
Mitch: Oh okay. Now I have seen you pictured riding, you are in the Virginia area, so in the winter time it gets a little cold and I have seen some rain so what’s a typical riding week like for you.
Kevin: Typically riding with now is not going to be easy because with metal screws in my arm I do not like the cold weather. So anything below 60 degrees I am usually inside, but training for different events I have ridden out in 28 degrees so the weather doesn’t really matter.
Mitch: You have gone by the handle #phatdaddy and you have created the #phatdaddyshot which we have started to adopt as a bit of a theme but why is that your nickname?
Kevin: Well let me see how I can put this easy for you to understand. I work many non uniform assignments, and that was my street name. I told my partner one day my wife was pregnant. He says you are going to be a Phat Daddy, that is how it originally started. And I kept the name because I was going to be having my first son, that is my first kid and I was going to be a fat Daddy because I was a fat guy , I changed it to PHAT because it was supposed to be Pretty Hot Attempting instead of a Fat Daddy, so that is how we started. Phat Daddy became my street name. Everyone forgot Kevin Ferguson and started calling me Phat Daddy.
Mitch: Yeah it’s a pretty common usage in the VIP Group too.
Kevin: Yes the Phat Daddy shot came from I don’t know it’s a sort of like before you run through the projects, you got to get ready its just like when you are on the bike before you ride up the hill, you just have to get ready to psyche yourself up, so its something I would do, like a lot of people listen to Rap music or whatever they do to get their self psyched up but i just had to get the mind right and that just became the #phatdaddyshot, you know because every morning before formation that’s what I would do, before I hit the streets so that is where the #phatdaddyshot came from.
Mitch: That’s pretty cool and if you are not familiar with the shot just go into the VIP Group and do a key word search for #PhatDaddy. You will see some of these shots. Now you have met like a whole bunch of VIP’s in person face to face, what’s up with that?
Kevin: Currently I met 75 VIP’s and I like to ride with a lot of them, I really like sharing a meal with them. I just love to meet people and not only the strangers. I believe, this is my personal opinion, people in general forgot how to love, forgot how to show love. It doesn’t cost nothing to meet somebody, if you are a cycling sister or a cycling brother then you are a sister or brother of mine
Mitch: I think that’s pretty cool because I don’t think anybody else has come close to meeting that number of members and I find it really fascinating when people post that they have ridden with somebody from the VIP Group and they have met them because of it. I think that is fantastic.
Kevin: Right.
Mitch: Now this year also you were in the Police Unity tour, and your ride was somewhat epic, it was long, it was tough. Tell us a little bit about that.
Kevin: It was insane, but I rode for Chad Virginia State Trooper that was killed in my home town and my old partner Smith who died in the line of duty, but I usually ride what you call my Chapter 4 from Richmond to the Wall which is a 116 miles. I have done that for the past say 7 years, but another VIP she is Lisa Vogel who asked me to escort her. She wanted me to ride from New Jersey which was 300 miles which meant a triple century that means I had to a ride a 100 miles per day. Hundred miles a day for 3 days. It was a challenge but I accepted the challenge but no disrespect. Riding on a seat for 100 miles times 4 days is a hell of a ride. It takes a real cyclist, not trying to be conceited it takes a real rider to be able to complete an epic ride like that.
Mitch: Yeah and that is big one, that ‘s a big ride, Better you than me.
Kevin: But it is all not when you are riding for police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty, you are riding with 2,500 other officers that are also tired so everybody is pushing each other you know.
Mitch: Yeah, now that is Epic is the right word we were watching the pictures and it was just a great ride, so let’s see , oh yeah you got a reputation for fried chicken what’s that all about?
Kevin: Fried chicken is my rocket fuel, because I eat fried chicken, baked chicken anything chicken gives me fuel, chicken is what I eat, I could eat chicken everyday, chicken fuels me. You have to understand that everything happens opposite to me, if I take sleeping pills I am going to be wide awake but if I drink alcohol it gives me insomnia. So people say hey don’t eat friend chicken its going to clog your arteries and all that, fried chicken is my fuel, I fuel up on some good fried chicken and me and my bike could ride forever.
Mitch: That is awesome. Anything else you want to tell the VIP’s that we have not talked about yet?
Kevin: You ever talk about meeting people I would like to say that we met people out of the country out of the States. In Canada, I spent a day with Toni Rebic in Canada, which was amazing,
Mitch: That’s right.
Kevin: Cyclist Andrea Pezza from New York we started at one end of New York and we toured the whole New York on a bicycle. My furthest distance ride is 109 miles with Cyclist Eddie Mayorga, he is in my home town here, Lisa Young Meyer, we rode in over a 100 degrees, and I have cycled with 11 VIPs on a group ride here in Virginia. I am currently at 79 and I hope to reach over 100 before the end of the year.
Mitch: They keep coming into the group, new people are going to get to know you and you will definitely find them, there is no doubt that.
Well if we haven’t said it before you can definitely say on behalf of the group we really, really appreciate your participation, your sense of humor, your willingness to share and help other members and definitely your willingness to meet people, we just really appreciate you for that so, thanks for your conversation today and we will see you on the road at some point.
Kevin: Thank you a lot and I like to say thanks for accepting me in the group and hope to meet more VIP’s practicing the Phat Daddy shots. I will be waiting to see them.
Mitch: That’s fantastic thanks.
Kevin: Thank you Mitch.
You can meet other VIP Members in the I Love Road Cycling VIP Group.