Justin Lindine a one-man team with (Apex/NBX/Trek). Photo by Catherine Fegan-Kim
For years, Justin Lindine has been one of the most consistent Elite contributors to our print magazine, including his article on changing his roles during the course of his career in Issue 29 (backorder your copy today). This season, his role as a top-level racer remains the same, but he has created a new team and will no longer be riding on his long-time partner’s bike, the Redline Conquest. He offered some thoughts on his new team in his own words below.
by Justin Lindine.
I’m excited to be able to finally announce this new partnership for the 2015/16 season with Apex/NBX/Trek. Having grown from a helmet sponsorship I had in conjunction with other teams the past couple of seasons into this full-fledged program, everyone has worked extremely hard to put the pieces together to allow us to expand the scope of the sponsorship and the atmosphere has been nothing but supportive and fun. As someone who’s been racing for a long time this collaboration of sponsors has really been a refreshing and fun project and I think that atmosphere will pay dividends as the season gets underway.
It’s fantastic to see a company like Apex Technology get behind cycling and find value in sponsoring cyclocross, something outside the purview of their normal advertising plan as a technology and IT company. Just the other day I was able to take a tour of their Rhode Island facility and meet a lot of the people who work there, and you could tell everyone was super behind this program and excited to have something to root for, and it makes working on a project like the Providence race that much more relevant for them.
That same collective excitement is there with NBX too. As a shop with a long history of support for the local cycling scene through their club team and events, races like the NBX GP are classics of the New England Cross scene, they are clearly not new to the world of sponsorship, but I feel honored to try and bring that legacy to the national stage. Their strong partnership with Trek allowed us to work with them as well, and I’m excited to be on their top of the line Trek Boone, a bike clearly on the cutting edge of cyclocross technology, and one that I can hopefully put to good use at the pointy end of some races this season.
Another aspect of the program for the year that I’m really excited about is a race calendar that will bring me to many of the east coast races that I love and some that I’haven’t previously had the opportunity to do like Supercross in New York and Charm City in Maryland. The flexibility of schedule has been great, and with the help of my coach Kyle Wolfe at Finish Fast Coaching we’ve put together one that hopefully will keep the excitement and enthusiasm high for me and the team. With the cross scene growing and expanding each season I’m sure the racing will be intense, but I’m confident in having one of the most enjoyable and hopefully successful seasons yet. I look forward to seeing everyone out there!
official press release below:
PROVIDENCE (Sept. 24, 2015) – As Rhode Island prepares to host the nation’s largest USA Cycling cyclo-cross event, Apex Technology Group and NBX Bikes have partnered to support Justin Lindine to defend their Ocean State home turf.
Affectionately known as the Honey Badger, Lindine has long been adored in New England for his defiant spirit against better funded, better supported stars of the emerging sport of cyclocross. Lindine has scrapped his way to a coveted front row spot at the national championships.
“Justin embodies the spirit of Rhode Island ” said Christopher Dale, CEO of Apex Technology Group, a Cranston RI-based IT Services provider with hundreds of clients in New England. “He’s just the kind of tough, hard-working and talented racer we wanted to represent Apex.” Apex, along with NBX Bikes have been long-time sponsors in racing. Matt Bodziony, owner of NBX, said. “Apex taking over as Justin’s primary sponsor for 2 years has been one of the most professional transitions we’ve seen. It’s enabled NBX and Trek to step-up our commitment also. Justin deserves the best”.
Lindine will represent both Apex and NBX Bikes next month when he takes the line at the KMC Cyclo-cross Festival Presented by Maxxis. The annual event, held Oct. 2-4 in Roger Williams Park, is where Lindine scored the biggest win of his career in 2011.
“Providence is known all around the world for its cyclocross event,” said Lindine, noting that Providence is one of the few North American races to receive Category 1 status on the calendar of the Union Cycliste International. “To win that race put me on the map for the media and sponsors such as Apex and NBX. I have enormous affection for Rhode Island, Providence and that event.”
Of a sport that has grown in American popularity by nearly 400 percent in the past 15 years, Lindine is hailed as working class hero. He supported himself for years by working in a Western Massachusetts bike shop 38 miles from his home, commuting both ways by bike every day, year round. He is equally famous for recovering from mechanical mishaps and bouncing up after crashes to score big results.
“In cyclocross everybody gets tested. Eventually every ‘cross racer will end up on the ground,” said Lindine. “The measure of a great ‘cross racer is how you do deal with problems.”
“Justin is just the kind of tough, hard-working CX racer we wanted to represent our company…he’s the Honey Badger, just like Rhode Island and Apex,” added Dale. “That’s the exact parallel spirit we’re fortunate to have with Apex, said Dale. “We offer that type of dedication and competence for our clients. We do the job year round in all sorts of tough conditions.”
