JAMES BAILEY INTERVIEW

I have had the pleasure of seeing James Bailey IV grow up on the bike, starting small and going huge. From rookie to fast, from the back to off-the-front, from timid to hard AF, he has inspired me and those around him to be their best, strongest, and most silly selves. His greatest weakness and source of power is his kindness; I pray (and I don’t pray) that it never changes. I proudly submit this letter of recommendation for James Bailey’s nomination as “Baddest Man Alive”.

-Kevin Salmon

What’s been up James? What’s the latest?
Just living in Europe- racing there, riding, training, adulting, cooking - not the best, but yeah.

(Laughs) What do you cook usually?
I literally only eat spaghetti bolognese, that’s all I make.

I guess that’s all you need.
(Laughs) It’s the only thing I know how to cook.

How has it been being over there with the team?
Super fun. It’s like 11 of us, all living together just doing our thing.

What’s the name of the team?
Watersley R&D

 

And that’s basically a feeder team for DSM?
Yeah, we have a really good connection with the head scout for DSM, so he comes around sometimes, watches us do our thing. They test all of us throughout the season, just to see our numbers, I guess.

That’s cool. How is the racing over there?
Insane. It’s so different. The first UCI race I did was a cobbled classic and it was mindblowing - the intensity, the aggressiveness, the speeds. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. Nothing like Arizona bike races.

Let’s take it back a little bit. How did you end up on bikes?
When I was like two I guess, I was on a strider. From there, I just never stopped.

Was it tough on Pops when you decided you wanted to switch from mountain to road?
I always wanted to do road. My parents were like, you’re not riding road until you’re at least 12 or 13. Just stay on the mountain bike, have fun, do your thing and then we’ll see. And then COVID hit and the forest closed and there was nothing to do. I couldn’t ride my mountain bike so I kind of had to go on the road and I never really went back.

 

I’ve heard that you don’t really like people knowing that you’re into bikes.
No, I do not! (Laughs)

What’s up with that?
I don’t know. I just have different things with different people - just different connections. If someone’s not aware that I ride bikes I just don’t go out of my way to be like, “I’m a cyclist, I do all this stuff, I’m living in Europe, etc.”

I remember talking to your Dad one time and him saying “we teach humble at home”. Do you feel like that’s part of it?
Yeah, a little bit. I definitely don’t like flexing myself.

You were splitting time for a while between basketball and cycling, but you’re just cycling now.
Yeah, this is the first year that I’ve ever just done cycling, and the gains have been out of this world. Just riding through the winter, it’s made a big difference.

And you’re doing online school now?
Yeah I’m doing it through ASU.

How’s that going?
Hard. It’s really hard to manage, especially when I’m overseas. We have meetings, training, going to the gym. I can only really do school in the evenings. I make it work.

When you’re here, you spend a lot of time in Tucson.
Yeah, my grandparents live in Tucson so it’s good to spend time with them. I have friends down there too.

 

Are you riding the Shootout quite a bit?
Yeah, most weekends.

What happened with that crash you had earlier this year?
We were riding Kitt Peak with El Grupo and we were doing a little team camp. There were kids from all over the place there and we were on the way back at the end of the ride and there was a brick in the road. No one pointed it out and we were going like 45 (mph) when I hit it and that was that. I don’t remember anything else. They took me to the hospital, nothing was wrong, really. Just a lot of road rash and cuts and stuff, but no broken bones or anything.

Damn, dude. What do you have going for the rest of 2025?
I’m going back (to Europe) two or three more times. Just racing and training, especially in the summer - I’m doing a big block and we’ll see if I can go to worlds after nationals.

Thanks James.

 

[interview/photography: Dane Wallace]