April 4th, 2026 | by Cassius Anderson
With 2026 being my 4th year running my own racing program, you may have seen me at an offroad race. At 6’5 I stand out, but it’s a challenge for me to fit into any “cockpit”. My name is Cassius Anderson and I am a 23 year old athlete out of Novato, CA. I am a private pilot and an aspiring professional cyclist with a part time gig as a mechanic at Marin Service Course where I showcase my endless love for bikes by helping others. In 2023 the shop also helped me start my program and get me to where I am today. I currently work with Argonaut, Enve, Castelli, Schwalbe, Kask, Koo, Maurten, Bivo and my favorite local sandwich shop Michaels Sourdough Sandwiches. My racing calendar mainly consists of gravel and mtb with a sprinkle of road racing. Some of my favorite races include RADL GRVL, Breck Epic, Oregon Trail, Bwr Utah/NC, and Downieville. Cycling is just one of many outdoor activities that I love along with snowboarding, camping, swimming, hiking, and soccer.
-Cassius Anderson
With 2026 being my 4th year running my own racing program, you may have seen me at an offroad race. At 6’5 I stand out, but it’s a challenge for me to fit into any “cockpit”. My name is Cassius Anderson and I am a 23 year old athlete out of Novato, CA. I am a private pilot and an aspiring professional cyclist with a part time gig as a mechanic at Marin Service Course where I showcase my endless love for bikes by helping others. In 2023 the shop also helped me start my program and get me to where I am today. I currently work with Argonaut, Enve, Castelli, Schwalbe, Kask, Koo, Maurten, Bivo and my favorite local sandwich shop Michaels Sourdough Sandwiches. My racing calendar mainly consists of gravel and mtb with a sprinkle of road racing. Some of my favorite races include RADL GRVL, Breck Epic, Oregon Trail, Bwr Utah/NC, and Downieville. Cycling is just one of many outdoor activities that I love along with snowboarding, camping, swimming, hiking, and soccer.
-Cassius Anderson
As the training miles stack up through the lonely, cold, wet and seemingly endless winter months, the form builds, calendar dates fill, travel days begin, and the racing season takes off. A racing season goes by in the blink of an eye and turns into off season. The memories become storytelling moments that help you forget about the physical pain and suffering you endure throughout the year. I have the scars, pains, and data to measure the physical toll but I also reflect on and take pride in overcoming the mental hurdles it takes to compete in the sport of cycling.
Each season offers a new perspective and I try to apply the lessons learned to my life as a whole.
My competitive nature was instilled in me from a young age starting with my mom taking my sister and I to the park every day. The playgrounds in San Francisco were my favorite and also where I learned to ride a bicycle. I loved riding so much that my bike went almost everywhere with me. Once I mastered the playgrounds, my favorite ride became a loop around Lake Merced. When that wasn't enough to satisfy my new obsession, my dad got me a BMX bike and we went to our local track in Santa Clara. At first I could barely pedal over the rolling bumps, let alone complete a full lap. But within a few months I progressed from novice to intermediate level rider. I ultimately made it to expert by racing regularly throughout the Bay Area, including Napa, Roseville, Livermore, and Ukiah tracks.
Around the same time I had started playing competitive youth soccer. It worked for a bit where I could race BMX every few weekends in between soccer games but eventually I hung up the BMX bike in favor of the soccer ball as the commitment to both became too much. In hindsight it was a good decision - the notorious BMX “big air” starts to come into play as riders go faster and higher, which ramps up the danger significantly.
As the training miles stack up through the lonely, cold, wet and seemingly endless winter months, the form builds, calendar dates fill, travel days begin, and the racing season takes off. A racing season goes by in the blink of an eye and turns into off season. The memories become storytelling moments that help you forget about the physical pain and suffering you endure throughout the year. I have the scars, pains, and data to measure the physical toll but I also reflect on and take pride in overcoming the mental hurdles it takes to compete in the sport of cycling.
Each season offers a new perspective and I try to apply the lessons learned to my life as a whole.
My competitive nature was instilled in me from a young age starting with my mom taking my sister and I to the park every day. The playgrounds in San Francisco were my favorite and also where I learned to ride a bicycle. I loved riding so much that my bike went almost everywhere with me. Once I mastered the playgrounds, my favorite ride became a loop around Lake Merced. When that wasn't enough to satisfy my new obsession, my dad got me a BMX bike and we went to our local track in Santa Clara. At first I could barely pedal over the rolling bumps, let alone complete a full lap. But within a few months I progressed from novice to intermediate level rider. I ultimately made it to expert by racing regularly throughout the Bay Area, including Napa, Roseville, Livermore, and Ukiah tracks.
Around the same time I had started playing competitive youth soccer. It worked for a bit where I could race BMX every few weekends in between soccer games but eventually I hung up the BMX bike in favor of the soccer ball as the commitment to both became too much. In hindsight it was a good decision - the notorious BMX “big air” starts to come into play as riders go faster and higher, which ramps up the danger significantly.
Looking back I’ve spent more years of my life invested in soccer than I have with cycling. Because cycling has been the number one focus of my life the past 5 plus years, it’s nice to reflect back on the times when I was doing something completely different. I’m glad that I played team sports because it taught me humility, sportsmanship (both good and bad), work ethic, team dynamics, and most importantly, how to win. I played with multiple travel clubs until we finally found the right fit. It required my family to invest in an hour long commute to Santa Rosa but it was worth it to be part of a winning program. We won consistently and competed against the highest caliber soccer players in the state and country.
From age 11 to 16 the trophies included back-to-back Norcal State Championships and two runners-ups, over a dozen prestigious tournament wins, and promotion to the highest level of competition known as the Development Academy (DA). The DA is where we showcased our skills against top teams in the country with college/pro team scouts present at many of our games. Yet by the beginning of my junior year in high school, my passion for soccer was slipping away - I loved my teammates but I was no longer enjoying the grind.
Looking back I’ve spent more years of my life invested in soccer than I have with cycling. Because cycling has been the number one focus of my life the past 5 plus years, it’s nice to reflect back on the times when I was doing something completely different. I’m glad that I played team sports because it taught me humility, sportsmanship (both good and bad), work ethic, team dynamics, and most importantly, how to win. I played with multiple travel clubs until we finally found the right fit. It required my family to invest in an hour long commute to Santa Rosa but it was worth it to be part of a winning program. We won consistently and competed against the highest caliber soccer players in the state and country.
From age 11 to 16 the trophies included back-to-back Norcal State Championships and two runners-ups, over a dozen prestigious tournament wins, and promotion to the highest level of competition known as the Development Academy (DA). The DA is where we showcased our skills against top teams in the country with college/pro team scouts present at many of our games. Yet by the beginning of my junior year in high school, my passion for soccer was slipping away - I loved my teammates but I was no longer enjoying the grind.
My bike racing days then resumed as I slipped out of the soccer scene when I joined my high school mountain bike team for a very fun and inspiring season in NICA. The following spring/summer I joined a local junior road program, Team Swift, and they got me started on more serious training along with local mountain bike and road races.
I had high hopes for the NICA season my senior year but unfortunately it got canceled due to COVID-19. With no races and an extreme desire to compete, I spent the entire pandemic working two jobs, attending community college, continuing my private pilot training, and of course riding my bike with hopes of returning to racing literally hundreds of miles while everyone else was in “lockdown”.
Fast forwarding to the end of 2021 when racing kicked off again and I got a few results in local road races. Fortunately, a nice opportunity to ride for another local road team arose with Voler Factory Racing. When I got the call I was already contemplating a full time commitment to cycling.
My bike racing days then resumed as I slipped out of the soccer scene when I joined my high school mountain bike team for a very fun and inspiring season in NICA. The following spring/summer I joined a local junior road program, Team Swift, and they got me started on more serious training along with local mountain bike and road races.
I had high hopes for the NICA season my senior year but unfortunately it got canceled due to COVID-19. With no races and an extreme desire to compete, I spent the entire pandemic working two jobs, attending community college, continuing my private pilot training, and of course riding my bike with hopes of returning to racing literally hundreds of miles while everyone else was in “lockdown”.
Fast forwarding to the end of 2021 when racing kicked off again and I got a few results in local road races. Fortunately, a nice opportunity to ride for another local road team arose with Voler Factory Racing. When I got the call I was already contemplating a full time commitment to cycling.
In January of 2022, I left the country for the first time and traveled to Calpe, Spain for two weeks of training before the start of my first full season. Since Voler participates in many international races, it was my main reason for joining the team. Soon enough, I entered my first stage race in Guatemala. Just the experience of getting to the race was life changing for me. Packed into an air conditionless, 7-hour van ride across the whole country while sitting backwards was quite a shock to the system. Central America was not what I imagined for my first road race with over 50 riders, let alone in a point-to-point race across a third world landscape. With dogs running into the peloton, speed bumps as sharp as curbs, potholes more like sinkholes, and gnarly crashes, I was on the limit for five straight days.
After coming out relatively unscathed, minus a bout of food poisoning, I was happy to just finish the race in one piece. Two weeks later I did another stage race in the Dominican Republic. This experience was even more eye-opening with tropical storms, longer stages, more racers in the peloton, and not the best amenities awaiting post race. And when I returned home to the Bay Area, the cycling flames had been fully lit. Not only did I enter a handful of domestic gravel, road, and mountain bike races, I also spent three weeks in Europe testing out the gravel race scene.
By late fall of 2022 I had decided, with the support of my family, to dedicate 100% of my time to pursue my cycling ambitions and 2023 would mark the beginning of my bout as a privateer. I knew it was going to be difficult considering most established riders in the gravel circuit have had previous careers on the road and more overall racing experience. However, with Marin Service Course in my corner I was able to get a few sponsors for my program such as Castelli, Enve, Ceramicspeed, and my good friend Ernesto at Prologue. I began 2023 with a four week block of altitude training in Zipaquira, Colombia. I had quite a few race days at big events including three BWRs, Sea Otter, Oregon Trail, SBT, and my first UCI races on the road in Tecpán, Guatemala. From here my 2023 season went smoothly as my first full year focused on gravel racing. I had my fair share of bad luck, beatdowns in big races, but most importantly many good memories.
In January of 2022, I left the country for the first time and traveled to Calpe, Spain for two weeks of training before the start of my first full season. Since Voler participates in many international races, it was my main reason for joining the team. Soon enough, I entered my first stage race in Guatemala. Just the experience of getting to the race was life changing for me. Packed into an air conditionless, 7-hour van ride across the whole country while sitting backwards was quite a shock to the system. Central America was not what I imagined for my first road race with over 50 riders, let alone in a point-to-point race across a third world landscape. With dogs running into the peloton, speed bumps as sharp as curbs, potholes more like sinkholes, and gnarly crashes, I was on the limit for five straight days.
After coming out relatively unscathed, minus a bout of food poisoning, I was happy to just finish the race in one piece. Two weeks later I did another stage race in the Dominican Republic. This experience was even more eye-opening with tropical storms, longer stages, more racers in the peloton, and not the best amenities awaiting post race. And when I returned home to the Bay Area, the cycling flames had been fully lit. Not only did I enter a handful of domestic gravel, road, and mountain bike races, I also spent three weeks in Europe testing out the gravel race scene.
By late fall of 2022 I had decided, with the support of my family, to dedicate 100% of my time to pursue my cycling ambitions and 2023 would mark the beginning of my bout as a privateer. I knew it was going to be difficult considering most established riders in the gravel circuit have had previous careers on the road and more overall racing experience. However, with Marin Service Course in my corner I was able to get a few sponsors for my program such as Castelli, Enve, Ceramicspeed, and my good friend Ernesto at Prologue. I began 2023 with a four week block of altitude training in Zipaquira, Colombia. I had quite a few race days at big events including three BWRs, Sea Otter, Oregon Trail, SBT, and my first UCI races on the road in Tecpán, Guatemala. From here my 2023 season went smoothly as my first full year focused on gravel racing. I had my fair share of bad luck, beatdowns in big races, but most importantly many good memories.
I started 2024 by returning to Calpe, Spain for another training camp only a few days before obtaining my private pilot license. This was my only international excursion of the year but it didn’t make my year any less exciting. I managed to add a few more amazing sponsors to my portfolio including Maurten, Kask, Schwalbe tires, and of course my favorite sandwich shop Michael's Sourdough Novato. While racing is always my primary focus, I was able to spend a bit more of 2024 getting to know more of my sponsors. We connected at a media camp for the launch of the Enve Fray and Castelli’s espresso kit, SBT with both Schwalbe and Castelli, four BWRs with Kask, and of course Sea Otter which had a handful of my other supporters. The first part of my season consisted of races within road trip distance. Between BWR Arizona, Utah, and
3 days at the media camp in Paso Robles, I drove over 2500 miles of interstate and was provided with special, unforgettable memories.
I started 2024 by returning to Calpe, Spain for another training camp only a few days before obtaining my private pilot license. This was my only international excursion of the year but it didn’t make my year any less exciting. I managed to add a few more amazing sponsors to my portfolio including Maurten, Kask, Schwalbe tires, and of course my favorite sandwich shop Michael's Sourdough Novato. While racing is always my primary focus, I was able to spend a bit more of 2024 getting to know more of my sponsors. We connected at a media camp for the launch of the Enve Fray and Castelli’s espresso kit, SBT with both Schwalbe and Castelli, four BWRs with Kask, and of course Sea Otter which had a handful of my other supporters. The first part of my season consisted of races within road trip distance. Between BWR Arizona, Utah, and
3 days at the media camp in Paso Robles, I drove over 2500 miles of interstate and was provided with special, unforgettable memories.
My mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness before the 2024 season got underway but she traveled with me on all the race trips early in the year. Her health deteriorated throughout the year and she passed away at the end of September. It’s incredibly hard to wrap my head around this tragedy, let alone write about it, but my mom was my biggest supporter and while it’s hard to comprehend a situation like this I wouldn’t be able to move on if I didn’t try to see the positives in our situation. Yes it's unfair and no I'm not sure why it happened to us, but it could always be worse.
What I am most thankful for is both my dad and sister still being in good health while also feeling blessed to continue chasing my dream of becoming a professional cyclist.
In an effort to reset I spent 6 weeks this past off season in Adelaide, Australia where I experienced some of the most fun training thus far in my cycling journey. From warm summer weather to weeknight crits, fast group rides and amazing hilly terrain it was everything I needed to escape from home while being productive in training but more importantly making unforgettable memories off the bike. With my 2025 season about to fully kick off I have ambitions to continue expanding on my cycling career, not only for myself and amazing supporters but most importantly for my mother.
My mother was diagnosed with a terminal illness before the 2024 season got underway but she traveled with me on all the race trips early in the year. Her health deteriorated throughout the year and she passed away at the end of September. It’s incredibly hard to wrap my head around this tragedy, let alone write about it, but my mom was my biggest supporter and while it’s hard to comprehend a situation like this I wouldn’t be able to move on if I didn’t try to see the positives in our situation. Yes it's unfair and no I'm not sure why it happened to us, but it could always be worse.
What I am most thankful for is both my dad and sister still being in good health while also feeling blessed to continue chasing my dream of becoming a professional cyclist.
In an effort to reset I spent 6 weeks this past off season in Adelaide, Australia where I experienced some of the most fun training thus far in my cycling journey. From warm summer weather to weeknight crits, fast group rides and amazing hilly terrain it was everything I needed to escape from home while being productive in training but more importantly making unforgettable memories off the bike. With my 2025 season about to fully kick off I have ambitions to continue expanding on my cycling career, not only for myself and amazing supporters but most importantly for my mother.
Follow along on Cassius's cycling journey by catching him on any upcoming races!
April 18th - Sea Otter Fuego XL Monterey, CA
April 19th - Sea Otter XC Monterey, CA
April 25th - Levi's Gran Fondo Windsor, CA
May 3rd - BWR San Diego Del Mar, CA
May 9th - Lemurian Classic Redding, CA
Follow along on Cassius's cycling journey by catching him on any upcoming races!
April 18th - Sea Otter Fuego XL Monterey, CA
April 19th - Sea Otter XC Monterey, CA
April 25th - Levi's Gran Fondo Windsor, CA
May 3rd - BWR San Diego Del Mar, CA
May 9th - Lemurian Classic Redding, CA
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