I caught up with Discovery Channel’s Tony Cruz for our monthly chat about racing, the neighborhood raccoons and how to get a free fire pit.

ROAD: You have built a tall fort for your three year old son Adian and he can now look into my apartment. Is this retaliation for me being able to spy on you?
Cruz: Yes. [To his son] Do you tell him to work?

ROAD: So Adian is checking up on me? He’s like my boss, making sure I’m working.

ROAD: I can see by peering over the fence that there hasn’t been any movement in building the pool.
Cruz: [At this point Tony Cruz is disgusted with me and refuses to talk. Adian his three-year old son answer questions]
Adian: I want a big one.
ROAD: How about a kiddie pool?
Adian: Okay.

ROAD: How has the training going?
Cruz: Good. I’m doing a lot of climbing and racing for intensity. Also some split days, so going up to Glendora Mountain in the morning and then racing at El Dorado Park in the evening.

ROAD: When do you head back to Europe?
Cruz: I leave the seventh of July for China. A race called Tour of Qinghai Lake.

ROAD: I heard that Jani Brajkovic is going to be racing there as well.
Cruz: We’re going to win some money with that kid! I hear that they pay in cash with stacks of money. I think it was Navigators that said they got $50,000 to $60,000.

ROAD: I got two words for you, “pool money.”

Cruz: That’s doable. That’s the goal. Forget about college money for the kids.
ROAD: That’s what student loans are for.

ROAD: What’s going on after that?
Cruz: Gearing up for the Vuelta. Before that probably the Eneco Tour.

ROAD: Anything in the near future?
Cruz: I’m doing Manhattan Beach Grand Prix. It’s on!

Instead of a pool, the Cruzs got a fire pit