A DM pops up on my phone to say Sean Eric Martin is having difficulty connecting to our call. Los Angeles based, moustachioed and a relaxed raconteur, Sean rides with the CNCPT team that recently celebrated a birthday of sorts after a decade spent getting after it.
With his computer restarted—a chime announces he’s good to go—and with a nod to the CNCPT dynamic, we get straight down to discussing the highs and lows of bike racing, and all that lies in between. A candid conversation that takes in everything from record collections to West Coast riding, the value placed on friendship, and how the bad times only last so long.
cyclespeak
Growing up pre-internet, I’m still amazed that I can sit here and talk to someone on the other side of the world.
Sean
I’m the same. I was born in 1979 and I remember my parents having a phone with a rotary dial in their bedroom. So if we wanted privacy on a call, we had this extra-long cable that would reach down the stairs.
cyclespeak
Whereas now, it’s a very different world. In some ways maybe more challenging but also quite amazing.
Sean
That’s so true. Because if you think about it [Sean holds up his smart phone] we now have the breadth of human knowledge in our hands. But people still won’t use a blinker when they’re making a turn.
cyclespeak
I guess a natural state of equilibrium is difficult to achieve. We lose, we gain, but things rarely stand still. And we need a certain degree of resilience to navigate this.
Sean
Which, if you think about it, can be applied to how we ride bikes. Because you have to keep moving to stay upright. And in the depths of pain and suffering, you learn that the bad times don’t last. The good times will return through forward motion.
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cyclespeak
Those are some seriously deep thoughts [laughs]. Have bikes always represented these feelings?
Sean
Not exactly. I grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and I was a skateboarder. So California, from afar, felt the very epicentre of skate culture. And it’s funny that where I now live in LA, just off Virgil, there’s a very famous schoolyard—Lockwood Elementary—right around the corner and I ride my bike past there pretty much every day. And I’m like, man, the 13 or 14 year old me would’ve been so fucking hyped to live in such close proximity to where those pivotal skate videos in the 90s were filmed.
cyclespeak
I guess, growing up, it all felt very far away?
Sean
Yes and no. LA just felt like another world that I wanted to be in. And jumping forward a ways, my sister Kelly Martin was instrumental in me getting into bikes. She went to grad school at Irvine, California, and that’s where she found bike culture through a guy she was dating. And then a few years later, when she was travelling up to Portland for the 2003 Team Puma bike messenger games, she suggested I come down from Seattle where I was living at the time. I’d been using a BMX bike to get around the neighbourhood but when I saw all those LA messengers riding fixed track bikes, it just blew my mind. All the craziest shit you can imagine from skid comps to alleycats. And if my sister was into all that, then it had to be really fucking cool. So I went back to Seattle and told all my skateboarding friends about fixed gear messenger culture and they were all like, what?
cyclespeak
So not overly impressed?
Sean
One of my friends—Casey Holloway—he drank the Kool-Aid with me and we built up a couple of fixed gear bikes off eBay. And then it wasn’t long before I decided to join my sister in Los Angeles and that was the start of a whole other chapter in my bike journey.
cyclespeak
Before we dig down into CNCPT, there are a couple of reference points that I’d like to explore. Specifically, your IG bio leading out with Rhinestone cowboy and your email signing off with Marketing wizard.
Sean
The Rhinestone cowboy is a homage to a past life of mine, before bikes started calling. I was a DJ in Seattle playing hip-hop, had my own nights at a bar, and I’d play after-parties for raves. There was a particular DJ who inspired me called Z-Trip who had this album with DJ Pete called Uneasy Listening which included a mix of Glenn Campbell’s Rhinestone Cowboy overlaid with a techno beat. Good times that I reference in my Instagram bio as a reminder of where I’ve come from.
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cyclespeak
We’re talking vinyl?
Sean
We sure are. I had a good five thousand or so records at one point.
cyclespeak
Have you still got them?
Sean
Unfortunately not. I don’t have many regrets in life but that’s certainly one. I moved up to Oakland for a while and in order to do that I sold my records and decks. And I know I could just get a DJ app to recreate the sound but there’s something about digging into a crate to select a record, slipping the vinyl out of its sleeve, and that first pop as the needle lands in the groove.
cyclespeak
And the marketing wizard?
Sean
When I first moved to LA, myself and Joseph Labato started throwing street races: alleycats and A-to-Bs. Everything was completely underground and we were good at it. And all of this coincided with the second wave of track bike culture so we had brand support, a lot of free shit to give away as prizes, and people came.
cyclespeak
That sounds like a crazy scene.
Sean
Both of us were from a hip-hop background so giving yourself props is important and we decided that we needed to document what was going down. So we started a blog called Takeover LA (TOLA!) to hype ourselves up and that got me thinking about marketing as a possible profession. And then, when I made the move to Oakland, I took what I’d learned and began working with agencies.
cyclespeak
So how were you first introduced to CNCPT?
Sean
Back when I was throwing those races in LA, there was a young man who would show up on a Masi track bike and wearing a Rock Racing jersey. Which was how I got to be fast friends with co-founder of CNCPT, Alonso Tal. Together with Bobby Endo—the other CNCPT cofounder—they’d all seen how performance cycling wasn’t always that welcoming for people of colour. Because, if you think about it, how do people who start racing on the streets fit into this elite world? So Alonso and Bobby decided to create a space where people like them—from their background—would feel represented.
cyclespeak
Does this struggle continue?
Sean
It’s an unfortunate fact that in road racing culture you’re not always paid attention to because of the colour of your skin, the fact you have tattoos, or that you once raced alleycats. And we still get that to this day. Which is another important thing about CNCPT; this idea that you need to be pigeonholed into one particular racing discipline—I’m only this or only that—whereas we love mixing things up. And throughout our journey as a team, that might be racing an alleycat, lining up at Red Hook, elite road and track racing, or taking on the Transcontinental. So there’s always been this questioning attitude to CNCPT: where will the bicycle take us next?
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cyclespeak
And the name CNCPT? How did that originate?
Sean
What first drew the current version of CNCPT together—I joined the team in 2020—was a shared passion for track bikes, riding and racing. Bobby and Zo took it further and created CNCPT. But what also defines CNCPT is our 15 years of friendship. And that cuts across to our relationships, the birth of children, our own personal struggles. So I guess it’s something that can’t easily be defined. It’s whatever we want it to be and that changes over time.
cyclespeak
I’m under the impression that CNCPT is grounded on the West Coast or is it an attitude that could exist anywhere?
Sean
That’s not something I’ve ever really considered. Because the secret sauce is all those years of friendship, all those years of inside jokes. We’re all very different individuals and sometimes we drive each other crazy but, at the end of the day, we all love each other. So could that exist if we were all scattered across the globe? Yes, certainly. We’d still come together and do things.
cyclespeak
Speaking of doing things together, I saw your posts from the LA Invitational. But doesn’t riding in LA suck?
Sean
That’s what we tell everyone [laughs]. Don’t come here to ride, it’s terrible.
cyclespeak
But secretly…
Sean
It’s amazing. There’s nowhere quite like it for the sheer variety of riding available.
cyclespeak
As it pertains to cycling—sock height, matching helmet colour to shoes, how you wear your glasses—are you one for ripping up the rule book?
Sean
Being a fan of the cycling aesthetic from the glory days, I actually tend to adhere to the rules. My shoes, as an example, are always white and I’m currently waiting on a new helmet to match. Tan lines need to be razor sharp. You get the drift.
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cyclespeak
So if we ever get to ride together…
Sean
You style it however it works for you. Wear what you want, ride what you like. All that we ask—and Alonso loves this phrase—is that you ride.
cyclespeak
So can you talk me through a race, ride, adventure that perfectly reflects the ethos and dynamic of CNCPT?
Sean
Me and the boys, we’re known as the guys that ride from LA to Las Vegas. And when we did the FKT* attempt, that kinda sums up CNCPT in a nutshell.
*Fastest known time
cyclespeak
How so?
Sean
Back in 2022, we were asked to do a release for the CNCPT branded Cervélo S5.
cyclespeak
Your bike sponsor?
Sean
One of the biggest steps that CNCPT took and luckily I was right there when it happened [laughs]. Having support from Cervélo is so fucking cool and we’re super blessed.
cyclespeak
And the FKT?
Sean
Normally, Cervélo won’t allow you to mess with their logo—basically you can’t fuck with their shit—but very fortunately, on this occasion, they said go ahead. So Bobby took that call to action, designed it, and that’s how we arrived at a CNCPT branded Cervélo S5. And for the launch, Alvin Escajeda came up with the idea that we’d all at one time or another, together or separately, ridden to Vegas. And what made it epitomise CNCPT was the sum of the parts and how we each took on a role.
cyclespeak
A team effort?
Sean
Exactly. Alvin came up with a route—350 miles of back ways that we would ride in 24 hours—Alonso handled all the media, Bobby drove a support vehicle, Cesar Alvarez was there to photograph the attempt, I sorted our hotel at the Vegas end so when we finished up riding we could immediately get showered and changed. We do a collective approach so we can all bounce ideas off each other and say, that’s fucked, we’re not doing that [laughs].
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cyclespeak
Because things don’t always go to plan? Sometimes they spiral out of control or just go straight up wrong?
Sean
That’s a side of ultras that maybe isn’t talked about but we’ve all been there and you can get fucked up pretty bad. And then you have this whole mental game of whether to scratch or push on through because the bad times only last so long. You can lie down, take a nap and then decide what to do. But it’s not all flowers and sausages and that’s something we like to address on the CNCPT feed and in our post-race interviews. If we get asked how it all went down, we’re happy to straight-up say it was fucking terrible.
cyclespeak
No sugar-coating?
Sean
As beautiful as cycling is as a sport, no matter what discipline you race it can be incredibly dark. Like back in the day when I was winning a few races, enjoying an amazing season, thinking I was the shit, and then the year after it felt like I didn’t know how to ride a bike. That feeling just defeats you.
cyclespeak
And now?
Sean
It’s a cliche but you come to realise that it’s the journey and not the destination that truly matters. Learning to push through and persevere through triumph and tragedy.
Sean pauses momentarily and appears visibly upset.
I’m feeling emotional because I’ve had this incredible journey through cycling—almost died a couple of times, won a few races, rode all over the world—and I wouldn’t change a thing.
cyclespeak
You almost died?
Sean
In 2023 I was racing a mountain bike ultra in San Diego. I’d dropped down into Del Mar to resupply and next thing I knew I was waking up in hospital. Turns out I’d been in a coma for five days—very close to death—after getting wiped out from behind by a distracted driver. My right leg was shattered and it took a lot of work to get back to riding and navigating a terrible TBI that I will have for life. So I guess you can say I’m still healing, still striving.
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cyclespeak
The tough times that you mention.
Sean
Being on the CNCPT team with people I consider as my best friends in both life and sport, is such a blessing. And in those moments when things get so difficult that all you want to do is stop and call it a day, what keeps you going is not wanting to let people down. It becomes more than just you and what you’re going through at any particular moment.
cyclespeak
My own riding over the past decade has changed considerably. Is it the same for you, personally, and CNCPT as a team?
Sean
Yes. One hundred percent. The desire to ride further, eat strange things, and get to know the people you meet in far flung places has definitely grown over time. Because that’s what’s so great about racing an ultra; what you see and experience on the road. Not that, in my younger days, I wouldn’t have been head down and focused. But you start to see the bike, not solely as a tool for performance, but also as a mechanism for discovery. Yes, I still love riding really, really fast, but if something attracts my attention, I’m going to stop and take a photo or have that treat the guy on the roadside is selling.
cyclespeak
We’ve talked a lot about what CNCPT is, but is there anything it isn’t or could never be?
Sean
I guess we’d never make it as a World Tour team [laughs].
cyclespeak
I’d like to see you guys rock up at the Tour’s Grand Départ. That might ruffle a few feathers?
Sean
I’m not sure my power numbers are quite there. But to answer your question, telling stories is a major part of what CNCPT is and will continue to be. But saying that, it’s never been about cranking out the next YouTube video to satisfy some expectation of influencer culture. That’s not who we are.
cyclespeak
So who are you then?
Sean
At the end of the day, we’re just a gang of misfits who really love racing our bikes.
All photography with kind permission of Sean Eric Martin and the CNCPT Team
Feature image by Alonso Tal (all other images credited individually)
cyclespeak 