by Neil Leventhal

Successful Living presented by Parkpre grew out of the roots of the former pro team Sea Silver when, halfway through Sea Silver’s first season it ran into funding issues. Sensing an opportunity to continue the program Ken Yamakoshi, owner of the team’s bicycle sponsor Parkpre, decided to explore creating a new pro racing team. Out of the ashes Ken, along with former professional cyclist and Olympic gold medalist Steve Hegg, created the new team Successful Living. Now in it’s third season the team has proven that they are capable of winning major NRC races. Ken, Steve, and team manager Ryan Yee have put together a solid group of riders that compete on America’s domestic racing calendar.

Focusing almost entirely on the sports NRC, or National Racing Calendar events, the team competes against a solid field of professional and elite amateur teams. Of the three divisions of professional cycling, Continental, Pro-Continental, and Pro-Tour, Successful Living is registered as a Continental team, but often finds itself competing with the bigger budget teams with Pro-Continental and Pro-Tour licenses. Even among teams in the same “division three” license category the difference in budgets can be quite extreme. Successful Living with it’s half million dollar a year operating budget must hold it’s own against teams like Toyota United with a budget of 3 million dollars a year and the seemingly endless budget of the Rock Racing squad.

Through hard work, good management, a family atmosphere, and most importantly teamwork, Successful Living achieves success through consistency and common goals. Eschewing the belief that winning is everything, the riders work hard to be among the top competitors in the peloton, and try to compete as a team, and not as individual riders hell-bent on the top of the podium. That’s not to say that they don’t win, because they certainly do, but it is done with a certain grace.

Perhaps this attitude comes from Steve Hegg, the team’s director, who with gold and silver medals from the 1984 Olympics has less to prove than others. Perhaps, it stems from Ken Yamakoshi, the co-director and owner of Parkpre Bikes, whose father was one of the pioneers in American mountain biking. Whatever the root of the team’s attitude it works well.

Since first meeting Steve Hegg at this year’s Tour of California, and Ken Yamakoshi shortly thereafter, I have spent time with both of them, and the team on quite a few occasions. Steve and Ken are instantly approachable, and quick to call you a friend, and the same can be said for the riders on the team as well. I have learned by watching them that Successful Living works because it adheres to the basic tenants of teamwork, where each and every member is just as important as the others. They all chip in, in the hopes that they all succeed. This sense of teamwork can even be seen in the smallest of details, and in some ways the largest of symbols. Because of the teams limited budget they cannot afford a motor home like many of the other professional teams, but they always have one available to them. One of the riders, Curtis Gunn, owns a motor home and gladly makes it available to the team during the season, and even opened it up to me as a place to escape the sun at this year’s Redlands Classic.

In July, I sat with Ken Yamakoshi to discuss the team, and the current state of American cycling. Our conversation ranged from Parkpre bicycles, to anti-doping, to the Tour de France, and the other teams in the peloton. In the end though, the conversation kept coming back to Successful Living and their place professional cycling. Like many of the teams today they face sponsorship uncertainty, and they are beginning to evolve once again and in doing so looking to grow the message and attitude that can be seen internally. One of Ken’s new goals is to take the concept that he pioneered as one of the founders of the Los Angeles based amateur team Now/MS, which is sponsored by the MS Society, and expand upon it.

With a why not attitude Ken is looking to build a team, not just to win but also to convey a positive message. In a way, casting aside the glitz and glamour of the big budget high profile teams, Ken is looking to craft a pro team that is focused on developing younger less experienced riders. By not only mentoring, but by exposing them to experienced leaders like Steve Hegg, and himself he is thinks he can help ease the riders transition from amateur to pro, and win a few races along the way. Almost as a final thought, as we were wrapping up our lunch, Ken begins to wonder about how great it would be to tie the team in with some sort of charity, to adopt them so that in a way they can win together.

This is at it’s root the Olympic message as well, and it is fitting that Ken’s partner in this venture, Steve Hegg, is an Olympian, and gold medalist.

All Photo’s by: Neil Leventhal Photography