In this day of bike riders becoming celebrities, Mark-Paul Gosselaar is the opposite – a well known tv & film actor who’s become a bike racer. But talking to him you realize he’s a lot like us… a family guy with a job who likes racing bikes.
Everybody has a job, Mark-Paul’s is acting, which he’s been doing pretty much since he was a wee tike. Probably best known (at least to me – okay I admit it…) as Zack Morris in the early ‘90s teen series “Saved By The Bell” he’s grown up and out of the ‘youthful’ typecast into ‘adult’ roles like his recent 4 years as Detective John Clark Jr. on Steven Bochco’s NYPD Blue, and most recently as the slick media strategist/image consultant Richard "Dickie" McDonald on the primetime series “Commander In Chief” starring Geena Davis.
Note how cycling kit can transform almost anyone into … one of us. Mark-Paul likes his track racing.
PEZ Meets The ACTOR
We got connected when I heard through our L.A. PEZ-man Josh Horowitz that Mark-Paul actually reads PezCycling – and I began pestering Josh to chase him down for an interview. Mark-Paul called me exactly at the appointed time for our scheduled chat… and here I was not even at my desk – so he left a couple of messages and diligently called back a few minutes later. Let me tell ya, some pro cyclists (and at least one editor) could learn a few things from Mark-Paul about punctuality.
On the phone Mark-Paul is laid back, casual, and polite, and I got the distinct sense he’s a guy who counts his blessings and is grateful for each opportunity… His family is originally from Holland, and out of 4 children (2 sisters and a brother, all older), he was the only one born in America.
He’s yet to experience the thrill of riding in Europe, but has some inkling of what he’s missing: “When I was doing Saved By The Bell, we’d do a lot of publicity in France and Italy, and use the time to hang out.” Was the show pretty popular over there? “Huge” he says. “Huge.” – even though the voices were dubbed over. You gotta love how the Euros take certain pieces of American culture to heart.
The cast of Saved By the Bell – I’m sure more than a few of us tuned in Saturday afternoons to scope out the hotties…
He also believes in good luck. When I asked how he made the transition from the teen scene to primetime cop drama, he tells me: “Blue happened at the right place and the right time. I was just starting my adult career, wasn’t young enough to play the highschool or college guy anymore, and I needed to move on… and here comes Blue.”
“I had never played a cop before… and I certainly hadn’t played a guy from New York (I’m a California kid), so yeah, I was a little anxious to play that character. It was a challenge, and to get the opportunity to do it, and have somebody like Steven Bochco give you that shot and believe in you, is a big ‘wow’ – it’s like doing a couple of local bike races and someone says ‘we want you to join CSC’….”
JUST A REGULAR JOE
Mark-Paul got into bike racing a few years ago when he bought a road bike to burn calories and train within a specific heart rate as a way to stay fit, and as a safer release for his adrenaline than racing motocross (apparently his role on Blue did not allow for broken bones). He’s married with one child and another due in May, so his training schedule is similar to the rest of us working dads – 3-6 hours on the bike each week. He races for Team VeloWorx as a cat 4 in SoCal, and prefers a quiet home life away from the bright lights of his biz. He mentioned he’s does enjoy his fully stocked home bar, where he considers himself a semi-accomplished ‘mixologist’. Turns out we share a distinct preference for Lagavulin single malt.
PEZ: Part of your job as an actor is being recognized in public, whether you like it or not. How does this play out when you’re riding, or in a bike race? Do the worlds ever collide?
Mark-Paul: Well, I did 12 races this year, and for the longest time, I thought that no one knew who I am or what I do. And… I thought that was kind of cool. In motocross [which he started doing at age 3], you pull you’re helmet on, and aside from your name on your jersey, no one knows who you are. But I’ve been around mx for so long that no one gives a shit any more.
But in cycling, no one said anything for the longest time, then I was at a crit towards the end of this season, and another rider pulls up to me on the cool down lap and says: “I really enjoyed that show last Tuesday night”. I said “hey thanks, that really means a lot to me. How’d you do in the race?”
Recognize this face? In spite of his day job as an actor, Mark-Paul is one cool cat who’d rather chill with his family or ride with his club than ‘bask in the glow’ of Hollywood.
Don’t Get Me Wrong… Mark-Paul: The bicycle community is such a clique anyway…
PEZ: Although we probably don’t want to admit it…
Mark-Paul: Oh man… it is. We’ve got our attitude. And as much as we’d like to see cycling get bigger, we like that it’s small, and that we’re sort of the ‘outcasts’ on the road, and when someone says we look gay in our lycra, we sort of get a chuckle out of that.
PEZ: Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
Mark-Paul: And that’s what draws you to it… that it’s not mainstream.
But being a cyclist is being part of a brotherhood. And when you’re at a race, as part of that brotherhood, nobody really cares what you do. And that’s pretty cool.
PEZ: Tell us about the team you race for – VeloWorks.
Mark-Paul: It’s a cool team, a racing club, a bunch of racers who want to race and want to win, based out of a shop in Brentwood, and was created to help out the U23 squad, so lot of our money and funding goes to the development of younger riders. All the prize money I win goes to the U23 squad. We also supported the MS Foundation through our racing in 2005.
Being a successful actor does have it's upside - check out Mark-Paul's personal refreshment stand… custom built to serve his passion for mixology. Let’s see, it’s gotta be cocktail hour somewhere in the world, right…?
GO DADDY GO! PEZ: How about some advice for me as a new father, and tips on how I might keep riding through it all…
Mark-Paul: [long pause] There’s a reason why I do a lot of interval training! You are going to… succumb to this child. You will be a slave to this child. You’re just gonna have to say “as much as I love cycling and my job, this thing comes first’. And I say “thing” because when they come out, that’s what they are, they’re just like this blob… and you’re a slave to it. You feed it, clean it, it cries and you jump… But I love being a father and I can’t wait to get my son on the bike. He’s watched many bike races on tv with me, and every time he sees me with my kit on, he says “Go daddy, go!”. And when I’m riding, those are things that motivate me to ride harder, and to rider faster to get home.
You just gotta know, though, that you think you’re going to have time to ride, you think “it’s not gonna me, man, I’m gonna have time to do everything I want”… It’s just not true.
PEZ: I guess with that in mind I’d better get out for a ride this afternoon, even if it is supposed to snow here…
Mark-Paul: I still try and get out to ride any chance I get, but a lot of times I think I’d just rather stay home with my boy…
See – Mark-Paul gets road rash – or in this case ‘track-burn’, just like the rest of us. It took a couple hours of extra time in make-up on the set of ‘Comander In Chief’ to cover it up…
ON TRACK PEZ: You’ve also done some track riding – which to many roadies is like a spinny cousin we never talk about… but when you get to know him you realize how cool he is…
Mark-Paul: My first impressions riding the track… I was scared. I still get a bit scared, which is what draws you to it, but I used it as a training tool to help with my sprints and my road racing. I did a few races, and won the ‘Far West’ Sprint Championship in ’04 for the cat 4-5’s… won a couple of local races. I’ve ridden the ADT Centre and on the Encino velodrome which is concrete. But I really like the tactics of racing on the track.
I also like that you get these guys who’ve been doing this for 20, 30 years, and they’re still out there riding, still whooping our asses.
PEZ: Yup. Those are the guys you see all over Europe – these hairy-legged, barrel chested guys, out for the club ride, all wearing wool kit…
Mark-Paul: And they pull over for a pint…
PEZ: That’s what makes ‘em so tough. And I understand promotes longevity.
Mark-Paul: You gotta have fun.
And Now The Good Stuff… PEZ: Are you in touch with anyone from Saved By The Bell… do you ever talk to Screech?
Mark-Paul:… umm… no. I’ve kept up on what everyone’s doing on the internet, and talked to a couple of ‘em here and there…
PEZ: Do you know if Tiffany (Theissen – played Kelly on SBTB) is reading PEZ…?
Mark-Paul: … [pause] I … doubt she’s reading PEZ… unless you put her in Daily Distractions, and then you’d probably get a call from her publicist.
PEZ: They’d probably want some PEZ socks…
Mark-Paul: I want some Pez socks!
PEZ: Well I noticed your wife is rather distracting…
Mark-Paul: [laughing] … well our second child is due in May, so maybe after that.
PEZ: Now we’re getting somewhere! Thanks so much for talking to us, best of luck with the new series, and keep the rubber side down. Now any chance we can get Geena posing in a Pez jersey…?
Get more info on Mark-Paul at the unofficial website produced and maintained by one of his biggest fans: MarkPaulGosselaar.net
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