Roadcycling.com writer Ian Melvin talks to US Postal Service rider Michael Barry about his life with the team, living in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /?>
Europe and his skills as a chef. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /?>

This is now your second season with US Postal.  How are things going for you there?
The team is awesome. The second year has been easier as everything is a little more familiar. Everybody gets along really well and it's fun racing and being on the road together. It has been a great experience learning from George, Lance, Roberto...everybody on the team, really.

You moved to Postal from Team Saturn.  How did you cope with that transition from a relatively small set up to one of the largest teams in the pro peloton?
I think I was prepared for the change and stepping up to the next level was always a goal. US Postal also made the transition easy. The team is well organized and there isn't a ton of pressure on the first year riders.

Has your training and overall lifestyle changed with the move?  Did you adjust well to living in
Europe?
I really enjoy living in
Europe. I spent 3 seasons over there as an amateur, in
Annemasse, France. Girona, the town in Spain where we are living now, is a great town and is an easy place to live.  My training has essentially stayed very similar although the racing is different -longer distances, more stage racing, more climbing and more depth in the peloton.

Your wife, Dede Demet Barry, is also quite a useful bike rider.  Do the two of you ever get much chance to escape from 'work'? 
Yes, we both like having a balanced life. Dede has been at University the last three years and it has been a nice balance for both of us. She keeps me informed with her studies and it has added and entirely new element to our lives. The one thing that attracted us to each other from the start was that we were both interested in things other than cycling.

Is Dede your training partner or do the two of you do your own thing when you're home in
Spain?
We ride together fairly frequently although when I have to do longer or harder rides we'll go our separate ways. She'll motorpace behind me on the hills, which is good as it pushes her a little more.  I think she really benefits from training with all the guys.  

I understand the two of you are looking to write a cookbook?  Is cooking one of your passions and where did the idea come from?
Yes, we both enjoy cooking together and during our travels we discovered many new recipes and foods. One of our friends, Chris Mathias, is a chef and he has helped us out a lot with the cookbook as well. Whether or not it ever becomes anything I don't know but it has certainly been a lot of fun putting it together and it will be a nice book for the grandkids one day.