Category: Superstar Interviews

 

 

 

 Fort Lewis College cyclist and pro downhillist, Cody Wilderman is on a mission this year. His well rounded approach to training has an old school feeling. This past fall he took up cyclocross racing and made the FLC National Team. He is currently taking to Moab every weekend to get a jump on the skills, and he is planning on a couple spring road races to hone his fitness. Dang.

 Q: What was your first bike race where you knew that was what you wanted to do?

A:  Well, my Dad was a pro cross-country racer, so I have always been around racing.  I don’t remember a specific race where I said this is it, but since I was about five years old I knew I wanted to be a pro mountain bike racer, and at that time it meant cross-country, but now my focus is downhill.

Q: When did you decide to focus primarily on gravity events? And why.

A:  When I told my Dad I wanted to race downhill, he said that I would still have to race cross country, so from about age 13 to 17 I raced both, but then it became evident that I needed to choose one or the other and at that time I was having more success in the gravity events.

Q: After a full season of gravity racing, you came out and raced a full cross season, and now there are rumors you will hit the spring road season as well. What is the reason for this?

A:  Well, for starters, I can’t race road for the school because I just graduated, but I am planning on doing some local races.  I raced cross because for the last three years I have focused on residual fitness to carry my through the downhill season.  I did train, but not properly and to be honest for the last few years I have been a little overweight.  So, I decided that it was time in my career to start being really serious and to train properly and to become fit like a real athlete should be, and cross was the best way to do this.  Ruthie showed me how to train properly so that on race day I am 100%. 

Q: What were the benefits of racing the cross series, for a dh racer like yourself?

A:  The knowledge about training and the fitness level I achieved are the benefits for sure. Now I know whether it is a non race week, or a race week, what I have to do every day of the week and why I do it, so that for my race, I am physically and mentally the best prepared.  Many DH racers, just do DH runs and dirt jump, with no real training and expect to do three days of practice and still be ready for a good race run on Sunday.  The truth is you have to train right every day of the week, which includes rest, to perform at 100% on Sunday.  Because of cross my confidence is at a whole new level.

Q: What is the latest skill you have been working on and give us a little tip…..please?

A:  I have been working on cornering because that is the most important part of a DH track.  With cornering I have been trying to focus on snap out of short tight corners, and I have found that if you shift your weight towards the back of the bike in the middle of the corner it helps to push the bike through the corner faster.  

Q: You have 2 hours to ride town trails, what route do you take?

A:  I would probably ride in Horse Gulch, I would go out on the valley loop, then up telegraph, down sidewinder then do big canyon or that cowboy trail, then back up crites then down Anasasi and whatever else I can fit in.

Q: Who are your past and present mtb heroes and why?

A:  Myles Rockwell because he was World Champion, Jared Graves because he kills it on any type of bike, Nico because he is the greatest of all time, Todd Wells because he made his dream come true, my Dad because he is 48 and still kills it on the DH bike, Aaron Gwin because he has shown the world that America is back in the DH scene.

Local mountain bike Hall of Famer, and DEVO friend Travis Brown is in the house, your house, on your computer screen. Travis is a former mtb Olympian and has been moonlighting on the cross scene ever since it became a scene. Today he wrapped up his season as the series champion for the local Squawker Cup. Its always interesting to here how our heros evolve within their sport, so read on and then go ride. 

Q: What year, and how did you first get involved with the sport of mountain biking?

A:  I messed around with mountain bikes a little bit in high school but I was more into cross country running and skiing then.  I remember watching the Iron Horse MTB race in the mid ’80s but It didn’t get me to try racing then.  While skiing in college I had a coach that had us do a lot of mountain biking for summer training.  Around that time I started riding more with friends in Durango who were into racing.  That was around 1988.  I did my first race in ’89 that was a Sport category race at the Iron Horse Classic.  I raced a few more races as a Sport in the summer of ’89, like Crested Butte FTBW and a couple of other races that were part of the CORPS series (Colorado Off Road Point Series, which has now evolved into the MSC series). I upgraded to Expert (this was pre Semi Pro) that summer at the Colorado State Championships which was the Hermosa Creek trail from the south end to Purg.  I raced for the rest of ’89, ’90  as an expert, riding for the Durango Wheel Club.  At the end of the ’90 season I upgraded to pro and did the qualifying race to get into the first official World Championships which was held here in Durango.  I made the cut in the qualifying race and have been racing as a pro since then.  ’91 and ’92 I raced for Answer Manitou and in ’93 I signed on with Trek and have been with them since.

Q: How about Cyclocross? What was your first cross bike setup?

A:My fist cross bike setup was a mountain bike like a lot of people.  I raced my first cross race in 1990.  I think I went to my first cross Nationals in ’91 or ’92 but I think It was more like ’95 before I had a true cross bike.  That was before Trek was making cross bikes so I had Chris Hurting at 3D build my cross bikes.

Q: What are your 3 bestest cross race results?

A: I was third at the Cross Nationals in Domain Chandon/Napa, CA.  I think that was in 2002. I guess it was second, My best Super Cup (which is now the GP/cross national series) was in Boulder where  I was second (on my single speed).  This was Mark Gullicksons first Super Cup win, I think It was in ’99.  I won one cross race in a sprint with Todd Wells and I think that was in 2003. 

Q: You’ve been dominating the local scene on your singlespeed Trek cross rig, its been several months now, what are the advantages to your set-up.

A: It is a lot easier to clean after the race!  If it is muddy your chain never pops around.  I am never in way to big of a gear after a dismount because I didn’t shift down properly going into the barrier. I end up racing more aggressively on my single because there are only a few places on the course that you can really put the pressure on the other racers so you are more motivated to throw down on those sections. The chain never bounces off. 

compared to a geared ride?

A: Some courses are a bigger disadvantage on the single than others. If the range of speed is very broad that is tough on a single but overall I think that racing a single is a really good idea for cyclocross.

Q: If you were going to design the perfect cross course for you to win, throwing out all rules and regulations, what key features would you include?

A: I like lots of medium speed corners with grass straights after them. Bike set up has a lot to do with different courses.  If things get really muddy and the people on geared bikes aren’t having a pit clean there bike the single is a big advantage.  I like high speed barriers too. Slow uphill corners are really tough on the single.  There were a lot of those in Boulder Cup.

Q: We have the amazing Wells, Trebon, TimJ and Powers on top of the US cross scene at the moment, what was it like when you were in the mix, as compared to now?

A: I raced with all of those guys when I was traveling to a  lot of races, that was only four or five years ago.  The scene has clearly blown up a lot but it is still most of the same guys at the front.The number of quality events and the continued growth is fantastic.  I think If I were in the middle of my racing career now I could justify dedicating a lot more time to cyclocross than I used to.  It was always mostly an off season training and I never really fully committed to cross racing because the upcoming mountain bike season was always more important for me.  That is unfortunate looking back on it because I had at least as much fun racing cross as XC.

Q: What do the race organizers across the US do to please the parks and private owners who lend their turf for cross destruction? On the Durango front, killing the grass seems to be an issue. Is there a realistic future for this sport on America’s lawns?

A: We plant grass to play on!  It gets damaged and then it grows back, it is the reason that it is there. It is totally unnatural.  There is a disconnect between justifying using grass for  football, soccer, baseball ultimate etc and using it for cycling.  I think that will change.  As users we need to be committed to rehab when there is the rare damage that doesn’t repair itself but the paradigm that bikes don’t belong on grass is not defendable with a rational argument.

Q: Who is your favorite cyclocrosser of all-time?

A:  Vintage favorite is Mark Howe, he rocked the boat by making bunny hopping a tactic and won the Nationals in ’92 because of it.  Plus he did it on a mountain bike.  Contemporary favorite would be Tim Johnson.  He has been around focusing on cross for a long time.  He has a broad skills bag, he is a humble champion and someone who is really easy to be happy for when he wins. Really, almost everybody in the cross scene is great.  They are fun people to hang out with.

Q: Describe what it feels like riding from Durango to Costa Rica, in one run-on sentence.
 A: Imagine how YOU feel when you’ve done a great new ride somewhere that you’ve never been before and it was hard and beautiful with all sorts of demanding terrain and interactions and it took all day and you finished with a feeling of great satisfaction and adventure as the ride included wind and weather and
a few other unexpected challenges some of which were bicycle related and others that had nothing at all to do with this ride that you were doing and then multiply by 105 because that’s how many days it took me to ride my bike from Durango to Costa Rica and when you’re done imagining that throw in some crazy border crossings in foreign dialects and currency calculations and bad directions that led you onto some very dangerous stretches of road, some with awesome scenery and others with the stench of garbage and delinquency followed by moments of doubt and elation and monotony and acheivement, then YOU’ll have a pretty decent idea of how it felt to ride my bike from Durango to Costa Rica…..

Q: What is the mountain biking like down there and what bike or bikes are you currently shredding? Who do you ride with?
 A: The mountain biking here is awesome, however limited as Costa Rica doesn’t have an organized public lands infrastructure that has funding and manpower to build trails. The trails that do exist are generally slimy and technical as we’re in the tropics and it rains regularly. Think roots and rocks. One of my main riding buds, Paulo, has worked hard to gain access to historic local trails. He hires local campesinos to help him build, clean and maintain them. Many local mountain bikers ride the countless dirt roads that link remote villages to paved roads. I usually ride with a local gang of downhilleros with names like Mosco de Pina, Ricardo, Alvaro, Andres and the Pizza Hut team. I’m shredding my Turner 5-spot on the trails and my touring bike, which I call the Noodle, for general road riding.  

Q: How did you score a job with Pizza Hut? Do you get free pizza?
 A: I’ve had a long friendship with the director of the team, a man named Albin Brenes. I called him when I arrived in the country and he offered me a job immediately. And yes, I eat free pizza 3 times a day. In fact, they pay me in pizza coupons, which are more valuable that the local currency.

Q: Olympics man, what? Who was the coolest athlete you met in person..cycling and non-cycling?
 A: Since Costa Rica only qualified 2 cyclists, only 1 support person was allowed to accompany them. Both of the riders are from my team, so Albin decided it would be more important to send me, as the coaching could be done via e-mail or the telephone. The coolest cyclist I met was Janka Stevkova, a mountain biker from Slovakia. She was friendly and smiled a lot. The coolest non-cyclist athlete I met would have to be Nery Brenes, who competed for Costa Rica in the 400 meters. At first, I thought he was rude because he barely lifted his head when I introduced myself. It wasn’t ’til later that day that I realized he was just super focused on his qualifying heat. After which, he proved to be a happy comic who’s ear to ear grin was infectious. Constantly positive vibes poured out of him.  

Q: If you could be an athlete in any sport, what would you be?
 A: I’d like to be a cyclist when I grow up!

Q: Do you have a crush on any of the Olympic ladies? If so who and what would your first date entail?
 A: Svetlana Rysenko, the Ukrainian weight lifter was kind of cute, although rather large, call it big-boned. On our first date, she could “crush” me.

Q: What do the Costa Rican Youth do to progress through the cycling world? Is their a national race series, do the have sport, expert cat names?
 A: There are a lot of very dedicated and generous cycling coaches in Costa Rica. Most work with athletic programs at a county level. Many, if not most of these coaches donate their time to train and support their local teams. The catagories are pre-junior, junior, and sub-23. Most cycling events in Costa Rica provide for these catagories, as well as elites, veterans and masters. There are a couple of race series that are very well attended. Per capita, cycling is quite popular in Costa Rica, only surpassed by soccer. Each year National Games are held to crown champions in various sports, including cycling.

Q: What do you want every junior racer to grow to understand?
 A: The values of sacrifice, sportsmanship, teamwork, and humility. No champion, past or present has won every event in which they’ve participated. One of the most important attributes any athlete posesses is knowing how to lose gracefully and turn it into motivation. Practice your sport ’cause you love it and it will make you happy and healthy!