Craig gets in gear for Olympics

These are the dog days of competitive mountain biking for Adam Craig.

The International Cycling Union World Cup schedule that guides his life from early spring to late summer – and that this year already has taken him to Curacao, Spain, Belgium, Scotland and Quebec – has a routine feel to it now that the native of Exeter who splits his time these days between Corinth and Bend, Ore., is a third-year veteran on the circuit.

And when he isn’t riding across the pond, he’s working the National Mountain Biking Series, a North American tour that stretches from coast to coast.

Craig is faring well in both circuits, shaking off a slow start this spring to rank 28th overall in the UCI World Cup pro men’s cross country point standings and second among Americans to 2004 U.S. Olympian Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski.

He’s fourth in the NMBS points, trailing Horgan-Kobelski, fellow American Jeremiah Bishop and Canadian Olympian Geoff Kabush.

It’s the adjective preceding the names of Horgan-Kobelski and Kabush – Olympian – that has driven Craig to become one of the world’s most prolific mountain bikers during the last two years.

Craig challenged for a berth on the 2004 U.S. Olympic Team, and the Giant Bicycles rider’s efforts since then have been geared toward earning a spot on the 2008 squad that will represent the United States at the Beijing Games.

“This year has been another year to learn about what I have to do,” said the 24-year-old Craig, who remains one of the younger riders on the World Cup and NMBS tours. “In this case I’ve been learning how to effectively manage the life of a professional athlete and how to balance all the demands placed on me. It’s been an interesting, educational process, learning what I can and can’t do effectively.

“Now I know, and it’s time to get serious about Beijing.”

That quest continues today, when Craig competes in the pro men’s cross country race at the 2006 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships in Sonoma, Calif.

A three-time under-23 national cross country champion in his early racing years, Craig claimed his first pro men’s national titles last summer in the short-track cross country and Super D downhill events.

He’s eager to defend those titles, but admits a bigger goal this weekend is the pro men’s cross country race – the lone mountain biking event contested at the Olympics.

“I’m definitely looking forward to trying my hardest to defend my Super D and short-track cross country titles from last year, but I’m even more focused on trying to win the big prize of cross country champ to stake my claim to the future and the Olympics,” said Craig. “We’ll see how it goes. I feel stronger and more rested and ready every day.”

This year’s nationals were to be held at the site of the 2005 championships, Mammoth Mountain in California. But because of record snowfall there last winter, the event was moved to Infineon Raceway, not far from where NASCAR holds a road-course stock car race each June.”

“I’m stoked to be racing at sea level in Sonoma instead of at 8,500 feet at Mammoth,” said Craig. “It does my Maine lungs good to have oxygen. The courses in Sonoma suit my style of riding more as well, with power climbs and lots of transitions, so it should be a fun weekend.”

And for Adam Craig, hopefully one more step on the bike path to Beijing.

Ernie Clark may be reached at 990-8045, 1-800-310-8600 or eclark@bangordailynews.net.