No-limits cyclocross draws daredevils

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The days are getting shorter, the nights cooler. To most bike riders, that means the season is winding down.

But to a certain subculture of cyclists it’s time for cyclocross.

With a bike that is essentially a road bike with knobby tires, you pedal over grass and dirt and sand and sometimes mud, hop over barriers, run with your machine on your shoulder and ride pretty much all-out around a looping course for about 45 minutes.

It’s a style of racing for those who are equal parts gladiator and 8-year-old.

In Sacramento, the most talented rider is Rich Maile, a 44-year-old bicycle mechanic who has spent much of his life resisting convention off the bike and stomping the competition on it.

Besides competing, Maile (pronounced MAY-lee) is organizing a series of races, which run through January (ncnca. org/cyclocross).

Maile’s goal as a race promoter is “to bring cyclocross to the people.”

Cyclocross, which has been going strong in Europe for more than a century, first caught on in the United States in the 1970s and recently experienced a second wave of popularity.

Road racers are attracted to it as a way to maintain their fitness in the off-season, while mountain-bike riders like to highlight their often-superior bike-handling skills.

Pure cyclocross racers don’t need a reason to sign up for races. It suits them because it’s different, edgy, brutally hard and fun.

“One of the things about cyclocross is I have the same kind of feelings I had when I rode my 1960-something Schwinn Stingray through the field at the end of my street,” Maile said. “It’s liberating. It’s one of the last pure freedoms that we have — the escapism of being that child on a bike again. It’s timeless in its purity, and it’s not limited by any boundaries — gender, age, race or income.”

A 10-year cyclocross veteran, Maile has competed in a cyclocross world championship and has won a prestigious national race series. He also serves as a teacher.

A year-round cyclist, Maile begins specific training two months before cyclocross season. “I’ll do 300 to 400 mounts and dismounts a week. It helps my body adapt,” he said.

That kind of effort pays off. Those who have competed against Maile marvel at his allaround game.

“If you’ve raced cyclocross in Northern California, you know who Rich is,” said Dirk Manley, owner of American River Physical Therapy and a cycling team. “From a technical standpoint, he’s about as good as it gets. He’s also a very gifted athlete.”

Unlike road racing, where a less-powerful rider can hide in the peloton and draft behind others, cyclocross is more revealing. If you’re not fit or fast or skilled in the maneuvers, you’re toast.

For Maile and many others, that’s part of the appeal. The races can be extreme tests of one’s physical limits.

“You’re out there in the elements giving it all you’ve got. There’s no hiding. It gives me the opportunity to strip everything away,” Maile said. “When I started riding ’cross (10 years ago), I pushed myself so hard that I literally would throw up during or after the race.”

In high school Maile ran cross-country, wrestled and played water polo. After high school, he lived for his passions — he was a ski bum at Kirkwood Mountain Resort, south of Lake Tahoe, Calif., and a surfing bum in Santa Cruz, Calif.

Maile never embraced the whole idea of the traditional career path. He wanted adventure and to live on his terms. In his younger days, he observed the typical 9-to-5 scenario and knew it wasn’t for him.

“I saw — and I still do — a lot of zombies walking around. I saw people who didn’t enjoy life,” he said. “My credo, if I have one, is it’s not what you have at the end, it’s what you see along the way.”

Over the years, he has worked in retail and as a ski patroller and a butcher. These days he is a bike mechanic.

Maile’s choices have been made easier by the fact that he doesn’t have children.

His wife, Sarah Maile, is a former high school math teacher who is also a professional mountain bike racer. She works out of the couple’s home as an editor of textbooks while her husband takes sociology and philosophy classes at Sacramento City College.

AREA CYCLOCROSS RACE

Cyclocross races will be held in Colorado through December. The next local race is Nov. 18 at Bear Creek Regional Park. For information, contact Dennis at 574-4057 or dennis@collardconstruction.com. For a description and photos of local events, see the blog by local cyclist Rob Lucas: ultrarob.com/blog/labels/cyclocross.php.