CARL DECKER LOOKS FORWARD TO 2009 RACE SEASON
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;setCaption(document.image_thumb); "Carl’s prize for the SSWC win was the tattoo. Photo by Carson Blume")
;setCaption(document.image_extra_one_thumb); "Carl Decker training at the 2009 Giant MTB Team Camp at Woodward West, near Tehachapi, CA. Photo by Jake Orness")
;setCaption(document.image_extra_two_thumb); "Carl Decker on his way to winning the 2008 Singlespeed World Championship!")
“I’m 7 weeks into training more than I ever have and I'm pretty excited to see what I've got. With any luck I'll feel like crap so I can continue my slacker-ways next year. Or I'll win some races...”
MTB Pro Carl Decker has been racing with the Giant team for seven seasons. His specialties are Cross Country (XC), Super D and Short Track. But he’s also a former road racer and has dabbled extensively in cyclocross. 2008 was a great season for Carl, with his Singlespeed World Championship win (and subsequent tattoo-ing!) being perhaps his most memorable victory—as much for what he wore as his race skill on the Napa, CA, course. The Giant MTB team begins the season on US soil March 28-29 in Fontana, CA, with the first stop of the USA Cycling Pro Mountain Bike Cross Country Tour presented by Sho-Air (ProXCT). Here are 4 questions for Carl:
Q. Can you list the highlights of your 2008 MTB season?
A. Defending my Super D National Series championship was entertaining all year, as was nearly winning the Short Track series overall. Losing that series by 5 points isn't really a 'highlight' of the season. Winning the Singlespeed World Championships was really fun. Slipping and sliding to my best World Cup finish ever (17) at the Bromont World Cup was exciting as well.
Q. What are you hoping for in 2009?
A. I'm hoping for bar-to-bar action in some Super D's. I'm hoping to represent Giant and the US at the XC World Championships in Australia. I'd like to be factor at our National Championships in XC, SD, and ST. I hope to surprise some sucka's at Cyclocross Nationals in my hometown, Bend, OR.
Q. Tell us about your cyclocross goals…and what it is about that event that eggs you on?
A. Nationals are in Bend, about a 7 minute coast from my house, for the next two years. I tried to skip most of the CX season last year and train for the Nationals in Kansas City, but no matter what condition you're in, racing from 130th start position leaves you out of the picture in big cyclocross events. So I'm gonna race a lot of cross and I'm gonna have a go at the title. What the hell.
Q. You’re at the start of another season here--can you describe what that feeling is like?
A. Every year I take a few months off the bike and ski and run and work on cars to my heart's content. This year I jumpstarted my training with some miles in Mallorca, Spain in February. Earliest start in many years. So I'm getting a big base, contrary to my usual M.O. of rolling into the first National with 7 days of riding in my legs. Now I'm 7 weeks into training more than I ever have and I'm pretty excited to see what I've got. With any luck I'll feel like crap so I can continue my slacker-ways next year. Or I'll win some races...