Home

10%

Craig Richey

Race Smarter, Not Harder

By InnerVoice

January 26^th, 2018

my people

I was a small kid and a late developer. Growing up I was a cross-country skier and wrestler. My technique and tactics were excellent but I was just too small to be very successful, and my results were marginal. Around Grade 9, once I had grown a little, I remember getting a top-5 result at a cross country running race and realizing that maybe I had some athletic potential.

In Grade 11, I competed in my first bike race. I went out full gas and detonated. I finished dead last. It was a bit of a blow to my morale but I still had fun and looked for positives in my ride rather than focusing on the result. Before I cracked I had been riding fairly well, I had some pace but not the endurance. With more training the endurance would come.

When deciding where to go to university, I was choosing between UNBC for cross country skiing, University of Calgary for wrestling, or the University of Victoria, the city of cycling. While I hadn’t done much bike racing there was something about Victoria that I liked, so I was Victoria bound. It was not easy to show up from the small town of Smithers and slot into a good groove. I wanted to get more into bike racing but didn’t know any bike racers. I was lost.

My addiction to training was growing and I was going to the gym and riding but without purpose. Looking back it is weird now a seemingly inconsequential decision has a huge impact on your life. In my second semester, I borrowed a friend’s road bike and with hairy legs and baggy shorts, I went out to a UVic Tri Club ride. I remember we did individual standing-start sprints along a straight section of road and then did the loop around the UVic Ring Road as recovery. A girl who was set to go off in front of me said “see if you can catch me”. I had found my people.

I was a cyclocross racer

My dad and uncle had both been close to going to the Olympics in wrestling, so in my family the Olympics were held up as this amazing thing. I was a 10-year-old for the 1994 Commonwealth Games. My dad and I went to Victoria to watch and I remember Craig Roberts, a wrestler my dad had coached in high school, winning the gold medal. It was truly inspiring. I wanted to be a champion like Craig. I really wanted to go to the Olympics like Craig.

In 2008 at the Mount Saint Anne Cross Country Mountain Bike World Cup I was pulled up with two laps to go. Disappointed, I went over to the main climb to be alone and reflected on my disappointing ride.

I then saw Julien Absalon on his last lap storm into the climb on the big ring and mid-cassette, the same climb I had been climbing in my easiest gear. For the years leading up to that event my results had plateaued, I was one of the top-10 XC racers in the country but made no progress towards becoming one of the top-5 riders.

Watching Absalon the truth was undeniable I would never make it to the Olympics. Always looking for a silver lining, I focused on the success I had on the cyclocross bike and how the that format of racing favored my larger size and played to my strengths. My new cycling direction was sealed, I was a cyclocross racer.

it's okay to quit...

The 2012/13 CX season started off well but ended in disaster. I won my first UCI race that year but the week after I got pneumonia. I raced Cyclocross (CX) nationals while sick, and then flew to Europe and struggled with sickness for the whole season. I did 34 UCI cross races that season. My results were, by my own evaluation, garbage. I was convinced at least some of the top Euro CX racers were doping. But looking back at photos from that season I hardly recognize myself. My face was swollen from my body and immune system being destroyed. Back in Victoria after the season I rode the couch for a month playing video games and eating pizza. I remember seeing Marsh Cooper from the Optum team ride by in the rain and thinking, that sucks. Yeah I considered quitting, I also wondered; what was the point of all this?

In a sense I kind of did quit; I have not raced CX in Europe since.

My dad always said train/compete smarter not harder, and it is okay to quit (sometimes). My former coach Keith Wilson said if you want your attack to be decisive, then attack when it is hardest. Cycling is about grit, but it also about being smart. Racing when you’re sick, attacking without purpose, while those things are gutsy they are not intelligent and likely won’t help you win, or develop as a rider. I have helped coach the DEVO kids cyclocross practice the past couple of seasons and I feel like the wisdom I share with them is centered around thinking more while they are riding. I press them to think about what gear you want to be starting in on grass or pavement, where can you rest on a course, where can you pass etc.

“I generally try not to ride with a power meter. If there are no numbers then there are no bad training days. Being mentally positive is hard enough, when the facts say you’re not fit it is way harder to race with confidence.”

I wasn't the strongest

My first UCI cyclocross win is one of my most memorable achievements. It was Beacon Cross in New Jersey in 2011/12. The temperature was just a few degrees above freezing; it was pouring rain and howling wind, the conditions were apocalyptic. Mentally I was strong and my parents had made the trip across the continent to watch their first major 'cross race. I rode a steady, error-free race to take the win, and the weather was so horrible there was no podium. I think that ride stands out because in an environment of physical discomfort I was able to maintain mental focus.

The Eastern Cycling Collegiate Conference road race championship in 2014 was another memorable accomplishment. I was busy completing my MBA and my fitness was marginal. The race was 4 laps of a large loop with a rough gravel section. It was clear that the gravel was the best place to attack but everyone was vigilant about covering attacks through that section. On the 2nd lap, I attacked solo on the twisty roads after the gravel section when everyone was licking their wounds, and it would be hard for a chase to organize. I rode the next 80 kilometers solo, going deep into the pain cave to win with a solid gap. I definitely wasn’t the strongest rider but rode the smartest race.

my Tribe

Now, my tribe is cycling (and my professional career is in cycling) so I spend a lot of time around cyclists. I have started a number of cycling teams over the years, and racing with friends always makes it more fun.

Currently, I am helping to run the Garneau-Easton team with my friends Michael and Dylan. We are one of only eleven UCI Cyclocross teams in the world this year; Welcome to the big time!

“It was hard to accept that I would never go to the Olympics, or while I was getting smashed in the muddy fields of Belgium that I would never be a cyclocross World Cup contender. This was sad. But I also learned that if you ride to your strengths and persevere, you never know when you will have your career best ride.”

Blind optimism

When things get tough in races my mind naturally goes to the excuses I can make after the event. I also tend to dwell on the mistakes I am making on the bike. The difference between a good race and a bad race hinges on if I can clear my mind of these thoughts and refocus on the present task at hand.

After a few hundred races of trying to bring my thoughts back to the present, I am at the point where I generally have intense clarity of thought while racing. In my hectic daily life I have a constant bombardment of thoughts and often struggle to stay focused; maybe it is the digital age we live in.

While racing I am able to clear my mind and focus on how to ride this corner faster, and the next corner. I can focus on the riders around me; where are they making mistakes, are their lines faster, where do I have an advantage? This clarity is addictive, in a busy world purity of though it hard to find and it always feels good to find it again.

I consider myself an optimist but I have been described as overly optimistic, looking for the positives when none exist. In racing, blind optimism can help. Even when everything seems to be going wrong, you never know when your competitor might flat or crash, or your legs come around and you get that career-best ride.

The first mountain bike BC Cup I ever won I got a flat tire and fixed it, kept riding hard and the leader flatted on the last lap, and I came through to win. Being smart is better than being strong. Some of my most satisfying rides came when I was out-gunned but won on tactics. Similarly, some of my most frustrating rides was when I knew I was the strongest but didn’t win.

unwavering support

I come from a very kind and supporting family. I have an amazing girlfriend and while I have had some injuries over the years I have never had to cope with a majority tragedy. She has really helped me grow as a person, and so I hope that I am in a better place to handle and heal from tragedy than I was before.

In cycling, I’m inspired by the generation of fast Canadian MTB riders ahead of me. Guys like Carter Hovey and Ricky Federau. These guys were legit and were, without a shadow of a doubt, cheated out of the results and support they deserved by riders that were doping. However, both Carter and Ricky are the most positive and generous guys around, and still enjoy riding and being a part of the cycling community. In a sense they dealt with a tragedy, or at least an injustice, and I hope I can show the same resilience someday.

My cycling career has put pressure on my relationship, and while my girlfriend is generally supportive, there is no question cycling has taken away from the support she deserves from me. Cycling has given me my friend network, but it has also had a give-and-take impact on that network that I sometime feel guilty about. To be successful at sport you need to be selfish (at least part of the time) and that is hard on the people around you. They praise and celebrate in your successes, but I am not sure if they are getting a fair deal.

Footnotes

Words by Craig Richey, Photos by Matt Clark @stirlandraephoto, Matt Lazzarotto, Andy Bokanev & Craig Richey, Editor Cody Royle, Published by NTSQ Sports Group

Follow Craig

FootNotes

Words by Craig Richey, Photos by Matt Clark @stirlandraephoto, Matt Lazzarotto, Andy Bokanev & Craig Richey, Editor Cody Royle, Published by NTSQ Sports Group

Colin O'Brady

Craig Richey

Race Smarter, Not Harder

FootNotes

No Human is Limited

I'm Here To Win

The Humble Son

My Incredible Journey

The Most Interesting Man In The World

Season 3