The official beginning of a trip Adam Craig hopes will end at the Beijing Olympics in August did not get off to the most auspicious start. On April 15, as Craig walked up the stairs to board a puddle-jumper at the airport in Redmond, Oregon, his plane ticket blew out of his hand and into the small plane’s prop. Fortunately he’d already checked in for his flight to nearby Portland. But once there, he had to explain himself to the folks at the Lufthansa ticket counter before continuing on to his final destination of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Craig, who is one of America’s premier cross-country mountain bike racers, could only hope that this was the biggest malady he faced on a trip that will last 10 weeks, include five World Cups and the world championships, and decide whether he’ll be toeing the start line in Beijing when a select group of the world’s best fat-tire racers battle for Olympic gold.
“This is the make or break trip,” explained Craig, who missed out on the 2004 Athens Olympics, finishing third behind Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski and Todd Wells. “I rode better than ever before at first couple national series races this year, so I think I’m ready. But you never know what’s going to happen.”
For Craig to get to China, one of three scenarios needs to happen. Either he must post a top 5 result at one of the five pre-Olympics World Cups that kicked off April 19 in Houffalize, Belgium; do the same at the world championship in Italy in late June; or be among the top two Americans based on a cumulative points system that will count each riders best three results from those six races – two lowest totals wear the stars and stripes in Beijing.
Based on recent results, the 26-year-old Craig should be a shoe-in to at least finish top two among the Americans. He’s the reigning U.S. national cross-country champion, and has long been considered the U.S. rider best suited to the rough-and-tumble World Cup circuit. But it’s been four years since he’s stood on a World Cup podium, and that pair of fourth-place finishes came in North America, not Europe where he must perform this time around.
“I’m feeling good right now, but that doesn’t mean anything when you go to Europe,” admitted Craig. “I did a lot more intensity this winter. I even did a road bike race recently. It was the usual mountain biker style. I covered all the attacks and then got a flat and rode in behind group. That’s okay, I’m not big a big fan of mass sprints. Too dangerous. It’s a long season.”