Few current professional mountain-bike racers can say they raced in the first-ever UCI world mountain-bike championships, held in Durango back in 1990. Carl Decker can. The now-32-year-old Oregonian lined up in the junior ranks that year.

Unfortunately, the brake cable on his Bridgestone bike snapped a few minutes before the gun, and Decker had to race on his dad’s bike. In 2007, 17 years later, Decker again hit the world’s, this time as an elite. The cables on his Giant didn’t snap, and Decker finished 69th.

In his nearly two decades as a bike racer, Decker says he’s learned the value of enjoying pastimes off the bike. These days, “The Deckerator” as he is known, gets his kicks racing rally cars on the Rally America series. He’s not too shabby of a driver, and has three victories in his class, and he has yet to augur in. VeloNews caught up with Decker to learn the finer points of rallying.

Catching air in the Wheels of Teal

Photo: Adam Craig/Carl Decker

VeloNews: So how did you get into racing cars?

Carl Decker: I’ve been into the rally car thing since before I can remember. My dad used to teach cops how to chase after bad guys. He was a pursuit specialist and he drove around in Camaros and Mustangs at high speed for a living. I remember doing some ride-alongs with him as a kid — it was sweet. We always raced auto cross in parking lots, hammering around cones.

Decker powers his rally car through a sideways drift

So I’ve always been into cars, and recently I’ve been foolish enough to start racing them. It’s really expensive and I don’t make that much money.

VN: How expensive are we talking about?

Decker (r) and Craig show off the 'Wheels of Teal'

Photo: courtesy of Adam Craig/Carl Decker

CD: Ha, the entry fee for a [National Mountain Bike Series] race is 60 bucks and people whine about it. You go to a rally race, and if you’re pre registered then its $1100, and if you’re late then its $1600. Tires cost you between $300-500 bucks, and if you’re a big shot then you know you’re going drop like $600 on rubber. You’d think it’s a sport for doctors. But I have no idea what these dudes do, because they’re kind of crusty people.

VN: What’s your budget like?

CD: Ha — pretty small. Each weekend I can race for about $1500 with entry fees and tires and gas and burritos for my dad and Adam [Craig]. We all share one hotel room because I’m cheap. I spend a lot of time on eBay and in junkyards. My saying is “if it isn’t used, it has no use to me.”

That famous Rally roostertail

I dropped about $4000 on the car. Since I’m a bike racer I’m a weight weenie by nature, so instead of spending money adding more power to it I’m more into cutting non-essential crap out of the car and throwing them away.

VN: And your car?

CD: It’s a 1993 Subaru Impreza. We call it the “Wheels of Teal” because it’s pretty junky… and teal.

VN: What kind of cross-over skills do you get from mountain-bike racing in rally car?

CD: Rally car racing is about connecting a series of blind corners in a full drift. If you’re not drifting, then you’re not going fast enough. You have to be totally committed, and it’s super fun. It seems dangerous but after doing it for a while, I don’t think it’s too bad. It’s not like [mountain-bike racing] where you’re wearing nothing more than glorified underwear to do it.

I think since [co-driver] Adam and I race for a living we’re pretty used to the routine. We know to get good sleep and we’re used to getting up early and pacing ourselves. That’s a big part — you don’t want to be wadding it up too early because you’re excited. I think all of us mountain-bike racers are good at risk assessment. We’re able to keep it together, but just barely. In the car you’re on the verge of crashing if you want to do well. I think that’s why I do well. I might not be winning after the first stage or second, but by day two or three I’m winning because whoever was in front of me is on their way home with a wrecked car.

VN: So what kind of results are you getting?

CD: So far I’ve been first in every race of the Group 2 guys, which is two-wheel drive Open Class cars. It’s a pretty wide-open group, you just can’t have three liters of engine displacement. At the nationals they start fastest to slowest, and we start in the back because we’re in a slow car. But by the second or third day we’re rolling out behind these $100,000 cars and we’re in a car that looks like an absolute heap, and that’s pretty rewarding. People figure I’m driving this ugly car with four-wheel drive, and in reality it’s an ugly car with only two-wheel drive.

It’s fun. We’re on the same course as guys with a couple million dollars in their budget and we’re dealing with the same stuff, just at a slightly decreased speed. I can say I’m undefeated against [Travis] Pastrana. In the races he showed up to he crashed and had his engine blow up.

You can read more about Carl Decker’s take on rally cars and bike racing in VeloNews Issue No. 2 which hits newsstands January 29.

Southridge Series Kicks off This Weekend
The 2008 Shimano Southridge U.S.A.winter mountain-bike series kicks off January 12-13. The five-event series is run by longtime SoCal race organizer Donny Jackson, and is held at the Southridge park in Fontana, California. Each event holds cross-country, Super D and mountain-cross races on Saturday, and downhill races on Sunday.

2008 Shimano Southridge U.S.A. Winter Series:
January 12-13
January 26-27
February 9-10
February 23-24
March 8-9

U.S., Canada to send four XC racers to Beijing
The UCI has announced its final Olympic Nations Rankings for 2006-07. The ranking is based off the cumulative UCI points for each nation’s top-three ranked riders for the two seasons, and determines the number of spots each nation will receive for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. For men, the top-five ranked nations will earn the maximum three spots. For women, the top-five ranked nations will earn the maximum two spots. The United States men finished sixth in the final rankings with 4224 points, with the Canadian men coming in ninth with 3462 points. France topped the men’s list, thanks in no small part to World Cup and world champion Julien Absalon, with 7864 points.

The American men finished third in the women’s rankings with 6193 points behind Germany and China, which topped the list with 7236 points. The Canadians finished one spot back in fourth with 6182 points. Thus each country will send four riders to the games, two men and two women.

Final UCI Olympic Cross-country Nations Rankings for 2006-07
Men
1. France, 7864 points
2. Switzerland, 7349
3. Spain, 5472
4. Belgium, 4364
5. Germany, 4353
6. United States, 4224
7. Netherlands, 3724
8. Sweden, 3695
9. Canada, 3462
10. Austria, 3261

Women
1. People’s Republic of China, 7236 points
2. Germany, 6346
3. United States, 6193
4. Canada, 6182
5. Norway, 4957
6. Poland, 4849
7. Russian Federation, 4576
8. Switzerland, 4478
9. France, 3931
10. Czech Republic, 3643

Spaniard lands first-ever back flip on snow big-air ramp
One week before his 19th birthday, Spanish mountain biker Andreau Lacondeguy became the first athlete to land a back flip off of a snow big-air ramp. The Kona rider landed the trick at the Snowboard Big Air World Cup in Graz, Austria on January 5.

The Spanish teenager flew roughly 20 meters during the course of his jump, which took place during the quarterfinals of the World Cup event.

“I was a little bit nervous on the start,” Lacondeguy said. “I never rode snowboard jumps before and I was not really sure, if it would work out. I just did one practice jump yesterday because jumping that wide is really risky. Today I just flipped it and I landed it clean and perfect.”

Kenda-Titus-Hayes Announces 2008 Team
Kenda USA, Titus bikes and the Hayes Bicycle Group will sponsor a professional mountain-bike team for the 2008 season. The 10-person team will compete in a wide variety of cross-country races beginning with the February 16 24-Hours in the Old Pueblo. The team will also compete at April’s Sea Otter Classic, the National Mountain Bike Series, Costa Rica’s La Ruta de los Conquistadores and the 2008 USA Cycling National Mountain-bike Championships.

2008 Kenda-Titus-Hayes Professional Mountain-bike team

Zephanie Blasi – Missoula, MT
Wendy Caldwell – Ann Arbor, MI
Hillary Harrison – Crystal Mountain, WA
Heather Holmes – Salt Lake City, UT
Robert Marion – Mount Airy, NC
Philicia Marion – Mount Airy, NC
Danielle Musto - Grand Rapids, MI
Krista Park - Atlanta, GA
Amanda Riley - Jackson Hole, WY
Andy Schultz - Tucson, AZ

Diablo Freeride Park announces 2008 Domination Series
The Diablo Freeride Park, located in Vernon, New Jersey, has announced its lineup for the 2008 Diablo Domination gravity mountain-bike racing series. The park, home to the U.S. Open of mountain-biking downhill race, will offer a total prize purse of over $50,000 for the five events. Races are open to elite and amateur riders. For more information, visit www.diablofreeridepark.com.

2008 Diablo Domination Series
Diablo Freeride Park
May 18
June 29
August 24
September 14
October 5

Friends of Canadian Cyclocross Racers raising funds
The Friends of Canadian Cyclo-cross Racers (FCCR) is asking the cycling community to visit their page and help send funds to the men and women who represent Canada at the World Cyclocross Championships. The race will be held January 26-27 in Treviso, Italy.

Riders must cover their own expenses for airfare, accommodations and meals while at the race. The FCCR hopes to offset some of that cost by collecting donations. For more information, visit www.cyclocrossontario.com/fccr.