A chat with Ryan Trebon
Ryan Trebon recently won the US national cyclo cross championships in Kansas City, MO and is currently spending several weeks in Europe to race a lot of high-profile cross races. The 6'5" Corvallis, OR resident had a few words with slowtwitch.
ST: Congrats on winning that US National Championships. Do you feel taller wearing the stars and stripes jersey?
Ryan: I don’t know if it is possible for me to get any taller. It is nice to win that one race and I very much take it seriously being the national champion. But at the end of the day that is what Kona pays me to do, win bike races.
ST: Talk about how the rest of the cross season has been going for you so far?
Ryan: Oh! That’s a tough one. Right after nationals I flew to Belgium and have been racing ever since. First two races didn’t really go so well, but my legs are feeling very good and I am hoping that the last 4 races I will have something to show for it. It is hard over here. Everything has to click for you to have a good race. And sometimes putting the pieces of the puzzle together isn’t so easy.
ST: From your experience racing cross in Europe, what have you learned?
Ryan: That those dudes are FAST! It is not a huge difference, but it is enough to where they get 15sec of recovery and I am at my limit then they punch it again and it is all I can do to hang on sometimes. The gap is narrowing between the US riders and the rest, but it is still a bit. I can compete and race with the best of them, just not at every race. That’s what makes someone like Sven Nys impressive. He is always at the front no matter if they are sandy races, hilly races or muddy races. He is good. But each year I come back here I learn more and more about how to make things work for myself. There are only a few small pieces that I need to work on.
ST: Does cross racing in the US even compare?
Ryan: Not really, it is getting better though but the courses are different. Most of the races we do in the US are usually on manicured grass courses, here in Europe they are just in some random field and they are soooo bumpy. I like how much more difficult the courses are here, really makes you have to be good at handling your bike to do well. The US cross is improving every year, promoters, racers, spectators everything is stepping up a notch. Hopefully things continue to improve.
ST: What is your favorite race course?
Ryan: I really liked the Zolder WC this year even though I sucked ass at it. I tend to like races that are technical and sandy but you still have to pedal hard.
ST: How friendly are the top guys guys like Sven Nys, Lars Boom and Bart Wellens etc?
Ryan: Vervecken is probably the friendliest to me and I guess the others I just don’t know so well. They pretty much do their thing at the race and I do mine so there isn’t much interaction between us.
ST: Do you hang you with any of the Europeans or do you mostly spend time with Americans when over there?
Ryan: Most of the time with the other Americans I am traveling with, but over the years I have made some very good friends with some Belgians over here that I keep in contact with throughout the year.
ST: Talk about the food and spectators in Europe.
Ryan: The food is what it is, you always prefer the food you are used to and Belgium is definitely not known for its cuisine! But you can get by for 1-2 months at a time anywhere, so we just make do with what we got. The spectators are pretty funny, they definitely have their favorite riders that they cheer for and no one else, or maybe they just aren’t cheering when I go by. (who knows) I think it is about 50-50 cheers and heckling I get at the races.
ST: If you had to pick either mountain biking or cross racing and you had to give up the other, which one would you choose and why?
Ryan: I would never give up cross racing, I just love it. It suits my talents more and I really just enjoy racing it. I do like the mountain biking, but cross just feels better to me for some reason.
ST: Do you have any words of wisdom for people who might consider racing cross?
Ryan: No words of wisdom just get out there and try it. Ok well, maybe one bit of advice. Try letting some air out of your tires, I never run more than 31psi. It is amazing what difference a few pounds of pressure makes.
ST: How much road riding/racing are you doing these days?
Ryan: I do a fair bit of road racing in the summer. Luckily in Oregon we have some great high level road races in the Mt. Hood cycling classic and the Cascade classic. So I don’t have to travel all over the US to get the road racing stimulus I am looking for. Most of my racing during the summer though is on the MTB with Kona.
ST: What other sports do you enjoy?
Ryan: I do a fair bit of XC skiing and snowboard in the winter but my off-season is short. Does car racing count?
ST: Well, what car racing do you like?
Ryan: Any type, I just like the sound of a high strung internally combusted engine running through its gears.
ST: What is your athletic background?
Ryan: Don’t really have one. I have been racing bikes since I was 14yrs old, and played some soccer in high school in my younger years. But I have been riding the bike for a long time now.
ST: Define a hard training week for us.
Ryan: Well, you know that always depends on what’s going on. Right now we are racing 6 times in 2 weeks, so mostly its just keeping sharp during the week with shorter more intense workouts. I am the kind of person that really benefits and needs to do more hours than most people. For some reason I always feel sharper for a race if I do at least a 4hr ride the day or 2 days before. During August is when I put the most amount of both volume and intensity into the training to get ready for the CX season.
ST: What do you do to overcome a disappointing race?
Ryan: Not very much actually. As much as I would like to, I know I can’t win every race. Some days you are good and some days you are bad. It is when you get a block of 3-4 weeks when you are just riding like crap that it starts to bother me.
ST: How are things going for you in terms of sponsorship?
Ryan: I am excited to be with Kona again for 2 more years. It will be 7yrs after this contract is up. That’s a long time with one program. But I really enjoy the company and all the employees are awesome people. Plus they make some of the best bikes around and they are as far from corporate as possible.
ST: Do you even have an off-season?
Ryan: I do, I usually don’t do much in Feb. Which is good, because that is when all the good snow storms happen in Bend, OR (where I live) and the skiing is good. But it just makes those first couple of races in March hard when everyone has been training for months and I have been for like 5 days as the case was last year.
ST: Do you follow any other sports?
Ryan: Mostly just cycling. Even if I wasn’t a pro cyclist I would still ride bikes and be a fan of the sport. It’s an amazing sport I think.
ST: Can you share with us some of your food likes and dislikes?
Ryan: I love toast, ask anyone who knows me. That’s all I want for breakfast, toast and coffee. Good coffee though, like the stuff from Stumptown in Portland OR. Other than that I will eat pretty much anything. Can’t beat Thai food though.
ST: What is your music taste?
Ryan: Most people would probably say bad!!!
ST: What was the last book you read?
Ryan: “A long way gone” memoirs of a boy solider. Pretty good read
ST: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Ryan: Hopefully still wearing this CX national champs skinsuit, or another one that has different kind of stripes on it.
ST: Is there anything else we should know about you?
Ryan: I am not always as grumpy as I appear to be! Well that’s not true, I probably am.
