by Jason Gay

Photos Courtesy www.timjohnson.missingsaddle.com

U.S. National Cyclocross Champion Tim Johnson can’t quit riding his bike. Between his domestic road racing with Heath-Net Maxxis (recently rechristened OUCH Presented by Maxxis) and his cyclocross racing (with Cyclocrossworld.com-Cannondale), he’s seldom seen walking around on his own two feet. That’s probably why Johnson, 31, is one of the most respected U.S. riders, and why it also makes sense that he’s married to another national champion: Canada’s indefatigable Lyne Bessette.

When Velocity Nation first got in touch with Johnson a couple weeks ago, he was hurting – off the bike with a bum knee courtesy of a waltz with a wooden post at the Mercer Cup. But what a difference a few weeks made: this past weekend, TJ won his first race back – Day One of the USGP finale weekend in Portland, Oregon. Yesterday, he finished third in Portland to clinch the overall USGP series for the year. Not bad for a guy who took nearly a month off between races. Now it’s on to the National Championships in Kansas City — a race Johnson won last year.

1. First up, what happened a few weeks ago in the mud at Mercer? You had a big win on Day One, but got banged up enough that you had to skip Day Two.

Midway through Saturday’s race I crashed into a wooden stake that marks the course. It wasn’t much of a crash except for the fact that I nailed my kneecap directly on the stake and it seemed to take all of the impact in that one spot. It hurt like hell but still functioned alright, so I kept going. I was in the lead at that point and it wasn’t really in the cards to give up. That night, after the race, it swelled up and the puncture wound that I got didn’t do very well. It was jammed with mud and the swelling was pretty heavy. I tried to ride on Sunday morning to loosen it up, but there was no way I could race. I had a hard enough time pedaling around in a circle.

2. That weekend at Mercer was pretty muddy as far as East Coast cross goes. You seem to thrive under those conditions. Why is that?

I dig riding in the mud. It’s like being 10 years old again, except now there are people on the side of the course cheering for me.

3. What’s the best advice for handling that kind of mud?

The most important piece of advice would be to keep the power on, but not too hard so you blow to smithereens. Keeping the bike, and yourself, moving forward can help make the mud somewhat manageable but it’s a constant battle. Some basic tips would be to pick your head up and keep looking far up the trail in anticipation of what needs to happen next; more power, changing ruts/lines, resting before a severe section etc.

4. How are you feeling about your 2008 cyclocross season?

Overall, I’m really happy with the way my season has gone this year. I came into it worried about being tired from the road season, but winning my 2nd race of the year in Seattle put that fear to rest pretty fast. CrossVegas, which was my 3rd race of the year went great as well. I’ve been pretty consistent, save for Louisville day 1, and had started to really ride well just about the time I crashed in NJ.

5. What is the relationship like between yourself and guys like Ryan Trebon and Todd Wells, and your teammates Jeremy Powers and Jeremy Driscoll. Week in and out, you guys are duking it out ahead of the field.

We definitely leave it all out on the course. Our sport is pretty small and we’re all battling for the same podium spots each week so it’s tough to not land on one of the steps. The competition is pretty fierce, we may get into it with each other here and there, but we’re all good friends off the bike. I have a great deal of respect for the guys I race with and against.

6. Does it ever get heated out there? Fighting words?

We’ve had some tough times. Usually it’s when there are teammates involved and tactics become negative. I had to deal with Ryan and Barry [Wicks] on my own for years so I know how frustrating it can be when the odds aren’t in your favor. I think that Jeremy and I use the advantage we have pretty responsibly. It’s kind of like a superhero that uses his powers for good and not evil…we’ve never been THAT evil.

7. Trebon seems like a pretty low-key guy. Tell us something most people don’t know about him.

Low-key? I disagree. He’s a pretty high strung guy when it comes to his results on the bike. He’s pretty impressive when he’s got everything clicking and that’s not someone I like to line up against. He takes his training and preparation seriously. You may not know that Jeremy and I handwashed his rental car last year at a World Cup in France. He didn’t even say ‘Thank You’ yet. That bothers me.

8. Last year you won nationals – was that a big goal for the year and how satisfying was that win?

That was pretty damn cool. I always try and make Nationals a goal of mine and it was as much of a shock than some kind of satisfaction that I actually the race. To do it 7 years after my first Elite title in the same city was pretty cool too.

9. Then you competed in the World Championships in Treviso, Italy. What was the most memorable part of that experience?

Most memorable experience of that trip would probably be the Mexican meal that Lyne cooked up in our RV during the long stretch between races in Belgium. The weekend that the rest of the world holds their National Championships is probably the hardest stretch for any visiting cross racer to last through. There aren’t any races for us, the weather is bound to be shit and all of the cool, interesting, and unique things about Belgium have been completely overshadowed by depression and overeating. Having Lyne toss together an ‘authentic’ Mexican meal in the parking lot of a movie theatre where we were going to watching a movie in ENGLISH was a godsend.

Wait, did you mean a memory of the race itself? Probably losing and regaining the lead group twice after crashing or more likely the hot laps I did with a video camera attached to my top-tube. Great shots.

10. Is the competition level really that much higher overseas?

I’d have to say that the competition at the Worlds is probably lower than at a Superprestige in Belgium. Some of the big ‘classics’ like Koppenburg or Asper-Gavere are bloodbaths. There are a lot more guys with a chance of a top-5 over there. You typically can’t have a mechanical or show up unmotivated and out of shape and have a chance of finishing well. Here in the states, your race isn’t over if you have some kind of issue on race day.

11. Do you miss your Cannondale 9-ball skinsuit from last year? That thing was insane. Who came up with that?

As sick as it sounds, sometimes I do miss that kit. I hadn’t seen the design until I pulled it out of a FedEx overnight box from China at Interbike. The Champion guys had made the thing, tossed it onto a plane and got it to me just in time for the race start. Needless to say I was pretty shocked, but I really didn’t have any choice. I’ve often tried to nail down the person responsible for that design, but I ran into all kinds of interference from within the office. I know that my other kits were designed by my longtime friend, training partner and now MTB Product Manager at Cannondale, Johs Huseby, but really, would a friend ever make me wear something like that?? No way I say. It must have been someone else, maybe Struve? Nah, he’s a friend too. Maybe someone else then…

12. How is your wife Lyne enjoying her retirement? We see she un-retired the other day….and finished second both days at Whitmore’s. Unreal.

From the couch to the podium, it was pretty crazy to see. She really hadn’t ridden a cross bike since last year but to say that she hadn’t been doing anything is a bit of a stretch. She’s someone that will be fit her whole life if she has anything to do about it. She’s always hiking, running, biking and torturing the dog on long runs. Nowadays she just makes sure that I’ve got a fresh Red Bull at the start line, otherwise I creep.

13. Why do you torture yourself with cyclocross? You put in a full season on the road…why not just kick back on the couch with beer and a bag of Fun’yuns?

I’d love nothing better. In sharp contrast to Lyne I can sit on the couch for an entire day and not have a single ounce of guilt about it. I ride bikes because I love it. I have some friends that I would consider professional cyclists and semi-professional trainers. They’re always doing some kind of crazy workout and going non-stop. In alot of ways it helps their riding, but in some ways it totally hampers it. I’m more of a ‘work hard when I work,’ but then chill the hell out when I’m not.

14. What is a total day off, veg-out day for you?

I like to make my mornings last as long as humanly possible. Lots of coffee and plenty of the newspaper and internet. Besides taking the dog for a walk at the beach, and spending a few hours on the phone, there’s not much going on.

15. Lets talk about transitioning from cross back to road. How much time do you take off, if any?

It shifts depending on the situtation. In ’07 for instance, I didn’t do very well going from Tour of Missouri straight into CrossVegas. I hadn’t kept the engine running hot in the week and half between and wound up feeling like 5 bucks in Vegas, instead of a million. This year, I took that lesson learned last year and went straight from the Tour into StarCrossed and the Rad Racing GP. I kept the legs going and wound up having 3 solid races and winning at Tacoma. The other side of the coin is when I went from Cross Worlds directly into my Health Net training camp. It was literally ‘race worlds on Sunday, Training Camp starts on Monday’. I was a zombie and in horrible shape mentally and physically. It took a few days of sleeping off the travel to start to feel human again. The Tour of California was only a couple weeks after camp ended, it turned out that my prep really wasn’t that great.

16. What sort of things do you begin incorporating into your training to prepare for road racing?

One of the benefits of racing a solid cross season is that my legs and my engine are used to the rhythm changes that define hard road racing. Usually, I need to work on being more efficient in handling the courses and speeds that come on the road bike. I can go like hell over and over again, but only for so long. My coach and I try and smooth out the peaks a bit to make sure that I can be there for my teammates in the 4th and 5th hours of a road race when the hammer goes down.

17. You’ve raced here and in Europe for many well known teams – Saturn, Saunier Duval, Jittery Joe’s, Health Net – what makes you come out and want to do it each year?

I guess that shock of waking up and realizing that I’m making a living riding a bicycle hasn’t quite worn off yet. It’s pretty simple for me, I love riding my bike and if someone is willing to pay me to do that, then I’m the happiest guy out there. Now with cyclocross growing so rapidly, I really feel like I have so much more to put into it. From my first cross race in 1995 in a field of 25 to racing the World Championships in front of 50,000 people and more on TV, it’s just something that’s inside me.

18. Your current team, Health Net-Maxxis, has a big sponsor change for 2009, and will be known as OUCH Presesented by Maxxis. How are you feeling about the team’s prospects for next season?

We’re going to be heading into 2009 with similar goals as in the past. We’re trying to win stages and place guys in GC at the biggest races, ToC, Philly Week and Missouri. In addition to that, we’re also trying to win races like Redlands, Gila, Mt. Hood and Cascade. We have guys that can sprint, climb and TT so any day we race, we’re all set on doing what we can to win.

19. Do you expect a little ribbing in the peloton with OUCH on the jersey?

You mean more than I’m already getting from my friends and family? Man, I hope not.

20. Ouch is also the Sports Medical Center in California that helped treat Floyd Landis’ hip, and Floyd is making his comeback with your team. Have you had any contact with Floyd, and what do you think people can expect from him this season?

I’ve known Floyd since we were both racing mtn bikes in the mid-nineties. He was pretty exceptional as a junior and young pro before he started to run out of steam but he was already legendary in the NorthEast. He’s obviously a seriously talented athlete and now that his body and hip is back in good shape, I think we’ll be seeing him wearing a leaders jersey or three this season.

21. As a longtime U.S. road racer how do you feel about Rock Racing? They’ve brought some new energy and a lot of cash to racing but they’ve also been unafraid to push people’s buttons and hire riders with troubled pasts.

Michael Ball has got his heart in the right place. He’s spending serious amounts of money on his team as well as adding some in for events as well. Cycling is hurting for more people like him to get into the sport whether it’s for marketing reasons or just because they love riding bikes themselves. Whether or not he ruffles some feathers isn’t really the issue as long as his overall impact continues to be beneficial.

22. How many pairs of Rock jeans do you own?

Ah shit.

23. You’re currently the best rider in the world from Massachusetts. Do is it fair to say you’re wicked awesome?

Wicked awesome is pretty sweet, but wicked pissah is even bettah.