Downhill skill
By Todd Dewey
View staff writer
Corey Lewis is one of the top mountain bike downhill racers in the country.
He placed in the top five at three national events last year to qualify to turn pro if he chooses. At 16, the Green Valley High School junior would be the youngest pro downhiller in the nation.
Lewis is one of only seven junior (18 and younger) downhill racers in the country to be invited to the 2000 Mountain Bike World Championships Preparation Camp from May 21-25 in Big Bear, Calif. At the camp, Lewis will train alongside the professional cross country and downhill racers on the United States national team and will fight for a spot in the Mountain Bike World Championships, which will be in Spain from June 3-11.
The USA Cycling Foundation coaches will select three male juniors to represent the United States at the world championships. Randy Lewis, Corey's father, coach and fellow mountain biker, expects his son to be selected.
"What they're looking for is the strongest, most consistent junior," he said. "I strongly believe Corey will be one of the three they choose to go up there. All the training he puts in is pretty amazing. If he doesn't crash or injure himself, he'll be there."
Corey Lewis carries a 3.2 grade-point average, works and is a youth leader in his church when he's not flying 10 feet in the air off jumps and dropping 6 feet off ledges as he flies down mountains at speeds of more than 40 mph.
And he would like nothing more than to represent his country.
"I'm praying; I'm hoping God is on my side on this one," Corey Lewis said. "I'd be so happy, knowing you get to represent your country in another country and get to show people who you are and what you're about."
Randy Lewis said his son could contend for a world title.
"He doesn't expect to win the worlds this year, but next year he'll be 17 and he expects to win the worlds because they're (in the United States) in Aspen, Colo.," he said.
Corey Lewis, who stands 6 feet, 4 inches tall and weighs 205 pounds, has only been racing for three years. He competed in mountain bike cross country races for a year before discovering the more exciting downhill event.
"I took second at my first race and it just got me hooked -- the speed and your body powering something and racing against others," he said. "It was a totally different atmosphere. Cross country racers are all uptight, and the downhill racers are all cool. It's like a family."
Corey Lewis has quickly become one of the top junior downhillers in the country, although he's competing mostly against 18-year-olds.
"I figured I'd probably get my butt kicked and hopefully get better eventually," he said. "But it turned out I was actually pretty good at it."
Randy Lewis is impressed with his son's quick ascent.
"Being in the top 10 in the U.S. in anything is an accomplishment," he said. "Especially doing it at 16 when no other racer is under 18."
Corey Lewis, who competes in all of the National Off Road Mountain Biking Association (NORBA) races, is the top junior in the country at dual slalom racing and is one of the top five at downhill.
"This season, I'd like to move up in the downhill and finish in the top three (overall)," he said. "And I hope to go to worlds and get a top 10. Next year is what I'm really shooting for, though, because the world championship is in Colorado and that's the goal: to win (the world championship there). I've had that goal for the last two years. I'm going to train and do sprint after sprint."
Corey Lewis, who will compete in the first of five national events May 18-21 at Snow Summitt in Big Bear, Calif., lifts weights five days a week, does interval sprints straight uphill two or three days a week and also embarks on long bike rides.
"I go do a 60- to 70-mile ride once a week, and if I have time, I'll do a hard 30-mile ride that's just intense," he said.
Like in skiing, mountain bike downhillers ride a chair lift to the top of the run and then sprint down the mountain over some treacherous terrain.
"They try to put you through the gnarliest stuff they can come up with," Randy Lewis said. "The trails can have a little bit of everything. Sometimes you traverse ski slopes or go through the woods and tree stumps. It definitely falls in the category of extreme sports."
Like slalom skiing, the downhill is a timed event. It also features a jump near the finish line that sends bikers soaring more than 10 feet in the air. The dual slalom pits two bikers against each other as they race around poles down the mountain.
Corey Lewis won two dual slalom national races and placed in the top five in the other three events to finish first in the country last year.
While cross country racers rely mainly on endurance, downhillers rely more on strength.
"A lot of people give downhillers a reputation as slackers compared to cross country," Corey Lewis said. "But (downhillers) have to have the willingness to train or you won't have the strength to get down the mountain. You've got to be in good condition and be willing to train many hours.
"You've also got to be pretty fearless. You've got to push the edge. You're going over rocks and stuff at 35 to 40 mph."
Corey Lewis said he plans to turn pro eventually, but he's not sure when.
"That's my goal; I want to turn pro," he said. "And I want to qualify to go to World Cup races. Someday maybe I could even be a national champion. But that's a couple of years down the line. Being only 16, I've got a couple of years to go."
Corey Lewis said he may turn pro this summer if he dominates the junior national events.
"If there's no competition in my class, I'll move to the pro class because I want as much competition as possible," he said. "If it's easy, there's no point in doing it."
Top pros could make hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, but Corey Lewis said he's not in it for the money.
"As long as you've got enough to put food on the table, who cares about the money?" he said. "We want to have fun. I love mountain biking; it's my life."
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