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05/11/2008
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Shaums March has got to be one of the greatest assets to mountain biking. He is a true competitor with skills to spare but his passion extends to all facets of our sport.
When I was racing in California I remember Shaums had qualified last in the dual slalom so in his first heat he was racing the fastest competitor. But the entire crowd was chanting "Shaums, Shaums, Shaums…." Win or lose Shaums March is always the most popular racer on course. His personality combined with insanely progressive skill keeps him the rider everyone is watching year after year.
Last year you decided to ride and race less seriously, attending only races you wanted, but seemed to have one of your best seasons so far. How does that work?
For me, no pressure makes me work harder and that works to my advantage. I believe for most riders the fun aspect is where your best riding comes from and remembering that is when you are at your best. Things become more flowy and fluid rather then trying to push things too hard - I think it's one of those Pandora's boxes for myself. The key was to let myself go and not trying to hold on so much to focusing, and understanding - to just ride. And then figure out where I can go faster and not stress myself out thinking I had to push it from the very beginning.
So what are your plans for this year?
My plans are to really jump on with Norco and help them with their bikes, as
well as, doing camps, racing the BC cups, and a few of the Canada cups. Plus
I am going to start cutting back on the NORBA nationals. I'll be doing a lot
of coaching, I just got the official word that I am going to be the junior national
team coach for Canada, and so I am excited about that. I'll also be working
with BCCA to help the junior riders; we have two pre-season camps and, at all
the BC cups I'll be working with the downhillers and the cross-country guys.
I am really excited about being recognized and, as you know, I have been doing my camps for four and a half years and I haven't even been advertising. It's all been word of mouth, which I like, because you get the real riders and they aren't just there cuz Mom wants to send them there. It's been really good and I have gotten a lot of great results from the students I've been coaching. People have seen that the kids and the people I have been working with really excel within the industry. I'd love to get the business set up a bit better so I can make some money and support a team soon. It's one of my goals, to run a team, even if it's just a coaching team. I think that would be really cool.
I think everyone is scared of Shaums March trained riders so that should be a force to be reckoned with. Any time a kid rolls up in Shaums trailer, everyone knows they are about to see the time of the day, or the second fastest time of the day if you are racing!
Hahaha…..really? That's funny.
Can I venture to ask why the switch from Chumba Wumba to Norco. I think you were synonymous with Chumba for so long people are wondering why the switch?
Well Chumba has great bikes but is a really small company and they are struggling in an industry with a lot of big guys. Because he's such a small company, he can't afford to give out frames and he only makes a couple hundred anyhow. Doing a team is very costly and takes time away from him making bikes. I put three years in hoping that I could be part of Chumba and part of the business and working with him but on the other hand it's not my company so I can't tell him what to do and he wasn't willing to open it up and he is toning it down to just sponsor a few people with frames and that's it. He offered me a frame deal and I need more then that. It's not enough.
I can understand that…
Ya, so I am not saying Chumba's bad. He's a great guy. In fact, I just went down there for a visit and I am still going to be working with him because I believe the bike works. However, I believe Norco's work too now that I am on their newest bike…um….the measurements from a Norco to a Chumba are really close so I am excited about that. And actually Norco has got a better range of sizes for people. The only thing that Chumba just can't keep up with is keeping the product out there. He doesn't do any advertising, and he can't really sponsor a whole bunch of grassroots people. So Norco might possibly take Chumba's market maybe because I am on that bike now. I hope that I will have a whole bunch of Norco riders now. It will be fun to go to the Norco factory and be part of whatever Norco puts together because they are a big company. They are a rider's company, they work with everybody……..(we lose Shaums through a tunnel)
Hello?
Hello!
I think it's working again
Yup, testing five, six, seven, eight…
So you're living in Squamish now, and better yet, Canada. How is that treating you coming from Cali?
It differs in many ways, the biggest difference is not having all my friends around, the people I have been friends with for years. I've got new groups of friends that are different and it's a different atmosphere. I definitely like it but still trying to find where my niche is with friends and that. The weather is another factor.
Yeah, it's a lot colder
Colder and the rainy months, it's not like it's a couple days of rain like in California. Here you'll get a full on three weeks of rain straight. So that's definitely different, but it's not intolerable cuz I travel so much.
In all it's like stepping into the past. I have to slow down my California rush mentality but other then that it's good. It's sometimes lonely without my wife, but like guys who compensate with big trucks, I buy toys. I got two different motorcycles now, two different toy trucks, dirt jumps in the backyard, and six different mountain bikes. I just keep adding up the toys.
So do you maintain two residences, or did you move it all up to Canada?
I still have another residence down there but I have all the major stuff up here. I basically have a closet and a bed down there. I bring a bag when I am down and bring it home when I leave.
 All right, let's switch it up a bit, what do you think about the direction mountain biking has been going in the last few years?
I think that it's good. I think that it is a stumbling block for the whole industry
because they don't know where it's going but I think that's good because it
is not just race focused. Now it's an actual mentality, a lifestyle, and it's
different and it's what you want it to be. It's not just about racing and that's
the great thing about it, we can't just do races, we've got to do more than
that, we have to have an event, and maybe throw in some races. More of a freeride
or a festival.
Let's talk about your camps now.
The camps are a big undertaking right now. Especially now that I am getting going to be the junior national team coach. But, I am going to try to minimize it for myself. Yes, I will be the coach. Yes, I will run the team. But, I am going to do a lot of delegating. For cross country I need to find out if I can see their weaknesses or make sure Susan Demaite can see them. I'll have her assess them as well and I'll work with everyone's technical skills.
So you will be busy with that, are you still doing Mad March Racing as well?
It will be around in full effect but I'll also be teaming with other camps around here on the west coast. I have the Tantalus bike academy, which I am working with, and the Corridor club. As well, Mike Jones from Norco and I are going to put together something.
Quite a few different things going on but I'll be there at all the BC cups arriving a couple days early so I can still ride with people. We will be doing training and we have cameras now to do filming and analysis of everyone's riding. We have been doing it here in the backyard and it's been working great. A lot of private camps go on as well during the week where you get a discount of $10 off for a weekday.
So as the sport progresses do you think we'll see some more technical mountain bike coaches arise?
As more and more coaches appear we can get a standardized coaching curriculum. That is one thing Cycling BC and I are working on. We are hoping to implement a curriculum and a manual for these kids.
Do you think it's worth looking at snowboarding or other competitive freestyle sports for guidance?
That's what we are actually doing. We are taking a look at skiing and the basics of it seem to work well.
So where do you think mountain biking is at right now?
I think it's at a pretty good lull with racing and bikes but I think it's going to pick up. I think we'll see a lot more groups and clubs and more local events. I mean gas prices are going up, why not jump on a bike?
It might become just like in skiing too; you'll get lessons to start then learn to ski for the rest of your life. Basic mountain bike camps, like at Whistler, are great. It's what everybody likes. I have lots of people start in those camps and once they are done them and they hit another plateau, then they come to me. I am getting a lot of the women's Sugoi dirt camp series participants e-mailing me now. Also, from Shandro and Schley's camps I am starting to get a lot of interest cuz they want to get better. Those camps are group atmosphere and general skills. I teach more one on one technical skill. Coming to me is a little more advanced. I do basic stuff here in Squamish, because if you can learn to ride around here you can ride anywhere in the world.
So, at what major events should we look for you and your camps?
Redbull events, BC cup events, and a few different mountains are interested. Should be great!
So how do we contact you for camps?
www.madmarchracing.com
Shaums March will be running a camp in Kamloops during the week before nationals.
This is a not-to-miss race camp! The Bicycle Café team was blessed to have the
opportunity to attend a Mad March Camp at Sunpeaks and we learned skills we
even didn't know we were missing. Contact his site or cheryl@bicyclecafe.com
for details.
Cheryl Beattie is a regular contributor to nsmb.com and the manager of Bicycle
Café in Kamloops.
Photos courtesy of Greg Descantes, Ping, Cam and Cheryl. Front
page photo from www.madmarchracing.com
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