Cyclocross is a sport where being quick between bike and feet can make a big difference. It can mean closing a gap on a set of stairs, or watching your competition power away if you’re slow to remount. So it’s no surprise that Michael van den Ham has transitioned from elite racer to national coach in a matter of days.
Just last week, the multi-time Canadian men’s national champion raced B.C. provincial champs. Not long before that, he was at the peak of his season racing Pan American cyclocross continental championships in Montana.
I think there was a few days after Pan Am’s where I was thinking, “Am I really not racing nationals?” van den Ham admits. “It was just tough to wrap my head around that. But I’ve come to terms with that.”
On Friday, while those he raced against all fall are preparing to battle for a title he once held (well, held four times), van den Ham has already off the bike and hit the ground running. He started his first weekend as part of Cycling Canada’s cyclocross coaching team leading a course recon session with a big group of junior and under-17 racers that had assembled in Victoria’s Layritz Park for the weekend’s racing.
At provincials, van den Ham shared the podium with local Vancouver Island title contender, Evan Russell. The Giant-Easton racer-turned-coach said that extra weekend between the height of his season and his first national coaching gig made the transition easier.
“I raced provincials and I think that was enough,” van den Ham says. “I’m happy to be on the sideline and involved in a different way,” he continued, adding, “It helped, maybe, that Evan sort of crushed me.”
Before he’s on the sidelines completely, van den Ham spent Friday between the tape leading his junior and U17 guided pre-ride. Along with him was Sandra Walter, leading a sizable women’s group, and also recently retired national mountain bike Olympian Peter Disera.
“It’s partly to get everyone to see the course,” van den Ham says of the ride. “But it’s also a really good chance for a lot of people who don’t otherwise get to interact with a national team coach or with high level athletes like Peter and Sandra.”
It’s not just a technical focus, though. As someone who came from the prairies, outside Canada’s cycling powerhouse provinces, a national championship can be an intense environment to jump into for young racers. Softening that transition is the clinics second goal.
“It’s just a good chance to meet people and feel more comfortable in this environment. Because it can be pretty intimidating. Like, I was a kid from Manitoba. You show up at something like Nationals and your sort of trying to figure out what’s going on, what do I do, I don’t know anyone. So we’re trying to make that a little bit more comfortable.”
If there’s one racer that is especially gifted at making new riders feel welcome, it is Sandra Walter. It was no surprise that the Liv Canada athlete had a huge crowd of young women surrounding her for the course preview. Even local Tripleshot coach, LIster Farrar, tagged along with the group of his athletes taking part in the clinic.
“I like my riders to hear things from other riders and from other coaches. The language is different sometimes, and it might be just enough for them to get it. And I especially like that they have a woman coaching the girls,” Farrar says of Walter, adding that it’s not just the athletes that can benefit. “I wanted to hear how she talks to the girls, because I think I could always learn from that.”
As for what the first piece of advice van den Ham will be giving all the new athletes is? The new coach is keeping it simple.
“Just enjoy it. It’s bike racing. You’ve done all the training to get to this point. Once you’re on the start line all you can do is race your bike.”
