NORBA racers take on Schweitzer
Last year, after Geoff Kabush won a National Off-Road Bicycling Association (NORBA) National Mountain Bike Series event, he took the podium wearing a suit jacket, dress pants, trucker hat and a mullet wig.
In the process, Kabush proved it is still possible to be one of the best in your sport while still maintaining a sense of humor.
Kabush, along with NORBA’s top riders, will be at Schweitzer this weekend for the fourth stop on NORBA’s National Mountain Bike Series. The series features competitions in cross country, mountain biking’s Olympic-sanctioned sport, short-track cross country, marathon, downhill and super downhill.
Although Kabush, a 28-year-old Canadian, doesn’t lead the NORBA cross-country standings (that distinction goes to American Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski), he will be a favorite after the recent run he’s had.
He finished third in June in Quebec at the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Cup event, and followed up that last weekend by finishing second in another World Cup event at Angel Fire Resort in northern New Mexico.
“My racing’s kind of gone to the next level recently,” Kabush said. “It’s been really nice to have some top results in the World Cup events.”
Europeans typically dominate the international world of cross-country mountain biking, taking the top eight spots in the Athens Olympics. NORBA events generally draw the best in North America.
“There’s a couple North Americans that are coming on,” Kabush said, mentioning Horgan-Kobelski and 24-year-old American Adam Craig, who is third in NORBA cross-country standings. “It’s good to see some of the top North Americans making a push toward the top of the international races as well.”
Last year, Kabush had a great NORBA season, winning the series title, but struggled during Olympic qualifiers and missed making the two-man Canadian Olympic team.
“My big goal last year was to try to make the Olympics,” Kabush said. “Every race I did last year was great except for Olympic qualifiers. It was a big disappointment, but it was kind of a blessing too.”
Kabush did make the 2000 Olympic team, finishing ninth in Sydney as a precocious 23-year-old after surprising many by making the team.
“It was kind of a lifelong goal for me that kind of came really quickly,” Kabush said. “I wasn’t even considered one of the top six Canadians. It was pretty special to go down to a race like that, it kind of all came together just in time.”
Kabush got into mountain biking growing up in Victoria, British Columbia, getting really serious about the sport the summer after he graduated from high school. He did a lot of running and played basketball and soccer, but found the lifestyle and training for mountain biking more fun.
He’s beginning to peak, as evidenced by his NORBA title last year, and the last pair of podium finishes in UCI events.
“It’s an endurance sport, so it takes a lot of time to progress,” said Kabush, who has been able to finally devote himself full time to the sport after graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Victoria.
At Schweitzer last year, Kabush finished second in the cross-country event and first in the short-track event, a condensed version of the cross-country events, which take around two hours to complete.
“It’s a great course for me,” Kabush said. “I had some mechanical problems in the cross country last year. I definitely want to come back and try to win it this year. I’ve got a lot of confidence.”
If he wins, he won’t guarantee the return of “Deaner,” the hockey-haired star of the movie “Fubar,” on whom Kabush’s podium outfit is designed.
“We’ll see,” he said. “Deaner’s gotten a little too popular. It’s too hard to do this long term if you’re not having fun.”