Being a professional interloper has its definite advantages. Earlier this year I got to do a little road bike pedaling with none other than reigning professional downhill world champion, Gee Atherton, his brother Dan, another UK downhill honch, Dan Stanbridge, and the man who keeps so many TdF riders in fresh Oakleys, Steve Blick.

We set out on a ride up Highway 1 out of Santa Cruz, so that we could ride the last climb(s) and descent(s) of the Tour of California stage that was set to finish in our town a couple of weeks later. Blick, of course, brought his A-game office chair fitness, I had my Triple-A beach-sitting fitness, and so the downhillers proceeded to unload a heaping helping of hurt on us.

But the funny thing is that while Blick and I were rocking some proper road cycling attire and sparkly clean bikes -- well his bike was clean anyway -- our training partners were a complete gong show. First, there was the issue of helmets. After the Atherton's sister Rachel crashed head-first into a car a few days before, the brothers made sure to sport their dirt-jumper helmets. That was perhaps only topped by their Great Britain long-sleeve skin suits. And if those two things weren't amazing enough, they ran downhill shoes and great, huge clip-in platform pedals.

As we rolled out of town Blick leaned over and laughed, "No one would believe us if we told them that these guys are some of the most talented bike riders in the world. This is hilarious."



As if from habit formed by years of riding in the laughing group, when the climbing started I slid off the back our our group and started looking for the team cars. Wishful thinking.

After what seemed like forever, I made it to the top where the dudes were waiting. Finally we were going to be able to point the bikes down. Not to mention the fact that I was going to get to ride downhill, side-by-side with pro downhillers. But in what seemed as off to me as I am sure my complete suckiness on the climb seemed to them, we were going slow on the descent. And when I say slow, I mean slow.

So I went to the front so that I could let go of the brakes. I mean seriously, if we'd all been riding tubulars, someone might have melted all of the glue and rolled a tire off the rim.

The descent back into Santa Cruz has basically two parts to it, so when we got to the first "step" I slowed down a bit. To my surprise, the dudes were off the back and it was me who did the waiting this time.

What I'd forgotten is that the lines these guys see and take when they are warping down a World Cup course is constantly changing and much more dynamic than what we are used to on the road. Whereas on the road there is really only one good line -- the straightest one -- in mountain biking that line might not always be the straightest or most obvious.

For the second part of the descent, I was no longer able to leave anyone behind --though I did still get to lead.

Next weekend is the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Canberra, Australia. Good luck to Gee in the DH, Dan in the 4-cross, and also to my amigo Adam Craig, who will be representing the US in the cross-country event.

The next time that you are feeling cocky about your own bike-handling skills, think about the video below. I can't even imagine how long Gee would have needed to wait for me at the bottom of that downhill.