University student makes career of spinning wheels
By Pat Malach
Emerald Editor
As a professional cyclist, Karl Maxon
has competed in some of the world's
toughest races, including the Tour of
Spain and Giro d'ltalia He has raced
with and against the liest cyclists in the
world.
Even so, some of the stillest competi
tion the 32-year-old University senior
has faced may tie in his business school
classes,
"People ant like sharks in those class
es." he said. "You should see 'em
They're so competitive "
Out if Maxon attacks his studies with
the same veracity he uses on race
courses, he should have nothing to wor
ry ulxnit.
"It's that new challenge." he said "I
just love it. I'm (ratin' it alive "
Maxon has had little problem taking
on challenges in his cycling career,
which began in lVtfll after he developed
a foot injury from long-distance running
He began riding his bike as a means to
continue training
“They stuck me on a bike to rehabili
tate me, to keep me going." he said. "I
found that j could still keep progressing
physically without getting an injury in
my calf or whatever."
Maxon met with immediate success
his first year of racing with the Eugene
Cycling Club and decided it was time to
move on.
"I was so green — really naive," he
said. "After the first year of cycling in
'Bl, silly me. I had a lot of race results
from the Northwest so 1 sent off letters to
all those big teams.”
One of those letters went to Mike Neel,
whose credentials now include manag
ing the 7-Eleven and Spago teams At the
time, Neel didn’t have a spot on his own
team, but one of his riders had backed
out on a deal to ride for a French ama
tour team
"He says, Well can you no'' And I’m
like*, 'uh. uh. uh. yeah." Maxon said
That was in 1982 In !uh:! Greg Le
inonci took second in the World Ghampi
unship Road Race, hut there? were not
many Americans ra< mg the European
scone
"It was pretty wild." Maxon said "I
didn't know anything, and Franco is like
the bastion of cycling tradition It was
like snicker, snic ker It was kind of like?
'show me what you can do.' and then
show mo again and again
In 1084 Maxon signed with the Italian
pro team Linen ML) Italia
While racing in Europe, he competed
in the Tours of Spain and Italy and rode
most of the major one day < lassie x
Maxon said one classic he never rode in.
or even wanted to ride in. was the Fans
Koubaix, also called the "Hell of the
North .” Paris Koubaix is a nearly 2txi
mile Belgian spring classic famous ior its
mud and tiono tarring cobblestones
"Only two guys from our team got sent
to that," Maxon said We were |ust s.i\
ing 'no. no ' Just the' Belgians wanted to
go, so we said. 'Go up there Go die?
Have fun ' "
Maxon said he had about to top-10
finishes and siivicr.il top 10 finishes rac
ing as a pro in Europe
In 1080, while riding with the U S
team Ten-Speed Drive, Maxon won the
National Championship in the -to kilo
meter individual time trial and was a
member of the team time trial National
Championship scpi.id
Maxon signed with the French pro
team Fagor in 1987, but he returned to
Ten-Speed Drive in 1988 and rode his
way to an impressive seventh-place fin
ish at the CoreStates U S Pro Champion
ships in Philadelphia, finishing ahead of
notable IJ.S rac ers such as Andy Hump
sten
Riding for the Subaru/Montgomery
team In 1989, Maxon competed in the
Tour do Trump, where he watched a
C-tx****? pr«MO
Karl Ms ton (left) if Hanked by Yvon Waddel ol learn Evian as ha climbs a hill during a
stage ol the 1991 Gaston Grand Prit Tour ol While Rock in Quebec City. Quebec
"doughboy" Greg Lemond get dropped
from the field almost every day of the
race lust two months later, Lemond had
dropped the extra weight along with all
his competitors on his wav to winning
his second l our de France
Maxon currently rides for team
.Sachs/Ii'ila-(QKBC) and has cut the num
ber of races he competes in from about
100 to 1 f» a year so he < an com entratc on
getting a degree in at counting
Maxon says the larger teams with hig
budgets have taken the fun out of the
U.S cycling circuit
"The racing has gotten a lot slower in a
lot of ways." he said, "it's gotten a lot
more negative where It's just reactive
rather than pro active That's why I end
ed up going bur k to school It's gotten
boring
"Somuone will kmil of h.illw.iv toll oil
tin' front." In- said, "and then you get HI
guys putting tliolr timki's on in lln> cor
nor. You can't light your was to thu front
through 20 guys It's hard to fight that
with .1 smaller teani
So now Maxon has made it .1 priority
to tight Ins way to llm Iron! of Ins i lass
os.
"I'm (list here to learn and have a good
time while I'm learning," he said "It's
really, really neat to put in your time,
and you study hard and everything, and
you get results It's so cool You finish
your term and you move on."
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