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Cycle-Smart
Interview: Tim Johnson and Lyne Bessette
On 11/10/01,
John Verheul had a quiet dinner conversation with the Saturn/Timex couple
of Lyne Bessette and Tim Johnson, along with their pit man Stu Thorne
of Cyclocrossworld.com. Here's how it went.
JV: One room for all three of you [we are having a home-cooked meal in
their Days Inn hotel room]
LB: Ya
TJ: Oh yeah
JV: So, we're on the Saturn/Timex gravy train once again?
TJ: There is no gravy train.
JV: So Lyne, you won a cyclocross race today at noon, then you ran around
The course cheering for Tim, then when I called at 5:00 you were out for
a run. How far did you go?
LB: I just ran for 25 minutes because I didn't run this week, so I wanted
to start over again...slowly.
TJ: Did you run slowly?
LB: Ya, I did run slowly.
TJ: You didn't do any sprints?
LB: Nope, I didn't feel like it, I was thirsty.
JV: Alright Lyne, I have to ask the question everyone is going to be asking
you every day.
LB: Are you going to go to World's!!
JV: Yeah, well Hanka Kupfernagel is over there right now praying to any
god she can find that you don't.
LB: She doesn't know about me and what I'm thinking...
TJ: No, [when someone asks] are you going to World's: Yes. The answer
is always yes.
JV: We know you're going to World's to cheer for Tim, you probably already
have a ticket, but do you think you're going to ride or is this just fun
and "staying in shape?"
LB: I definitely think about racing at World's, of course. But I really
want to do it, if I decide to do it, because I *feel* like it. Right now
I don't feel like focusing exclusively on any one thing because I know
I have a long road season coming up next year, and I know that if I decide
today that I'm racing at World's then I have to start planning and training
right away.
TJ: So as to not have fun anymore?
LB: It's still going to be fun, but I'll be a little bit more stressed
about my form and what I eat. I'm having wine & cheese and good things
right now.
JV: What we're eating now is very French, it's euro-bike racer food. [Lyne
has cooked us some tasty grilled ham & cheese sandwiches to go with
an excellent 1999 Bordeaux]
LB: I don't eat that during the season. But you know, it would just make
me focus more when I have other big goals coming up.
TJ: My Christmas present...
LB: Your Christmas present? Yeah, that's a big goal definitely.
JV: At the race today [the UCI 1.3 Chameleon Cross in Lancaster, PA] we
had a bunch of young women at the race. We've had a surge of women getting
into the sport in the Mid-Atlantic region, and also up in New England,
and I saw a lot of them coming up to you and talking to you.
LB: Yeah, definitely.
JV: Is that really exciting for you?
LB: Yeah, they were really nice. I could see in their eyes they were really
excited about talking with me and asking me questions. They asked me to
get on a composite team with them for tomorrow's race. They were all excited
that I said yes.
JV: Who are you riding for, Wissahickon?
LB: Yeah, Thais da Silva's team. She got 5th today and 13th at Monkey
Hill. She's really strong, she's going to be good.
JV: She's only 16.
LB: The team is me, her, and Allie Warfel. Allie was a really good friend
of Nicole, raced with her on the track. I'm glad they asked me, I didn't
have any teammates for tomorrow.
JV: That's great. The other great thing is that you picked them, because
they are always outnumbered by the other women's teams [FSVS, Evolution,
and Snow Valley], so this will make them competitive.
TJ: Wissahickon, that's the name of the club, right?
JV: Yes. There's this great club vs. Club thing going on in the Mid-Atlantic,
friendly rivalry. It's great because you get clubs recruiting more riders
- especially women & juniors, which is what we need to build.
TJ: I saw the race flyer, it looked like a really cool idea. Something
different for 'cross.
JV: One of the really cool things about 'cross right now is that you can
hang with the top athletes after the race.
LB: I like the spirit of 'cross. I mean, I like road, but it's just more
relaxed and friendly. Not less serious, but it just depends which level
you're racing at. If I race in Europe, or a World Cup, that's serious.
The friendship is definitely different.
JV: You're still friendly, but there're jobs on the line?
LB: It's still friendly, but it's more competitive. But when I see Tim
and Gully being such good friends and racing together, it's really good.
JV: How can anyone not get along with Tim and Gully?
LB: I know. I'll know more about Gully because I'm staying with him in
Europe, and Stu. I hope I don't have to cook every day!
TJ: Don't worry about it, we'll take care of lunch. I'll clean your bike.
JV: Tim will make sure the TV stays tuned to the right channels.
TJ: That's Stuey's job, Eurosport.
JV: Do you guys know there's a big contingent from New England that's
planning on going over to Belgium to watch World's?
LB: Yeah? That's cool.
TJ: Well, it's so cheap to fly over there right now.
JV: It's not just that, it's that Belgium also happens to be like Mecca
for 'cross.
TJ: It is, but you know for Slovakia it took a couple different planes
to get there.
JV: I'm thinking of going, I have friends over there I can see, and they
have good beer over there- it'll be my off-season you know.
LB: They have good wine over there too! But I'll be more serious at that
time. The road season will be starting soon, so I'll be training.
JV: Tim, you won today, you hadn't won since Cummington, MA on September
23.
TJ: A looong time ago.
ST: [sarcastically] Yeah, the international race there.
JV: It got a write-up in Velo News. Decent field, all the New England
guys were there: Frankie, Svatek, Curt Davis, Johs was there.
TJ: It felt good to win. I'd been having a little confidence problem.
JV: You're wearing the stars & stripes jersey this year.
TJ: It's a little more pressure than I thought it would be. Pressure from
Within though.
JV: You had a pretty hard road season. Not hard in that it didn't go well,but
that you were working hard every week for the team. You had to go straight
into the 'cross season from there.
TJ: It was hard, but it will be better later on because I did all that
work. It feels good when I race.
JV: Are you going to get a complete break off the bike after the 'cross
season?
TJ: Yeah, I won't race again until the middle of April.
JV: That's great. Saturn is being really supportive then?
TJ: They are being awesome!
JV: Speaking of Saturn, the announcement is kind of out there that they
are going Division 3 next year [from Division 2 in 2001]. You still have
a contract with them, do you still see that as a good situation for you?
TJ: There's almost no difference at all. The only difference is if we
wanted to do Tour of Flanders or something. Any of the races we did last
year or the years before, we can still do them. So Division 3 isn't really
a big deal at all like people make it out to be.
JV: It's probably a status thing to fans, a team like Saturn will get
all the same starts in the US races though.
TJ: Yeah, we're not going to get cut out of any races. We'll still be
able to do the Peace Race and other races in Europe based on our previous
performances there.
JV: Absolutely, and here in the US you guys have taken it to Mercury this
year like no one thought you would.
TJ: Who?
JV: That other car company.
LB: Good answer.
JV: You said before the start of the 'cross season that your goal was
top-10 at World's, you were pretty public about that. You started off
great, you were a close second to the World Champion and UCI #2 Erwin
Vervecken at Gloucester two days in a row. How do you feel that's going,
do you feel like you're on track for that halfway through the US season?
TJ: Yeah. Trying to make a prediction like that is impossible, but as
an ultimate goal? Yeah. I think I'm still somewhat on that track, it's
going to be hard though. Bike racing is bike racing and it's tough to
win. World's is going to be a difficult situation because we have to start
at the back. If it were a race where you could camp out on the start line
to get front row,
Then I bet I could do OK. Top ten. Starting six rows, seven rows back
is going to make it almost impossible to have a top ten. It's such a fluke
race though, there could be a big pile-up and I could get a clear shot,
or I might be in the pile-up and never get out of 40th place.
JV: To that end, it's probably a god thin that more promoters in New England
and the Mid-Atlantic are making there races UCI so you guys get some points
for when you go over there.
TJ: The points are great. We just need a couple guys to step up and get
a good result for start position for the next year. Last year Gully was
the only top finisher [in 13th], we really need three or more guys to
get up there.
JV: As we build up a bigger 'cross base in the US though, going forward
hopefully we'll have those guys.
TJ: Definitely. The long term plan looks bright, but the next couple of
years still look hard.
JV: You're still one of those younger guys, you're in the generation with
Wellens and Nijs.
TJ: Those guys are at the top now though. I'm on the outside looking in
because they've been racing 'cross since they were 8.
JV: You can see how close you've come up already though, your world Championship
performance for example.
TJ: It's nice to look at the curve going upwards still, but there's always
the potential that the top-out is pretty close, but let's hope I'm not
there. I'm really not all that negative about it, but sometimes it's hard
to picture being top-ten consistently in the world because it's so hard
to get even close to it. Gully saw that last year. He discounts that result
all the time because he thinks the conditions were hard, but a bike race
is a bike race is a bike race.
JV: Are you going to be disappointed if you don't win the National Championship
again this year?
TJ: I'd like to win. Disappointed? It depends how I lose it. If there's
no question that I sucked that day, then I'll be disappointed, but If
I ride an awesome race and somebody beats me because they're better, then
I won't be disappointed.
JV: Lyne, what do you think he'll feel like if he loses?
LB: I've never really been around him when he's racing 'cross. On the
road this year he really didn't have the chance to ride for himself because
he was always working for someone else. He's been really god though at
all these races where he's flatted or had a bad day, like last week.
JV: He's just getting all his bad luck out of the way.
TJ: I didn't win, but the second-places to Vervecken were pretty good.
LB: Those were very exciting to watch, I really enjoyed it. My parents
were there.
JV: So you've met the parents Tim?
TJ: Oh yeah, many times.
LB: He'll be fine I'm sure. As long as he does his best, that's what counts.
TJ: I'll be fine with that. The pressure I talked about a second ago,
it's that people come up to me and say "how come you didn't win that
race?" I mean, how crazy is that? That's the first time I've ever
been involved in anything like that. I'm not *supposed* to win every time.
My view of myself is nowhere near the view that some people have of me
as a racer.
JV: You have to understand the credentials you come in with: US National
Champion, SuperCup champion the year before that, first US World's medallist.
LB: That would be like people saying to me 'you're national road champion,
you're national time trial champion, you have to win every race'. That's
not true, but you see it's the same.
TJ: I talked about this with Trent Klasna the other day. When he had an
awesome spring everyone thought he was just going to win the whole year.
JV: As a coach, I thought he was going to be tired and crack a lot more
than he actually did.
TJ: He did great you know, he did so many races, but he didn't win every
one of them. With 'cross this year I'm going to start 20 or 30 races,
and some people are going to expect me to win all of them. That's the
first time I've ever had to deal with that. It's funny, today I remembered
that I warmed up for my first National championship by wrestling in the
snow.
JV: Did you win?
TJ: It was my friend Phil. But that's how I got into 'cross, it's never
been a job for me...until recently.
JV: But you still don't look at it as a job?
TJ: No. Driving down here was like, me and Stu, and Lyne's new in the
family that is the road-trip machine.
ST: I remember driving Tim and Phil to races 6 years ago, with a bunch
of other juniors, going to Pittsfield.
TJ: Flashback to 6 years ago. Stu would be driving us to races, I'd be
in the backseat with 3 other guys, all of us asleep with our heads together.
Stu was doing 100mph down the highway in this huge wagon, then I'd race
on my mountain bike. That's exactly the way it still is now I think, but
people don't see it that way.
JV: You're just riding a little faster.
TJ: Exactly!
JV: You're putting out the same effort though.
TJ: I'm trying as hard as I ever did, and I think that's where I've run
into trouble. At Amherst I was having a shitty race, but I was just trying
so hard that I lost the whole point of it. The whole point for me is to
have fun. I was just beating myself over the head, and from that point
on I had a shitty race because it wasn't fun. But today was fun! I was
shifting and pedaling as hard as I could, but I had my eyes open, my head
up, and I was having a blast. That's the way I like to race, I don't like
to have pressure. But when I say I don't like pressure, some of my best
races have been in situations where there's the most pressure, sometimes
I just block it out a little bit.
JV: Third place at Amherst is not a shitty day. I can't tell you what
I would give to be third place in a race like that.
TJ: Exactly. "Shitty" is by other people's standards. That's
exactly the perspective I have.
JV: Stu, how long have you been driving this guy to races?
ST: 1995 I guess.
JV: So you've seen him grow up in the sport.
ST: I'd say so, I don't think he's grown up a whole lot.
JV: When he was younger, did you think he had the kind of talent he's
shown in the last few years?
ST: Back then it was hard to tell. He did well and he was a natural, he
came out to for every 'cross practice we had. He'd be picking his bike
up on the wrong side and doing all kinds of crazy stuff, but he'd still
beat everyone there.
JV: So his technical skills haven't really improved all that much?
TJ: No, not that much.
ST: I didn't really know where it was going to go. I would have never
guessed when we went to Slovakia, I'd have never put you [Tim] in third
place.
TJ: Yeah, well, no one had ever done anything like that. It was just so
awesome. That was one of the best races ever, and it was such a cool place
too. The whole experience...
JV: When did you [Stu] start pitting for Tim?
ST: First supercup in '98.
JV: Yeah, 1998 Philly, I rode that race.
ST: It was always such a whirlwind though. I'd show up early to help Lyle,
I was working for Lyle. Then on the side I'd pit for Tim.
TJ: I'd sleep on Stu's couch.
ST: It was me, Emily [Thorne, Stu's wife], and Tim. I'd get up at 6:00,
work for Lyle, then get changed really quick and do the masters' race,
then drop that and pit for Emily's race, then pit for Tim, then at the
end of all that I'd tear down the course.
JV: And you were still winning masters' races.
ST: I won one, yeah. That was pretty cool, pretty funny. It was just perfect
conditions. It's just like Tim says, when you can just get on your bike
and not think about all that other crap, you're just going out and riding,
that's the best feeling in the world. It's fun, it's wicked fun when you're
in that position.
TJ: Wicked pissa fun.
ST: Those were some pretty fun days.
TJ: Stu was my first introduction to 'cross. He drove me to my first race
in pissing rain, Pittsfield, the start of it all.
JV: Tell me to shut up if this isn't part of the interview, but you two
[Tim & Lyne] have been dating since...?
LB: March.
TJ: March?
LB: March!
JV: You're not really teammates since you don't do the same races, but
you're part of the same organization, you both race bikes. What's that
like?
LB: The only thing that sucks is that we're always dressed the same.
TJ: That sucks. Going on rides together when we're dressed identically.
It's like, 'where's my matching sweatsuit?'
LB: I try not to dress like him but it's hard, especially since we wear
the same size clothes. Same size shoes too!
JV: But Stu, Tim is half an inch taller, we saw it! [Fact: Tim really
is almost 1/2 inch taller than Lyne]
TJ: Yeah, luckily our clothes each fit, because I am taller.
JV: Tim, do you have a coach.
TJ: No.
ST: He has like eight coaches.
JV: That's the worst type of coaching.
TJ: No, i've thought about this before, and I have a reason for it. For
my situation it was better to have a lot of people giving me a little
bit of information each, they were all saying a full boatload, but I was
only picking out bits and pieces.
JV: So the bottom line with all three of you is that you just like to
go out and ride, eh?
ST: Not anymore.
JV: Lyne, do you have a coach?
LB: Yup, i've had the same coach since I started cycling: Eric Van Den
Eynde. He was the Quebec provincial coach when I started.
JV: Pete Wedge uses him, he called it anecdotal training.
LB: What's that?
TJ: It's like, a little story.
LB: Yeah, that's exactly it. He always makes it simple. My training is
never 3 pages with a bunch of levels, it's like half a page for a week,
real simple. I really like it, and I like him too, he's been really good.
JV: It's clearly working.
LB: Yeah, and we're changing things every year. It's not the same thing
year after year.
JV: I think for you guys, as a coach it's like: 'don't screw this up.'
TJ: I don't know, I think I'm finally getting to the point where I need
a coach.
JV: You know I've got some spots open at Cycle-Smart level 2 Tim.
TJ: Yeah, sounds good.
JV: Thanks for having me over for dinner, and Lyne especially for cooking.
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