Masters National Champion – Craig Undem

Former pro cyclist, Craig Undem, is a legend of the Seattle cyclocross scene. Craig has been instrumental in building the sport of cycling with both youth and adults in the Puget Sound as the founder of the Cycle U youth team and a race promoter. In 2018, Craig won the USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championships to become a National Champion for Cyclocross. Enjoy this profile of Craig by Wayne Wakeman.

You may already know Craig Undem. He is a familiar face in the Pacific Northwest cyclocross scene. He’s been pedaling in circles for decades, on the road, on the mountain bike, and best of all, between the tape on our cyclocross racecourses. Craig brings loads of bike skills and talent to every race, but he also brings a pure love for the sport of cyclocross that is immensely fun to observe.

Craig takes the hole shot in 2018 National Championship race

Roots in the Pacific Northwest

Craig’s story begins in the woods of Gig Harbor, Washington. Growing up in this scenic area, he found freedom and adventure on two wheels. Craig spent a lot of time with friends riding around out in the woods, having fun and building bike handling skills. Often he was on a bike that didn’t have brakes, so he learned how to skid it, while navigating the rugged terrain. These early experiences laid the foundation for a lifelong love affair with cycling.

“I’d always had a love for cycling,” Craig reminisces. “And then I came here to Seattle, to UW in 1981.” The move to Seattle for college marked a turning point. Some friends were doing a new sport called triathlon, and his dad bought him an REI touring bike so he could chase them around. Initially feeling confined by the urban environment, he discovered the Burke-Gilman Trail and started to explore on his own. He started riding faster, upgraded to a racing bicycle, and read everything about cycling that he could get his hands on.

The Road to Professional Racing – Road, Mountain, Cross

Craig’s competitive cycling career began with road racing. After graduating from the University of Washington, he found himself at a crossroads, unsure of his career path but certain of his love for cycling. In a bold move, Craig and a friend packed everything up and started driving to Colorado, an epicenter of American cycling at the time.

“I wanted to be at the Coors Classic, and I wanted to check out this bike racing thing,” Craig recalls of his motivation. This decision led to three years of chasing the dream of becoming a professional road racer.

His efforts paid off in 1990 when he placed second at the national criterium championships. After this impressive result, famed US coach Chris Carmichael offered him a spot on the U.S. team for the Tour de l’Avenir, a prestigious race in Europe. With that dream fulfilled, Craig came back to Seattle, bought a house, and attempted to settle down. However, the competitive spirit was far from satisfied.

As mountain biking developed into a sport of its own, Craig tried that too, traveling all over the country doing mountain bike races, including the 1996 World Championship race at Vail, Colorado. It was during this time that he first encountered cyclocross, a discipline that would ultimately define his legacy in the sport.

“This new sport, cyclocross, showed up, which I never really heard of, but I did it on a mountain bike,” Craig explains. He dove headfirst into the world of cyclocross and won the Washington State Championship at Steilacoom in 1996. Being a cyclocross pro at that time “was kind of entrepreneurial, but something that fit my ethos of how I wanted to live, which was fairly pure and focused on health and fitness.”

He seemed well positioned to challenge for the Elite national championship that year, held locally at North Seatac park. Despite team tactics on the first lap from brothers Frank and Mark McCormack, Craig was in prime position until an equipment malfunction prevented him from putting full power into the pedals without becoming unclipped. A big lesson learned that day and passed down to the racers he would later coach – Don’t race with untested equipment.

European Adventure and World Championships

Craig’s racing momentum led him on an unforgettable European adventure in the winter of 1996-1997. Along with fellow American rider Dale Knapp, Craig organized a two-month racing campaign that would test their skills against the world’s best cyclocross racers.

“We raced as a U.S. national team and just had a really big adventure,” Craig recalls. “I should have kept a better journal. It’d be a great book.” The team, consisting of about eight riders, traveled across Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Germany, competing in races twice a week. They faced numerous challenges, from navigating foreign countries to adapting to the high level of European cyclocross racing.

“It was like you were a high school football player and all of a sudden, you’re playing in a game with the pros,” Craig explains, highlighting the stark difference in competition level.

The trip culminated with Craig representing the United States at the 1997 Cyclocross World Championships in Munich. The icy race was an immense challenge, but it was an amazing experience to be racing cross against the top pros like race winner Daniele Pontoni of Italy and Dutchman Adri van der Poel, now better known as Mathieu’s dad.

While the results may not have been what they hoped for, the experience was invaluable. Craig and his teammates spent time studying the European racers, trying to uncover the secrets to their success. “As they would go do their podium, we’d go and feel how much pressure was in their tires”, trying to understand how they were so much faster.

This European campaign not only improved Craig’s skills but also deepened his understanding and appreciation for the sport of cyclocross. The lessons learned during those two months would influence his approach to racing and coaching for years to come.

Cycle U and Coaching

As Craig’s professional racing career began to wind down, he found new ways to stay involved. In 2003, he founded Cycle U, a coaching business and bike shop that he ran for nearly two decades.

Through the Cycle U Junior Team, Craig was able to share his wealth of knowledge and experience with a new generation of cyclists. He developed coaching programs, led training camps, and mentored young riders. In fact, it was his involvement with coaching young cyclists that reignited his own competitive fire in cyclocross.

“The junior team saved me,” Craig explains. “I was working with the kids on goals. I’m big on goals. I lead a lot of my coaching clients and Cycle U faithful customers through this January process of goal setting for the year.”

As he guided young riders in setting and achieving their cycling goals, Craig found himself inspired to set new goals of his own. He decided to make a comeback to competitive cyclocross racing, using his experience as a coach to structure his own training and racing schedule.

2018 Louisville National Championship

While Craig had experienced success throughout his career, perhaps his most memorable achievement came in December 2018 at the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky. Winning a national championship requires years of commitment and effort. In addition to physical strength and endurance, excellent technical skills, and dialed-in gear, racers need to accumulate points to get a good position on starting grid. Continuous improvement in 2017 (Hartford, 15^th) and 2018 (Reno, 5^th) ensured a front row-start in the Masters 55-59 category at Louisville in December 2018.

Taking the holeshot, Craig led from the front and put together a near-perfect race to claim the stars-and-stripes jersey.

“I just went out as hard as I could. And that worked out for me,” Craig recalls of his race strategy. The win was the culmination of a three-year goal, a testament to Craig’s dedication and his ability to perform on the national stage.

Current Involvement and Ongoing Passion

Craig’s passion for cycling, and cyclocross, remains as strong as ever. He races regularly, competing in the local Pacific Northwest cyclocross series and loving the weekly battles with his peers.

“Every weekend it’s such a deep field of masters guys here and there’s always two or three guys I’m trying to catch that I can’t catch. And then there are guys that I usually beat, but who still occasionally beat me. It makes you want to try harder next year.”

R4C Team: A Core Support Group

An important part of Craig’s cycling life revolves around the R4C (Riding for Cures) team. This charity-focused group has become much more than just a cycling team for Craig; it’s a core support group that has been with him through various phases of his cycling and life journey.

The R4C team has long been a source of friendship, motivation, and support for Craig. “It’s a charity team called Riding for Cures. And we raise money and give it all away and do six century rides a year,” Craig explains. “It’s with some good buddies of mine, that I’ve known since the early 80s. Just a great group of guys that are supportive, have a lot of fun and have been there to kind of pick me up when things weren’t going well.” They meet regularly for rides, often followed by a cold beverage, a perfect blend of cycling and camaraderie.

The team’s activities have helped Craig maintain his fitness and passion for cycling, even as other aspects of his life have changed. “Riding with these guys got me really fit again to ride, because they’re fast. They don’t race, but they ride really hard,” he says.

Reflections on a Life in Cycling

As Craig looks back on his cycling journey, it’s clear that cycling has been more than just a pastime or a career – it’s been a lifeline.

“Cycling has been my salvation, you know. I’m more and more thankful for it the older I get,” Craig reflects. “I’ve tried a lot of things and I can’t beat cycling, whatever form it takes.”

Craig’s story isn’t just about winning races, though he’s done his fair share of that. It’s about how riding bikes can really shape a person’s life, give them something to shoot for, and bring a bunch of people together. From bombing around the woods as a kid in Gig Harbor to racing in the mud in Europe and now mixing it up with the local crowd in the Northwest, Craig’s journey pretty much sums up why cycling is so cool.

Every weekend, you can find Craig lining up at the local races, swapping stories and friendly heckling with riders young and old. He’s still out there, giving it his all and having a blast. It just goes to show that if you find something you love, you can keep at it for pretty much forever and have a great time doing it.