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Super cyclist turns pro Photo by Bob Pennell Jeremy VanSchoonhoven, 16, competes in a bicycle ballet known as observed trials. Youth no barrier to Williams rider VanSchoonhoven By FRANK SILOW WILLIAMS -- Jeremy VanSchoonhoven lives a balanced life -- at least while on a bicycle. After winning all three amateur events during a national bicycle championship series last year, VanSchoonhoven turned professional as a 15-year-old in September. VanSchoonhoven thus became one of the youngest pros in the little-known sport of observed trials, whose origins date back to the 1970s. Observed trials is a sort of bicycle ballet. Riders combine the balance of a cat with the agility of a gymnast. They compete on short courses filled with all kinds of obstacles. Bicyclists must navigate through an approximately 100-foot layout in a two-minute time limit. An event consists of seven different courses that must be completed in three hours. The object is to prevent your feet from touching the ground or an obstacle. If a foot touches, it's called a dab and the rider loses one point. A maximum of five dabs is allowed on each individual course. The winner is the rider with the least number of dabs after all seven courses. Competitors use extraordinary balance to control their bikes at slow speeds over and around logs, large rocks, cars, pallets, spools, mud, water or any other hindrance. At times riders are completely motionless, then must make instantaneous decisions that thrust them airborne into some awkward position while being as high as 12 feet above the ground. Maneuvering the bike while on one wheel is a common predicament. And landing on a small, uneven spot from several feet up creates even more danger. "It can be really scary," says VanSchoonhoven. "There's so many different challenges. There are hardly any limits on what you can do. You're always improvising." VanSchoonhoven, 16, first got involved in competitive riding in 1995 through the Siskiyou Wheelmen bicycle club. Soon afterward he competed in that summer's Revenge of the Siskiyous mountain bike race in Ashland. Since then the home-schooled VanSchoonhoven and his older brother, Joshua, 18, have been regulars in mountain bike events throughout the Northwest. After last summer's success in the nationals, the idea of turning pro at a young age appealed to VanSchoonhoven. "The juniors do a lot of the same courses and I saw I was not too far behind the pros on how I was riding," he says. "I decided I should upgrade because to get better you need to compete with the better riders." VanSchoonhoven's first pro event was the Sea Otter -- the largest trials event in the United States -- in Monterey, Calif., in March. He finished ninth overall and was the fourth-best American. He was the youngest pro in the international field. VanSchoonhoven has several sponsors, including Don's Bike Shop and NAC Bikes in Grants Pass. Randy Nicholson, owner of NAC Bikes, was so impressed with the youngster -- personally and professionally -- that he's provided VanSchoonhoven a $2,500 stainless steel stock trials bike. "The reason I'm sponsoring him is because he's so good," says Nicholson. "He's got such an acute sense of balance it's crazy. I get the chills when I see him ride. He's going to be an icon soon." VanSchoonhoven's dad, Jim, is his coach. The elder VanSchoonhoven says his son embraced the idea of being one of the youngest pros ever. Doug White, a former national trials master for the National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA), also encouraged the move. "Being a pro in mountain biking has more to do with the level of competition than making lots of money," says Jim VanSchoonhoven. "According to USA Cycling there have been less than 15 teenage pros in the whole history." The young rider hasn't won any purse money yet, but does get paid for demonstrations, which is a major income source in the sport. VanSchoonhoven will hold a free demonstration at 11 a.m. Saturday during a fund-raiser for the Ashland schools foundation at the National Guard Armory. Even though he's competing at a high level, VanSchoonhoven's training is limited to about 12 hours per week. "We try to keep it fun," says Jim VanSchoonhoven. "I don't want him to get hurt physically. We try to put in a few hours of very intense rides, then the rest of the week do recovery rides. "He has a real gift for the sport," adds Jim VanSchoonhoven. "What really makes him good at it is he just won't give up. He loves to do it until he gets in down right. He has the kind of spirit that never says quit." And the kind of balance that would make an acrobat proud. Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.