Cycling : Morris Winds Up Solid Junior Career With Flourish

Haldane Morris, all of 18 years old, has declared the 1989 cycling season as “one of my best years ever.”

Well, you may scoff, isn’t that impressive . And I’ve got a 2-year-old who just had his best year walking--ever.

But for Morris, a Sherman Oaks resident and recent graduate of Birmingham High, that really is quite a statement. He has been racing bicycles since he was 4, starting with BMX bikes. At 5, when most children are beginning to get the hang of training wheels, he already was racing a 10-speed.

Now a veteran in his final season of junior racing, Morris has piled up an impressive list of credentials as he enters the senior division. Included are the recent Junior National Championships in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he loaded up on three top-five finishes and, last week, a fifth-place overall in the Tour of the Future in Bisbee, Ariz.

“It was pretty good racing overall,” Morris said of the six-day, eight-stage Tour of the Future. “It was pretty tough. Not as tough as the Tour de France, but we’re not seniors, either.”

Morris was the tour leader by eight seconds after five stages, but in the next stage--a 30 kilometer individual time trial--he lost about two minutes, the leader’s jersey and fell to 12th place overall.

By the conclusion of the tour, however, Morris had climbed--literally--back into the top five. He won two road races and, in the process, wore the King of the Mountain jersey from start to finish. He’s a natural climber who plans a rigorous off-season weight program to aid in strength and endurance training.

In the meantime, Morris will focus on events such as the Far West track championships at the Encino Velodrome and a trip to Peru where he will compete in a stage race with the U. S. National Team, all to prepare for life as a senior--and beyond.

“I want to go to the 1992 Olympics,” he said, “and go to the Tour de France someday. And win it.”

Add Tour of the Future: Suntour-Montrose, a local team for which Morris rides, was second in the final team standings behind Team USA. Among Morris’ teammates was Quartz Hill resident Shawn Cronkhite.

Another local--Scott Neumann of Northridge and Rainbow Sports--was 17th overall in the 15-16 age group.

World of trouble: An early crash in the men’s amateur road race of the World Championships hasn’t slowed John Tomac a bit.

In Chambery, France, Tomac took a spill on the second of 15 laps of the 114-mile road race. He battled back, but the exertion doomed his try for a strong finish.

“Some guy hit me from behind and the side,” Tomac said. “And I was thrown into the guy next to me. It takes a pretty big effort to catch back up.

“It’s just really crazy because it goes so fast and there are so many riders.”

Tomac dropped out of the 300-rider race at about the 80-mile mark.

“I just felt really bad,” he said. “After I had to catch up, I knew I was in trouble.”

The Chatsworth resident was in town for just a few days before pedaling off to the NORBA National Point Series Finals, a mountain bike event this weekend at Big Bear Lake, and the World Mountain Bike Championships on Sept. 6-10 at Mammoth Lakes. He is the defending champion in both.

Tomac said that he would then go to Europe for mountain bike races on the World Cup circuit, including the World Championships in Belgium.

Licensed to thrill: Ever wheel into your driveway after one of those ultimate training rides when you dropped your buddies on the 8% climb, buried a few pretenders who happened to get in your way and headed home thinking Greg LeMond isn’t all that special after all?

Those are the moments when, from the dank recesses of your mind, the idea of actually signing up for a race reaches out and grips your senses. Why not?, you ask yourself.

Why not, indeed.

The licensing process is actually fairly simple. Bike shops carry application forms. All you need is proof of age and citizenship. No time trials and no climbs. Just a pencil, a picture I. D. and a check for $32 ($16 for 14-and-under applicants).

All first-time applicants are given Category 4 status.

“It is very easy,” said Steve Ball, the District 03 representative.

There are 1,900 licensed riders in Los Angeles County. Ball figures that number will increase.

“Cycling, no doubt, is a tough sport,” he said. “But we’re finding with a little better coaching at the club and local level, there will be less (license) turnover.”

Beyond the Velodrome: The Encino Velodrome will not hold a racing program Saturday but is gearing for the Far West Track Championships on Sept. 29-30.

“This will be the hardest track racing in the country this year,” track official Jeff Morseburg said. “To win, they will have to have real good overall (racing) qualities.”

Encino has played host to the annual championships every year since 1965, according to Morseburg, four years after the track opened.

This year, the racing will include a sprinters’ omnium and Madison events, in which teams of riders sling-shot off one another around the track.

“The Madison is the most exciting type of track racing because it’s very fast and hairy,” Morseburg said. “There’s nothing like them.”

Among riders track officials hope to lure are Olympic gold medalist Mark Gorski, Mark Garrett and Janie Eickhoff.