Zach McDonald rides for world championship.

Today the United States, tomorrow the world.

In a nutshell, that’s the arc of BHS senior Zach McDonald, who won the U.S. Junior Men’s (ages 17-18) Cyclocross National Championship on Dec. 12 in Kansas City, Mo.

Described by Pro Cycling News’ dailypeloton.com as “a young powerhouse rider,” McDonald will compete in the World Cyclocross Junior Men’s Championship on Jan. 31 in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands.

Cyclocross, which dailypeloton.com terms “competitive cycling’s fastest-growing discipline,” is a hybrid of road racing and mountain biking. A race consists of several loops of a 2-to-3 kilometer course.

“It’s a steeplechase on a bike,” is how McDonald describes the sport. “There are road sections, grassy fields and trails. A lot of courses have a series of hairpin turns. There’s one place where you have to get off and carry your bike over several barriers nine to 12 feet apart. And a hill too steep to ride. You run up and hop back on at the top.”

And mud. As a fall and winter sport, cyclocross races are normally held in places that have much more than a nodding acquaintance with rain. Riding in the slop can quickly add two or three pounds of mud to bikes that weigh 16 or 17 pounds.

As a result, many cyclocross courses have pit stops similar to those used in auto racing. In a carefully choreographed routine, riders swoop in, quickly dismount and hand the bike to one member of the pit crew, take a few steps to where a second member is holding a clean bike, remount and continue. The crews feverishly clean the first bike with a pressure washer to prepare it for the next switch.

Making things even more interesting, riders begin each race not knowing how many laps they’ll ride. Based on the first lap time, organizers try to get the total race time as close to 40 minutes as possible. While they try to notify riders after the end of the first loop, in some cases the number of loops remaining isn’t posted until after the second time around.

McDonald began bike riding when he was two and became “semi-serious” when he at 13 he entered a cross-country mountain bike race in Port Angeles.

“Then I did road races after the guys at Classic Cycle said it would be a fun thing to do,” he said.

It may have been a cycling equivalent of putting a basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands and turning him loose on the court. It didn’t take McDonald long to gravitate to cyclocross.

“I could be fit from road biking and use my mountain bike skills,” he said. “At first it was something to do in the winter.”

It soon became something far more. Two years ago, McDonald placed 11th in nationals and was second last year, putting him on the U.S. team that competed in Europe during winter break. The experience was an eye-opener.

“I was smoked in every race except one, where I got eighth,” he said. “Racing over there is much more competitive. So many riders are so good.”

McDonald describes himself as “very competitive.” He was determined to train even harder than he had in the past.

His resolve took a serious hit when he broke his collarbone last June. Just when he was starting to round back into shape in late August, he broke his collarbone again.

Somewhat in desperation, he began riding a stationary recumbent bicycle, an experience he described as “not enjoyable.” Eventually he was able to return to roads and build up a somewhat belated base.

At nationals last month, McDonald faced Luke Keogh, the defending national champion. For various reasons, neither rider felt particularly confident.

“Luke wanted to do a hard first lap, hoping he could drop me,” McDonald explained. “My goal was to stay with him. We waited for each other to make a mistake, then capitalize on it.”

McDonald knew he couldn’t wait too long. “If we came onto the road at the end of the race he’d beat me,” he said.

As they headed up a steep hill on the final loop, McDonald had a slight lead. “I knew I was a better technical descender, so I didn’t let him get around me,” he said.

The tactic paid off. At the bottom of the hill, Keogh was forced to slide out on a corner and came off his bike. McDonald quickly assumed a lead he maintained to the finish.

At worlds, McDonald knows he’ll be competing against many good riders. But he doesn’t appear intimidated. He placed sixth in a race in Belgium during winter break, and felt he could have done better.

“I’m not getting my hopes up, but if I have a good day I have the ability to podium (place in the top three),” he said. “The only way I’d be disappointed would be if I had technical problems or didn’t ride as well as possible.”