BIKER FIGHTS UPHILL BATTLE : SNIDER BEATS CANCER AND FINDS COMPETITIVE FIRE.

Byline: Dan Lazar Special to the Daily News

Todd Snider once kissed death. Sometime later, he succumbed to overachievement.

Those extremes have carried the Woodland Hills resident to the top of men's snow mountain biking downhill, which is featured this weekend at the Winter X Games at Snow Summit ski resort.

Although Snider, 20, was disqualified from competition on Thursday after a spill, it is a small glitch in his goal of becoming the nation's top winter downhill bike racer. Overcoming cancer five years ago allows him to focus on a picture much bigger than the one televised on ESPN.

``I was kept around for a reason,'' said Snider, ranked 13th in the nation for downhill racing in 1996. ``I'm going to put 150 percent into my sport.''

Snider was 15 when the doctors found a large tumor that had eaten away at three vertebrae below his neck and made its way to his spinal cord.

``The Mayo Clinic had never seen anything like it,'' said Steve Snider of the tumor that almost killed his son. ``He's gone through a lot.''

Though the surgery was a success, it left a five-inch scar that became infected. There were more operations, and more pain.

Snider had been a promising young wrestler in high school, and, as he says, ``was really into my physique.'' He also was active in bicycle motocross and an avid motorcycle rider.

But the surgeries sapped his energy and stole his active lifestyle.

``I wanted to get him motivated again,'' Steve said. ``I wanted him to quit thinking about the operation.''

Steve bought Todd a mountain bike for inspiration.

Todd took to the sport immediately. He rode the hills around his Bakersfield home, and before long forgot about the five-inch souvenir of pain at the nape of his neck.

And he started concentrating on competing.

In 1994 Snider dominated amateur downhill competition. Only 17 years old at the time, he defeated some of the nation's top professionals and overcame a broken collarbone to win the junior national championship.

But when Snider thinks of the early days, he thinks not of the awards, but of a single autograph.

Four years ago, Snider, then a promising amateur in the world of competitive mountain biking, met Dave Cullinan at a race.

Snider asked Cullinan, one of the top riders in the world, for an autograph. Then, he committed prophesy.

``I told him, `Dave, you're my idol, but I'm going to beat you one day.' ''

Today, the two share an apartment in Woodland Hills. Snider has in fact beaten Cullinan.

And he's still got Cullinan's autograph on his bedroom wall at home in Bakersfield.

``I still race against a lot of my role models,'' Snider said. ``I still have people's photos on my wall.''

One of those idols happens to also be his mentor.

Toby Henderson met Snider six years ago at a low-profile race near Snider's home.

Snider knew the mountain better than his own bedroom, and had no trouble beating the other amateurs. But Henderson, one of the top professional riders in the nation, edged out Snider.

But Snider caught Henderson's eye, and the two stayed in touch. In 1995, the year after Snider won the amateur championship, Henderson invited him onto his professional team.

Snider showed well that season, ranking 20th in the nation in downhill, 29th in slalom. But he didn't stand out, and the team cut him.

``It was the best thing that could have happened to him,'' Henderson said. ``It gave him determination, something to fight for.''

Snider agrees that he took his professional success too casually. He didn't understand the business of promoting mountain biking, and the importance of promoting yourself.

``I felt burned by it,'' said Snider of losing team sponsorship. ``But it made me become more responsible and independent.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Woodland Hills' Todd Snider excels in snow mountain biking downhill.

(2) ``I was kept around for a reason,'' said Todd Snider, shown competing in the Winter X Games.

Myung J. Chun / Daily News