It seemed to me that if you were going to ride you might as well race ’cause all the best riders I knew were racers.

Well I was consistently making mains finals but never really got above top 5–10. Actually there was one race weekend that was the turning point of my career. I was about 14 I think and my Mom and I were driving to Reno for a national race and I just said, “Mom, if I don’t win this weekend I’m done racing”. She got really upset as the race circuit had been our life for so long, but I meant it. I was tired of doing OK, I wanted to win. I had just come off a winter of injury and looking back it’s strange because I won that weekend. Not just one race but all three. That was the switch flicked right there, I proved to myself I had ‘it’.

Well I wanted to be a supercross racer. I did everything I could to be one. I would ride all the time with Jeremy McGrath and Ricky Carmichael but I was too old, and although I might have been OK at it I couldn’t have made a career from it. I don’t know, selling houses probably…it seems the best way to earn money, you just talk to people and show them what they want and maybe kiss their ass a little…Ha ha, just a little.

Well Cully did it first…or at least he did it first and did it properly, and we saw the success he was having. The money back then was too big to ignore, so that made a lot of us in BMX at the time pay attention. I mean some contracts were six figures including bonuses, and we knew we could win. Also for a time you could do both so a lot of us were on double contracts with our BMX sponsors and MTB sponsors.

Why? Because we had style! Natural style. Part nurture and part nature. I mean look at how many tried to cross over from BMX and never made it. I think a big part was the racing format. They didn’t allow practice like they do now. You walked the track then went straight into knockout qualifiers. It was tough because you might drive across the country and get two runs and then your weekend was over so it favoured riders like us who could turn up, read the track and actually ride a bike.

Did you feel at the time that you were part of something special?

Yes in a way. I mean pressure was on as the money coming into the sport was getting bigger all the time. Forty foot super–trucks for support, big corporate sponsors, it was an exciting period without a doubt. You never think it’s going to end so looking back there is more realization of the fact that we were part of an ‘era’ than you could make sense of at the time.

Well, in the gate I think we all feared Lopes. He was fast. But depending on the course he could be beat. Cully and I always raced clean, we had our battles but I would never intentionally rub him out…I’d cut him off for sure, but never contact, and I think he was the same with me. King had a target on him at all times. If there was an inch, I would take a foot. Same with Lopes, because sometimes it was the only way to get past them. That said we were all great friends but come race time that has to go out the window because we all desperately wanted to win.

Well it’s different because it’s you and the clock. Nico (Vouilloz) obviously was the guy to beat back in the day. But he also had this crazy support network around him that tracked and tested every millimetre of his runs. He had a telemetry truck for his suspension set–up and it was support that no one else had then or since. He was also very good at knowing what worked, why it worked and what he could change to make it even better. I would say maybe Peaty (Steve Peat). He was never the outright fastest but no matter what you or anyone else did he just seemed to keep upping his game. I think it pissed some guys off because no matter what they brought to the table he had, and still has, this amazing ability to just keep going and I think this is what makes him one of the greatest racers there has ever been. He also has an innate sense of balance that I have yet to see in another rider ever. It allows him to hit lines that should be impossible and that not many can follow. Also the thing you have to realize with Peaty and is that he makes it look cool and fun. His work ethic for riding fast is the same work ethic he takes to partying and having a good time.

He was great for the sport without question. He made everyone up their game and brought the party to MTB. But don’t believe he was just a turn up, party all weekend and race fast kind of guy. Behind the scenes he was training harder than probably everyone else combined. He is on the very short list of racers who had all the elements to succeed: speed, balance, fitness, bike handling and his mind only thinks of winning at whatever he does, so although his career was brief in comparison to many others, he put his life into it and has likely affected the sport more than any other except for Peaty.

I would say Gwinn and Minnaar. Only Minnaar is getting older and it will be harder for him to bring it, time will tell. They both have all the elements to be a top athlete plus they just have that special ability to get their head straight, and the mind–game in DH is one of the biggest parts. Winning margins are tighter and ultimate concentration to perform on the edge for 4–5 minutes can only come when your head space is clear. I’ve spoken to Gwinn a few times and I feel he wants to win more than anyone else. And not just win, but dominate, and that is a big difference. I would be scared if I was another rider trying to beat him right now. Not that everyone else doesn’t have the desire, he just has this crazy drive to go that bit further than the rest of the field. He has reignited the American dream. Not since John Tomac and Myles Rockwell have American kids had a racing hero to look up to, they have that now with Gwin, so the future is exciting.

Not that much. I mean they’re nice to have but that was then and this is now. I’m proud of my achievements but I haven’t kept my bikes or anything like that. Jerseys on the wall are as sentimental as it gets. I was recently nominated into the BMX Hall Of Fame and that was special, but I can’t hang my hat on that.

As a good father, husband and friend. I think honesty and keeping your head down and doing your best at whatever your doing is the most important. Seeing my boys grow up and spending time hunting snakes and watching them get into their hobbies does it for me now.