Tyler Morland (ex World Cup racer and now SRAM PR and Media Manager) remembers Brandon as a skinny awkward kid walking into Evolution while Tyler was a mechanic there. Tyler has become one of Brandon’s close advisors, I suggest the title mentor or surrogate older brother but Tyler rejects this. Nonetheless Tyler knows him personally and professionally. Tyler and I chew over the idea that Brandon, with his quiet demeanour, yet focused outlook, bares resemblance to several other action sports leaders like snowboarder Shaun White, MX/SX star Travis Pastrana, and skater Tony Hawk. All of these guys could be considered outsiders who became icons simply through focused determination and mastery of their craft. More so, they then helped elevate the fortune, not just of themselves, but of their chosen sport. Tyler tells us:
“A lot of kids who grow up in Whistler as are loose as it gets; many of them have no hope. Maybe because there is so much at their finger tips. There’s an eternity of ski bums of all ages so they see that and just work at doing that. There is also a lot of talent in Whistler and if you have talent you can do some amazing stuff. Brandon saw that potential and worked at it. He is paving way for many things. He will elevate game of everyone. Perhaps even elevate the whole of mountain biking.
I think about Brandon’s future and I think he will continue to dominate. Everyone will party themselves out but he will keep on top because he is focused and won’t lose his focus to the party and living a wild life. At Crankworx Les Deux Alpes three quarters of the field were out at the club until 3am the night before the event. Brandon was tucked up in bed with a clear idea of what he needed to do the next day.”
So what does the future hold for Brandon Semenuk? Will he burn out like he did with cross–country or will he get tired of beating everyone time and time again? One thing that was clear from talking with everyone about Brandon is that he could have, and still could be, the very best at whatever he decides to focus his laser sights on.“I don’t think I’ll ever quit, I’ll just massage myself into new things. This year I took on the Behinds Bars web video project that was cool. I can try influence and inspire a new audience, so that’s exciting for me. Contests used to be the most exciting thing but this kind of stuff really gets me going now, so now I can try do things that I think are cool for the sport.”
Sure, Brandon Semenuk can flow some of the cleanest and most technically demanding slopestyle contest runs, flow a trail like no other, and inspires the riding of a million young pretenders. However, from getting to know Brandon the most outstanding thing about him isn’t that he is an outstanding rider, it is that he smart, methodical, resourceful, self-reliant, independent, focused, worldly, and saw the potential of the opportunities he was gifted by his less than perfect upbringing. Beyond Brandon Semenuk the rider is a solid foundation of personality traits that make him an exceptional human being. Only from being an exceptional person has Brandon got the fundamentals and principles to be such a good…no, great…bike rider. If he inspires any young talent, let’s hope the young people see the Brandon Semenuk the person as much as they see Brandon Semenuk the trick machine. Only the former can lead to the latter.
