Nineteen. I was a little late.
You stuck through it though, didn’t you?Well I don’t know. I’m not good at anything else, so why not? Just keep riding my bike.
You’re not good at anything else?!I’m sure there’s something out there. I’m pretty lazy. I like to do what I like to do.
Hardly lazy though Graves!In some areas of life, just ask my wife, she’ll tell you I’m king procrastinator! If there’s something that doesn’t absolutely need to be done, I’m the last person to do it.
So Jerome (Clementz) has won the series. He is the greatest all round mountain biker for Enduro. But I think a lot of people are talking about the fact that you’ve succeeded at BMX, downhill, 4X, you’ve been 0.2 of a second off winning a World Cup and of course there is the certain podium matter at the Pietermaritzburg Worlds!I guess that’s something…
World Cup Downhill I mean.I think that’s something I’m really proud of. A lot of people say it’s like diverse talent or whatever, but I think of it more as, I don’t know, I like to do different things. If I do the one thing all the time like 4X or BMX I get bored doing the same thing all the time. I like to push myself in different areas.
You just know how to apply the skills, focus on the task in hand don’t you?Well that’s it. When I decide something I want to do, and this is a goal I have in mind, then I just like to knuckle down and go about achieving that.
What are your feelings about some of your World Cup Downhill colleagues who have come to some of these races with a half–baked approach and been smoked?That’s a thing that the general public I feel don’t understand with Enduro. You can take a fit downhiller and think that on paper they’re going to kill it at Enduro.
Many did think they might be able to.Exactly. That’s a bad attitude straight away, because you can never assume that you’re going to just murder it. But honestly, when you ride natural trails compared to a purpose built, manmade downhill track it’s a totally different skill set. People don’t understand that. They’re different skills. It’s a different mindset when you’ve got a whole day with liaisons, climbs and fitness training. It’s a different way of approaching it. I can’t really put my finger on it, but there’s something that doesn’t translate between downhill skills and Enduro skills. It’s a different skill set and it suits a different rider. It’s not just that downhillers are going to crush it.
Do you think some of those guys were way off the mark in thinking that?Well I don’t think they’re off the mark, but I think they were maybe a little ignorant. That was a big thing in my off–season training. I knew I was fit, I knew I was strong, I knew I had the downhill background and all the other different discipline skills. But to think you’re just going to come in and kill it, that’s the worst mistake you can ever make.
You’ve had to ride a lot of roots and rocks in the last six months compared to a 4X or downhill. There are a lot of steps to interpreting and reading and making decisions on that aren’t there?Oh definitely. That’s part of it too. I’ve really enjoyed that this year. You’re at the point where you’re confident with the trail, but you don’t know exactly what’s coming up. So you’re on–the–fly just looking, you’re having to pay attention. Again that’s part of the different skill set – riding fast, not knowing every rock on the trail.
It’s just getting into those corners and just let it roll through. There’s quite a bit of risk involved isn’t there?Stage three here, I was rolling the dice so many times. I knew the next 30 seconds of the trail roughly. I knew there was nothing big to catch you out so I just let off and went with it. When you get through a section like that it’s the best thing about this form of racing, it’s so satisfying. It’s just a buzz.
Like I said earlier you came from the Kovarik, Rennie era, but actually now you’re of the Sam Blenkinsop, Troy Brosnan, and George Brannigan era as well.Yes.
Well you’re all from down that way.It’s a funny thing, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I started getting referred to as the veteran. You still think of yourself as…
Thirty.I’m 30 now. But when I was 27/28 you still think of yourself as just in the middle of your career somewhere. Then all of a sudden there’s a point where you’re like, ‘Oh, I am on the older side of the scale now’.
A great age to be at for a new Enduro career isn’t it really?Exactly. Nico (Vouilloz, ten times World Champion) he’s 38. He was the guy who seemed to me like he’d been around forever. He was the man. He was always the man. He was the main guy I looked up to when I was a young junior aspiring downhill guy. Obviously because he’d won so many world titles, you just felt like he’d been around forever. But when I look back on it he was 21/22 at the time and super young.
Were you sad to see the way 4X went, almost the demise of it a little bit? Do you find that sad or not?Sad, but I was battling with it for so long, to me it was an easy choice to step away. I don’t want to sound like a dick or anything, but since I’ve stepped away I haven’t cared about it one bit because to me it just seemed like a bit of a lost cause. It sounds bad, but it got to the point where I’d been battling with it for so long, and no–one seemed to listen. No–one seemed to step up. No–one seemed to care that I got so over it.
These guys care I think, the Enduro guys. I think they are good hosts. There’s a really good vibe about it isn’t there?Oh absolutely, yes.
Your downhill career, I’m not being funny, but it was all over the shop.Yes, I completely agree with you there. It was one of those funny things, I had good races and I had bad races. I really wanted to kill it last year. All racers have good years and bad years, and something last year just didn’t click. I can’t put a finger on it, but I feel like I’m riding a lot better now. I feel like I’d be a lot more towards the pointy end of that now, compared to last year. Again, it’s a different skill set. I don’t think I’d be a top 10 downhill guy.>>
