That’s quite a list! It sounds like you’ve been pretty active. We’re glad you haven’t been sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. However, do you miss mountain biking on a professional level?
Above all I miss the pack of wolves I got to explore countries with and drift down mountains while racing all those years. Raging together, for sheeezzz! I love and miss you!
OK, so we want to hear it from the source. What happened? Your version, not the rumours and whatnot we read in the newspaper or online.Well, when I knew I was burned but hadn’t been taken down yet I drove the weed to a river near a kayak rental. I wanted to blaze outta there so bad. I had thoughts of taking my RM125 out of the trailer, throwing in a kayak and paddling it to a remote area and moto’ing the hell outta there. But I knew I had to stay and face it… so I stayed, rolled a big phat joint and smoked the shit outta it while lying in a lawn chair watching the clouds and the river float by and thought of my girl while a plane kept circling overhead. When they finally swarmed in I thought I was in f–king Star Wars cause there were 40 D.E.A. vests everywhere! I made a joke as I got my rights read to me and being cuffed and said, ‘so am I being punk’d’. Definitely no one laughed.
That’s a pretty wild way to go out. Why’d you get involved in the first place? Was it the money, the thrill, desperation? We know you’re an adrenaline junkie but that’s pretty intense.I can tell you that I wasn’t doing it for the thrill. Because of my involvement, I had to live a very secret life for years. I did it to help somebody from my past who was in a very desperate situation. I know from experience different people get in the game for different reasons. Everyone has their own. And once you’re in deep, it’s hard to get out.
After hanging out with you and Kristen, I saw your marriage is rock solid. Having your wife by your side after your legal issues must have helped you get through the rough patches, no?Kristen is everything to me. She has been the most supportive and loving wife. She stood by my side through everything. I could have never imagined the love that we have. She is my heaven, my nirvana.
What does the future hold for you? Anything in particular that you’re intently focused on or are aspiring towards?I am still in love with DH! I love how filmers and photographers have captured so many innovators out there who have the imagination and the fearlessness to think of and try new things and evolve, create, and re–imagine outdoor sports. And that things like Red Bull TV are putting it out there. I want to be a part of this process – whether it is by filming these people doing what they love and pushing boundaries or by putting a tribe/team together of people from each of these evolving sports to travel, film, compete or exhibit, and just support each other and party together. I feel this can spark people’s passion for life and sharing themselves. As for other interests, I am interested in protecting the environment and would like to put some time into some humanitarian projects. I wanna be outside planting gardens, digging wells, painting seals in Alaska to keep poachers from killing them, or helping refugees to safety in genocide wars. The kids I put in a get away car may decide to stay there after they drive with me. One love! One world! One heart!
What do you think of enduro as an uprising new discipline? And do you think it’s good for the gravity sector of MTB? Good for MTB in general?
I love the collective idea behind enduro where you chill with your friends on rides in between the DH’s. Make it a big party for days! For me it’s a dope addition but nothing can replace straight up DH. I’d rather do it as a party and not a race.
