In this episode, I catch up with Nate Spitz. Nate is one of the most creative and talented mountain bikers in the Sea to Sky and has a lot of wisdom to share.
Originally from New Hampshire on the east coast of the USA, Nate grew up skiing, and when he wasn’t doing that he was riding bikes and learning an impressive bag of tricks.
He now lives and works here in Squamish, sharing his skills and passion through Yoann Barelli’s Into The Gnar coaching company, and also through a multitude of free-ride, filming, and building projects.
We chat about:
What it is like to build and ride some of the gnarliest features in town.
How he motivates himself to keep working towards a challenging goal.
How to get into a flow state more often.
The importance of play on your bike.
His latest edit in collaboration with Alistair Spriggs.
The Hellevator feature build and first ride.
You can join the wild ride by following Nate @ztipsetan on Instagram, @natespitz6583 on YouTube or book in for a coaching session with him at intothegnar.com Listen here or by searching for ‘Grit with Wisdom’ on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, or over on my website, and you can follow me on Instagram @the_mind_mountain
Happy trails - Jake Johnstone
Full Episode Transcript:
Nate Spitz
The feature is not gonna go anywhere, you know You don't ever have to hit something like you might Build it up in your head and you're like today's the day but like you really need to be able to listen to yourself
Welcome to Grit With Wisdom. This is the podcast that delves deep into the inner psyche of mountain bikers from all aspects of our sport in order to discover the tools and the tactics that can help us have more fun out on the trails more often. Our aim here is to help you understand what it takes to push our own personal boundaries in the sport we love, from a mental and emotional perspective.
today on the podcast I'm sitting down here post ride with Nate Spitz. Nate is hands down one of the most creative and talented mountain bikers that I've had the pleasure of hanging out with. [00:01:00] He's originally from New Hampshire on the east coast of the USA.
Nate grew up riding bikes and building sketchy jumps, dreaming of being able to do this for the rest of his life. He now lives and breathes that dream, mountain biking, almost every day here in Squamish. He achieves this by sharing his skills and passion through working as a coach with Yoann Barelli's Into The Gnar, and also through a multitude of other free ride, filming, and building projects.
Nate, with no further ado, welcome to the podcast. Thanks a
lot, Jake. Yeah, that's a very nice intro. I appreciate it. And, uh, I don't, I don't really have a ton to add. yeah, I guess I moved to Squamish to go to university, but, but I also knew where I was moving and, you know, I didn't want to go anywhere
else, so.
Beauty man, that was one thing we didn't quite get, get into talking about on our ride. What did you study here at Quest?
I studied geology and generally earth sciences, but Quest is, Quest was,It was, you really had the freedom to kind of study whatever you wanted and, uh, and choose your own path. So I found [00:02:00] I just, I really liked the earth science courses because I like being outside and they're always cool field trips.
Yeah, dude,
that's so cool to hear that background. And, I mean, today you're not necessarily doing geology, but you're still out there spending lots of time in the dirt, building trails, riding trails. Totally. Working with all kinds of
different materials. Yeah, I'm talking to clients too, and it's like cool to talk to people who aren't from around here about that stuff.
Yeah, it's like, I don't know, like Squamish is, it's pretty unique with its geology and, and formation history, and I don't know, I think people, people are just like, oh, it's beautiful and don't really know why. Yeah, yeah.
Super cool that you have that background. I'd love to learn more about that maybe some other time.
Yeah, sweet. It's super rad, man. Um, you just took me on a fantastic little backyard lap here in Squamish. Kind of some steep and deep and then some chill trails as well. Totally,
really,
so good. And speaking of dirt, the dirt was fantastic. Um, like I said to you, you didn't kill me, so thank you for that. Um, it was fantastic to kind of, yeah, see, we've ridden together twice [00:03:00] now.
But get a peek into like... You know, how you operate out on the bike. And like I said to you, I love following you into stuff. You've kind of got this kind of calm approach that's sending some pretty sketchy stuff, which, you know, bleeds down into some confidence for me to maybe hit some things I wouldn't usually hit.
That's sweet. Um, so I'd love to, yeah, to dive into your background on bikes a little bit here, and maybe start to understand how you got to where you are now. Okay. Um, yeah, maybe you can tell us a little bit more about, like, where you grew up, and when bikes first came into your life.
Sweet, yeah. Um... So I grew up in Lyme, New Hampshire, which is a small town near Hanover, which is also a small town.
But it's where Dartmouth College is and, um, I grew up ski racing, so I, from about five or six, I would like, I knew I liked going fast and like flying through the air. That was like what I wanted to do. So, uh, So in the summer, it basically, you know, there was all this time not doing that,[00:04:00] And, none of the, like, you know, we played soccer, we played baseball, whatever, just, like, goofed around.
And, um, but biking was, like, that one sport that kind of translated to the skiing field. And my friends and I would just build jumps, or we had, like, some classic jumps. But yeah, we would just hit these plastic jumps in the driveway and then build some dirt jumps in the backyard and just all day, just be hitting the jumps. Um, and then, you know, it's kind of the natural progression. You just, just keep building, building bigger. And then when I turned 11 or 12, I got a dump truck load of dirt for my birthday.
And like, I built one massive jump out of it. Just like one big step up that eventually became just a huge gap jump. And I just practice hitting it every day. And if I didn't hit it, I'd have to, like, rebuild the whole lip, because it was way too steep and sketchy to, like, hit if you hadn't hit it the day before.
So that, that process of [00:05:00] building and learning about jumps, shaping, all that stuff started pretty young.
Yeah, yeah, I did a ton of that when I was a kid, and we built trails, we built jumps, like, classic kid stuff. Some of it works, most of it doesn't. But you definitely get an eye for sort of doing it and watching all the bike movies from, you know, this area and surrounding trails.
In BC, it's just, I, I knew I wanted to come here.
Right, so that seed was planted pretty early on. Totally. Yeah. And the terrain, I guess if you got a dump truck load of dirt for your birthday, the terrain was pretty flat, like, in your backyard to start with. Totally.
We had, like, some sort of small hills, um, not far at all, like, pedaling out the door.
Right. But there was no, like, real bike trails. Some hiking trails, like an old, you know, double wide snowmobile trail. Yep. but yeah, we kind of had to build. Our own stuff. We'd go ride the like, steep dirt piles over at the, at the dump next door, and... Fantastic. Yeah, yeah, it was cool. But yeah, my yard, very flat, like...
Had to pedal into
the jumps. Yeah, I find that really [00:06:00] interesting, because I think it... Well, I can really see it in your style of mountain biking today. You've got this crazy bag of like, flatland tricks and style. Yeah. And I'm curious, do you think that came from just messing about as a kid in like a mainly flat environment?
You mentioned you had some steps outside your local library that was kind of like the only, the only drops in town. Yeah,
exactly. Like, um, there wasn't much for like drops or, you know, like my yard had jumps. We, my dad and I built some like sketchy drops off of the like one little bank in the back that had some, some vertical relief.
Um, but like, you know, always pretty much like just like jumping off something that's pretty much a flat landing with like a little bit of dirt. So yeah, yeah, yeah. Lots of, uh, lots of just time pedaling around with, with my friends and stuff and yeah, jumping off whatever we could. So I think just time spent on the bike kind of leads to like those sort of playful like wheelies and goofing around.
And maybe more so with. [00:07:00] You know, sort of less terrain to go ride.
Totally, it's like minimum terrain, maximum
skill. Yeah, still the same amount of time on the bike, just like goofy and playing around in different ways.
Man, I love it. It's so cool to see like what that's resulted in today. Yeah, yeah, it's fun.
Yeah, you're obviously like so passionate and motivated to go and ride. Like you say, like every day, just time on the bike. What is it, or what do you think it is about mountain biking and about bikes in general that makes you so passionate and motivated?
Well, I definitely need to move, like, I'm pretty fidgety, or like ADHD, you know, I just like have to, I have to be moving to keep, uh, keep my brain and body happy, and so biking is like a really,I don't know, at some point I decided that like, that's what I wanted to focus on, and like, spend time doing, and even though it's not easy to go ride every opportunity, you know, it's like, Might be pouring rain or might be tired or whatever.
It's [00:08:00] like every time you're out there, you're never like, oh, I wish I wasn't here You know, you're always like, oh, this is awesome Like so I think it's just kind of wanting to like live a positive life every day You know, it's just just get on your bike. It makes it easy. Yeah,
totally man. Yeah getting on it.
It's sometimes the hardest part Exactly. Yeah. Well, I can't remember many rides I've regretted Yeah, So fast forward to today, you're kind of living the bike dream here in Squamish, you're coaching, you're riding, you're building, part of a whole bunch of filming projects. Um, wanted to dive straight in here and talk about one of your most recent builds, um, that's kind of been blowing up online, the Hellavator trail.
The Hellavator. Yeah. Yeah. I wanted to know, obviously a lot of people have seen the video, if they haven't already, go and watch it, I'll link it in the show notes. But I wanted, I wanted to hear like the process from first like being out wherever that was in the forest and spotting this. This crazy looking cliff, this piece of terrain, walk us through the process from like first seeing that terrain to actually build in it and then eventually getting to ride
it.
Okay, yeah, so for that [00:09:00] one, I think every, pretty much every time I was there, I was with like a group of friends. So the first time, I mean, like I'd sort of, I'd seen that piece of terrain for a while. Like I knew there was a huge slab off the top there and I knew it cliffed out everywhere. At first, you know, I never really thought about it.
I was like, oh, it cliffs out. But then, you know, you're kind of like, oh, well it cliffs out. Like, that's maybe more exciting. And then, I think, you know, it just sort of sat on hold. And then I was there one day, maybe two years ago, with a bunch of friends. And, um, and we actually kind of started clearing the landing a little bit.
And like, we looked at it seriously. And it was a big group of us, so we were kind of moving logs around pretty easily. You know, it's kind of too steep to really walk up, but I, I got onto the bottom of it and initially I'd planned to go on the other side of there's a little tree or a pretty big tree there.
Okay. And I'd planned to go on the other side of it, but that was like a smaller drop to a [00:10:00] landing with a corner and it would have been more building. Yeah. And then, you know, we didn't really do anything. We just kind of made it possible to build, sort of got an idea of what the ground was like. Okay. And then, um, and then just like thinking about it, it's just like, well, why would you...
Why would you go smaller when there's like this big awesome drop option right there that's like works better with the terrain anyways Okay,
so like straight a bit
bigger. Yeah, just going straight off the nose Going a bit bigger because once we'd cleared some of the logs, it was like, oh, it's it actually is gonna go fine It's not that much work.
Yeah, and then I came back a few times on my own and like did some more figuring and whatever and then
Yeah, I came back with friends and made it happen. Yeah. And then like, yeah, I consulted with the builder who does a lot of the work locally there to make sure that we weren't. Gonna mess up any of his stuff because it is pretty close Yeah. Yeah
So I'm curious like for those that haven't said this thing is steep. It's a super steep slab. [00:11:00] It's
550 degrees It's like convex and then gets probably 50 55 maybe
yeah, and then there's a drop. That's how high would you say
drops maybe? 20, 15, 20 feet. 15, 20
feet, yeah.
Yeah,
probably 20 foot distance, but maybe not quite that tall. It's a, it's
a big drop for sure and I'm curious, like, you're able to look at it from the bottom, build the landing, that kind of thing. You maybe had to look from the top. Yeah. It's not really the kind of line you can walk down and imagine yourself riding, is it?
Because it's so steep. No, I had to tie a rope to the tree at the top so that I could, like, comfortably go up and down. So then you, you just haggard
down or you play in, like, rock climbing stuff? No, no,
it's just holding on like it's, it's almost walkable, but if you fell, you would, you wouldn't want to fall.
So it's nice to have the rope to, to like keep you a little more. Right.
So you're edging yourself down on the rope, kind of imagining what it's going to be like to ride.
Yeah. Yeah. And then I just cleared the, cleared the strip of moss.
So, I know if I was like, holding on a rope and edging down this slab and thinking about riding [00:12:00] this drop, was, was there ever any doubt in your mind?
As you're going down there and like, will this work? I mean, I knew it would
work, like, you know, people have hit much bigger drops and, and that steepness of slab is, it's a little steeper than in an outburger. But there's plenty of local slabs that you can really get a feel for it on.
so you're kind of comparing it to other similar things you've rode and you're putting all those pieces together to like, I think I could ride this new feature. It's kind of
like the last, uh, slab of K Line. Okay, yep. You know, steep, long, and then gets a bit steeper in that case.
This one has a drop. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, and then you just like, then I'd go practice. I'd ride other slabs and think about like what it would be like. And then just spending enough time there. I just knew, like, I knew it would go. The scary part was knowing that I had to be the first one to ride it.
Totally. I mean, I didn't have to be, of course, but there's like a bit of the like, you know, you sort of, I didn't build the whole thing myself, but I facilitated the building of it [00:13:00] mostly. Someone's gotta hit it
first. Yeah, do you feel a bit of pressure kind of being the one that came up with the concept?
Healthy
pressure, you know, not like, oh god, I have to do it, but more like, okay, it's done, like... I'm
ready. That's fantastic man, like congrats on opening up that feature and hitting it, it's such a rad one. Thank you, it's uh, it's cool. Yeah, like I said, I'll put a link down there in the show notes so people can go and watch that one.
Beauty. Uh, I'm curious, kind of like on that subject of like opening up all new lines and kind of you, you continuing to push the bar higher and higher. I wanted to talk about this idea of like risk creep. Obviously, you're taking some insane risks out there, you're getting some insane rewards. riding at an awesome level, but I'm curious like on that topic like how do you know when to say no?
You have to pay attention to your gut feeling Like for me, it's I'm going to take the risk at some point or like take the risk I'm going to ride the future, but I think the risk profile changes a lot depending on how you approach [00:14:00] something so like You might show up one day Unsure of whether you're gonna ride it and kind of just go by the feel of that's like that's how I'm feeling right now About tonight.
It's like I'm supposed to go ride some Stuff that's like already scary enough to go ride and then supposed to go do it in the dark Or like we're gonna go to those places, you know And like once you're there then you have to like make a bit more of a real assessment Generally, it's based on sort of like I don't know I always like to ride a little bit before I just go hit stuff that way I kind of feel how I am Like on and with the bike and then yeah,
It can be pretty nerve wracking for sure
Totally. So doing a bit of an assessment It sounds like almost starting by by thinking about what the plan is before you're out on the bike Yeah, totally and then checking
in that the feature is not gonna go anywhere, you know You don't ever have to hit something like you might Build it up in your head and you're like today's the day but like you really need to be able to listen to yourself and [00:15:00] say Actually, my bike's not working great or the conditions don't align or I'm just like not feeling it for some weird reason Like you need to listen to that and because you will feel it You know and the more you go to those places and think about those features and visualize doing it the more you kind of are Familiarizing yourself and that Plays a big role in being comfortable
totally like taking away as many of the unknowns as possible.
Yeah Yeah,
and then you can also train a little bit, you know Like making sure that you're like body's in good condition that you're not like nursing a broken foot Well trying to like ride like I was dealing with that this summer It was like horrible trying to like ride the tour de nar and also having an injury like that I wanted to ignore because I didn't want to acknowledge that like right so Being smarter than that, you know, but sometimes the timing doesn't line up.
Yeah, I guess you learn
through these experiences. Dude, I had no idea that you were riding all that stuff with an injury.
Yeah, [00:16:00] yeah, it's, it wasn't, I never even went to the hospital, because I like, I had like an embarrassing crash, you know, and I just like didn't want to acknowledge that. Right. Like, it had happened, so whatever.
Yeah,
but you're all good now? Yeah, yeah, all
good. I just like, I don't know, I think I had like something very bruised or broken in my, in my foot, in my heel. And then, uh, that doesn't like inspire confidence. If you have to, if you had to like bail midline or, you know, like a lot of these features, you want to know if something is going to go wrong, like what is it going to be and how, how will you react?
Like, because you don't plan for that stuff. But if you don't know it, you're just like... Coming in blind, you know, you need to know where like what happens if you fall
totally It's definitely worth having what as much information as you can have before you actually get to that point of
it You might be able to do something like move a log or like kick over a little stump or something that like could make it Really bad if you fell somewhere, too So a bit of like risk mitigation just by like [00:17:00] going through the area I'm not gonna put pads down probably like it's too much effort to carry that stuff in totally.
Yeah Make sure you're not falling into like a spiky snake pit. Yeah, that's... That's kind of good. Yeah,
I think it's definitely worth a look. I talk about this with clients a lot. I've got a lot of clients that are like, oh, let's just, let's just ride in. I'll ride it better if I don't look at it first and kind of like wig myself out.
Yeah. I think it definitely comes to a point, like when we get to a certain point in our riding and the consequence and the moves of the features we're riding goes up to a certain level. It's like we're gonna do our due diligence. We got to take a look before we ride some of those things. A hundred percent.
And there is the like being in the flow component, but like I think if you want to be a Like a feature rider and like drop into those bigger more high consequence moves You need to be able to get in the flow quickly and like or maybe set yourself up smart in a different way where you're warmed Up, you're you have like an in run that you can use to kind of be on your bike But a hundred percent you need to look at like what you're about to do [00:18:00] Otherwise, you're just like putting bullets in the chamber and spinning the thing and hoping it's not that time You know, like totally
like no one wants to play roulette on that bike.
No,
not at all like It sort of works until it doesn't, but at a certain point, like, the features are too high consequence to, to approach in that way, for
sure. Totally, yeah. And you talk about, like, this idea of, like, being in the flow, and then we've all kind of got our own description of, like, what that is.
Yeah. What does that mean for you?
Um, well, it's hard, right? It's kind of one of those elusive topics, For me, though, like, I try to be pretty realistic, because, you know, I'm often, my goals are to like, ride a lot of features and do a lot of things, so, you know, I'm not, I'm still talking myself into doing these things, like, I'm not just showing up being like, oh, maybe today, maybe not, and then getting in the flow, you know, it's like, you have to kind of fight for it a little bit, like, it's not gonna, it doesn't always come easy to like, sometimes you [00:19:00] just have to say, there's no reason I'm not feeling it, you know, like, I'm here, I want this, I need to, I need to like lock it in and often it's just I think a matter of focus and preparation.
Making sure that like you're in the right gear, you know, you're, I think like not breaking flow is a good way to like be in the flow. So if you just kind of avoid, you know, when you go to drop in and you're like, Oh, this is wrong. Oh, this is wrong. This is wrong. This is wrong. Like you're definitely not in the flow of making corrections that are just like being on your bike.
Whereas if you prepare yourself well, you can kind of optimize your. You know, it only takes a second. Like, it's a moment of just like, alright, here we go, and then you're either, I guess you're
in it, right? Yeah, I really like that insight, and I kind of seen that riding with you today. You know, you've got a bike that you've just built up, and you're like, ah, it's not quite set right.
You were changing a few things before we dropped in. And then once we dropped in, you're like, I'm riding now. I'll worry about that at the bottom. Yeah, totally. One thing at a time. And I guess that preparation as well, like today's ride for you [00:20:00] was pretty chill. Um, just out riding, yes, and backyard trails with me, but you've got like a gnarly night ride happening tonight with Remy.
Well, today was like a perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Like, like you say, you know, I wouldn't really be getting in the flow easily on a bike that's not quite set up right. You're kind of like making those adjustments. So it's really important. Before you do your gnarly move or whatever to like, taking the right steps ahead of time.
Yeah,
like you did that pre ride with me, you went and put some more air in your fork, you adjusted a few things. Yeah, took some air out actually. Yeah, now you're set for maybe getting into that flow state tonight. Hopefully. Fantastic. Yeah. Let's, let's tell the listeners about tonight. What are you getting up to?
Uh, I'm gonna go ride, um, with Remy, Metailler. We're gonna go do some night riding. He's got these awesome lights that, we went and tested him out last week. You probably saw his video he posted, uh, the clip of the
Goronga. I didn't actually, I'm gonna have to go back and
watch that one. Oh, it's, it was crazy man.
He rode it four times. Like, you know, [00:21:00] Remy, Remy likes to do stuff till he, he's, like, till he's happy with it. And like, between the filming it and the getting the riding perfect, it often takes like, at least five tries. So, it's. It's amazing. He'll just like do a lot. It was like it was raining and dark and he hit like we warmed up on sauerkraut
and just for perspective.
This is your first ever night, right? Is that right? That's right. Yeah
Before but I've never like been for a night ride. Okay, like a bike light. Yeah.
Yeah, that's crazy. Yeah, that's cool
It's funny. It's just like boom right in the deep end.
Yeah, how did you find it? I asked you a few questions kind of off recorded that
way I honestly was riding super poorly, like I was sick, it was kind of like, I, I didn't really set myself up very well, like my bike needed a service, and my, like, had some worn out bushings, and, I just like couldn't even, my tires were really low tread, I couldn't grip at all, I was like flying off the [00:22:00] trail, I was like totally not there mentally, and so I, I opted out of all those.
Yeah, well
it's good to hear, right? You kind of learned from it and you're back tonight with perhaps a little bit more preparation.
Yeah, a little bit more. Still nervous. Like, just like don't know what I'm gonna
do.
And for you, like, how do you describe like good nerves versus bad nerves?
Oh, that's a good question.
Um, I think if you've done all your preparation and like, you know, have set yourself up to be successful. Yeah. Nervousness is just like, kind of, your body's being highly attuned and like, can be translated to focus and, and skill. But, I think nervousness, if you're like, really uncertain, or if you're like, not prepared, would be like, bad nervousness.
Yeah, perhaps like a warning sign, like, hey, are you sure? Yeah, exactly.
There's like, butterflies and then there's like, apprehension. You know, and like sometimes it's hard to know what the line is right [00:23:00] between the two totally So
do you find like self talk comes into it for you? It sounds like you're like telling yourself.
Hey, I've done the work I've set up my bike and prepared. Yes, or perhaps the opposite sometimes like yeah, you know I'm not really feeling this today. My bikes not quite ready. It's hard
to say no, you know It's hard to like be there and be like actually I'm not feeling it right now. So like removing your ego from Like, Yohan and I are actually working on something right now, like a risk evaluation tool.
Yeah,
I'm super excited to see that one. I was chatting with him about the
idea as well. Um, but, basically like, running through a checklist. You know, like, is my equipment good? Are the conditions good? You know, am I prepared for this? Can I visualize this? Like, basically just having a bunch of things that tally up to a score.
You can just say, Oh, like, you know, it's really easy to come back to a feature tomorrow or later that day, even, or like a week later, or, you know, if you don't live [00:24:00] there, you come back the next time you're there, like, whereas it's a lot harder to come back to a feature after having a big injury from like a, you know, there's like a lot of mental components to work through when you like have an injury or something like that.
So I think that it's always better to make the right call.
Yeah, it's a really sound way of putting it, like, yeah, perhaps sometimes it does feel really disheartening when perhaps, you know, you're visiting somewhere and you've really been wanting to hit this trail, this feature, or just like,
you want to break the internet.
Yeah, there's people's time involved.
Totally. Yeah, to be like, hey, I'm gonna put the ego aside and break the internet another
day. Yeah, yeah, or just like... Not break myself today, right? Yeah. Yeah,
pretty funny. But it's wise words there, man. I love, yeah, I love getting that perspective. Easier said than done.
Totally. And I finally got around to watching the full Into the Gnar video last night. Oh sweet. In preparation for this podcast, and man, it was fantastic. Like credit [00:25:00] to you, to Yoann, to all the other riders involved. Such a journey, and it was so cool seeing lots of people in this situation, making lots of those yes or no, kind of like, high consequence
decisions.
Totally, especially in the group setting, like, I was pretty impressed. Like, with a lot of my friends, with some people I didn't know. There were a few scary moments, but generally I was like, Man, everyone made good decisions, and like, you know, a few injuries, like that's, I don't want to say it's expected, it's the worst thing, like, last thing you want, but, You're in the danger zone all day, there's a ton of riders, you know, like, 30 riders times 15 moves, that's like, what, 450?
Like jumps
and landings. Yeah, like opportunities for something to potentially
go wrong. Yeah, or like 450 awesome moments to go right. Exactly. Like that was what like statistically it's just like
448 things that went well that day pretty much.
Yeah a couple other crashes too, but like that's just [00:26:00] mountain biking, right?
Totally, I wanted to ask you, like, speaking about like, having, yeah, there's 30 odd riders on each feature, plus a bunch of people spectating on some of them, photographers there as well, like, how do you go about changing your mindset on a day like that when you're performing in front of an audience versus just out riding with you and one other buddy
there's a lot of build up to that day, so, like, I don't know, I almost felt like my body was like really well... Just like all ready, you know, I was like, I'm ready to go like I'm I was like shaking but in like a very like like so focused so Tuned in like as soon as we wrote a few things on in and out. I was like, oh, yeah, I feel good today I feel strong and I think Starting the day on a good note is a good way to sort of carry the Carry the wave through the rest of the day, because it's a lot.
Like, [00:27:00] like you say, there's people there, there's like this order, there's kind of a bit of like, a ton of camaraderie, but a little bit of like, all right, I want to make sure that, you know, you don't just like, ride the feature minimally, like you want to bring a little flair or some flavor. And
totally, I could sense that, like everyone almost trying to do it slightly differently and put their own flavor on it.
Yeah, yeah. And that was what made the film so
interesting to watch. Totally, like those, all those features are like standout features, but when you have 30 people hitting them, you know, it's just like, another hit, another hit, another hit, like how do you, how do you stand out, right, how do you make that interesting?
Totally, and it sounds like you were kind of, yeah, like your preparation started before the day, before like the warm up lap, you were, you were visualizing what was going to go down and...
Yeah, I mean, I was, like, hanging out at the Rutherford... Like, uh, Yoan and I bought a thousand dollars worth of lumber to build the landing for the double truck.
Cause we couldn't source it in time for like, [00:28:00] yeah, so I just like called Pemberton Valley Building Supply or whatever and they delivered a truck and then we unloaded it. And some random lads who were just driving by stopped to pull in to check out the train gap or something. Ended up helping me carry like, you know, the whole, like, I don't even remember how many boards we bought.
Like 90 boards or whatever, like over to the... It was hilarious. Good on you guys.
Thanks guys. Yeah, like putting your own money and your own blood, sweat and tears into making the dream happen.
Yeah, but it's like, we'd been preparing for a long time, you know, just building features and like making sure things were, you know, like more safe.
As safe as possible. They could have been with no budget and totally limited time. Yeah
This is something I wanted to ask you on the building before do you find like your time just there at the feature being part? Of the build I know you're obviously like sussing out the angle and working it all out in your [00:29:00] head before Building that yeah during building it do you find that helps when it comes to actually?
Getting on the bike and riding it for the first time. So so
much like Approaching a new feature like, you know, you've never been there. You never like Seeing a feature quite like that, whereas once you've built something, you may have never hit it, but you visualize it
so much. And does that experience then translate when perhaps, you know, you set up to go ride a feature that someone else has built?
Are you looking at it through your builder's lens and like, is this gonna work? Are the angles right?
I mean, I always try and sort of imagine, like, I always try to spend a bit of time at a feature that someone else has like, clearly put a bunch of time into because... Like, they had a vision for it, you know?
And so, understanding their vision, I think, helps
feel more comfortable. Like on, especially something, like, bigger or scarier, you know? Like, Hans is a good example. He's built so many crazy, gnarly features in town. And a lot of them, you can't even, like, stand on it. Cause it's [00:30:00] like... A convex rock that's like way steeper than the That's what blows my
mind, like I like to walk through a line and visualize myself riding it.
So I'm like to you, when there's a rope hanging down off the rock and you can't walk it, I'm like how does that look?
Yeah, it's uh, it's a bit more of a mental game.
Dude, that's fantastic insight to hear that. And I think going back into the now, like, one of my favorite parts in talking about standout moments is like, lunchtime, you're there in the parking lot, everyone else is eating burgers and whatever, and you're like, hey, look at my thick jibs, you're there like, having fun in the parking lot, showing off some skills.
I do love the parking lot. It's so
rad to see, and like, I wanted to ask, like, How important do you think those skills are for people starting out learning or perhaps have been riding for a while like I have that are still getting some coaching and working on their riding? Like, how important do you think it is to go back to the parking lot and put the hours into those skills?
Well, I think that often people are like, dissuaded from parking lot tricks because, [00:31:00] you know, they get called like a show off or they're like, There's not really a goal to it, but I think it's just like time on the bike is very valuable, so I Think it's critical to play like just goof around on your bike You know like it doesn't matter if there's you know you don't need to ride backwards down a small grass hill to like do anything for your mountain biking, but just those little insights you might gain from You know, doing a thousand wheelies or whatever.
It's like, I think it's very helpful. Especially around here where you have, you know, like, tight switchbacks and like, funky moves where like, you know, like one of the most useful moves around Squamish is like the nose pivot. Totally. I'm like, turning your bike. I
seen it in our ride today, you were doing it on every steep corner, and I had to really, really work to get my nice long bike around the corners, whereas you were kind of jibbing around every one, it looked awesome, and it was probably easier too, because you've got that tool.
Yeah, I think so, it's like, a bit [00:32:00] easier, maybe a bit more efficient. And then it's just like another tool in the toolbox, so.
Totally. Yeah, I love that perspective. It's something I've kind of learned the long way around, and now I'm like, Okay, Jake, maybe I do need to spend the 10, 000 hours in the parking lot.
Well, I think you do
a lot of coaching, so I think when you're coaching, it's a good time. You know, like, you're not riding as fast, you're spending more time, like, getting on and off your bike. And then, like, especially if you coach kids, you know, like, Like, kids just want to be goofy and have a good time. I mean, you can spend If you're clever you can spend three hours like in a parking lot or a grassy field with like maybe some cones or just like a little curb drop or something and like do it a hundred ways.
That's a good
point like kids and obviously like you spent like those ten thousand probably a million hours in the backyard in the parking lot. Yeah working on those skills right and I find quite often as adults we're maybe more limited on time and we'll be like right we've got three hours let's go hit the trails and we'll be on the trails for three hours.
Yeah exactly. [00:33:00]
Or if you're coaching, like, making sure that you're on your bike, too. Like, it's important to, like, yes, like, assess and look and everything, but also, like, people want to be inspired and, like, There's so many learning styles, people need to see other people do
it too, so. Definitely, and like I noticed in your riding, you join me as I was kind of practicing my wheelies on the way back down from the trails today.
And watching you wheelie, people will be able to watch that on my Instagram later today. You're in so many different positions over the bike. Yeah, yeah. Because of those hours, but then I see that on the trail as well when you're manualing in between different features and just able to be such a dynamic rider.
Totally. It's inspiring to see. I wanted to talk, yeah, about the coaching. Like, tell us the story. You know, you obviously grew up skiing, you work in the winters as a snow guide. Tell us the story about becoming a mountain bike guide, uh, here in Squamish.
So, yeah, I was here at Quest University. I'd done a summer at home working construction and then two summers tree planting.
And then the next... [00:34:00] year, like my body was ruined already from tree planting. Like I had, you know, degenerated discs and like scoliosis and lordosis and like, yeah, so like twisting spine, curved spine, issues everywhere, because like, it's kind of asymmetrical and like I was, you know, I was there to make money.
You're paid for a tree, like, you
gotta work
as hard as you can. It just wasn't really the right, thing for me, I guess. It was really fun. I loved every minute of it, but not every minute. Um, but so the next summer I was like gonna go tree planting, but my body was already hurting this season and it hadn't even started yet.
And then, um, I was doing my O. F. A. Three first aid course. And then someone like it became apparent that I could get this job working as an A. T. V. Guide. And then, so I was like, Oh, sure, I'll do some guiding. That's kind of something I'd like to do anyways. And that was with Whistler ATV, Blackcomb Snowmobile.
And that was really cool because, you know, I, I wasn't [00:35:00] an ATV 4x4 person or anything, but it was like a good foot in the door for guiding. And I was like, you know what, any, any job guiding is experience guiding. Sounds like a super fun way to pay your rent. And it was so fun, like we had a great time. I had, I worked with an awesome crew, um, good company.
And then You know, it wasn't quite enough hours or something, so I was like, oh, I'm going to start working with RideHub. Okay.
I, I got connected with RideHub through like an experiential learning course. Okay. Um, at Quest, and then I met Sarah Archer, the owner at the time, and just kind of like built a bit of a relationship, and then started working with them and did my PMBIA, levels one and two that year, maybe one, two, and three that year.
Fantastic,
so right through the one, two, and three in the first
year. I did, I can't remember if I did. Yeah, I don't remember exactly
how to learn it. That's riding's one part, you're a hugely experienced rider, but then being able to, to demo to all levels, but also be able to [00:36:00] teach all levels. That's, that's impressive, dude.
I think the
ski racing background, like being coached so much, uh, at like a high level in that sport. Yep. Translated pretty easily to like, uh, sort of naturally to like a coaching style. Yeah, that's fantastic. Even though I didn't have any, like, yeah, that much. Like training and biking
it was and tell us yeah, tell us about the coaching side of things So once you once you did your qualifications you got work in there for ride hub I know we'll chat in a little bit about on our ride kind of sharing some some common interests and like why we love that Job so much.
Yeah, I'd love to hear you speak on that.
I mean, it's just so cool to like Get to like share The like learning of biking with someone in a way that is like safe that they feel comfortable with and that like You know, within maybe say a three or a six hour session, like you can like walk away with, you know, tangible improvements for the rest of your life or whatever.
And I don't know. It's just really rewarding to like see [00:37:00] people progress and and to share that. It's pretty powerful, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, it's awesome. Like You're at work, but like it's so rewarding and it just yeah feels really cool and you build Like good relationships and Yeah.
Totally. So you, they're kind of working with RideHub for a few seasons, like group lessons, private lessons, all kinds of different riders.
Yeah,
yeah, exactly. I was like taking on a lot of the kids coaching side of things and running the kids programs. Um. And so we would like work with the ninja gym and do half days, so.
Half the kids would come with us in the morning and then we'd go swap the group. Okay. So we'd be biking all day, like, huge days on the bike. Yeah, yeah. And with a ton of kids, and we'd just do like a few weeks of that, and that was really fun.
And then did, sort of found a group of kids that, um, that was a bit more serious about it. Worked with them for. Another couple seasons and they were called the Feature Creatures. Okay rad. Super rad group. So
like a progression group that you [00:38:00] stayed with for more of a long term coaching
program. Totally
Like, it's so good to see the next generation there, uh. It is.
Uh, and speaking of that, like, we've just been out for a ride, and I think every second person we rode past, you were like, oh, hey, buddy.
Yeah. Totally. All these different people you've, you've connected with over the years. So, yeah, went RideHub, obviously learned heaps, lots of different programs. Tell us the story about, like, connecting with Yoann and, and starting to work with him. Yeah. Yoann and I had a
funny, it was really funny, like, I was out riding Rupert one day, and uh, I came around the corner, as you like roll along the bench, into that sort of, the classic technical, Right hand rock corner on Rupert.
And Yoann's like, there in the middle of the trail with his camera, doing his thing, you know, like, Hello! It's me! I'm here on Rupert! And uh, And I was like, oh, sweet! He's making a video, I'm just gonna like... I'll leave him a space, and I'll just take that little cut down line next to the tree there, down the cliff, the French line.[00:39:00]
And I like rode down it, and Joel was like, Oh my gosh, can you do that again?
And I was like, yeah,
sure. And then I introduced myself, and uh, and then I went and rode it, and then I did some other moves through to help, like, just for his video. Cause he was basically like there waiting, I think, for people to ride by and do the corners, so.
So
you randomly met, and then became part of his video
that day. I don't even know if he ever made a video out of it, but um, maybe he did. I should go check. But then, the next day, or like two days later, I was in um, I was doing my PMBI level 1, and I was in Whistler, lot 5, at like 7 in the morning. And I get out of my car, and I'm messing around, and Yohan Rad's like right by, and I'm like, hey, what are you doing here?
He's like, what are you doing here? I was like, I'm doing my... P N B I coaching thing. He is like, oh, me too. And then we were in the same group, right? . And so we did like our level one bike instructor course together. Um, it must've
been a [00:40:00] wild level one course. The , it was wild.
Yeah. And like Javi, right? Javier Munoz, Santos was the, the instructor of the course.
And Harvey's also super rowdy. And then, um, This guy, Sebastian Seb, was in the course, and, um, Michael Sawa, who's like the Chromag athlete. Right. Representative manager guy, um, I don't know the exact job title, but he deals with the athletes at Chromag, and Mike's awesome. And, uh, so it was this super, like, funny, random collection.
But yeah, and then, and then we like, we're doing something very, like, I don't know, similar, close by again, like a few days after and it was like, Oh, we should go biking sometime. And then a couple of years later we were working together. Yeah.
What a crazy, crazy coincidence
of events. Yeah. It was pretty funny.
And like, after that we just kind of like sort of stayed in touch and rode bikes every now and again. Um, [00:41:00] but then he, he needed some help with one of his, he's trying to run like a bigger group program and wanted to, to involve someone else. So we connected and uh, And I've been working together since.
It's been super sick.
Man, that's so rad. So what's it been, like a couple of seasons now or one full season? A little more
than like all year this year and sort of the end of the season last year, so. Yeah, fantastic. I think we started in like August or September last year. That's
awesome. I think it's almost like every, every second day when I'm out on the trails coaching I'll see either you or Yoann out there as well.
Always smiling, always have a good time. It's so rad to see, and I guess kind of working with the higher end of riders, um, lots of free ride stuff, lots of kind of gnarly lines.
Totally, like that's always sort of where I've wanted to go with my biking, especially like coaching, is to help people.
You know, there's definitely a process for like riding a more gnarly line and doing so with, you know, as much, doing so as safely as you can, I guess. Um, and I [00:42:00] just find that really... And I don't feel like, I don't know, I feel like I'm sort of in a good place to like help people with that. Like, I've spent a lot of time doing that stuff, but I, in no way, like, feel like I pressure people to like ride anything that they're not comfortable with.
Like, I'm always like talking people out of riding gnarly things. No, no, no, you don't have to do it today. No, don't worry, you can go ride a bunch of these other things and come back to it. But I think I like that, um, I don't know. It's nice feeling like you can help people, and I've received a lot of really positive feedback.
You know, like, we had a pretty bad accident, where someone had to, they, like, got seriously injured and needed a helicopter evac. and that one's really tough, right? Because you're like, shoot, are we, like, are we doing something wrong? Are we pushing this too much? But the sport is just going in that direction.
And, like, someone else from our group, you know, reached out and said, like, Hey, we just want to say thank you for. For being there because you know if you think about it like all of us would still be there doing that [00:43:00] same stuff Anyways, just on like the advice of a YouTube You know video rather than like actually being there being coached and like totally being helped.
So as much as it's like You know by pushing the sport and like focusing on like higher end riders higher end terrain You know those people are gonna be doing that anyways, and so we're still You know, in, in that respect, making things safer, which, which feels good. Totally.
Yeah. It feels very worth it.
Very nice to be there with a qualified coach and someone that's first aid trained.
Yeah. A hundred percent. And like, those people are, people want to be riding this stuff anyways. There's so many videos of like everyone doing gnarly stuff. It's nice to sort of have those videos and then be able to follow up with like an in personlike, okay, this is actually what it's like.
It's not just like, la la la, crazy shit in the
woods, like. Totally, yeah, it's good to get that first person perspective of like, yeah, like this is the process we go through. We don't always say yes. Totally. Um, that kind of thing. And like, looking back, obviously you figured out all of this stuff. [00:44:00] Somehow. By yourself, with your buddies.
I think
the ski race training
helped a lot. Yeah, I'm sure that was some cool insight. Do you wish you kind of, you had some like, Mountain bike free ride training. So much. Like looking back on your experience figuring it out. I mean I did have like
these little bike camps I went to when I was a kid. And like I had some really good inspiration.
Like there was a little bit of a mountain bike scene in New Hampshire. Um, but just like not really where I was. There's like Highland Mountain Bike Park that's like an hour and a bit away. Yeah. Couple other sort of like places. But um, I went to this camp every year called Coyote Hill Mountain Bike Camp.
Run by this guy Tom Masterson who's super rad. Um, And we'd like, build jumps and build drops and like, do a bit of the like, free ride stuff, we'd like, watch the New World Disorder movies, you know, like, it was, it was super cool, but it was like, one week of my year. Right, okay. And, it was, like, there wasn't really enough...
I don't know if you guys know this, but there was a time when bikes were too varied. Some kids were there on hardtail, clunker bikes. Some [00:45:00] kids were there with the newest, you know, cove, whatever, dual suspension, like, downhill bike. So like, not only do we not have a bike park, or like shuttle trails, it's all like these cross country trails with tons of variety in bikes, and kids, ages, and everything.
So like, the camps were really good, they just didn't have like a good, solid client. That was like cohesive. Totally.
It must've been so tricky.
I'm looking back, but like they did an amazing job and it was super cool to like, um, to have that because it exposed me to a lot of like, you know, I was a little kid, but like, I was, I would be like eight years old there.
And then it'd be like this 15 year old kid on a sweet downhill bike building this like. 15 foot drop in the woods, you know, with like all Tom's tools and then he finished it and then we were like, okay Well, he's the only guy who's gonna hit it But everyone like got to go walk up it and check it out I'm like, I remember I ended up hitting that like two years later or something.[00:46:00]
So like There still was that progression. It just wasn't super linear and it wasn't always like Easy, but yeah, isn't
that cool? Like getting a perspective of like this is how You build a fade shot. This is how it happens. And then yeah, two years later, perhaps And having enough exposure, enough experience to be like, I feel comfortable hitting this thing now.
Just like
wanting it too. You know, you, if you don't know about it, you don't want it, but like seeing it, getting to like look off the top and be like, I want to,
yeah, it's often a great way to like come up with goals. Isn't it? Just like seeing something. Exactly. I love to talk about this. We chatted at the start of our ride, you know, about your ride in and about how you perhaps go about setting some different goals.
Right. Can you tell us about, yeah, like your process there and then perhaps about how you work with students to help them set goals as well?
Totally. I mean, I think as far as goal setting goes, you can have a few, you sort of need like a, you need to know if you've accomplished your goal or not. So, it's, like, racing is nice, where you're like, I want to do X number of races this year, and I [00:47:00] want to place, you know, this well by the end.
And to do that, I'm going to train this much and ride, like, you know, that's... That's sort of like the traditional way, I think, that people have done it. But, free riding is a little harder because, you know, you might want to hit a feature, or you might want to, like, make a video, or something that's a little, like, it's hard to know if you've done it well, or, like, to the, like, enough to be successful.
Yeah. Um, but I think that's kind of the beauty of it, is, like, it's not structured. It's like, you're going more for, like, um, a lifestyle approach to mountain biking. Which is... If you do it well, you can sell it, but if you, if you're like most people, like me, you know, you're just like, oh, I just do all my, spend all my time doing this and like pursuing it still, but, you know, I always thought like to be a free rider or whatever, you just had to like be good enough, like you just had to hit a bunch of big enough features and stuff, but really [00:48:00] it's a lot more than that.
Like there's, you know, that was it when it was like, The original crew of freeriders who were like, kind of outcast y from all over the place. You know, you had like, you know, Matt Hunter and like Josh Bender and all these people who just like, they just hit huge stuff and you're like, whoa, that was crazy.
And they'd always have the video part. You're like, oh, I guess if I just get good enough, then I'll have a video part. But, but there's a ton of people thinking that. So then it's not just about being good enough. You know, like the next generation is like so good in so many different ways. Now you have to, like, have a profile, like a social media account, and like, be very multifaceted in order to be a professional.
Like, now you're really just selling stuff. Um, you're like a marketer or an influencer or something, as opposed to like, being the sort of face of a, of a movement.
Yeah, the industry's changed a lot. It's continuing to change really quickly,
isn't it? It sure is, and it's hard to sort of know what you can do now to positively, [00:49:00] like, Have a positive impact on your future, but I think like you go ride your bike every day It's a great start isn't it?
You know like if you're if you're too like result oriented You know your goals They don't really necessarily take you in the right way I love that
you touched on that and going back to even just like setting riding goals. Yeah, yeah That's something I've learned the hard way as well if we're too outcome focused You gotta be processed.
Yeah, we're not focusing in the moment and doing the work that will point us towards that outcome.
Totally, yeah, it's um, It's just like, your goal should be to love riding your bike, right? Like if you have fun every time you ride your bike, then you're gonna ride your bike a lot. And then that's gonna like...
Feed into being good at biking, I think.
Totally. And this is actually something I wanted to ask you. Like, I see you as like this unique guy in the industry that's like a really high level rider. You've got your own crazy style. Doing all sorts of different projects. Like, where do you see yourself taking biking?
Like, in the next five years or the next ten years? Where do you see
yourself going within the industry? I've been actually really like, uh, [00:50:00] struggling a bit with like, the vision for the future. Because, I sort of like, always had this like, Okay, I just gotta like ride my bike every day and I gotta hit all the features that I've seen in Squamish And like I have to like play a bit of catch up And I feel like I've kind of done that like I've hit all the features that I've thought about more or less There's a few little new ones popping up here and there but like, you know I've hit all the Goronga features all been like dropping all the Big scary things and then you're like well now like what do I want?
It's like I don't know I just wanted to be here And now you're here. It's like, well, you know, I think what I want to do is like have mountain biking be my job. And so I think to do that, like, you know, for some like smaller goals, it's like bring more like three sixties and backflips and like, you know, little things I can work on at like the Nestor's jump or at the red jump or whatever.
And like, just hone those in and bring them into like, you know, [00:51:00] bike park riding, or build some more cool features. But yeah, I think there's certain things that I want to do, but it's hard to know.
I love where you're going with that. Yeah, it's a, like, weird, interesting place to find yourself in, isn't it?
Like, when you, like, achieve everything you ever dreamed of and then you're like, What's next? Yeah,
yeah. I want to make more videos. I really enjoy, like, making little video parts that are, like, kind of fun and, like, You know, working with some local
businesses to like. That's something we haven't touched on yet.
Tell us about your latest edit. It's like one of the, honestly, one of the favorite things I watched on Instagram this year, just because it was creative and it was fun. It was different. Yeah. Tell us about that. You worked with the guy Alistair. Yeah, my friend
Alistair Spriggs. Yeah, he was super rad. He volunteered a bunch of his time and skills.
And.let me jump in and out of his truck a bunch of different times, like... So
you literally jump in and out on the mountain bike. Again, if people haven't watched this one, I'll put a link in the [00:52:00] show notes. It's, what is it, a minute and a half long? It's definitely worth your time. Yeah, a little over a minute.
Yeah, but like, what was your vision in creating that? You're like, hey, cool, we're going to make an edit.
Pretty much, that's it. That's it? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, like, all right, let's make a little, like... You know, Al was, he does a lot of like, snowboarding, um, filming and a lot of photography, but I think he was looking to sort of expand his filming, um, portfolio a little bit, like get some more experience, you know, I don't know with exactly what, maybe it's lighting, maybe it's just like style of filming or, or whatever,
you know, we'd, Sort of come up with a, like a little jump or a something to ride and then figure out different angles. Just a lot of like hitting it, hiking up, hitting it, hiking up. Oh, let's do it like this, hit it, do it again. So for both of us, it was like pretty experimental as far as just like you know, what it actually takes to create a little edit like that.
And then we, it was just [00:53:00] kind of naturally came out to be like, Kind of goofy and, yeah, styled towards how I like to ride my bike. Totally. I think it, yeah. Really
cool to see like, yeah, lots of wheelies, lots of, uh, parking lot stuff within the trail and the freeriding, uh, style there as well.
I feel like it actually gave me like, after watching it, I was like, oh, I have some more ideas about what I could do next.
Like, it'd be funny to do like a video literally all on one wheel. Like Danny Mac did the wheelie video. Yeah. But I think it'd be cool to like, do more of a Shred It, but Every, like, but like change up how you're on one wheel in as many different ways as you could. Using the front wheel as well. Back to front, front to back, like, just like adding other variations, like cool stuff.
Man,
I can't wait to see that one. Yeah, maybe that'll happen. That's really cool, isn't it? I love having this chat about like, yeah, like that experience of like feeling a bit like, oh, where do I go next? But then making some moves forward, like, oh, I'll try doing some filming, and then you're like, oh, now let's open up some [00:54:00] more doors, and maybe that's the direction you'll go down.
Totally. Like, to achieve that outcome of making mountain biking your job. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it
seems like something that's possible, so I'd like to do it, whatever it takes.
Definitely dude, I think you found your path, you just gotta keep treading down that path. Just keep blindly stumbling, yeah. You got it man, it's like mountain biking, sometimes it's difficult, sometimes it's awesome.
Yeah. Keep moving forward. Just keep it going. Yeah, totally. It's good. Man, this has been a fantastic conversation, I feel like we've covered so much. Yeah. as we wind stuff down here, a couple of questions I like to ask. who do you look up to in the mountain biking world, and why?
Um, wow, like a lot of people.
I mean. I'm always like, maybe looking up is kind of a funny way to put it for me in this, but like, I'm always watching the next generation. Yep. Seeing like, like I don't know, just what, what the kids are doing, like how they're riding. Cause, you know, like [00:55:00] they're the ones who are really focused on like what to do in mountain biking.
You know, they're the ones who are like seeing all these different riders really well. So like if you look at the kids. You can, like, pretty clearly know where mountain biking is going, so you're like, Okay, I can, like, I gotta work on this to stay relevant. It is amazing
talking to the kids around here, isn't it?
Because they're scrambling, like, probably a hundred hours a week on YouTube. Yeah. They know everything about you, they know everything about Yola and about Remy. They're watching all the videos. And I guess they've just got this giant bag of ideas and, like, what's possible and what they want to do in the future.
Mm hmm.
And then, like, yeah, watching some, like, you know, Sam Monach is one of mine and many other people's favorite riders to watch, like, style, tricks, just, like, creativity. It's amazing. And, uh, does a good job of translating it via video. And then, I think, like, I don't know, obviously, like, you know, Johan and Remy and Steve and, like, the whole sort of crew around here of people who I've, like, really looked up to for a [00:56:00] while and, um, And, like, worked pretty hard to sort of, like, be a part of that community or that crew.
And then Danny MacAskill is another one of my favorites. Like, that guy is just, uh, you know, he's got incredible talent. And, like, his vision for biking is, like, I really like how creative and unique he is. That's, like, not exactly the way he does it, but his style inspires me to, like, be individualistic.
Yeah, I like, I just like watching anyone ride their bike, you know, like BMX, I love watching BMX too. Like, Brad Sims, Dennis Anderson, Prangenberg, um, Felix. Prangenberg, I think. Yeah, just like really creative, and just like, BMX is pretty core, you know, like, you fall hard on concrete repeatedly, like, I'm always inspired by like how tough those guys are and how they get up and like, just seeing their drive, like, motivates me to be [00:57:00] more driven as well and like, you know, push past the like, first bit of failure.
Yeah,
it's so cool to hear, like, drawing on inspiration from all these different facets of biking and then using that to fuel your fire. For sure. I love it man. As we wrap up here, I want to give you the opportunity Uh, is there any like sponsors or industry partners you wanted to mention on the podcast while we're here?
I mean, yeah,
there's some some folks who've really helped me out like NF clothing. They've always been awesome and Coast Optics these guys are killing it. I saw check out their new glasses And they're relatively new goggles as well. Like those guys they're based in Whistler and they're doing some really cool stuff so thanks y'all and then Yeah, I think, you know, of course, my parents, they always, they're everyone's number one sponsor.
Thank you, mom and dad. Yeah, I love it. Gotta give them the shout out. And, um, yeah, I mean, there's so many people around who help support the [00:58:00] community. And, uh, yeah, Tantalus Bike Shop, they do a lot for me. They just help me get my bike sorted. It's been like 45 minutes before our ride, so. Awesome.
Legends, yeah.
Rad people, yeah. Thank you to Tantalus for that. Yeah, exactly.
I'm sure I'm missing someone, but, uh, but thank you, whoever you are.
Fantastic, dude. Look, we've talked about all sorts of things here. If there's just one thing you could give our listeners to go away and think about, perhaps on their next pedal up, what would
it be?
Ride with your imagination. Ha, I love that. Yeah, yeah. Keep it fun and, uh, yeah, always have fun.
Fantastic dude. I think that's it. Well, thanks so much for hanging out this afternoon, it's been an absolute pleasure.
Thank you Jake. Yeah, it's been, it's been awesome man, I uh, I appreciate you having me on and thanks for
your time.
What's up guys, just one more thing before you hit the trails. If you enjoyed this podcast, please be sure to subscribe and don't be a stranger. I'd love to hear from you about any topics or any particular episodes that you [00:59:00] enjoyed, and even about any guests that you'd like to hear me have on the show in the future.
You can find me on Instagram at The underscore Mind underscore Mountain. This podcast, mountain biking, and mindset are all things that are very close to my heart, so I feel super grateful to be able to share these conversations with you. So much love to you all for taking the time to listen, and I'll see you next time.
Comments