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ENDURO MAG SPRING 2013

issue 25

7testedBikes

issue 25

gt 2014 launch | 650b conversion | the year of the dragon | heli-biking | dirty gran fondo

dan & BecWorld cup Weapons

our intervieWs With the aussie World Beaters

publisher Freewheel Media adaM Macleod

editor Mikkeli GodFree Mikk@Freewheel.coM.au

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contributors Shaun lewiS, andy blair, Mike blewitt, Shane taylor, andrew Mock, brad daVieS, ben watkinS, wil barret, Michael droFenik, Paul bryant, Fi caryl, douG Greenall

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Crew Issue 25

ED NOTEWelcome to enduro 25. I could start this Ed Note with some pithy summary of how the myriad of wheel-sizes, different bike categories, the rise in popularity of gravity enduro and the burgeoning cyclocross scene in Australia are but a few examples of how our options as bike riders are rapidly expanding…but I won’t. I could go on and tell you about how, in this issue 25 of Enduro, we have our own take on the wheel-size debate with our head-to-head Jamis Dragon test, our home-brewed 650B story and our tale of the Dirty Gran Fondo…but I won’t. I could also tell you about our gravity enduro stories in this issue, where we go heli-biking in Queenstown and go racing on the Enduro World Series with Josh Carlson…but I won’t. All these things are interesting in their own right, but for me, what is most exciting about issue 25 of Enduro are the interviews with our Aussie World Cup weapons, Dan McConnell and Bec Henderson. Anyone who knows Dan and Bec, or has heard some of their story, knows that they have been working tirelessly, year after year in pursuit of success in the Olympic cross country format. They have made huge personal sacrifices and slogged away on an unrelenting, and often unrewarding, road, which has finally led to some huge results.Their extremely hard work has paid off in 2013 – with spectacular World Cup wins and the realisation that they have both the mental and physical ability to be as good as those riders who they have looked up to over the years. On the one hand, it’s easy to gain inspiration from Dan and Bec’s story; inspiration to go out and train the house down and go head to head on the race-track. But on the other hand, what has stuck with

me the most is hearing them talk about how much they both just love riding their bikes – whether it’s high in the mountains of the Principality of Andorra, or on the outskirts of suburban Canberra. It’s easy to get distracted by debates about ‘what the best wheel size is’ and ‘what does enduro mean’. Of course, a lot of those debates are driven by a true love of riding, but it’s also good to step back a bit and be reminded that the fastest riders on the planet love riding for exactly the same reasons as we do. we hope you enjoy issue 25 of enduro.

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columnistSteve Partridge || Man’o Wheel

manowheel – why do you ride stevo?sp: If I had to condense that into a single line I would say I ride because of the places I get to go, the people I get to meet and the wellness it brings to me. But that is more than a line.manowheel – wellness?sp: The hippies might call it ‘wellness of the soul’ or some such and I think it can be gained in a variety of ways. Some get it by stretching in funny positions, some from reading books, and others from doing good for no other reason. Some remarkable people get it from working. I like to ride. I like to get on a bike and head off and look at stuff. It recharges my soul.manowheel – so you ride a lot then?sp: Not as much as I would like. But I have been riding as much as I can for fifteen years. A steady progression from scrapping on the streets of Sydney as a hairy courier to scrap-ping on the single track of the Adelaide Hills as a balding dad. Bikes have played a major part in my life, and seem to be front and centre at all the important bits.manowheel – race much?sp: I rode a few 24 hour races solo a few years ago. manowheel – best result?sp: Top ten elite at the 2003 Mont 24. I’m taking that one to the grave. One or two po-dium finishes on a single speed. I enjoy racing, but it doesn’t really motivate me too much these days. Probably because I never win.manowheel – so what motivates you these days?sp: Going really far. I had the pleasure of driving for a day not long ago in a bus with Jes-se Carlsson, Liam Crowley, Arran Pearson and a few others. Jesse, Liam and Arran were train-ing for the Tour Divide, a self-supported 2700 mile challenge down the spine of The Rockies. Listening to those guys talk about bikes for eight hours was a blast. Incidentally, all three of them have just smashed out the Tour Divide in mind boggling times. Very impressive indeed. That is what I would like to be doing.manowheel – what are you doing instead?sp: Living within a great network of single track in the Adelaide Hills. Helping out SAMBA a little bit to make the trails even better. Teaching my kids to ride. Commuting and work-ing. Dreaming of multi-day rides. I like it, and there is the promise of plenty more riding to come.manowheel – what bike do you ride? sp: Is that a real question?manowheel – er…yes?sp: meh, dumb question mate. I got lots of bikes. I ride them all. I love them all. manowheel – oh. oK. what about where is

the coolest place you have ridden?sp: Much better question. I have ridden in a heap of cool places. Riding by chance for a few days in Sri Lanka was pretty confronting. But an unforgettable ride. Best trails I ever saw were in British Columbia. I rode across the Prairies in Canada when I was courting my future wife; that was a good ride. Had a great adventure riding up to Darwin from Sydney, back in my youth. And I love the single track up in Melrose, that place is just plain good in every way.

manowheel – so where to from here?sp: Hmmm. Another good question. You are getting bet-ter at this.

manowheel – thank you.sp: Dunno really. In a bit of a holding pattern at the mo-ment. I’d like to plan for an epic adventure, Tasmania perhaps. I’d like to get involved and maybe go live up in Melrose. Sitting here and enjoying the trails around me sounds pretty good too. Maybe train for an ultra-marathon. I am really enjoying trail running at the moment.

manowheel – dude, this is a mountain biking magazine, don’t say that.sp: Yeah, better scratch that last bit. All I ever do is ride, write that.

manowheel – so all you ever do is ride?sp: Na, not really. I work, I look after my kids. There are plenty of things that keep me off a bike. When I can, I do. But listen can I ask you a question?

manowheel – i dunno about that mate, i am the one doing the interview. sp: Just one?

manowheel – if you must. sp: What do you love about writing for this magazine?

manowheel – er, i guess it is the incred-ible riders i have got to meet and interview over the years. the people i have met doing this have been amazing, and so very inspiring. present company excluded of course, i just ride with you.sp: Which brings me to another question, if

you will indulge me?manowheel – why not?sp: So why are you wasting precious moun-tain biking magazine space writing about me?manowheel – because this is my last column and i am feeling sentimental.sp: Can I get you a tissue?manowheel – piss off. i love this column and writing it over the past few years has been a pleasure. now, it is time to move on, and leave this space for some other young buck. so i’m writing about you, seeing you have been bugging me to do that since the day i started writing this column.sp: Only because nobody else will ever write about me. Are you not going to thank the folk who read your words?manowheel – yes. thanks reading people. it really has been a blast. see you on the trails.sp: So what you gunna do now?

manowheel – Go riding i guess.sp: Sweet, I’ll go get the helmet.

124enduro 25

.In lieu of anything more interesting in my

riding calendar, I thought I would share a conversation I recorded during a ride in the rain last week with my most

consistent riding partner. His name is

Steve Partridge.

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dan & Becworld cup weaponsour inTerviews wiTh The

aussie world BeaTers

cial

We first interviewed Bec when she was 12 years old, when she had just competed in her first 24 hour (the Mont). Bec rode in a team of six and completed three laps, and each of those laps were faster than the average male lap time. Since that time, Bec has crushed many more male egos, and also many egos of the elite females. In the past couple of years, Bec has stepped up the ego-crushing and is now one of, if not the, fastest U23 women in Olympic cross country mountain biking. We caught up with Bec as she prepared for the Mont St Anne World Cup, which she won, to chat about riding, family and the long road to success.

INTERVIEWS Mikkeli Godfree phoToS: tiM barsdley-sMith

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First of all, congratulations on a massive couple of years. It’s hard to believe how far you’ve come since your first 24 hour race, which you competed in aged 12, thanks to CORC giving you special permission to enter the race. Tell us what you remember of that first 24hr?

I remember that mum wouldn’t let me stay overnight and camp with my team so I had to do my two laps on the first day and then come back the next morning and do my third. It was actually pretty solid for me as I remember the laps were about 20km and well over an hour.

Tell us about how you got into riding?

I got into riding through the family environ-ment, I was always super active and sporty as a kid. Before I was riding I had already been into hockey and cross country as my top two but also basketball and Oztag and then all the backyard sports with my three siblings! When we were young, the deal was that on our 11th Christmas we got a bike. So before my 11th Christmas, I just rode around on my sister’s bike.

I just got into it through my dad and brother mostly. Ben would always have me out the front of our place building jumps with him and riding berms and other tracks. Because I was into riding before my 11th Christmas it did mean that when it was my turn to get a bike, I got a pretty good one! My first bike was a Giant Ranier. It was about four sizes too big but it was a proper 26” mountain bike with disc brakes.when did you start to take riding really seri-ously and set some goals that meant you had to make serious sacrifices? what were those goals?

To be honest, it took a while for me to get ‘serious’ about racing. I guess my first serious race was the World Championships in 2008 but then I had a rough couple of years with consis-tency in training. Dan and I travelled overseas by ourselves together for racing in 2010, but I look back at that and neither my training or attitude was serious. I was there to race my bike and do my best, but I was in Europe and just having a good time.

It was in 2011, with the thought of racing the Olympics, that I decided to get serious. But even in 2011 I couldn’t string the training together. I had some solid results early in the season but then faded over the five month trip. It was really in the summer of 2011-12 that I de-cided I would put everything into the Olympics, there was a small chance I could make it so I wasn’t going to race or train half-assed.

The Olympics only comes around every four years and I seemed to be climbing the ladder just at the right time. I made (what seemed to me) big sacrifices in the Aussie summer before Olympics. I leaned up after a few years of a few too many kilograms! And I said to myself – I won’t cut any of my training short for social activities.

I also quit my job. I was working part time – which turned into full time at Crowne Plaza in

Functions. It was pretty stressful, both mentally and physically, when trying to train as a full time athlete. So I put all my eggs into the Olym-pic basket and wasn’t going to leave a stone unturned.

It is always a delicate balance for family, friends and coaches to strike when looking after a young rider (obviously) has potential to be a great athlete – were you conscious of this? And how do you think the people around you ‘got it right’?

I had my fair share of coaches who weren’t able to find the balance of fun and understand the concept of not just being a young athlete, but being a young female athlete. I am so lucky to have a family who have been the limiting factor (in a good way) and they have stood in the way when coaches have wanted to push me beyond my limits.

Also, I think it has been super important that I have continued to be serious when in school. School was always important and sport and riding has always come second. As a result I had to fit my riding in around my schoolwork. That is something that really has helped me not to burn out.

What was the support like when you started to get serious? I have strong recollec-tions of you perched on very big Mongooses for quite a while?

The best support I always had was from my family and from CORC and then I was really lucky to get my hands on a free Mongoose which had been raced on by one of the Elite riders for Mongoose at the time. It was such a privilege and I really loved that bike.

Who did you look up to when you started to get serious? Were there any local girls or guys who you tried to emulate, or looked up to? Or were there other riders overseas?

Quietly, there was always a bit of WOW factor with the local Canberra racers in Dylan Cooper, Shaun Lewis, James Williamson, Shane Paton and Niki Fisher. They all became family friends but I remember at the CORC dirt crits they would try and talk to me but I really didn’t know what to say to them. They raced so fast and they were the local pros!

How did the other, more experienced and older girls react when you started to beat them?

To be honest, I don’t think they liked it at all. The older riders were supportive when I was young but the closer I got to being a threat, the less I was encouraged, naturally. I cost a few riders the chance to race at Olympics but with that blown over now everyone is super sup-portive and seems happy to see me racing well – especially my team mates from Target Trek in Australia!you were in the 2008 junior team and have raced internationally every year since. what was it like ‘stepping up’ to that level and holding it for the last five years?

It was really difficult racing in my first World Championships! I had NO idea what to expect as I hadn’t raced internationally before, only the

Oceania Championships against one kiwi girl so I really didn’t know what to expect at Worlds. I rolled in 21st position and couldn’t believe how hard the racing was!

Each year I keep learning and progressing so much. I feel like each year I am stepping up more and more, I look back at those first few years of international racing and realised that I am doing things so different now, with more focus and energy. It will definitely be interesting in another five years to look back on what I am doing now…..what is the biggest sacrifice you have had to make over the past five years?

One thing dad told me a few years ago was ‘money makes the world go round’ – I have never been, or want to be one of those people who’s life revolves around money, who makes decisions based on money, not enjoyment and happiness. My decisions (quitting work, spend-ing endless amounts of money on travel and rac-ing) have always been about what I want to do. I am sure I could have a lot more money saved up had I have gone to work like the average per-son but I am following my dream. So my biggest sacrifices are financial and also leaving my family and friends behind for six months each year!what was your first ‘break through’ result on the world stage?

My first ‘break through’ result would be my first World Cup podium last year in Houffalize, Belgium. However, my biggest breakthrough in my career would have to be landing a ride on one of the best professional teams on the circuit!you had a cracking 2012 with an olympic de-but and netted five world cup podiums. this was a big improvement on 2011 where your best result was a seventh. what was the key to your step up? was it the support from anytime fitness and richard peil?

Last year was a crazy year, I put so much into the selection process for Olympics, that by the time the actual race came around I was pretty cooked. I was happy with my race at the Olympics, for what I had, but I didn’t have ‘it’ like I did in the early part of the season.

There were a few things that really helped to step it up last year – the financial stress was taken away with Rich Peil from Anytime Fitness, he really helped in a big way. We also settled in Germany and had our own place for the six months so we always had a place to base our-selves from, we weren’t constantly on the road.

The last would be the consistency in the train-ing and looking after my body, I was really strict on my diet. Of course, I enjoyed the occasional treat. But mountain bike is all about power to weight, so I was very conscious of giving my body the best food and nothing else.

Also, Dan’s coaching has really helped me to keep to my training – us women aren’t easy people to coach or understand!!!how does dan coaching you work? do you ever say, “listen mate, i’m getting more podi-ums than you, i know what training to do!”

Bec henderson

ENDURO 25 20

Hahaha, it’s more like when he says ‘I want you to do this…’ I correct him and say ‘I think you should do this, or I would like you to do this…’! It works pretty well as there is the constant feedback (without consciously talking about it) and its pretty easy for him to track my progress – we do 95% of our training together, a lot of people can’t understand how this works, but it seems to…The biggest thing we have to work on is switching off and not talking about riding and training all the time.you are now with the trek factory team, which is another step up again by the looks of things and your results are stepping up accordingly. how much does the team, the team environment, the logistical assistance etc, all go toward that result? is it even pos-sible to put a percentage on it??

I think it’s impossible to truly understand how much it helps to be part of a team like Trek Factory Racing. I am so glad I didn’t get to see things from the ‘other side’ last year while I was racing, as I was at a clear disadvantage!!!

The team environment is so awesome, all the riders and staff get along so well and are

so supportive of each other, we do training to-gether, talk about bikes, tyre choice etc. There are no secrets and bitchiness (which is pretty impressive with three girls on the team) so we all just get along so well.

The staff make life pretty easy for us, which I am still getting used to. A day starts arriving at the venue – usually rolling up on the ‘commuter bike’ which is the one you aren’t racing – for me this weekend [at Mont St Anne] it’s the Superfly hard tail as I am racing the Superfly 100 Full Suspension. So your bike is there clean and ready for you with appropriate tyres for your days training. If you have issues with tyres, you drop into the trailer to have your mechanic change them for you – or the bike if you can’t decided which one you will ride. Your bike is always working PERFECTLY! Then you finish your training to have lunch already prepared for you by our soigneur – then it’s back to the accommodation for shower and massage. The day before the race our bottles are prepared as well – all we have to do it turn up to the start line and make sure we have our own kit, shoes, helmets and back number. Although I am sure there are spares of all of those in the trailer!!! All

of the logistics are taken care of, we don’t have to organize flights, accommodation, care hire or even think once we arrive to the airport.

I feel that I have full appreciation of each and every thing that is done for me during a race week as I have been on the other side and every one thing that is done for me, is one thing I don’t have to do for myself. It is amazing!does it frustrate you that the support didn’t come earlier? or do you think, given your age and how you are building your form year by year that it is all happening at the right time?I definitely think it has come at the right time – I would have found doing another year like last year really tough to repeat. It was so full-on, and so draining both mentally and physically. I would have done it, but it would have been a tough ask and I don’t imagine that I would have the same success. I am not frustrated that it didn’t come earlier as I am still earning the privilege but I’ll admit, it was tough seeing riders I was beating on full race support!

We’ve all read the interviews of how that magical race in Albstadt went down, but what

I think it’s impossible to truly understand how much it helps to be part of a team like Trek Factory Racing. I am so glad I didn’t get to see things from the ‘other side’ last year while I was racing, as I was at a clear disadvantage!!!

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is it like to reflect on it now as we enter the last part of the season?

What a crazy whirlwind weekend that was!!?? I think it really proved to us that anything is possible. While neither of us have backed up those performances we still have two World Cups left and World Championships so it’s pretty motivating [Bec did back this per-formance up at Mont St Anne with another win! - Ed]. We have had appropriate and well-timed short rests this year so I am feeling so much fresher than I was this time last year (it’s exactly 12 months since Olympics actually). It shows that we can be fast enough to ride at the front of the race, so we are excited for the last three races of the season.are you hopeful you can take the world cup overall?It’s basically a one on one battle in the last two races. Yana and I have a 50% strike rate each at beating each other. I pretty much have to beat her at the next two rounds to win the over-all but I am of course hoping that it’s possible. Mont Sainte Anne here this weekend is a good course for me, so I just hope I have the legs [Which Bec did! - Ed].

you’ll be back in australia before you know it, how do you balance the aussie season and euro season?

The Aussie season is quite a bit more relaxed, you can do all your base kilometres and still be in the mix at the national rounds so it’s a good chance to get some solid training in and try to perform at the few races we have. I’ll have a nice break at the end of the Euro season so I am always excited and ready to get back into training for the Aussie races.

What’s the thing you most look forward to in coming home?

This year Dan and I are moving into our own place which is VERY exciting and something I am looking forward to, but the biggest thing is just seeing my family. Last year they all came over for Olympics, but this year, it’s over 6 months since I have seen them so it will be nice to have family BBQs again and the simple things.you are on a 29er with a pretty aggressive setup. what’s your thinking behind this, given your height and weight?Yep, 29” Superfly & Superfly 100 both with 40 degree negative stem 105mm long. Other

than that my setup is pretty normal. While it may look aggressive it’s really not so much. With 29” bikes, you do have to make some compromises to setup with the added height for the big wheels. Basically my bars and seat are at the same height – if you want aggres-sive, look at Dan’s set up!what are you big goals in the next few years? It’s really hard to set goals more than a year in advance, if things keep progressing and improving as rapidly as they are it will be unbe-lievable – at the moment my focus is on finish-ing off this season strongly but next year one of my big goals is to medal at the Commonwealth Games. At the World Cups I would like to be a consistent top 15 or top 10 rider, but we will just have to wait and see – I will more focus my energy and training on events, rather than results and go from there.

if you weren’t travelling the world winning world cups, what would you be doing?

Good question!!!!! I guess I would have a job….. : (thanks bec and we wish you all the best in the future

first of all, congrats on a cracking 2013 so far...and it continues at mont st anne...we'll get to the details later, but have you reflected on how far you've come? did you ever think you'd be sitting in the us, 15 years after you got into racing, doing an interview which covers your world cup win and a hand-ful of podiums?

Thank you! As I reflect back over the last 12 years of travelling to Europe to race my bike I can’t believe how fast the years go by. I always thought that I could make it to the pointy end of a World Cup but in recent years it was looking less likely. I think it has just taken me this long to figure out what needs to be done to be at the top.

I remember years ago when Burry Stander first made the step up to the top, he said that there are many people with the ability, but it’s all about training smart, even if that means not training as much. you've been racing for 15 years now, tell us about how you got into riding and about your early years?

I grow up on the Family Berry farm in East Gippsland, Victoria. I was a very active kid and just loved being outside. We just happened to live just down the road from the local bike shop owners who built some tracks just behind our

property and started running some mountain bike races.

It didn't take long until my dad and sister where racing and not long after that, at age six, I did my first race. As a kid I always wanted to play AFL but with my sister Mel representing Australia in two mountain bike world Champion-ships by the time I was a junior I had well and truly caught the mountain biking bug.when did you get serious about racing?

I first started getting serious about racing when I was in my last year as a U17, in 2001. I won the National Championships that year. From that time I knew that this is what I wanted to do. I kept the training going with the goal of representing Australia as a junior.from a young age you had opportunities, with the national road team, to race at the same level on the road. why did you decide to take the dirt road instead?

In 2006 I got the opportunity to ride for the SouthAustralia.com/AIS team. The previous year I came 8th in the U23 mountain bike World Championships as a second year U23 rider, which I think was enough to get a spot in the road team. I had a great year riding with many of today's road stars all over the world and managed to get a couple of results myself, but it

got to the point where I could no longer do both properly and the decision was not hard to focus on mountain bikes.are you happy with the decision that you've made? do you still hold any dreams for the road? you clearly still have it, finishing sec-ond on stage 3 in the sun tour last summer.

I still really enjoy doing some road and will always take the opportunity to race some of the bigger road races in Australia if I get the chance. Although I certainly don't have any regrets, the thought of riding road every day for training seems like swimming laps of a swimming pool and following the line, there just becomes a time that I have to ride some trails!what drives you to keep going, to keep going back to europe year after year (especially if you are making that decision after the end of a season that hasn't yielded any great results)?

Yeah, there have been some tough times! I was lucky enough to get some good results as a junior and U23 but once I hit Elite I really found it hard to train as much as I should have been. I came down with Glandular Fever and after that got into a rut with training which, looking back, took a few years to get out of. It took until 2010 before I got back on track.

dmac ENDURO 25 22

INTERVIEWS Mikkeli Godfree phoToS: tiM barsdley-sMith

Dan has been racing mountain bikes for 15 years and, in that time, has done more kilometres than anyone would care to count. He’s had his fair share of tough times and, more recently, some spectacular success with an absolutely thrill-ing win at the World Cup opener at Albstadt in Germany (if you haven’t seen the coverage, track it down). We spoke to Dan while he was in his final preparations for the World Championships in South Africa and just after the Mont St Anne World Cup, where he picked up his second podium of the season, to hear about his recent success and the long road he took to get there.

have there been points along the way where you thought it wasn't worth the time, money or effort and you were going to throw in the towel?

For sure, with the years of lacking results overseas I was relying on the domestic season to get results to fund my dream of chasing the World Cup. I have been super lucky to have some great sponsors over the years including Torq Nutrition and more recently, and still cur-rently, Anytime Fitness. Without them I would not be in this position now so I am very thankful for all their support!how tough have you done it over the years?

I was lucky enough to get good support from the national team from 2002, where I raced my first world championship, up to 2008, where I represented Australia at my first Olympic Games. But at the end of 2008 the mountain bike funding was cut and since then it has been hard to get any funding.

I have been travelling to Europe with my girlfriend Bec for four consecutive years, early on we struggled to keep motivation for the full length of our overseas trip and would find our-selves not eating too well and our training would drop off, but the last couple of years we have put everything into getting the best results we can on the bike - making sure we have good accommo-dation and fuelling the body with quality nutrition.despite you doing it tough for a number of years, there were a few companies and a few people who stuck by you and who gave you the confidence to go back year after year. can you run us through who those companies are and who those people are and how they have supported you?

A the end of 2008 with the funding being cut for the national program I was lucky enough to get a ride with Torq Nutrition. I had a really fun few years with them and managed to win a few races around Australian and I continue to thank them for their help.

In 2010 I found myself living in Canberra and where I first met Rich Peil from Anytime Fitness. Since day one he had had the belief that with the right direction and help that Australia could also be at the top of mountain bike world, and it wasn’t just every other cycling discipline that could reach those goals. Rich funded my Olym-pic campaign and World Cup series, he was

also a big part of both Bec and I getting a start with Trek Factory Racing.a lot has been made in the last year or so of the support, or lack of support of the na-tional body. do you agree with the comments that the mtba should have supported you to a greater extent?

Definitely, since the funding cut in 2008 to date - including Olympics - MTBA has not contributed a cent towards my racing and neither have they been supportive outside in relation to things that don’t involve money. It's very difficult to crack it in mountain on the world stage, espe-cially without support, so I think this is another factor which stood in my way and held me back from riding at my current level. MTBA seem to expect results without putting anything in, and to be honest, we as a country are in a big rut when it comes to high performance mountain biking!you had a very good 2012 with a top-20 world cup result and 21st at the olympic Games what do you think was the key to your solid 2012?

I made a conscious decision at the end of 2011 that it was ‘now or never’ to improve on the world scene, I knuckled down over the sum-mer and did every training session to the best of my ability. that solid 2012 (which really was a step up from 2011 where you were placing in the 30s, 40s and 50s) put you in a great position for a solid aussie summer, where you had some smoking form but didn't quite pull off any big results. was it frustrating having a mechani-cal at nationals knowing you had some great form?

I had a slight set back at the end of 2012 where I snapped the ligament in my thumb at the Cape to Cape stage race. It ended up being a lot worse than I thought and I was off the moun-tain bike for three months. It was only two weeks before nationals that I was able to get back on the mountain bike so I always knew it was going to be tough to win.

In that time I was able to ride a lot of road and, with the new signing of Trek Factory Racing Team, motivation was super high. Although I was disappointed not to win nationals they were never really on my radar as I was happy to be as fit as I was at that time. It was all about the World Cup and proving my spot on the team.

Given the year you've had this year, i bet in retrospect you were happier to have a me-chanical in canberra than albstadt or mont st anne!

Yeah, for sure! Those races have really changed a lot for me. Definitely something that I will never forget - winning in Albstadt was incred-ible and it still brings a smile to my face. It also gives me the confidence that I can be competi-tive at the front and that anything is possible!with the backing of the trek factory team you then headed over to the us and took a few big wins which clearly gave you a bit of confidence heading into the world cup season…

Winning the Pro XCT race in Texas was pretty special. It doubled as the team training camp and was the first time that Bec and I met the team. Riding for a pro team for the first time, it was all pretty intimidating early on but one thing that re-ally surprised me was how well the team clicked together and the great vibes the team brings. and then there was albstadt...which must seem like ages ago now. we've all heard about that special day (and i have to admit to watching in at least three times), but looking back at it now, how do you reflect on that day and the days that followed?

Albstadt was an amazing week! Bec and I had really good preparation on the course and I was feeling really good all week. Bec raced the day before me and seeing her win her first World Cup was incredible. It was our goal for the whole season to win one but to win in round one was somewhat unexpected! I was so happy for her after all the hard work she has put in!

My race was a lot different! It rained very heavy before the start, which was the first hurdle being Australian. For some reason that day I was able to get passed the wet conditions and focus on the race. I started well but the first few laps just dragged on, it was not until the last few laps that I started to get excited. I still don't know what I was thinking most of the race until I got to the top of the last climb and was only 10 sec-onds off the leader and I was sitting in second place. At that point, the words of "win it or bin it" came into my head!

I bridged the gap and rolled onto the wheel at the bottom, making the move to the front before the last corner was incredible. I can remember

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seeing Bec screaming at me and the rest of the team going mental with excitement. Sprinting up the finish straight was a dream, the crowd was so loud and I experienced a feeling of disbelief and happiness that I had never experienced before. It was a day I’ll never forget for so many reasons and something I'm very proud of myself for!you have had a cracking 2013 campaign so far and the results keep pouring in with another podium at mont st anne recently, if you could put it down to one thing, what has been the difference between you knocking on the door of a top-20 finish and being on the podium (the top step no less!) of the world cups?

It's hard to put it down to one thing. The team is amazing, all I have to do is ride my bike and everything else I'd taken care of. Also, my train-ing this year has been really structured. I have been coaching myself this year with guidance from my life-long coach Donna Rae Szalinski. Ev-ery session has had a purpose and I have found the happy medium between super hard training, but also knowing when to rest. dylan cooper reckons your recent success can be put down to your move to canberra!...or was it losing the mullet?

Moving to Canberra for periods of time has been a great help with so much great training and people. I lost the mullet nearly two years ago, so I don't’ think it’s that! It was funny cutting it off, because everyone always told me how ter-rible it looked, but when I went to get it cut off no one wanted it to go!what percentage of your recent success is 'pro-team related'? and what is the single biggest difference about being on a factory team?

Being on a pro team is a big help, especially Trek Factory. We still train super hard and take racing very serious but we have a lot of fun along the way! It's also great knowing our bikes are basically brand new every race!a lot of people who know you say that the best thing about your recent results is that you are finally getting the results that you were "always capable of but have never been given the support to achieve". do you agree with those sort of statements?

I always thought that I was capable of getting

some good results, maybe not as good as I have achieved this season! I think the support is such a big part of it, sometimes I feel lazy when I'm resting leading into a race but that's just part of it. Not having to wash bikes and make sure ev-erything is ready for the race, I just have to make sure I get to the starting in good shape!is it really that simple, or is it a matter of every pedal stroke and every day of training that you have done over the last fifteen years has led to this year being so successful?

For sure it's a bit of both, but you certainly can't make it to the top without the training! now for a controversial question, at this year’s tour de france there was a perception that some of the riders who likely doped in the past were clean and that the complexion of the race changed, do you think that moun-tain biking is in a similar position? if so, do you think that this has this had anything to do with your recent success? are you now racing on a more-level playing field?

Cycling has always had a bad reputation with drugs and it’s easy to fall into the trap that if someone has a good race you rush to conclu-sion that they must be on drugs, which is pretty sad! I can't talk for road cycling, but it’s pretty clear to me that mountain biking is very clean and the fact that I have won a World Cup proves that. I think everyone at the top of our sport of mountain biking has got there purely from hard work and talent! do people on the world cup circuit treat you differently now that you are a 'podium con-tender' at pretty much every race now?

I think a lot more people now know who I am. It's certainly makes it a bit easier at the start of the races now that the guys I'm racing against trust my ability and that I won’t drop the wheel, where in previous years I was just a young punk from Oz whose ability was unknown. who are the biggest legends and wankers on the world cup circuit? (to avoid incrimina-tion in relation to the wankers... just give us a hint!)

To be honest this year I have had very little run-ins with the riders I have been around and everyone has respect for each other. It's more when you’re battling it out in the fifties in a

World Cup, then it's a life and death fight for every position! of course, your brilliant year has been hap-pily matched (and at times overshadowed!) by your girlfriend bec who is having a ripping season as well. while it must be fantastic be-ing able to share and experience each other's success, does it also push you both to achieve your extremely high goals?

It's great that both of us are having great ses-sions for sure, as Bec's coach I see how hard she works and I think we both keep each other motivated throughout the year. We train together every day so if one of us is struggling we can pick each other up, it really is cool to be able to do what we do together, especially when we have been achieving success at such a high level and having heaps of fun along the way!it's pretty cool that you and bec are on the same team, race together, live together and you also coach her...anyone in a long term relationship will know how impressive this is. how do you manage it? what is the key?

We get this question a lot and to tell the truth I'm not sure! We get on super well and enjoy each other’s company, we are just like any other couple but instead we ride bikes for a living... what does the future hold for you? despite being at it for so long, you still have a heap of good years left in you, what do you want to achieve in the next few years?

Yeah, despite being at it so long, signing with Trek and having a break though year has really given me extra motivation. I'm really keen and looking forward to the Commonwealth Games next year! I still find it hard to believe that I am riding so close to the front so I'm going to keep pushing as hard as I can and, you never know, if I have learnt one thing this year it is that anything is possible!! what would you be doing if you weren't racing bikes?

Not sure, maybe even stay in mountain biking in a coaching role. My whole life I have always given 100% to my sport so why I'm having so much fun in doing that I'm going to keep it going. No regrets! There is plenty of time for a real job later in life!thanks dan and good luck in the future.

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Josh CarlsonWoRdS by brad daVies phoToS: jake orness

It wasn’t an unlucky crash, it was an inevitable one.

Josh Carlson was shredding at a bike park in Colorado, 2011. He was half way through his inaugural year competing in gravity enduro races (see breakout) in the US, and hungry to make it on the gravity enduro scene.

Josh’s hunger manifested itself as `extreme’ aggression. This approach resulted in Josh riding with attitude, style and speed. It was this speed that pushed Josh to record some super quick times against some hot international competition. But on that day in 2011, when he hit a jump with a little too much speed, and not enough caution, he was catapulted over the handlebars.

He shattered his wrist and collarbone and, with that, his confidence. With four months of the US season remaining, Carlson was forced to limp back to Australia in a sling and a cast. It wasn’t how the return to Australia was supposed to be, and he asked himself whether that was how his first proper tilt at mountain bike racing was going to end.

Fast forward two years, to the middle of the French summer and Josh was a different rider. He had transformed himself into a more complete gravity enduro rider, one who could more ably walk the tightrope between overall speed and overall aggression. Josh wasn’t just participating in gravity enduro…he was hot on the heels of guns like Barel, Clementz, Graves, Atherton, Blenkinsop, Absalon and was beating guys like Lopes, Vouilloz and Gracia.

But, as every gravity enduro or downhill racer knows, when you are pushing for results, you can still come unstuck. On 30 July 2013 at Val d’Allos at the second round of the Enduro World Series, racing for the Giant Factory team, Josh came unstuck and broke his wrist, shoulder and collarbone. Unfortunately it’s a familiar spot for Carlson, but one he is likely to come back from stronger, faster and smarter than before.

We caught up with Josh to get the inside word on his journey to the Enduro World Series and the background to these two big crashes that have forced him to rebuild himself from the ground up.

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