 | | | | | | | | | | Explain your mad six weeker:
Chris: Well, the World Cups are all consecutive, so we do Fort William, then me and Paul take the van down to Les Deux Alpes, France, then Austria the next weekend, then back to the UK, fly away from Heathrow on the Tuesday Quebec, Mont St Anne, then over to Calgary for the weekend after that, then we're going to spend a week in Whistler, just free riding.
Paul: Free riding!
Chris: Yeah, I'm stoked to be free riding.
Paul: Super-psyched.
Is free riding the way forward?
Paul: Free ride and rock!
Chris: [laughs] Yeah, it is really good. It's not really a discipline, it seems to be treated as a discipline, but it's just what everyone does, which is just riding and not racing. It's getting much better now, with the kind of North Shorey stuff, and jumps and everything, it's getting more structured.
What did you think about the North Shore stuff at Falkland Hill today?
Paul: Really impressed, yeah. Nothing's been done like that before in Scotland, so a lot of respect to those guys for doing that. I couldn't be bothered [laughs]. I'm sure it'll develop though.
Chris: That's motivation for you.
Are you going to 360 a downhill bike?
Chris: One day. If I find the right jump.
What things niggle at that back of your mind that you want to do?
Paul: Just lots more tricks on trails: no-footed can cans, suicides, 360s, that sort of thing. Back flips are always in the back of your head as well, but it's just finding somewhere to practise, 'cos there's not a lot of jump spots in Scotland, which is frustrating, because it's all I want to do.
Go and get a spade.
Paul: [laughs] I just don't have time.
Chris: You work in a garden centre - they sell spades.
They've got a digger as well.
Chris: Yeah he does.
Are you just making excuses?
Paul: Mm, hmm [nods].
Chris: He's a lazy sod.
Do you have any questions that you'd like to ask each other?
Paul: How's AC/DC changed your life?
Chris: It made me grow my hair, so now I can't really see where I'm going a lot of the time.
What's your favourite AC/DC tune?
Chris: Back in Black, or For Those Who Are About To Rock.
Paul: Same here. Basically our whole outlook on riding has changed since [laughs] we got into AC/DC, which stemmed from the 'Ride The Lightning', New World Disorder video.
Why?
Paul: You just have to see it. It's just what it's all about. Long hair, rock music, freeride, big jumps, drops - big stuff.
Have you seen School of Rock?
Paul: No.
Chris: Yes, I have.
Good, isn't it?
Chris: I thought it was going to be better though. I thought Jack Black could have been better. I don't know how that man's fat - he's the most energetic man in the world.
Questions for Paul: Er
do you still wear bandanas when you go out?
Paul: Yep.
Which one's your favourite?
Paul: Still my Rising Sun one.
Chris: What has been the secret of your success with all the ladies in the past few weeks?
Paul: Don't put that in [laughter all round].
Questions for Chris?
Paul: Are you glad I converted you back to flat pedals?
Chris: Flat pedals? Yeah!
Are flat pedals a life-choice?
Chris: They are - flat pedals are the way. Everything else's just an excuse. I don't know - when did I change to flat? Ae Forest National, in my first year on The Clan, so that was 2001, wasn't it?
Paul: Yep.
Chris: And I just got so frustrated not being able to clip back in, and you had to wear disco slippers as well, so I just thought - pair of trainers, pair of flat pedals, and yeah, never looked back, never wanted to
Once you've gone flat, you'll never look back?
Chris: [laughs] Once you've gone flat, you'll never look back - yeah!
What's the best ever downhill bike product?
Chris: The Mojo insert for the Boxxer fork.
Paul: Yep.
Why?
Chris: 'Cos Boxxers suck - so bad [laughter all round]!
Paul: It's just 1960s motocross technology in them, and they're getting with the times now that Mojo have re-vamped them. 'Mojo have been doing it with shims since [laughter] since 19
..'70 something'. They're bringing out their own forks though, aren't they? Will you both be getting a pair?
Paul: Yeah - X1s. We should have them, hopefully, before the World Cup at Fort William.
Are you excited about that?
Paul: Yeah, we've had a shot, 'cos there's one set going. They look cool as anything.
How do they feel?
Paul: Well, they were set up for Tim - Tim Williams at Mojo, and he's a bit heavier than us [snigger], so they were quite hard. But they've got like a platform dampening thing, to stop them bobbing and stuff, so they work really well. It's essentially the same as a Boxxer cartridge.
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