Bros Not Pros - Andrew Arnold

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Andrew Arnold is another member of the new breed. He's anxious to get places. Andrew works hard at becoming a better rider and he seems to have a large dollop of natural talent to go along with his ambition. Not only did Andrew win the Junior Divisions of the Indoor North Shore for the second year in a row, he also had the fastest time of the weekend (although the Junior course was a little faster and slightly easier). With Photos by his buddy Chad "Chudso" Clippingdale, here is our newest brofile.

Remember folks - you wrote the questions!
Note: Questions are in Bold

STATS
Name: Andrew Arnold
AGE: 16
Inches of travel: Front 5 Rear Nothing but my butt
Nickname: sir HUCK-A-LOT
Years riding: 3.5
Bike: Norco torrent 200 model

What kind of rider are you.
I am a dirt jumping, freeriding, urban, sometimes dual slalom racer guy!! I do it all.

Tell us about your ride.
I have a torrent with z1 drop offs, 6' hayes up front, v in the rear, 521 rims, profile cranks, mrp tensioner, and kooka dh stem… my whole bike weighs 38 lbs!!! Too heavy for a damn hardtail

Favourite place to ride?
I like different things for different days, a little kahuna gap, griffin bowl, downtown, and the clouds/circus/ladies/lower digger combo up the back.

If you couldn't ride a mountain bike what would you replace it with?
A Tricycle….. no probably a dirt bike

Tell us about your worst bail.
When I was like 10 I was in Oregon with my family on vacation. I thought I was soooo good back then. Well there were these kids off in the forest doing this jump. It was only like 3 feet high maybe. They came down this hill and went off of it. I finally decided to do it. They all kept saying remember to pull up, remember to pull up, I told them I know I know. I was more scared of the steepness of the hill than pulling up. I came down the hill and went off and went face first into the dirt. I FORGOT TO PULL UP!!! I ended up skinning my arm and the side of my face, and I made my brother walk with my bike back to the place we were staying. I have otherwise been fairly lucky in terms of crashes.

What is your strongest area of riding?
Fast flowing stuff. I like trails that you can do fast, on a hardtail, and they are smooth, throw in some skinnies and dirt jumps and 6 footers and its all good.

What is your weakest area?
Getting the balls to do big drops, after 10 feet, anything on a hardtail starts to hurt.

Ginger, Mary Ann or Mrs. Howell - who's it gonna be?
I think this is Gilligan's Island but I am not sure. So I will say Ginger cause I think she was the movie star. You're right I am too young for this.

What is "uniquely You" about your bike set up?
Well I have a dent the size of my tailbone in my top tube from falling off the snake in whistler, I have a bent seat (it slops back and down to the left) I bent it doing mini-stump, it is customized just to my bodies liking. Jesse Fischer from john henry has some rather interesting comments about my seat being the way that it is….

Your 2nd cousin's uncle just died and left you $7000 that you must use on a bike.
Give us the spec. I would buy a 250cc, and leave the leftovers for all the stuff that I needed fixing in the long run. Stuff is so expensive nowadays.

Where is the bike industry missing the boat?
The bike industry promotes the Shore but does not give back to it. They should maybe help with contributions to nsmba and take their notoriety to helping to save the shore and get us the trails back.

Where are they nailing it?
They are giving us the bikes that enable us to do the things we are doing on them.

Does mtb stuff cost too much?
HELL YES!!! I am constantly needing money. I checked the bank the other day. I have 4 cents in my account now and I still have to buy a new rear rim and a race face bb.

Have you ever bled your disks, changed the oil in your fork or built a wheel?
I basically built my own bike. I got a lot of help from the guys at John Henry doing it but I managed quiet a bit by myself. I also tried installing and bleeding my own discs. I screwed up and ended up having to pay $210 for my mistake. Word to the wise. Pay the shop to do it for you. Things break easily with discs.

Ever been to sea Billy?
I have no idea what you are talking about.

Best movie you've seen in the last year.
Its not really a movie yet, but its gotta be the trailer for ride to the hills. That is some sick stuff they are pulling.

If I could meet anybody alive or dead It would be.......
Shaun Palmer, hes gotta be the greatest extreme athlete out there. He was my idol when I was younger.

Favourite movie line.
Its one of those things you gotta see, but from gone in 60 seconds when they are about to go steal the cars and they put on the lowrider music and Nicolas cage go….."alright lets roll" … trust me you just have to see it.

Presta or schraeder?
Schraeder, none of that damn European stuff for me.

One day I'll be able to...........
Survive one bike ride without breaking or damaging anything.

Fave under 20 rider? (besides you!)
Jesse Fischer, he is a wicked rider but isn't getting all the spotlight he deserves.

Best vid(s)?
The new bike vids that are coming out this spring are sick, and also all the moto videos they are just wicked as well.

What do you think about Bender?
The guys got balls the size of his brain, but a brain the size of his balls. He is doing his own thing and pushing the sport in a new direction and I respect him for that.

Who (or what) are your influences outside of biking?
There is a world outside of biking??? You lie there is no such thing!!!

What kind of music inspires you?
Alternative rock and of course the sweet stuff 80's rock!! Motley Crue, ACDC, all that stuff rules.

What do you do when you're not riding?
Either snowboarding, or building stuff, or looking for more stuff to build.

Where is the best/funnest place you have travelled?
Whistler…going up there with a group of friends for like 2 weeks is the best. It is a whole different world up there. And when you get back here you appreciate what we have.

List your successes.
2 time defending indoor north shore champion, my 50 km/h speed manuals (bobby root look out) and my no footer one handers, no handers, and 360s

If and when you grow up, what do you want to be?
I shall never grow up, but if I do I want to go pro and race DH & DS, and if all else fails…
become a lawyer.

If you could be sponsored by any one who would it be?
A bike company that gives me a bike that doesn't break!! And pays me to ride so I will never have to get a job and will always be able to do this. Norco, Brodie, Rocky any of you guys interested?? Haha.

What is you favourite stunt?
Drop: gotta be the one Chad Clippingdale made called the doogler (long story behind the name)
In terms of jumps its gotta be the kahuna gap. That thing is so much fun to hit over and over again

What is your favourite non-biking activity?
Again I say there is nothing outside of biking… but otherwise snowboarding.

Huge hucking or throw some tricks into average hits?
Gotta be hucking huge tricks into average hits… I believe that style is way better than just hucking… as Wade says "you can get a monkey to do that'

Favourite riding partner?
Nick Trenkel with chad clippingdale taking the photos

Best road trip?
Whistler in the summer of 2000

What was your scariest riding experience?
I haven't had a really scary one yet… I guess I have not fully grown to appreciate mountain biking.

Are full suspension bikes jeopardizing the future of mountain biking on the north shore?
I wouldn't say jeopardizing. They ARE pushing the sport to a whole new place and if that whole new place ends up getting the shore torn down well that is that. Its all evolution.

What would you do to improve trail conditions in North Van?
If I had the money I would buy the land a make it mountain bike only land. But seeing that ain't gonna happen, just help out on trail days and obey the rules of the trail.

When was the last time you spent a full day maintaining a trail on the north shore?
The back of Grouse… oh last spring. But I go out with chad and we do maintenance on the stuff we have built almost every week

Where do you see the shore in 5, 10 15 years?
Either torn down or in an unimaginable state. Dan and Digger (if he decides to keep building) are taking the shore to bigger and better places. They are coming up with stuff that boggles the mind. I mean how the hell did dan think of the discombobulator?? (and the names of his stuff rule)

If you could sponsor a team of 4 riders who would they be?
Gotta have Wade… Kenny Maude, Dangerous Dan, and Cory Leclerc… and then ME!!! Hahaha

You have a $6 million team budget - how would you spend it?
I can't imagine 6 million dollars, but otherwise give a million to my chosen 4 riders so that they can get whatever they want…. And then buy one sweet assed old crappy van to go to all the races. Hell who needs 6 million to run a team? Just get an old van and some friends and there ya go

How did you get involved in mountain biking?
A friend Mark bought a Rocky back in like '94. I went riding with him on the Baden before there was ever anything above Braemar road. We went all the way up to the start of lower Digger and then came back. I then just started riding the walker trails in the greenbelts for fun after that. But I didn't get serious until about 3 and a half years ago.

What was your first bike?
It was so cool. $90 basically Walmart bike. It was green and had 18 gears. That bike got me 15th place in my first ever xc race!! I rode it up until about 4 years ago. I liked riding it around in the snow and stuff. Then my mom sold it for $10 at a garage sale.

Last but not least Why do you ride?
Because there is nothing else in the world that lets you have so much fun. My horizons are not very broad so I may be wrong with that statement. Its just fun to go out and push yourself to go bigger and better every time.