05/11/2008

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Bros Not Pros Ben Watkins photos Rich Sydenham

Canadians and Australians seem to get along. In each country the most popular sports are a somewhat brutal, beer is the beverage of choice and our meagre populations occupy massive amounts of land. We also spell words like neighbourhood and favourite the same way and produce more than our share of great moutain bikers. Ben Watkins is a great rider of the unsung variety which makes him a great candidate for this column. Keep an eye out for your boss or teacher, pull up a chair and check out what he has to say about riding his bike.

Cam McRae

Vital Stats Ok, my name is Ben Watkins, I was born July 1st, 1974 in a small country town. I lived in the country with all the cows until I was totally bored. At the age of twenty I moved to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia to chase a career as a professional musician. My biking background however comes from racing bmx as a kid and doing my work experience in high school at the local bike shop. So I starting out working on shitters and over the years I moved through several different shops and now I'm working for Rock Shox Australia (Steve Cramer Products) as the service tech. The stuff I love about my job is when racers actually want to custom tune their forks or rear shocks and I get to rebuild the suspension from the ground up. It doesn't happen much, but it's cool setting it up. What was the last part you bought for your bike? I now have a hook-up with Race Face so I am riding all their parts as well as wearing their clothing - and it all rules!

Ben Watkins - just another Aussie going big.

What is in your CD player right now?
One Dollar Short. Aussie punk band. They totally rock.

Do you like MTB movies? If so which ones? Any favourite scenes? Who is
your favourite filmmaker?
The Sprung series is cool but they're more lifestyle kinda bike vids. The New World Disorder series is pretty good. Number three probably has the best cinematography I've seen on any mtb flick but I like them the most for the sheer balls of the riders. The Circus has the coolest race footage and there's a vid called "Because we can" by Black phoenix films from Australia that's got some awesome aussie riding on it. Anyone who collects bike vids should own it.

What's with Aussie mountain bikers all of a sudden? It's like you are
taking over the world. Is it something in the water?
Aussies have always been good riders, its just that some riders are opening the door for others and it's snowballing. It seems now that if your an aussie most people assume your a freakishly talented rider. For such a small country though, Aussies are very outdoorsy people so I guess when we find a sport we dig, we go for it. Check out any olympics.

Stepping down. Racing Aussie style is burly. This is the Trafalgar 4X track.

Who do you think is the best rider from these nations: AUS, CAN, US, UK,
FRA, and anyone else you like. ?
That's a tough question. There are so many different styles of riding. Grant Allen from Australia has the biggest nuts of anyone for sure, maybe along with Tyler Klassen. Then there's Cedric Gracia for an all round talented rider AND personality. Guys like Eric Carter who are trying to improve the sport are pretty important for sure. Racers like Peaty and Kovarik are amazing to watch in racing and then there are hundreds of guys in all the videos. There's a local guy here named Jonny Door from a country town who goes as big as anyone, but he does it on a hardtail, and I'm sure there are guys just like him everywhere we've never heard of. I think many magazines the world over don't realize the talent they could feature right in their own backyard. I guess big names sell.

You have built some trails that look like they would be right at home on the North Shore - how did you get started doing that? Do people think you are crazy? Are they right?
Yeah, those are just some of the photos and I have big plans for the rest of that course. Basically it started out of boredom. Race courses aren't that challenging anymore. They are hard to ride super fast, but not that technical. After watching NWD twice every day for six months I decided to build my own North Shore stuff over here. Some people think I'm nuts but I don't see why we can't ride or build as good as anyone else and it's super fun.

Tell us about the trails you built and other trails you ride. The trails I built (with the help of a few mates) is basically a North Shore style course with many A and B lines, but as you progress down the course, it will get harder and harder. I'd like to build some stuff that is even too hard for me, as there's always someone better or worse than yourself. Every week though I ride heaps of street, jump parks and trails. Occasionally I get on the local half pipe on the DH bike too (I rode a bit of vert when I was racing bmx). You get some funny looks on a half pipe!!! Finish this sentence. I will never again............ Jump a big set of doubles without a helmet on. I once landed on my head. Not pretty. Several operations later and I still need a couple more. Wear a helmet.

Ben showing off his bmx roots.

You race and freeride - what do you like about each?
Racing is pure adrenalin for me. Pure speed and trying to beat all the guys who are faster than I am. Freeriding is more fun as it can be really creative in finding new lines and things to ride pretty much everywhere you go. Plus there's nothing like doing a massive manual along the beach or through the city and freaking people out (especially cute chicks!).

Give us a tip to help us rider better or go faster?
If you're going to push yourself, wear a helmet or some armour of some sort. Then I find that you have more confidence to try things you wouldn't normally do cause if you crash you're protected. Every time you try something new, you then take the confidence from your last challenge onto the next one. Riding for me is 80% mental and 20% physical. I think a lot of people crash because they don't commit to whatever they're trying 100%. By this I mean I watch heaps of guys crash because they hit an obstacle too slow or they were expecting to crash, when that should be the furthest thing from your mind. COMMITMENT.

What did you have for breakfast? ?
Weetabix. At a race I eat tons. Fruit, nuts, energy bars, powerade, water, chocolate.

Ben in a Berm at the Trafalgar 4X track.

Who makes bike stuff (frames, parts, clothing whatever) that you really like
and why?
Well there are heaps of products that are quality and work well, be it bikes or parts, but nearly every company in the mountain bike industry charge way too much for their products. Motocross guys laugh at us, and they're right. Banshee is one company that springs to mind as a great product at a great price, maybe the industry could follow their lead? Just because something is made in Taiwan doesn't mean it has to be bad. At the moment I ride an Aussie bike called a Craftworks which is not too bad and a reasonable price, also made in Taiwan.

What is your next bike going to be?
Banshee Scream for freeriding and racing. Banshee Sirocco for slalom racing. (Ben already has his new Banshees)

Using the nsmb ruler, what is your biggest drop?
Well about fourteen foot of vert straight down to trannie. But the coolest one I did was off the top of a dam wall, over a fence halfway down and flat landed. About fourteen/fifteen feet to flat but clearing the fence was a major issue (I was nervous as hell).

The North Shore virus managed to sneak through Australian customs.

Can you manual? If so can you help the rest of us learn? Any other stupid
bike tricks? ?
Yep. Manualling is hard though. If you want to learn you have to be really good at wheelies first just to find your perfect balance point. If you're no good at wheelies, just make sure you always have a finger on the back brake while you're learning so you don't loop. Before I learnt to manual I could pull huge wheelies at any speed (super slow is super hard) and also wheelie around corners and steer in and out of stuff so it's a bit of an art form. If your trying to learn, do it at a medium pace. It may be a bit daunting at first but the slower you go the harder it is. Also with a bit of speed your front wheel spinning will help your balance (may the centrifugal force be with you!!!)

Are there dirt jumps in your area? What are they like?
Stacks of sick jump parks around Melbourne and surrounding suburbs. Unfortunately inexperienced and unsupervised kids always hurt themselves, then the parents complain to the local council and the jumps get bulldozed. Really its a parents' responsibility to watch their kids or teach them properly, but things won't change in a hurry.

Australians drink beer? Who knew? Ben with some close friends.

When you were 10 what did you want to be "when you grow up?"
Taller. Much the same as now being a bit of a smurf! Actually when I was that age I started racing bmx and I wanted to be a top bmx pro. I got distracted by music for many years though so now I'm a wannabe be mountain bike pro.

Any last words for riders the world over?
I think out sport is pretty close knit The nicer we all are to other riders and newcomers to the sport the better our riding community will be. And the less we shit walkers, horse riders and motorists the better chance we have of riding in more places. Also I have to make a big shout out to the companies who help and support me cause without their help I couldn't afford to travel and race. Rock Shox, Banshee Bikes, Ebc brake pads, as well as Race Face components and clothing. And last of all, the Melbourne crew who I ride with every week, who always make me laugh, see you at the pub. Cheers!