Post by Andrew on Aug 12, 2008 16:17:49 GMT
Here it is, the YETIFAN.com Aaron Gwin Interview, He is going to be big news in the future................. this will be up on the site in a day or so, but you Forum guys get a advance viewing...........
1) A lot of people out there will have seen you on the Yeti Videos, Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, what makes you tick, where do you live?
-Well let's see.. I live in Morongo Valley, California. I started riding mountain bikes at the end of last year. Through Rich Houseman I signed with Yeti in February, after being noticed at the local winter series in Fontana. Right now I'm staying out at Keith Darners house in Colorado for the summer. After the season i'll go back home to take a small time off before getting back to training for 09. I have a ton of hobbies i'll keep busy with while im home.. I like to surf, play tennis, ping pong, ride moto, listen to music and mostly just spend time with my family and friends..
2) Your burst onto the World Scene with a 10th At Mont Sainte Anne last weekend, that was your first ever world cup, what did you think to it all?
- It was awesome! The track was really good besides all the rain. It was cool to be at a bigger event with more fans, sponsors etc. I kinda didn't expect that big of a result at my first one but at the same time wasn't too suprised when I got it. Between bmx and moto I have been racing since I was four so it was really good to see all the hard work finally pay off.
3) You have been doing really well on the Local scene over in the US, but only been racing for just under a year, what background do you have? Why are you so fast straight out of the box?
-Well i started racing bmx when I was four, by the time I was 6 my family and I were traveling the country racing all the nationals. I had some really good results by the time I was 8 and then moved onto playing baseball for a few years. I started racing motocross when I was 12 with full intentions of going pro and making a living at it. Everything went good with that except for a string of injurys in 2004 and 2005. I was healing up good though and it was starting to look like I was going to make it to the top level soon. But around June I was out with my trainer riding a local track and just decided I didn't want to ride anymore. It was weird I went out for a moto and when I was done I headed straight for the truck and left. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, but I was burnt out and wasn't giving it 100%, so it was the right choice. But I guess between bmx and moto, downhill just came kinda natural with it being a good mix of both.
4) Can you tell us how you got on the Yeti team?
-I started racing the local winter series at fontana in January and was lucky enough to catch the eye of Rich Houseman. He gave me a call one night and said they had an opening on the team and asked if I was interested. It was pretty easy to say yes to that one!
5) Will you be at all the World Cups in 09? What are your aims?
-I don't know yet to be honest.. I would like to for sure but it's the teams call so I guess we'll just have to wait and see. If I race all of them I want to be in the top 10.. If I could get on the podium at atleast one of those races I would be super happy with that too. I know the speed is there I just gotta work on the small things and putting them all together in a race run. The #1 goal is to keep learning though so as long as I keep doing that i'll be moving in the right direction.
6) Your DH racing career is pretty short so far, what results are you pleased with so far?
- I think Sea Otter was my first big result.. I got 10th so I was pretty happy with that. I won the Chalk Creek and Snowmass MSC races which was good also but the 10th at Mont Sainte Anne a few weeks ago was for sure the best one so far.
7) Where was the last place you rode and what bike were you on?
Last place I rode was at the Bromont World cup last Sunday on my Yeti 303.. I felt really good and woulda liked to get another good result there but I crashed at the top of the course and ended up 34th. O well I guess it's just part of the learning process..
8) Whats your favourite place to ride?
I like riding anywhere new but my favorite tracks so far were probably MSA or Vermont..
9) Travelling around with the Yeti National team must be fun, got any 'on the road' stories you can share with us
- Hmm well it's not really an on the road story but still a story.. I flew out to California about a month ago to visit my family and when I got back into Denver my teammate Chris Boice was nice enough to pick me up from the airport. We went to a local dirt jump spot on the way back and while he was peddling up a hill, his chain fell off, sending him to the ground super hard.. He was in a bit of pain and bleeding some so we left pretty soon after that. About a half hour later while driving home we got pulled over and he got a speeding ticket.. it ended up being a pretty bad day for him.. I guess it's safe to say that next time I fly into town he'll let me walk home haha Thanks buddy!
10) Ok, here is where you get to plug anybody you like.............?
Huge thanks to my parents, Rich Houseman, Chris Conroy, Keith Darner, Damion Smith, Patrick Zeus, the entire Yeti team, Fitzy and everyone at Fox racing shox, Monster Energy, Freestyle watches, Smith goggles, Nema, 661, Dylan Dean designs, and anyone else that has helped me along the way.. thanks for everything and thanks Andrew for this interview!
1) A lot of people out there will have seen you on the Yeti Videos, Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, what makes you tick, where do you live?
-Well let's see.. I live in Morongo Valley, California. I started riding mountain bikes at the end of last year. Through Rich Houseman I signed with Yeti in February, after being noticed at the local winter series in Fontana. Right now I'm staying out at Keith Darners house in Colorado for the summer. After the season i'll go back home to take a small time off before getting back to training for 09. I have a ton of hobbies i'll keep busy with while im home.. I like to surf, play tennis, ping pong, ride moto, listen to music and mostly just spend time with my family and friends..
2) Your burst onto the World Scene with a 10th At Mont Sainte Anne last weekend, that was your first ever world cup, what did you think to it all?
- It was awesome! The track was really good besides all the rain. It was cool to be at a bigger event with more fans, sponsors etc. I kinda didn't expect that big of a result at my first one but at the same time wasn't too suprised when I got it. Between bmx and moto I have been racing since I was four so it was really good to see all the hard work finally pay off.
3) You have been doing really well on the Local scene over in the US, but only been racing for just under a year, what background do you have? Why are you so fast straight out of the box?
-Well i started racing bmx when I was four, by the time I was 6 my family and I were traveling the country racing all the nationals. I had some really good results by the time I was 8 and then moved onto playing baseball for a few years. I started racing motocross when I was 12 with full intentions of going pro and making a living at it. Everything went good with that except for a string of injurys in 2004 and 2005. I was healing up good though and it was starting to look like I was going to make it to the top level soon. But around June I was out with my trainer riding a local track and just decided I didn't want to ride anymore. It was weird I went out for a moto and when I was done I headed straight for the truck and left. It was probably the hardest thing I have ever done, but I was burnt out and wasn't giving it 100%, so it was the right choice. But I guess between bmx and moto, downhill just came kinda natural with it being a good mix of both.
4) Can you tell us how you got on the Yeti team?
-I started racing the local winter series at fontana in January and was lucky enough to catch the eye of Rich Houseman. He gave me a call one night and said they had an opening on the team and asked if I was interested. It was pretty easy to say yes to that one!
5) Will you be at all the World Cups in 09? What are your aims?
-I don't know yet to be honest.. I would like to for sure but it's the teams call so I guess we'll just have to wait and see. If I race all of them I want to be in the top 10.. If I could get on the podium at atleast one of those races I would be super happy with that too. I know the speed is there I just gotta work on the small things and putting them all together in a race run. The #1 goal is to keep learning though so as long as I keep doing that i'll be moving in the right direction.
6) Your DH racing career is pretty short so far, what results are you pleased with so far?
- I think Sea Otter was my first big result.. I got 10th so I was pretty happy with that. I won the Chalk Creek and Snowmass MSC races which was good also but the 10th at Mont Sainte Anne a few weeks ago was for sure the best one so far.
7) Where was the last place you rode and what bike were you on?
Last place I rode was at the Bromont World cup last Sunday on my Yeti 303.. I felt really good and woulda liked to get another good result there but I crashed at the top of the course and ended up 34th. O well I guess it's just part of the learning process..
8) Whats your favourite place to ride?
I like riding anywhere new but my favorite tracks so far were probably MSA or Vermont..
9) Travelling around with the Yeti National team must be fun, got any 'on the road' stories you can share with us
- Hmm well it's not really an on the road story but still a story.. I flew out to California about a month ago to visit my family and when I got back into Denver my teammate Chris Boice was nice enough to pick me up from the airport. We went to a local dirt jump spot on the way back and while he was peddling up a hill, his chain fell off, sending him to the ground super hard.. He was in a bit of pain and bleeding some so we left pretty soon after that. About a half hour later while driving home we got pulled over and he got a speeding ticket.. it ended up being a pretty bad day for him.. I guess it's safe to say that next time I fly into town he'll let me walk home haha Thanks buddy!
10) Ok, here is where you get to plug anybody you like.............?
Huge thanks to my parents, Rich Houseman, Chris Conroy, Keith Darner, Damion Smith, Patrick Zeus, the entire Yeti team, Fitzy and everyone at Fox racing shox, Monster Energy, Freestyle watches, Smith goggles, Nema, 661, Dylan Dean designs, and anyone else that has helped me along the way.. thanks for everything and thanks Andrew for this interview!