Two of your favorite places to ride are Laguna Beach, CA, and Livigno in Italy. What do you like about riding in these places?
Laguna is a special place for me: it’s where I became a mountain biker. Before that I was a trials rider. But also Laguna is home to one of the oldest mountain bike clubs in the world—the Laguna RADS. Thirty-five years ago, when I first came to visit the US, I was lucky enough to meet them and they took me in and we started mountain biking together. The riding in Laguna is steep and technical, which was a perfect fit for my trials background. And we still ride every Wednesday night. The pace is always fast, and the fun factor is guaranteed. I love it!
My home away from home is in Livigno in the Italian Alps, near the Swiss border. I ride primarily at the Carosello 3000 Mountain Park - I’ve been going there a few times each year for the past 15 years, and together we have built an El Dorado for any kind of cyclist. But in general, Livigno is a fantastic place to ride. They have several bike parks and trail centers, but also they have back country, Transalp routes that utilize really old WWI and WWII smuggling routes, and there’s an incredible and supportive infrastructure in the area that caters to bikers—Including bike hotels and bike only facilities.
Do you have a favorite trail there?
My favourite trail is actually a tour called ‘The Tutti Frutti Epic’.
The Tutti-Frutti Epic?
It’s a bucket list ride! It is a one day tour that consists of 10 superb trails, that traverses 50 km and descends 12000 ft vertical. It’s all connected by a gondola, so practically no uphill riding and it’s the most breathtaking alpine experience with views, Italian food, and all the la dolce vita you can imagine!
What is your vision for the near future of mountain biking?
Ebikes are the newest kid on the block, they are great and we need to integrate them in our existing trail structure, which means we have to respect what others have created and we need play by the rules - because there is a lot at stake if we don’t do our part. By this I mean that as more people discover the cycling and the outdoors we need to guide them and lead by example how to minimize our footprint and to get along with other trail users.
As a sponsored athlete, what do you want to achieve with your partners?
I love working with partners that support my vision and want to improve our sport. Brands like GT Bicycles and Adidas…I’ve been working with them for over 30 years, as well as many other sponsors that have supported my career.
And what I want to achieve is to make mountain biking as good as it can be…and that takes more than the best products. We need advocacy to grant us access. We need infrastructure. We need to promote culture and lifestyle, and we need to respect what we have, practice good trail etiquette, and be good stewards of what we have. And for that we need good ambassadors. And that’s what I want to do: be a good ambassador, to lead by example so more people can enjoy cycling, whether they’re new to the sport, on an ebike, part of one of cycling’s many subcultures, or have been riding for years.