Tahnée Seagrave – Staying at the Top Ain’t Easy

0:00I've done, done three laps since October last year. They want you. They want you to stay on. So you have a place on the factory team. Tony, Tony, Tony, this is a bad idea, I was like, there were times, so many times where I was just like, this was such a stupid idea. Maybe this is petty, but there's nothing I enjoy more than proving people wrong. It's weird, it's a bit of a taboo subject. No one really talks about it. Hey everyone, I'm Chris Hall, and this is the Downtime Podcast. The podcast for the true fans of Gravity Mountain Bike him, taking you deeper into the sport than anywhere else. As much as ever, the podcast needs your support. So if you're enjoying what we're doing, I'd love it if you consider making a small regular donation over at patreon.com for a slash down time podcast. For the price of a cup of coffee a month, you can really help make a difference and help me keep bringing you more great content each week. You can also help out by sharing your thoughts and each week. You can also help out by sharing the episodes where your friends are online, or by something as simple as making sure you're following the podcast wherever you listen,

1:00or by subscribing to the Downtime Podcast YouTube channel. Following is as simple as hitting that button and your podcast app. Now, head into downtimepodcast.com for a slash follow. You can also give us a follow on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok too, where we're at Downtime Podcast. And for the real inside line, you can join our newsletter at downtimepodcast.com for a slash newsletter. All right, this week I'm joined by Tiny SeaRave, Tiny has been one of the defining riders of modern downhill for more than a decade. A World Cup winner, a World Championship medalist, and one of the riders whose help pushed the level of women's racing to where it is today. But the last few seasons haven't been straightforward. Injuries, recovery, rebuilding confidence, changing bike sponsor, and trying to perform at the very top of the sport while the level of competition keeps rising. So in this episode, we sat down to talk about everything from the realities of rehab and return into racing, to bike development challenges, the growth of the women's field, the next generation coming through, and what still motivates her after all these years at the top. There's a lot in here from the physical side of race into the mental side of staying in the sport long term.

2:01So without further ado, here's Tiny SeaRave. Tiny SeaRave, welcome back to Downtime Podcast. Thank you, I'm good, thank you, yeah. Yeah, loving it in Queenstown. So lucky to be here. Yeah, it is an incredible place, which out a bit, but a bit more about that. I don't want to start on a downer, but you've kind of been working your way through some injury way you've been here, which is not the ideal way to kind of start off your year, eh? Yeah, it wasn't the trip I expected, to be honest, because this was all booked before, not before I got injured, but I thought I would be recovered by the time I came here. And it cost an arm and a leg to be here. So I didn't want to cancel the trip because I wouldn't have got a refund. So I had to make the most out of it. And there's a lot of physios that I've worked with in the past that I trust. And yeah, in December, when things still won't get in better, I was like, I'm going to New Zealand in January. I'll just focus full time on my recovery. Use that stint to rehab and see how it goes.

3:04What is the injury? What has it you've been working for you? It's like, it's like wear and tear, basically, so I started I started to feel this injury in, like, mid season last year, after the first stint of the season. And I just got an insanely bad back. Like, the lower back was just, like, so sore. I thought it would pass. And we kind of adapted my training to it. And yeah, I just got weaker and weaker as the season went on. And by the time the second part of the season was there, I was just constantly trying to manage this back pain. I thought it would go away with some rest after the season because we tried to rehab a bit. It didn't really work. Scans were semi-clear. Like, there's a bit of a bulge disc, but nothing pressing on the nerve. So nowhere near as bad as it could be. But for some reason, just, I think, the body was just, like,

4:04stop, please, yeah, please stop. Fair play. So what's the rehab involving? Like, you're getting quite a lot of different stuff done, right? Yeah, so in the end, we figured out, like, my pelvis was just, like, fully jammed and it wasn't moving without, like, the lower back and the pelvis would just, like, this, like, stuck trunk and then suppose to move independently and I had nothing. So... Is that muscular, then, that's holding it like that? I think it's just a bunch of stuff, like, it's crazy how just how much it's affected, because, like, I keep saying to people and I get asked that question, and also, what is it? And I'm like... Ah! Kind of everything. Yeah. And, like, the fact that I've been off the bike since the last World Cup of the season is because you have to re-learn how to use, like, my pelvic floor muscles, my glutes, my back, all independently and, like, my core

5:07and it's been really difficult, because the body, my body would just cheat, try and cheat its way out and try... Yeah, try the easiest way, right? Yeah. So, if I go back and ride a little down here, one, I'll be in pain and two, it would just revert back to how it knows best. So, yeah, we've stayed off the bike, which has been really difficult. And, yeah, just hammering the rehab, but it's going really slowly, but it's definitely getting better. So, is it lots of weird exercises? Like, what sort of stuff do you have to do? Not too weird, to be honest. A lot of hip movement, just to, like, yeah, retrain the muscles. A lot of the movements I couldn't do in the beginning and they're, like, a lot of them is also, like, post-pregnancy exercises for the pelvic floor, which is hilarious. But, yeah, I'm working with Laura Robson who used to work on the syndicate, so, and Joe from the Physiolab, so, they're, like, I trust them so much and both of them together. So, I've been, like, doing manual work with one

6:08and rehab exercises with the other, like, four times a week. So, we've just been hammering. And, yeah, and Laura recently had a baby. So, she's, like, up there, unknowing what exercise, so it was, like, perfect timing. So, yeah, it's been a little bit odd and it's been really challenging because it's all about slow movement. I'm very snappy and very fast, and we've just had to, yeah, calm everything down. It was really frustrating, but I'm getting a lot better at it. I'm getting better at my patients. It's probably been good for you in a way. Yeah, for sure. I mean, there's never, it's, like, never-ending learning, I guess, learning curves. I thought by the age of 30 and 15 years into racing World Cup, so I would have had a bunch of knowledge by now, which has definitely helped, but it's just, yeah, never-ending. It's just, it's crazy. Is it hard being in Queenstown and being restricted on what you can do riding wise? Because, like, it is possibly the best place I've ever ridden a bike. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I've ridden here before,

7:09so I think this one was worse because I know what I'm missing out on, but it is the best place to get back into riding. Like, it's summer here, days are long, I can get two sessions in a day. I've literally just started to ride my bike again, so I can go up for a few laps at the end of the day. That's sweet. You know, like six, six or seven PM and just it's super quiet. No one's there, no stress, so, yeah. Yeah, I've done three laps since October last year, so. Oh, my gosh. That's a pretty crazy situation to be in, but luckily, in a way, I guess, Finn's been out here as well, and Finn's been going through kind of something semi-similar, right? Yeah, yeah, it's actually crazy. He, well, he had to slip this in his back and they were pressing on the nerve, so, and his was like February last year, I think, and it, like it was so, so bad, like his was real bad. He was like on the floor, not being able to move,

8:10like his legs were like, I don't know, it was just, it was kind of, it was a scary thought, I guess, at the time, and he had to kind of race all season, trying to manage this, and I just think it, this sort of injury takes time, and you need to take time off the bike, because, like I said, like, your brain also creates pathways and massive ruts of what it's used to, and you just, if you keep doing the same thing, then you're just reinforcing this brain pathway, so your body just, like we said, it likes to cheat and it likes to have the easy way, so, but he's doing good now, but it was, it is nice to have someone that's kind of been through it, although it's not completely the same, it's definitely similar in a lot of ways. He's done all the exercises that I've had to go through, so, that's cool. I wouldn't normally ask about relationship stuff, but I feel like your relationship with Finn kind of got thrust into the spotlight by Warner Bros. discovery over the last season or so, and like showing each other's reactions when the other riders on track. Like, how do you feel about that,

9:10because it's quite an unusual situation to be in? I think, like, in the beginning, it was a little odd, because we were like figuring things out, I guess, and it wasn't, I don't know, it's almost been two years, but season before last, when it was very new, and yeah, I was watching his race run, and because we have a little screen where the managers can watch, and obviously my face popped up, and I was like, I didn't know what to do, because I was like, I don't want to run away, I want to watch his run, and it was definitely, I was a bit like, oh no, and then everyone tagged me on social media and stuff, and they were like, why is she even being shown, and the stat and the other, but, I mean, at the end of the day, I care a lot, and I wanted to watch his run, and if it makes a storyline, then fine, but, yeah, I'm just glad it worked out, because it would have been a bit awkward if good if it happened, and yeah, my face was on the screen,

10:10but no, it's gone from strength to strength, and it's just, it's so amazing. It's like, to be able to share what we do, and to have that understanding, and the same drive in what we do has been, yeah, we're very lucky. Yeah, I was gonna ask about that, like, being in the same discipline and going through the exact same stuff, it must be quite nice, because what you guys do, I don't think people see from the outside the sacrifice, and the hard times, right? We just see you win in races, and you're celebrating, and having a good time on social media, so it's good that you've got someone that understands the sacrifice and the lose, and it's like, it's opened my eyes up a lot, because obviously I'm based in Europe, and they joke about it being European world cups, because most of our races are in Europe, and I never really thought about it because of my base being in Europe, and then obviously Brexit happened, and we were limited to 90 days, the same as people that live overseas, and I started to realize,

11:12and he has all that travel added on top, and the jet lag, I reckon the jet lag must add up to maybe taking away more than two months of training over the year, which I don't have to go through, well, now I do, because obviously if I wanna see, and we have to go back and forth, so yeah, there's definitely been an understanding for a lot more empathy for those that have to travel, so much to get to the races. Yeah, I was kind of, yeah, just opened my eyes to how much, they have to go through, but we're in it together now, so. Yeah, and you've got that understanding of what each other's doing, but you're also on different teams and different programs, which means being in the same place isn't always possible, how have you felt on that side of it? Yeah, it is hard, in the beginning we thought it would be easy to see each other because we're turning up to the same races, but it's just like we're both, the good thing is we're both very driven,

12:13and we know what we like at the races, but we're very in our own lane, so in the beginning there was a lot of figuring out, when do we see each other, but we've just noticed that racing is like work, obviously, we both stay with our teams, we see each other when we can, or if it's needed, like if somebody's going through a rough time, we're obviously there for each other, but yeah, we have to stay focused, and it's nice to have that person at the end of the week, but during the week it's all work, and there's not much time to see each other, and then we both travel with our teams, so it is a little bit harder, I think, than it seemed for us, even in the beginning, but it works out, well, we've got a good program going, I mean, I get to go to Whistler, and he gets to come to the UK. Oh yes, I want to come and write a song, this is such a good exchange, you know? How could you possibly turn the UK down?

13:16But no, I live in a beautiful place in Wales, so yeah, we're both just super lucky, and we're enjoying it, we're having a lot of fun, both very driven, and it's just so nice to be invested in somebody else's, well, not just their success, but also the drive, and it's just so motivating to wake up next to someone who's got that same drive to be better, and be the best at what they do. It gives you something else during a race week, as well, I guess, like, otherwise, you're just fully personally focused, yeah, no, there's someone else's story to be involved in too, I think that's gonna be kind of nice, just take your own head a bit. Because we talk about this all the time, it's because obviously we've known each other for so long, but we weren't friends or anything, we just, obviously he was on a different team, but before that, we didn't really care about each other's results, whereas now we're so invested, and it's just crazy switch up. It's cool, would you ever wanna be on the same team? Oh no, there's no way. It just couldn't, like I said,

14:17I'm just, I think, we work really well in the sense that we have our priority straight when we're racing, and as hard as it is sometimes, like I said, obviously it's a pretty easy decision to make when the other one's having a tough time, but yeah, it's just nice that we understand the priorities of our career and how much racing means to us. Good stuff. We should wind it back a little bit. 2024, you had the new canyon underneath you, and it was going pretty well. There were some good results there, and that bike was clearly a good bike. I think we've seen it succeed under a few riders. Was it hard when you knew that that was kind of being taken away, and it wasn't gonna be something to continue with? I think the timing of it as well was really unfortunate for me, because the year I had that new bike was the year that I felt like myself again, that I was back training. I was back in a really confident mindset. I wanted to win. I knew I could win, and things were going well,

15:20I trusted the bike, I trusted my team around me, and then yeah, for mid season, to kind of be told that that's not happening anymore, when we had been promised certain things, and I know it's a tough industry, that's fine, water under the bridge, but at the time, it was just, it was pretty heavy hitting. Yeah, emotionally quite challenging, right? Because that takes energy, feeling bad about something, takes focus, it takes energy, and... Well, it was more like the uncertainty, because we had nothing. Everyone had signed, like, Dill's get signed so early, we hadn't even been in the talks of having a new bike sponsor, that just wasn't even a thing, so it became a huge test and priority for the team going forward, because, like I said, that was mid season, so yeah, very scary for us, but every cloud has a silver lining. Yeah, for sure. And it's not just you as an athlete, right? It's your family team as well. Yeah.

16:21It's a bit more, maybe, to you, than it would be to some other athletes. Yeah, because essentially, when I got the phone call, I was actually on my little romantic, my first romantic holiday with Finn. I'd gone to see him in Canada, and I was riding the bike park, and I got a call from my dad being like, and he told me it, and I was like, holy shit, it was the last thing I expected. Like, I hadn't even, there was no inkling of us not being on Canyon for another year or two. And it was just, I can't even, it was like, ah, well, you might, and my dad was like, they want you. They want you to stay on, so you have a place on the factory team. And I was just like, well, we both know that's not gonna happen, because it's just like, I've spent my entire career building up this team with my dad, and obviously Chaos, my brother, who was also on the team, and it's been a lifelong journey, and it's never been about as much as I love winning races.

17:27The team and the journey that we have is what keeps us going, and that's just been so fun, from the age of like 12 onwards, it's all I've ever known, so to be at what I felt like was about to be the peak of my career, to then just ditch everything, I was just like, no, it's like, it's just, it's so such, I almost felt offended, to be honest. As much as it's a nice gesture in a way, in a roundabout way, I was just like, it's not gonna happen, so the thought of the team folding, and what we were gonna do, and all of that, maybe at the time, I was like, oh, maybe I won't even have a choice, but we were just so determined, it's like, no, we can't, we can't let it fold. Fair play. We did have to come the terms with it, potentially, yeah, ending, which whilst I was on the lift in Canada, I was like, well, that's great. That's a bit of a downer. Yeah, I wanted to kind of switch off from all of that for a second, but yeah, we kind of had to switch on at that point forward. Fair news.

18:28How did you feel when you found out that Orbewa, Keen? Initially, again, it was probably one of the last bite brands on my mind, just because obviously, they're not in gravity in a sense, well, they're obviously in Enduro and E-bikes, and they have a really good reputation for their E-bikes, but there was no downer bikes, and we were in the season, it takes years to develop a bike. But at the end of the day, I think the way they sold it to us and the talks that Tony and the guys at Orbewa had, ended up being, obviously, amazing and kind of life-changing for us, so in terms of the team. So I think just, and it aligned, just everything aligned their values and their goals and everything kind of just worked with what we also had in mind. So it was super scary, though, because I said no downer bike. In the beginning, I was like, Tony, Tony, Tony,

19:30this is a bad idea. I was like, I just don't, and to be honest, yeah, dad was the one that was fully committed and fully believed in the process, and it's nice to have a team manager that I guess feels a team with so much positivity. And is your dad as well, I guess? So you've got that maybe extra bond and trust that if he says we can do this and make it work, like it's a bit different to some guy that you've known when you're a team saying the same thing. It's hard sometimes, because I am one of the athletes, but I'm not, it's not the same. Like he's always going to be my dad and he's always going to be the team manager, but I think the athletes do trust me, and I'm not going to, it might be hard for them to trust the team manager, like it's just the way it is as much as they love and trust Tony. I mean, it was such a huge move, like it was just so uncertain and so crazy and just like, oh my God, what is going on? And I had to, in a sense, just be like,

20:32if Tony thinks it's going to work, it's like it's going to work. So... But then the hard work starts, right? You've got this bike that's in development that you've got to get up to speed on and get ready for the season and not much time to do it. No, well, especially when there's time delays and the frames were meant to come in November and then it's December and we still don't have frames and mid-January comes around and I'm out here and still no frame. It's like, it's hard, but that's just the way it is and they have carbon moulds. So once that mould was made, that was it. So yeah, very challenging and I... I think that's where the injury came from because I've never ridden my bike as much as I did and a lot of people know me and it's not that I don't like riding my bike. It's just, I'm very selective on when and where because I like it to be fun. I love, I want to feel motivated. I don't, as much as I'm very aware it's my job,

21:34I don't want it to feel that way. I don't want to be burnt out. I want to be turned up to work and have a positive energy and attitude. But that we didn't have time for that. All that went out the window and we had to turn up and we had to do it so on a matter of laps and we had to give feedback and it was just like so much, it was so much that we had to do in a short space of time that there was just, there were times, so many times where I was just like, this was such a stupid idea. Like it just, that's the reality of it. It was just because we were just, there was so much going on and you go around in circles because you test certain things and then they're like, here's a new part. Oh, you have to retest everything we just did for the past three weeks all over again and it's just so time consuming, it's mentally draining and then you have to think about the season that's coming up and how they want you to perform and the pressures and you don't want to flop obviously and you want to prove everyone wrong

22:35and it was just, it was so gnarly but I did, I did love it. It was just it caught up on me missing, yeah. How did you feel then coming into Poland? Because you've got all this prep, suddenly it's your first opportunity to show it and you turned out with a like a real low key team truck as well at that event. Yeah, oh my God. The thing is, that's the way FMD Racing does stuff. You know, we're loud. That's just, that's the branding that always has been as much as, I'm a pretty quiet individual and in day to day life and I keep myself to myself but our riding and does the talking, our kits is the talking and we love that for us but it was just, for me it was an extra bit of motivation like I cannot, I just cannot do shit here because there is, yeah, this huge trucks turned up. There's been so much speculation. Everyone thinks it was a bad idea and there is nothing I enjoy more

23:36and maybe this is petty but there's nothing I enjoy more than proven people wrong. So that was a huge, huge motivator for me and I need that because at the end of the day I'm a competitor and I need something to grip my teeth through and get that result. If I'm at the top like, like it just never happens to me. Everyone's like, I need to be calm when racing. No, I need to be fired up and ready and angry and I need to go because I'm not, that doesn't come naturally to me. Yeah, your best performances come when you're back into a corner, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So luckily I had everything against me for that weekend and it was just, it was a beautiful weekend so I can't complain much but it was just, it was so much work. And a rough weekend in general, right? It was super cold, like it was not an easy race to start the season on a brand new bike, new setup, all that kind of stuff. But I think that was what helped because there was no other option than to be positive. Like we just had to grip our teeth and we had, there was like, we didn't have any time to fuck around.

24:38Like we just couldn't. There was just, so we were still testing. Like we're still that whole year was about testing the bike. It wasn't about bringing in the results. It was about pushing our limits, pushing the bike's limits, bringing that feedback back to Orbea, back to the team and trying to work on potentially in these three to five years that we'll have together on making a bike that will be on the stand on the top step. So for it to happen in the very first race of the season when we're just signed, oh, I just, it's like thinking about it, I'm just like, what the hell? That just shouldn't have happened and it did, you know? Yeah, but the fairy tale. Did you have any, did you even think it was possible at any point in the weekend? I mean, I had a really good, we were riding a lot. So I had a pretty good feeling of how I was feeling. So like there were times where I got mad because I felt like the bike was potentially gonna hold me back because I'd never felt so fit.

25:39I'd never felt so good, I've ridden my bike so much. And I knew that I felt good. And then we had the pre-season test race. Oh, it allows it. Yeah. It's been Portugal and Valle was there, Gracie was there, Phoebe was there. There was just a bunch of people that were there that I usually race against and that obviously my top competitors. And I won it and I won the time training and then I won the qualifying and then I won the race. So I was like. And it's not a pressured environment either at that sort of thing compared to a World Cup. It's just maybe not where you'd normally expect to excel either. No, like I do so crap at like little races. Cause the stakes aren't high enough for me, I guess. But that race was really just, again, we were so focused on each and every run had to be the best run possible because we're pushing the bikes to the limits. So every time I would ride that bike, 100% effort had to go into it.

26:39And I think that was obviously what helped me a lot. And I remember speaking to Valle and she was like, how's the bike going this down here? I was like, I've just not spent a minute off the bike and she was like, well, I think that's probably what's working for you. And looking back, yeah, for sure, like more bike time is always great. But like I said, it reaches a breaking point that's something especially for someone like me that like I said, I prefer to minimize the damage on the bike. Yeah, so Polin was like a fairytale really to get this new brand to the top step. First race out, incredible. Big smiles and everyone's faces walk away happy. But Polin's kind of an outlier as a track. And then we're into Ludenville, very different, steep, fast. And things weren't maybe quite as rosy. Yeah. Well, I mean, I felt really, really good in Ludenville. And I think I won time training. And then I was second in qualifying to Pompom, who excels at Ludenville, like that's her track.

27:40I know she did some testing there in the off season. So I was really happy. And we saw a shift this year, like no one really in time training last year and the years before would go for it. But we have like three runs in the afternoon. And everyone's runs were getting faster and faster. And they were four runs. So, and everyone was on the board. And that usually never happens. And I think after Polin, everyone was a bit like, just wanted to see more of what they could do. And I was consistently fast. And the bike was performing really well. But I crashed in Ludenville, like the morning of racing. And I fucked up my finger so bad. And I had stupid gel nails on. So we couldn't like piss the nail to get the blood out. So it was just throbbing. And I haven't learnt my lesson, obviously. But it was annoying because, yeah, I still managed to get third. But I got smoked. I got like, there's no denying that Gracie had an incredible run.

28:41But it was a bit messy. So many crashes, the conditions were really hard. It was like polar opposite to Poland, where it was so dry and dusty. Conditions were hot, just as hard, but different. But, yeah, and I think that's where we saw Gracie kind of come into her own and realise her own potential, I guess. It was a cool run. Yeah, very, very impressive, a bit of riding from Gracie. So you come away from that injured. You showed me your finger in Lear Gang the next week. And it wasn't a pretty sight. No, I'm so surprised. It wasn't broken. It was so swollen. It was so sore. But I don't know, anyone that's ripped their nail off can understand how painful it was. But it was just a finger. But I think if anything, it knocked my confidence. I hadn't crashed. Like I said to you, I've done all this riding. I didn't crash once in the entire offseason. Wow. I didn't crash in Poland. And I think, yeah, it was probably five months of riding at 100% no crashes. So, yeah, the Ludonville crash really knocked me back

29:43a little bit and was like, I don't know. And it was just painful. It just reminds you a little bit. My shoulder was really sore as well. But nothing wrong. But when you take a big hit like that and your body isn't used to it. And then we've got three back to back races. It was just heavy on the body. Yeah, there's no time, mate. How do you work through that pain? What's your strategy of racing through pain and dealing with it? I don't know. I'm not sure if mine's the best. But I think I've been through so many injuries. I don't really like the thought of pushing through anymore. I feel like I definitely like to be kinder to myself. But our season and our schedule didn't allow us to be like that. So there was a big conflict going on in my brain because I promised myself I'd be kind, gentle, and all these things with me and my body that downhill racing doesn't go hand in hand. Yeah, so it was hard. And I think you could tell that with my riding.

30:45And I just, you know, I was like, you know what? As much as I love winning and I love racing, I love to prove a point. It just was not worth the risk of me crashing again. Or, and I was like, it's a long season. I'm just going to use these races to keep building. I'll do a few more runs for the bike. We'll put a telemetry on like, we just use it as data. It was hard mentally. But sometimes you've just got to, you've got to make the decision, you've got to take it on the chin. Yeah. Was that still the approach when you got to Valdasol? Because you've gone well there on a few occasions in the past, you've had good results. Yeah, Valdasol was just terrifying. So Valdasol was just so scary. And I did feel better by the time I got there, to be honest. But I had struggled with the bike a little bit there. Again, a bit of an outlier. Maybe that track, like the roughness, the rawness of that track. I mean, I think they all are now, like all the tracks are so different. We do have a good variety now and there's a lot of changes.

31:46But yeah, Valdasol, I don't know. It's just, I think everyone agrees it's so scary. And it's mentally tough. The whole week is difficult. But, yeah, I just, again, I was pretty determined in the gate to do well. And I think I had some really good space, but what happened? I just, I hit a compression. I hadn't, the thing is, is with this bike, as much as we're testing, I still don't know where the sweet spot is or like that. It's so, there's so many variabilities with it. And we're still trying to test certain little products. We get new suspension here and there. And it's like, there's a lot going on. So, to be able to, when we're testing, for example, someone like here and you've got five days back to back and you're doing 12 runs a day, it's pretty easy to just smash stuff on, try it, don't like it. We get five to six runs on our first practice, on the new track, on the new bike.

32:47So, we're trying to figure out this entire setup. Before quality is seven runs, probably max. And it's just, and then, and then you have another two, so what, nine to ten runs before race run? And it's just not enough to be able to find a setting on a track like that. So, my mistake, really, I think I just, we didn't have enough time to sort out what I liked and I hit a compression and I just didn't expect to go fly. I'm actually flying forward and I just missed a corner completely. Yeah. Yeah, and I went off the track. So, but at that point, I was like, okay, well, I'm feeling confident. You know, but I'm like, I'm ready to push again. That was just a bit unfortunate. Does, does their frustration build though? Because like you say, you're feeling good. You're in this, in your head, the prime of your career, physically, mentally, whatever. And then you've got a bike that isn't perfect yet. Because it's never going to be right. You've had two months, maybe at this point, to get it dialed.

33:49Does that, is it hard to deal with that? Yeah, it was frustrating. And I think on our series, how we roll, it definitely came across. Because there were just some tracks that needed more, we needed more time. Yeah. Some tracks were like, the bike was perfect. Like, like Poland, there was just, I felt really at one. There are, there's other places, lens are high, I mean, wherever I, I one, I felt really good. And the bike couldn't have been any better, but then you take it to, you know, from, I don't know, Andora, that's flat, fast, you know, not that rough. It's like big compressions to a Valdisol, where you've got 200 times more compressions. It's like, I don't know, a gradient of 13% in comparison to Andora, and it's just a complete opposite. And I guess that's up to us. We probably didn't have enough time on those type of tracks, or maybe there's something

34:50with the bike that could adapt a little bit better to those tracks. There was frustration, but there was a lot of acceptance and knowledge that we knew that come into the season, and we had already performed so far out of what we thought was possible that I think it was, it was fine, like, it was hard, and, but I can't sit here and complain because, you know, we won the first World Cup, but that was also frustrating at the time, because it's like, oh, just because we won the first World Cup, and, and we're performing well at races, I think that doesn't mean that we were going to perform everywhere, and that showed in the results. It was very up and down, like, it was even really good, or it was just, we were just, like, off the podium. And the fans on the whole don't really see that either, they're like, you've smashed it at the first World Cup, you're on a brand new bike, clearly everything's amazing. Tarny's going to dominate the season, and then you don't, and people are like, well, what's wrong with Tarny, they're not question, they don't necessarily have that bigger picture of what's going on. No, exactly, but, yeah, we, we tried our best every round, and the boys did really good

35:56as well, and, you know, just the amount of, our goal for that year was to just give as much feedback as possible for the bikes and push the bikes to the limit, so, yeah, I mean, so much more good came out of the season than, than bad, so, yeah. When you got those wins peppered through, like, to kind of keep the motivation up maybe, and you got another one in Andora must feel good. Yeah, Andora was great, because I missed out on, like, wild champs jersey the year before, which was, I gave everything in that run, like, I couldn't have done much better, and so, to be able to win Andora was amazing, obviously, Gracie did crash, but, I mean, I've had so many runs in my career where I've been lit, all the way down and crashed out, and, and not one, and it's just the way it works, I guess, but, yeah, it was, it felt very, that race run was very, like, curated and very put together, and so it felt good to win

36:57there, because it was, there were, like, a lot of decision-making that, with the bike and with the track, that it felt like a nice win, because I was like, I felt, it was like a mature win. Yeah, the process delivered. Yeah. Yeah, it was like, okay, well, that worked out how we wanted to, like, it was a bit weird, it was like, I made all these decisions to have the best run possible, and then I had the best run, and it just kind of just ticked all the boxes, so. Nice one to walk away from, yeah, I want to talk about World Champs, because the Elite winners remained elusive, as for many riders on the planet, was that a realistic focus for you in 25, or were you just like, we've got so much on here that I'm not expecting too much? It's hard, because, like I said, I felt, I felt so good, but the track just did not suit our bikes for the weekend, that, I think, out of all the races, that one was the hardest, it was steep, it's fast, it's like, built up berms, the bike was probably a bit too flexible,

38:01we struggled a lot that weekend, and it's hard, because it just seems like, you know, we shift in blame a little bit, but it does, like we see in how we roll, it's, I think, me and the other riders would all have good results at the same races, and then bad results, so it was very consistent in our feedback as well, so that was sad, because I think, we all felt like we'd put in a lot of work, so that one was a tough one, a tough build swallow for sure, because I just, but I think everyone saw it, I sat out of that gate, like, there was my last run on earth, that almost was, so, yeah, it got pretty wild in the first five or ten seconds. And I was just like, again, mid, I was like, this is silly, like, I'm not, if I was to carry on riding like that, I just don't think I would have made it down to the bottom, so, you know, there's a certain limit, I think, on certain tracks, and it's hard to push past that, but we're working on it, and Obert are delivering, and they're listening,

39:05and it's great, like, I can't ride at the minute, but I'm seeing everything the others are putting in all the work that they're doing, and it's looking good, so I am excited, and I'm hoping, you know, it would be so rewarding going back to tracks that we didn't particularly like last year, and seeing the difference. Yeah, was it hard to see another world champs go by, because there's only so many, right? Yeah. Obviously, it's like, I have Steve Peat's curse or something, but I don't know. When you, like, I've got, well, 12 World Cup wins over 15 years of race, well, 13 years in, in elite, so when you put it like that, it's still a small number of wins in comparison to the amount of races I've done, so to expect a world champs jersey over, well, 13 races that I've done. I mean, it's everyone's dream, isn't it, and I, it's obviously a goal, because I've won basically every round there is, and this year we're going to a new location, but Lensa Hyde

40:06was one of the last ones I wanted to take off, and that happened last year, so I was stoked on that, and yeah, now it's just the world champs jersey, and overall, I mean, I've been second so many times at both, to different people, and then again, I can look at it in so many different ways, like I won and Dora, where it's last year, like Valley won, whereas I beat her this year, and there's, but there's so many things that can go through your head, but I just take each race as it comes, and I put just as much effort into every single one, so hopefully this is the year, I don't know. One day, Ty, one day. Talk us through Lensa Hyde, it was your first experience of Q2, and what were the joys of Q2 like? I hated it so much, it was the worst, I think I got really complacent in not doing a Q2, and to be honest, I was very confident every round, I would book my physio at the time that the Q2 was going on, and Phoebe actually mentioned it, because I'd put it in the group champs, and she was like, well, that's brave, so I was about Q2, and I'm not going to be in Q2,

41:06so I guess the mindset was there, obviously, but I don't know, Lensa Hyde, it was tough, I started like my back issues started in Lensa Hyde, but after Shompery welds, and all the issues we had, I was like, Lensa Hyde track is going to suit the bike, I just know it, maybe the high speed corners might be a little bit difficult, but I know that the way they tape it, they tend to tape the corners out, so again, I had that mindset of like, I'm going to win Lensa Hyde, so the fact that it happened, I think I just need to be more delusion or more often. Yeah, it worked. Did the Q2 fire you up a bit, though? Do you think you were out there with some anger, maybe, because let you say you performed well when you've got a bit of that in you? I mean, Q1, I went off the tracking Q1, and Lensa Hyde times were always so tight, there was no way I was going to make it through, so I knew it wasn't because I was riding slow, which is often like a bit of a fear of mine, which I think keeps me at the top end, but

42:11I didn't realise, yeah, the stress, because all of a sudden I was like, oh my god, like, what if I puncture, what if I crash again? It's not so much, I didn't think I was going to make it through from riding, it was more the outside factors that you can't control, and you know, the sport is harsh, like I can't, it would be silly to think that that might not happen, so I was so stressed, I rode so bad, I rode so so bad, and I was like, I crossed the line, I was like, I don't even think I'm going to make it through, because what I wasn't worried about 10 minutes ago, I now think I've ridden too slow, because I was so scared of hitting a certain rock or crashing, I was so tense, but I won Q2, which was nice, which I didn't really expect, and then, yeah, I just put it all behind me, and I was like, I need to, it's just one of those tracks, all the girls, oh not all the girls, but some of the girls were jumping this trip all that I hate, I hate, and I was so not looking to push my limits in that way, because it was also my period,

43:15the first day, and I know that decision making is terrible, in that time of the month, I'm also, I think mentally, more likely to want to protect myself, so, yeah, I was stressed, and I was just like, I'm just going to have to go as fast as possible, where I know where to go fast, and then hopefully, I won't be too much slower, but no one ended up doing the triple in their race runs, I don't think. They're not, not in the, yeah, I don't think so. There's the rock triple before the bit in the open, yeah. I can't remember, because I was so straight, I don't think I watched Nina's run, because I was just like, oh my god, because I only beat her by like 0.05 or something, but, yeah, that run was, I was really proud of that run, actually. Yeah, fair play, it's not an easy track to win on, and the margins are so tight. Yeah, like I said, we've been the base most years, and I've always come second to someone, so, yeah, I was just like, like I said, I just, I went as fast as possible, where I knew how, and it showed on the splits, I think, and I made the worst mistake right before the long pedal.

44:18Oh, yeah, you had to put some power down. Yeah, where the triple was, because I was like, I'll just hit the triple, roll it as fast as possible, but yeah, I kind of messed it up, but luckily, didn't, and then Chris, my trainer was like, don't let that thing that you can get away with, you know, not doing the jumps, or, so that's not a good lesson learned today. I was like, yay! That worked. Yeah, see, I don't have to do the 90s start. No, it's a bad mindset. We don't hear much about, like, women and periods in sport at this level. Like, how does that impact your race weekend? Do you have a different process or a different approach? I mean, it's different for every woman as well, so I can only speak for myself, but I, when I was younger, it never really affected me that much. And then obviously, there's the whole, whole stuff about, like, contraceptions and, like, some of the pills doing, like, gnarly side effects, so I don't have any of that, because when I was mid-twenties or early-twenties, I was just like,

45:23this is driving me insane. I didn't feel like myself, so that's another layer added on. But then I have to deal with all the normal symptoms, and mine are awful. I get brain fog, and, like, the cramps are insane, and my body hurts, and I don't, I don't want to do anything. I'll rather just be in bed. And so, for it to fall on, you know, race day is, is pretty annoying, but you can't do anything about it, so I was just, that's in my post-race interview. I wanted to mention it because I feel like so many women have to go through this extra hurdle. And I just didn't expect to, as much as I wanted to win, and that's why I was going for, I just didn't expect to, because my mindset was different in those few days, leading up to race day, in the sense that, like I said, I was more calm. I didn't push myself. I saw the other guy was trying to trip, or I was like, that's too much for me mentally. I just can't, so I'm going to focus on something

46:25else. I focus on water intake, food, going to the river, chilling out, like, and I guess that worked for me, because I prioritise actually the things that are probably more important in the race weekend. So I guess it's an acceptance, but you're not trying to fight it. Yeah, I mean, the more annoyed I'm going to get the worse, it will be for myself anyway. So, but it is hard, like, and I track mine, I track my periods, so I know when they're going to come and it's kind of like, ah, oh no, mine are really regular, so I'm lucky with that. A lot of women aren't, so there's could be so random, like, I know, Phoebe struggles with hers, and it's just like a bit of a minefield, really, and it's, even we don't, we're not equipped with stuff. On how to manage it as well as possible. Yeah, yeah, the science is still evolving, right? Yeah, hit a miss, and it's, yeah, experience, I guess. Yeah, yeah. Outside of the team,

47:25does it get talked about in the women's field? Would you say on my period of this race? Yeah. You're not worried that they're like, ah, good, we've got one up on Tarny. I don't know. Well, obviously, I like, I'm really close with Pompon, so we're like, in a bit of an age difference to some of the others, so I guess, and we're so close that it's not something that we think like, I don't know, if she said that to me, I wouldn't think, oh, great, maybe we'd say it in a comment to joke, but we help each other, and it's more like little texts like how you're doing or there's no bad blood there or anything, and I think there's more of a sympathy and empathy for people going through it rather than like, you know, that's great. So yeah, off from a win there, and then into like, plastic brand new track, new venue, not the easiest of tracks to learn, right? It was blowing out very quickly. Yeah, so I'm trying to recollect my thoughts for like,

48:26plastic, that after lenser hide, when, after that race, and whilst I was on the hot seat, my, that's when my back got like, really bad, and I couldn't really get up from the hot seat, and there was just, I was like, something is wrong, but I, we had what two weeks before lake plastic, and we had to travel over to Montreal, travel from Montreal to Lake Placid. In that time, I had such a bad back and developed like a UTI, and I think it was from dehydration, or even though I said I was trying to like, with my period and stuff, trying to keep on top of water, but it's just really difficult when there's just a lot going on. And so, but with all the travel, it's really hard to see a doctor, and we don't have a doctor that travels with us, the teams just don't have that. The Warner Bros UCI changed doctors every time we go to a location, and they're not

49:31available until we're at the race. So, I had to spend those two weeks getting blood tests from different, but then waiting on the results. So, I spent those two weeks in a lot of pain, eventually in Lake Placid got a diagnosis, managed to be given antibiotics, but at that point, I'd already tried a different set of antibiotics that hadn't helped. So, the body was just like, at that point, just fried, and then yeah, so I was on antibiotics the whole week, and I'm like a very, I try not to take painkillers, I like, I tried to stay away from anything synthetic, even though it's very hard in like nowadays. So, I just get overly paranoid about stuff like that. So, yeah, the antibiotics didn't help, and then throw in this, yeah, this new race, insanely hard conditions. It was like a mini-validous soil, I would say, a flatter version of validous soil.

50:34So, at that point, I was like, the mentality was not great, but I was a little bit over it, so I was just like, the last thing I want to do right now is like drop into a mini-validous soil. Sounds better. Yeah, so, that was a tough, a tough week, but the track, honestly, the location having somewhere new, everything was like amazing. I loved it there, but yeah, just would have hoped to have had a bit of a better week, but you know, the punches kept rolling, and sometimes you just got to take them, like we say we don't get to choose when these things happen or when the races. So, yeah, I tried my best for that race. Yeah, and then onto MSA to finish the season off, and I'm guessing you would have wanted to try and finish on a bang, but your body at that point was probably a bit over it, right? I think it was hard because mentally, I was really in it, and I really wanted to clinch a fourth win because I missed out on worlds. The overall was already wrapped up with Valley, and all of a sudden there's this new title in a way, me and Gracia,

51:35Equal 3 wins, what sort, you know, as much as Valley won the overall, it was a very consistent and a good season, but I just know for a fact that she wouldn't have been happy because there wasn't as many wins. Yeah. So, I would have loved, loved, loved to have got that fourth win, and I felt really good mentally, but I was just reminded daily that the body was just not okay with it, and I tried, and Monson Anne is a hefty track, it's long, it's brutal, it's hard, and it got to a point where, yeah, in between runs, I was just lying on the floor and I could barely get up, and we tried everything, like in terms of like heat packs, ice in it, heat in it, different physios, manual work, strapping up, but it got, yeah, I did my Q1, and I didn't qualify, and that was not from a crash, not from going out of the track, I was just done, and it was hard because I

52:36kind of felt like I was giving up, but I was just, I was like, I've already got third in the overall, I can't, at that point I couldn't have bumped, sorry, I couldn't have got worse, I could have definitely got better, I could have got second, but Gracie to me was on fire, she's at home, there was a lot to risk, I think, and yeah, I was just, I had mentally, I just couldn't do it, I was just at that point, like I wasn't it mentally, until I think I came to the realisation of just how fucked my body felt, so yeah, it's full burn out. Did it feel okay once you'd made the decision, like is it hard for you to stand there and see a race take place? Usually I'm okay with it, like I've made this decision a few times in my career before, like it's rare, but that one's stung a bit, I think I felt like I was letting the team down because we were fourth in the overall, we could have been third, but we ended up being fifth, I think, I don't know, it just felt a

53:40bit shit to end on a downer, but I think when we all sat down and kind of calmed down, we realised that actually we're fifth in the overall, like on our first year, and I got three World Cup wins, it's just so hard in the moment when you're wrapped up and it means so much to you. I always say to people it's like, yeah, it might not seem important to people on the outside, but this is our entire world, we sacrifice everything to be in that start gate, so to make a decision to not go just feels bittersweet and I felt like a little bit of a let down, I think, so it was hard to accept. Yeah, a rough way to end the season, but on paper, three wins, I think that equals your previous best in 2017, so kind of successful, but like you say, this huge rollercoaster of a season and coming out of it pretty bad, like when you sit down and you review your performance from 2025, like what's your take on it? I'm really proud for sure, so so proud, I think in many ways, so I did match my best ever season, 2017 and 2018 were both

54:46like three wins in the year. It was just a lot, it just felt like a lot, I think it was our first year as well with a pretty hectic schedule, so everyone's trying to manage that, I think we'll be better next year. They've done a little bit of shifting with the races, so the travel should be a little bit better for us. I managed to get a French visa, so I don't know how I'm not limited to 90 days, so I don't have to keep flying back and forth, which is amazing, because now I can stay at the races a little bit longer, because before, yeah, it would just be like races finished back home three days, fly back, obviously lucky, we're not that far in the UK, but it still just takes out of you. So yeah, there's a few things that can be managed better, I think, going into this season, but overall, I can't, I can't be mad, yeah. Yeah, it was an impressive season considering as well, you got on the bike so late and there's so much learning to do. Were there certain things you felt

55:48you needed to work on this off season, obviously getting the body back, but yeah. Well, we had still a lot to do with the bike, so I was really ready to kind of jump back on, but I've not been able to do that, but yeah, we've still got a lot of testing to do, I think once I am back on the bike, it's probably going to look pretty similar to last year's preseason, but I don't know, I think just, yeah, a bit smart. I don't think I need that massive volume of downhill runs. We know that the bike works anyway, so I could technically just go on last year's bike and still perform, which is nice, but I always want more and it's just, I would love, I don't know, I'm just, I'm a competitor, I love racing, I just love racing, I love putting everything into and I love to win races and I think previously in my career, for some reason, I've been a little bit like, I don't know, tiptoed around those thoughts, but I've just fully accepted that that's what I

56:50love doing and yeah, I'm just going to take it in full, full stride. Nice, how much can you learn from the other riders on the team? So they've all been off testing and, you know, tweaking and getting things ready for the season. Can you read much of that across to your personal setup? Can they do some of that work for you while you're out? I think there will be certain things that like, the majority of them like, so I will go into that direction, but I've still got to figure out for myself because we all like different things, different feels. Yeah, so I think I'm going to have to kind of go for that process, but I kind of know what direction to go in, so it does eliminate a lot of, what does this do? What does that do? Because they've already done all that. Yeah, but I think, yeah, I'm still going to have to ride through it all just in case, not that I don't trust them, but we're all, yeah, we're all individuals, yeah, so, but it's definitely, it definitely helps. How's it been having Martin on the team?

57:51So good. Like, super experienced rider, but when that was announced, you're like, FMD, Martin Mays didn't seem like an obvious fit, but it seems to have worked. Yeah, it's weird, because I think we kind of felt what I felt the same, because I didn't know Martin that well, like obviously we know each other from both being on Red Bull and through some other races, but obviously, O'Bare was like, yeah, we're sponsored team, but you have to take Martin, so that was us with two elite males, and we were pretty stoked, because I didn't know much about Martin. Everyone was calling him party Martin. I know why. I know why he has that nickname, but he's so good for the team. He's so cool. He's like very laid back. I think he tried in the beginning of the season. He tried to kind of fit in a bit with the whole, I don't know the standards of warming up before the race runs. There's just a set thing that people do, and there's like, I don't know, unwritten rules that we kind of all do similar things, and it didn't work out for him,

58:51so he went back to his way, and then he started performing again, and he just, he loves riding bikes. He's very competitive, but very chill demeanor, and it was so nice actually seeing him get annoyed at certain races, because you think he's like pretty laid back all the time, and then it was nice seeing that it meant so much to him, and I think I hope that he felt like he was home, and then he felt like he got everything he needed out of the season. He's been a great addition to the team. Yeah, I'm excited to see how he gets on this season, and then you've got a bit more time on the bike. Yeah, well, and he got second in Le Jay, and fourth a couple of times, and he's like a dark horse. He's a powerhouse, and it's just so funny when he goes out and does these results, because it's not that you don't expect it, but he's just like, yeah, he's always positive, like I said, great addition to the team. Everyone loves him, so, and his mechanic as well, they just fit in so well. Awesome. If there's two higher cars, you're driving one of Martin's driving

59:51the other, which one should I get in? Not Martin's. If you want to feel close to death before I was straight, then by all means, go with Martin, but oh my god, you can't just like, this is what I mean, he's so laid back, but you get in the car, and he's a devil. I hate it. I actually can't. I can't like, I'm like, oh, I can't deal with these adrenaline spikes like before the race. I'm just like, please. And then like, when they put in the group chat of who we have to go with, I'm like, let's start crying before I do that. I'm not even exaggerating either, like he's crazy in the car. Always full tilt. Yeah, wins go karting, easy. Yeah. Yeah. He's fast. Good character. I want to talk about a bit about the women's field, right? You've been in this sport a long time now, and it feels like it's changed massively in that time. What's your take on it? Yeah, definitely. I feel like to be fair, like it has changed. There's a lot more people that are capable of winning races now,

1:00:53but at the top, it's always going to be competitive. There's just more people now that are competitive, because I'm not going to downplay racing at Rachel Afton, like that was some of the hardest years of my career, and I think it shaped me as an athlete. She was an amazing competitor to have, like really built into me that, yeah, this is like, I think the reason I want to win so much. But now it's like, it's so amazing. It's not just two people that can win the race. It's like six, seven, eight, and it's just, it's so nice. Like Chris said last year, we can't look at positions anymore. You come for fifth. We have to look at the times, because we're at a stage where it's so competitive that you could be 0.6 back and you're in eighth place at a split, and you're like, what? This is what I mean. I don't know, six, seven years ago, I could have been second,

1:01:55six seconds back. It's amazing. I obviously love it, like I said, I love competition, so the more the merrier, just the better it is for me, and I love knowing that I feel like a bit of a veteran now, so I like to feel like I've been a part of building that space. So, yeah, it's just so sick. I love seeing girls that just have the grit and want to go for it, and yeah, it's amazing. It has been really cool to watch. Is that being reflected in the brand deals that the women are getting now? Are we starting to see you getting closer to parity with the guys? I hope so. I mean, it's hard. It's really hard for me to comment on that because of the journey I've had in comparison to everyone else. Mine's not your normal journey. I said, I started out with my dad. We started out on a track. We had no money, and it's just slowly, slowly got better, and now I'm a really well-paid top athlete, not only for the racing I do,

1:03:00but all the stuff outside of that, and it's just like a well-rounded package deal. But I trust the people I'm around, and it's hard for other athletes because you sign a two-year deal, and you can be dropped at the end of it. I mean, we experienced that too, but we're in it together, whereas I feel like it could probably feel very lonely, and I just know that there's still a huge pay gap. I think it drops off pretty quick as well. Again, it's weird. It's a bit of a taboo subject. No one really talks about it. I think you know who gets paid well, who doesn't get paid well, but what are the gaps? No one really talks about figures. Again, mine's different because I'm not paid by one entity. I have separate sponsors who pay me individually, so it's like it's so different for me than it is for other people. But I do think we are seeing, we're definitely seeing

1:04:02more women on pro teams, which is unreal. We're seeing more teams invest into younger, like juniors, or most pro teams have a junior girl, which is. Yeah, that was unheard of a few years ago. So that's, say, unheard of. They're investing into their future. That's amazing, I think, to see and be a part of. Yeah, what's your take on these juniors? We've got the roses. That's so fast. The talent is insane. Yeah, they're so fast, and they're just so mature, like beyond their years of racing. Some of them, you can tell that they've got a lot to learn, but that's what's so exciting, because they can be so much better, and some of them are just straight in. It's like they've been racing their whole lives. It's impressive. I watch, obviously, I follow them all, like their racing career is already. I love watching them. It's competitive. Yeah, I mean, we watch them in practice. I can learn a lot from them myself, so. Yeah. Do you think they're doing anything different to your generation?

1:05:04I think, obviously, the training is like a big thing. The support is massive. That's all different. Now, like I said, unheard of, to be a junior woman and an unprotein when I was racing. And just to support the knowledge, like they get to learn from all the people, they get to see it now, as well as visuals, the social media. We didn't have that before. You were just kind of chucked in and hoped for the best. People used to get hammered the night before races. That doesn't happen anymore. They're just pros. They're like little pros. It's really cool, really cool to watch. But yeah, it's scary. Yeah. Do you think experience still gives you a meaningful advantage? Yeah. A hundred percent. It's anything I rely on nowadays. But you know, it's so nice being like, oh, well, I've been here before. There's nothing there's always new lessons, but there's nothing new about sitting in a start gate to me. And it's my happy place. It's where I feel most confident in certain situations that I've been

1:06:05through before. I've like, I've been there, done that. So I think staying calm is a real advantage, I think. Yeah. You've got Ellie coming up this year. So it's going to be interesting to see where she slots in. But then 27 is when the big chunk of riders come up from junior, like, what are you scared of kind of competing against that lot? I wouldn't say I'm like I'm like scared in that sense because I'm already competing against girls, women that are just so fast and more experienced than the juniors. So it's like not specific people that I'm going to be like, ah, but it's definitely it's like we see with Gracie. They just bring different different attributes to the field and different. It's just so fun. To me, it's challenging. I like it. It brings in new stuff for someone who's been around for so long now. It's nice to have a new change like Gracie is a new type of rider that we haven't seen for a long time and she's

1:07:10just wild and she just sends it and like she's bold in her decisions and that's something I don't have and that's something that is a mature race that we don't have. And sometimes I have to be like fuck it. I've got to I've got to think like a 20 year old, you know. I just have to sometimes. Wait, so you will try and just some extent replicate what some of this younger lot of doing or you try and stick to your work? In my own way. I will always be authentic and true to myself because that's when I get my best results. But I'm an overthinker. I am so paranoid about a lot of things and sometimes yeah, I just need to kind of yeah, just think of when I was 20 again and just like and just not care. But not to yeah, not to the point where I completely lose myself in the process. But yeah, there's so much to learn from from these youngsters coming up and in the same way that I think I'm just lucky that there's a big enough gap that by the time they mature and

1:08:15experience I'll be gone. So yeah. Well, let's talk about that. You've been in the sport a long time now. It's getting tighter, more all encompassing, more off-season work. Like it's only getting harder. You've had your fair share of injury. Have you ever thought about walking away from it? For sure. Like when I had my concussion that year, I was ready to be done with racing. But that bought that brought a really nice sense of like peace in a way because I'd always wondered like, what the hell am I without downer racing? And I know that's dramatic. But when it's all you've ever known and you've invested every penny and every breath into it, it is scary. But I feel like over the years since my concussion, I've taught myself there's a lot more outside of racing bikes that make me happy that I can get that buzz I get from biking in other things. So that was a big lesson within itself. And that took a big weight off my shoulders. And yeah, I think about retiring

1:09:19all the time. Because I like I'm 31 this year. And I don't know. It's just normal life things. You start thinking about the future and what's going to be, I don't know what's ahead. But I've still got a few years on my contract. I still, there's so many things I want to do. I want to take off in my racing career. I'm loving it. I feel like I haven't reached my peak because it's you know, like I said, my two, my physical mental health and the bike haven't like fully merged yet. So I'm really looking forward to when that happens. And I think it's still yet to come. So that's really exciting. And then, and then we'll see, I guess. So yeah, I'm excited to see what my life will look like without having to be shit scared every weekend. Do you know what, do you have a view of what retirement looks like for you? Or not, you know, I mean, stepping away from World Cup racing full time. Um, I don't know. I think there's so many opportunities that would open up. I have no idea. I'd

1:10:25love to be involved still somehow. I'd love to help people. I feel like I've got the brain for it. I think I kind of know what I'm doing in terms of like social media and all that stuff, so whether it's helping younger athletes or getting involved with some of the brands I've worked with, I'm not too sure. But I don't know. It's, uh, there's, I'm not, yeah, I'm not too scared about it anymore. If anything, I'm excited for the opportunity. And, but oh, no, I might step away for a couple of years. Kind of like when people have, uh, like Gapier, you know, yeah, go traveling. Yeah, traveling and not see a bit of tape would be nice. But, um, yeah, no bite boxes. Nice. It's cool. And signing with Orbea just bought so much more motivation. I was starting to, you know, just feel a bit like, oh, especially after all the injuries that you mentioned. And because I had five years back to back of injuries. And I was just so over it. But, yes, signing with Orbea and this new challenge is just, there's so much to learn from it. So,

1:11:30yeah, pretty heavily invested still. Would you say your motivation is different from what it used to be? Yeah. Yeah. It's changed so much when I was young. I didn't, I didn't care about anything. There's no, you're so naive that you don't have any empathy. I didn't care. I think, yeah, they're, I just, I was living, I'm still living the life. But you get, you get to travel round for free, like, but you don't, as a kid, you're just like, this is the best thing ever. And it still is, but it's different because now I have to pay bills. Like, I've got a house now, and like, there's just money going out, out, out, and non-coming in so, so. But, yeah, motivations change as you get older. Yeah. I think it's fair to say there was a strong rivalry between you and Rachel. And the field now is more varied. Like you said, there's more riders that can win. Do you enjoy, like, which did you enjoy more? Did you enjoy having that strong rivalry that head-to-head almost? Or do you enjoy this, like, variety of literally there's a good handful

1:12:33of people that could beat me this week and we're all going at it? I've loved every phase, to be honest, like, the, the rivalry with Rachel was, like, probably at the time, felt intense, but looking back, it was so fun. Like, it was, I needed that and I feel like Rachel needed it as well. And she just provided so much, like, intense, just so much intensity to my riding and to my racing and to outside of racing. It consumed me. It was like, maybe slightly unhealthy at times, but it was looking back, it was so fun to have that head-to-head and it created a great story and we were both breathed from Red Bull. I think it was the first time ever that they saw two signings for Red Bull in the same sport, same country. So there was, there was that rivalry, but I looked up to Rachel my entire career when I was a lot younger as well. And it just taught

1:13:35me so much. And even now, there are lessons that I carry with me every day and even just the way I it, it was tough at certain times. But Rachel is a successful, she is because of the competitor she was. But I, I'm really close with Phoebe, for example, and I love seeing the youngsters and I, I, I don't want to be standoffish as much as I'm very competitive. I like to learn to keep that to the start gate, but it's, it's a challenge. It is, it is hard. It's really hard to not let your emotions just take over and take control, but I like the challenge and I, I want to be there for, for people that need me or I don't want to feel like I'm unapproachable or that they can't trust me, you know, but it's hard in, in sport, sport at the end of the day is brutal and you're there to do one thing and that's to win. So maybe I'm a bit delulu, but there, you know, it's hard, I understand, yeah, it's hard, but yeah, I like every phase, it's been so fun and everyone's a

1:14:37character, everyone's good. I think one of my strengths is I'm pretty good at learning people and figuring out how they go about the race or so, not that I would use that, but it just makes me learn more throughout the weekend and all of that person's going to do that and I can kind of do this and yeah. Like, you get this impressionally, there was a lot of talk about mind games this season between Lohic and Jackson in that battle and the women's field feels very like friendly, inclusive, everyone sort of seems to get on. Is that the reality of it? Like, or when we get to race day, is this, is this stuff happening? I think the thing is, is like the two fields are completely different because we're fighting for different rights than the men never had, I guess, and we have to, we have to be united in certain aspects, so we can't really compare the two in that sense, but like I said at the end of the day, it is competition and, you know, me and Valley still

1:15:38don't know how to interact at the top of a race, like, but we will happily, you know, go riding here together and spend a day together and there's no rivalry there at all, but yeah, if I come out of the Lou at the top of a race and she stood there, we're like, hi. This is just like, it's awkward, always will be, even with pom pom who I've been friends with for ages. I mean, we speak at the top of the race, but as soon as the headphones go in, we don't mind like laughing at each other when we're doing our warm up, but we've been in it for so long together and again, it's, you know, with Phoebe, it's learning what she needs to get into the zone. We don't really chat at the top of the race. Do we fist pump or do we high fight? Like, there's all these things, but like I said, I think sometimes there are matters that are bigger than the competition where we need to feel united. And for the men, I think it's a little bit different, you know, they're still, I hate to say it, but they are the main show. It's what it's sold as. It's what we've been told our entire career is.

1:16:42There's no hiding away from that. So it's a lot different, I think, and they've got and that just the way they think about it, the way they're approached about it, the way it's like the media is around it. And people love her head to head. So the Jackson, I loved it all year, like watching them. Yeah, it was amazing. And you know, it's bringing out a side of Luke that I think he needs. And Jackson is a definition of, you know, the next generation and what we all fear as veterans, but like Luke said, he does have experience. But Jackson, he's been around for a long time, despite his young age. And he came back from his ACL tear and just did this season, which is kind of unheard of, like nowadays. But I think with that, he will start to, it's not that it's, it's coming from a place of experience when I say this, it's, it's easier in the beginning to win in my, in my experience. Yeah. They just, like I said, you don't care, you're a bit naive,

1:17:43they just keep on rolling. You don't actually know what it takes. They just, they just keep coming because you're on this, like insane confidence boost. And then you start getting injured and the pressure comes in and you start having to pay for shit. And like, it's just, like there's all these different things as an adult. And the, yeah, the wins are harder, but and they mean more, they mean a lot more. But it still doesn't take away from how good of an athlete, you know, Jackson is all Luke is, or even all the other boys are who are, yeah, who have beaten both of them in the year, but people forget because that was such a huge storyline. It was, and that feels going to get disrupted, I think this year with four or five very fast juniors coming up. Yeah, I think everyone's very excited to see how the, the junior boys will stack up because they've had fastest time of the day or year, basically. Yeah, there's like four different four or five different junior men. And again, like Max and Till or a brand new breed, I don't, I've been told they don't go in the gym,

1:18:45they don't train, they just ride their bikes. And again, the field needs a bit of that, it needs variety and it needs, it needs fun. Yeah, it's cool. It's exciting stuff. On the women's side of things, I think one of the areas that's really pushed and progressed that in the last couple of years is hard line. That's had a huge impact within the sport and externally as well because it gets so many eyes and so much coverage and it gets in national newspapers all around the world. You've been heavily involved in driving that forward and getting women involved. How have you viewed that over the last two or three years? I mean, hard line is an amazing event. I love, I love everything to do with hard line. That's my type of riding. That's just my bread and butter, it reminds me of when I was younger, sending it down, just gnarly stuff. Before everything was built up and before there was like insane bike parks, it was just me and a bunch of lads and then being like, do it! And it was the same at hard line and it just reminded me of why I started riding

1:19:49in the first place. Obviously, we saw Jess was the first one, Jess blew it, it was the first one ever to compete at a hard line and along that year and building up to that, I was like, we need, she was just, it was so great, she literally opened, you know, the flood gates to this whole movement and it was my opportunity to be like, yes, like see, we can do it. Let's get more girls in. I'll select a few girls that I think are open to it that are ready for it and the goal here isn't to do a top to bottom, it's the visibility, it's the opportunity, it's, you know, the boys at that point have been doing it for nine years or eight years, I think, by the time we got there. So they had a lot of experience that we didn't have the exposure and then before you know it, we, you know, we've got Gracie, Winning Tasmania, Lou did Wales top to bottom this year or last year and I'm just so proud of it. I'm so so proud. I love watching it from afar now. I think I ticked

1:20:53off what I needed to when I was there, but my role wasn't to be there and it was amazing to have the opportunity to push myself, but I felt like it was a bit bigger than, than me being the one to, you know, I didn't, I didn't want to be the first one ever to do a top to bottom. I wanted to help someone that I thought was more capable and more talented in a way to do it. So, and I felt like, yeah, I had my part in that and, and now I love watching from home the safety of my couch. But you did send that enormous road gap in Wales, dressed as Barbie. Yeah. That must have been a pretty insane experience. Yeah, I think that was the kind of the, the box that needed ticking for me was that road gap because it's so iconic and anyone that's been there is huge and it is so scary. So that was definitely, I was just, the feeling was amazing and I just, nothing ever come close, I don't think. So, ticking that off, I was just like, oh my god, this is insane because I remember watching the first hard line and being like, never,

1:21:57in a million years would I ever hit something like that. So, it was a big personal goal and I did it on the year that I came back from my concussion. So it was just, it was all connected and then, yeah, like I said, I'll happily sit back now. Although, when I watched Tasmania this year, I was a bit like, ooh. I wondered if you had that thought. Yeah. Because I was really close to finishing it the first year I went, but it's just, there's always so much wind and preseason is pretty hectic and with the bike. Yeah. And all the priorities we have going on, it seemed a bit silly, but it's hard to watch from afar as much as it is fun, it is, it is hard. Yeah. And you bought Lou in three years ago to the Welsh event and I think she was pretty keen to say no to you when you asked, but she's gone from there to doing a talk to bot. I mean, horrific conditions on a very, very gnarly track dry all, especially when it's wet. What did that mean for you to see that and for, for like, the women's side of the sport in general? Because the attention that's had has been you.

1:22:59Yeah. I mean, Lou's like the perfect person for hard line. She's just so poised and calm and she's, again, another dark horse in the sense that she's just so lovely. You meet her and she's just like so smiley and so calm and so friendly. And then she sends these huge jumps and she's like, what the hell did that come from? But she's the perfect person to be front and centre of this movement. And yeah, I was in Canada at the time. So there was a bit of a time difference, but she did send me a message and say, oh, we're not going to ride tomorrow because of the conditions. And you know, we weren't, I wasn't able, I think to do a full run altogether, but she'd ticked everything off. And I remember, I did get mad. I was so mad. So I made, like, I've made a few calls and I was like, if the boys are riding, you can't deny that opportunity from the women. So

1:24:00I went to sleep and then lucky the next day got a text when I woke up saying like, we're in, and I was like, yeah, so I was so happy. But that's what I mean by sometimes there's a bit of a bigger role. The stuff goes on behind the scenes. I've fully stepped back now after that. There's there. I thought, you know, they don't, doesn't need me anymore. I think we've put in some deep, they've showed it's annoying that they have to show how capable they are, but I think they've done an exceptional job. And yeah, it's usually weather dependent now on, on whether the girls are going to start or not, it's not because of skill or a lack of sending. So, yeah. And just encourages more and more women, either that are in the sport to head in that direction or to see the sport and see that it's possible. That was the whole, the whole reason why it started. Because I was like, like I said, it wasn't the goal to do a top to bottom. It was more the visibility of these young girls seeing it as possible. And then they're being an opportunity in an opening,

1:25:01whereas when I grew up, I didn't see stuff like that. So it wasn't, I would just see dude, send it. And to me, when you're young, you're like, well, I can't relate to that. Whereas, if I saw a girl jumping a huge gap in a Barbie kit, when I was younger, I know it's a bit cliche, but that's, it's just an option of many things that kids can see and be like, whoa. So, yeah, I was really, really happy with that. And hopefully, I know that it's inspired a lot of people and Lou and Gracie and all the girls that are there are doing an exceptional job of, yeah, motivating the next generation. For sure. It's a nice place to start wrapping up, but what's next for you, Ty? Well, I've got sort of my back out. I'm going to try and start riding again. It's late and like, with time crunching a little bit. So I am a little bit stressed. I might not be ready fully for South Korea. Is anyone? I don't know. At least there's that newness to it that's puts everyone a little bit on the back. True. I think like, I mean, we started earlier last

1:26:05year and everyone seemed pretty ready. But maybe I just have to accept a bit of a slower start to the beginning of the season, which to be honest, might work in my favour because I usually come full-pelt and then just decline rapidly towards the end. So maybe if I do a bit more of a steady, steady incline, but it is hard on the ego because I like to come in and especially when we've had so much time off, it's like a really nice thing as a competitor and an athlete to come in and just showcase the work that's been going on. So I think, oh, winning the first race always, you know, kind of marks your territory a bit. For sure. But I mean, last year was a fairy tale, so I'm not too mad if I have to take a little bit slower at the beginning of the season. I mean, I don't really have a choice. I'm trying everything possible to get back in time. And I think I'll obviously be there to race, but yeah, I might have to mentally train myself to accept and

1:27:07not easy as an athlete. No, it's not, but I've had plenty of training for that and lessons in the past. So you'd think by now, I'd be able to handle it and vow to solve for World Champs this year. Oh my god, yeah, don't even I hate that track so much. You go well there. I know I've won the most World Cup there in my career, three World Cup wins and vowed to solve, but I don't, honestly, every time just as surprised as the last one, because it's just so gnarly, like I love the challenge. I think that's probably what helps me most, but every time I'm just like, why are we going in the back? There's less or less on the track every year, right? When I won there two years ago, Fox suspension with doing a little film with me about like the suspension and stuff, and it's so funny because they've edited it in a way that on my, when I'm in the Fox pits, I just go, oh my god, I'm over it. I hate this track and the next clip is me popping the champagne on

1:28:09the top step of the podium. On your birthday? Yeah, on my birthday. It was really cool. That was unexpected, but yeah, I'm doing a lot of mental, what's the word like? Kind of like when people have been on the word now, when you think of something positive. Manifesting, yeah. I'm doing a lot of manifesting, so hopefully by the time I get that, I've been like, easy. Easy, very stressed. Yeah, I'm like, every day I'm trying to tell myself like, but this is how over obsessed the way I'm, yeah, but I'll just sort of sweet. It's so easy. I keep reinforcing, I love it. I'm going to get them, I love it. Let's go. Are you doing like, will any of your prep once you're back on the bike be focused towards that like set up and trying to ride tracks? I think so. Maybe a bit similar here. Yeah, I think last year, that's where we lacked a bit, but we just didn't have time. I think I have to be a bit more precise because I'm not able to ride as much. I'm going to have to be really smart on where I go riding. Yeah. How long for, I might have

1:29:12to stay here until I'm fully recovered. Oh, yeah. I know. It's an awful place to stay. To stay here. The wording on that wasn't great, but and then until the first World Cup, which yeah, I'm very fortunate to be able to do that, but missing out on like team camps and all that stuff, not every offseason has to look the same. Yeah. I'm still pretty positive going into this season. I'm still mentally really there. Like I want to perform and I want to give my best, so just got to get the body there. Good stuff, mate. Well, I wish you all the best for the rest of your recovery and what's left of the offseason cannot wait to see how the year unfolds for you. Thanks for sitting down for a chat and yeah, hopefully we'll be back on top form pretty soon. Thank you. Thank you. Always a pleasure. All right, that's it for this episode with Tani. I really hope you've enjoyed it. As always, a big thank you to those of you who support this show in any way. Be that sharing these episodes with your friends or online, leaving the podcast to review

1:30:14somewhere like Apple podcasts, or if you really want to help out, then supporting with a small monthly donation over at patreon.com for slash downtime podcast. Stay connected by following the show. Just hit that button on your podcast app now or head to downtimepodcast.com for slash follow. If you want a bit more downtime, then you can follow us on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok, where we're at downtime podcast. And if that's still not enough, then you can get the full inside line by joining our newsletter at downtimepodcast.com for slash newsletter. All right, that's it for today. We're going to have plenty more awesome episodes coming out really soon. But until next time, get out and ride.