I didn't know what was the end of my
career but shortly after I did I'm Tyler
one of the earlier I guess they would
maybe call us Godfather's of the bike
freeride era my personal greatest
achievements in mountain biking was not
dying was winning the first ultimate
freeride challenge I'm winning a Red
Bull Rampage numerous video feats
cranked and Northshore extremes Jim the
Union and then the drop in TV series two
seasons on there I sort of had a
pre-emptive notion that I was headed in
a in a successful direction in mountain
biking and then then things were were
spurring off in in multiple directions
and there was I mean we were filming
this commercial with Mike with Lance
Armstrong at the time so I I quit my day
job and and just focused on mountain
biking I felt pretty much unstoppable at
the time I hadn't experienced injuries
and then there was you know there was
Red Bull a trip to Utah before that that
sealed the deal to go to rampage and and
then video people following rampage win
as I started filming with cranked after
that and and things were were happened
it was it was it was the time to shine
it's strange entering the first rampage
I was such an adolescent in the sports
and all of a sudden I'm surrounded by
vast majority of some idols and I felt
as like such an underdog
but but I was like hmm maybe maybe
there's an angle that I could play with
here and and and run with it that other
the other ones won't run with the make
it out and dog me on on bike skills of
the time but I had the notion that I'll
I go bigger but no so be it that's that
you take your angle and you run guys
sponsorship was at times phenomenal at
other times pulling teeth there was
there was times where where you you
would have done what you needed to do in
a contract and and and you wouldn't be
getting paid for what you had done and
the more sponsorship a situation I ever
ran into was one of my deals was I said
upon the notion that if I resize I would
get paid so I jumped ship it can be
tough to get paid you're not you're not
necessarily an employee that's that it
comes easy to there was there's some
some really awesome players in the
industry I really liked working with
with some of the straight shooters like
Bryson for marzocchi was one of those
guys and and amongst Rob rostoff Santa
Cruz was some of that the ultimate they
they just knew what was going on I met
the drop in boys in at the Vancouver
bike show and that's that was that sort
of sealed up a relationship living on
the bus was was pure hilarity there was
every time it drove we would call it a
waterfall because all of our stuff would
just fall off the bunks we would wake up
sometimes and there would just be
mountains of empty coke anis just
everywhere so we would we would we would
go through bottles of Febreze because it
was the only way to cleanse the bus so
would just dose everything in Febreze we
we spent the majority of our money on on
liquor and we would go to the bar and
there would be open bar tabs and and
then there would be no money left for
food so when we'd roll into a new RV
park with the drop in bus the there
would often be people on the front
bumper for some reason the best idea to
surf the front bumper there would be
someone behind the bus on a rope on a
skateboard there might be some people on
the roof the we would have possibly
turned the music down but quite often
forgot the the ruckus was for real and
quite often they just take one look at
us and go you guys aren't stayin here
yeah we want to act like we were rock
stars but we were peasants we got paid
the fruit was not low hanging on the
tree and all I mean it no wonder we
didn't get paychecks back in the day and
they were very good because we were a
bunch of dirt bag punks
nowadays you got to be a little more
professional you can't to the point even
that maybe some of the young guys like
you wouldn't drink ten cocka knees and
ride the next day drop in put-put
mountain biking in in the front seat it
put it in the bar it put it in front of
the masses to the point where where you
couldn't go out and have a beer without
someone talking to you the
all of a sudden there was Fame in our
sport there like I before that I never
knew the notion that Fame could exist in
our sport and that we weren't more more
than a fringe and when dropping came out
all of a sudden we were we're in
people's living rooms and people people
that didn't know mountain biking's
living rooms for me it was hard to be
popular I I don't know that I
particularly need that I struggled with
my friendships with the fame because I
probably changed and at the end of the
day I to be totally honest it messed
with me more more than a mess with
everyone else even though I would have
thought that it was was changing my
relationships because of everyone else
it was probably more me and I at the
time I was young and probably a little
driven to to be a celebrity even though
I didn't know what I really wanted and
and it was just easy to it it came from
a notion of a need for freedom and and I
was I was coming out of some kind of
adolescent angst with the drive for
freedom and and I expressed it through
mountain bikes and at some point before
some of my bigger injuries I was I was
getting haunted by by fright and and
that sort of was was the coming
collision with with with breakage
injury-wise there there was a tibia
break extreme ankle break where I broke
the ankle joint along with floor bones
and my foot I had another foot break and
then there was finger finger breakage
which finger breakage is terrible
and it's you know when you tell a
sponsor that you're broken because of
your pinkie it's it's the worst injury
that you've ever had then I broke a
femur and that's another story too but
the pinky was the worst because you just
can't explain
broken pinkie when the femur went down I
had driven to back to here at abbotsford
from Kamloops for my grandma's funeral
and i had left this the filming shoot
while we were we're digging the jumps
and the guys head down to tree on on one
of the landings and and i didn't even
know that stump was there but i probably
collided with it but it all around I
just wasn't really fit to be ocking at
that day so I went back to film and and
I just I wasn't settled I I was like
lacking sleep I just dealt with my my
grandma's passing and and I there was an
error that was was off and when the air
is off and the problem is quite often
you still jump and maybe on a different
day there wasn't a bit of problem but I
ended up face down with my left left
femur broken and Mitch cheek came
running up he was first on the scene and
he had broken a femur and I looked up
and he was very green in the face and I
was like hey Mitch is my left leg on my
right shoulder and he kind of just nods
and I was like
it's not good and and I actually ended
up rolling over onto on from my face
down I ended up rolling over and and
taking my leg I was I had felt no pain
at this point and I straightened my leg
out and then and now I was sitting with
my leg straightened out and just sitting
comfortably but anyone who's ever gone
through these these types of breaks
knows how interesting and how maybe how
clear you are when you're first broken
when your body puts the chemicals in
place it's it's if you can remember the
moment it's it's kind of special the
clarity and the lack of pain the
euphoria who was actually quite blissful
until them until the pain showed up by
15 minutes later I didn't know what was
the end of my career but shortly after I
did
I think changed I was at the end of the
mike riding career I was like a broken
damaged individual that that maybe felt
nam didn't and and it sort of lost my
what Witek like had driven me there in
the first place if freedom had had
pushed me into mountain biking in the
first place I had ended up in an iron
prison at the end the end of my career
was when I went to Whistler shortly
after still thinking that I was gonna
pursue mountain biking and I ended up
getting I was in a victimized brain
state and because of which I believe
that I brought a moment into my life
where I where I was attacked and stabbed
actually in a bar scene I I do think
that we we bring either the hero energy
into our realm or and maybe the zero
energy into our realm after I got
discharged from getting sutured and I
lost the bike that night because it
anyway in the alteration and the police
officer and I we tried to find my bike
and then I was like hey I really have
nowhere to stay but because I got a
hammock in the bushes so I'm just gonna
go there and I slept for like 14 hours
because I was quite concussion
and I woke up and the first thing I ran
into was one of my my best buds
this is Wistar Crankworx walking through
the village and part of me wanted to
keep to just run and go home but the
other part was like hey I'm at Crankworx
let's let's hang out and let's overcome
overcome the spell that that that is
stricken me and and and and I had woken
up enough to know that that I was
incomplete and I had work to do and and
that was a spiritual journey that that
took three years to put myself back
together and and so so I don't I don't
like feel bad about about the incident
happening it was the best moment of my
life because it sort of made me like
reassess my life and and maybe start
recovering from just living in a more
holistic way to heal and to get back to
the square one which is my holistic
happy self I I grew up as a milker on a
farm I wasn't gonna keep milking teats
you know if if I always had the notion
that if I if I could rekindle the fire
and and have the passion that I once had
to to be engaged that I could get back
into it but but it just that that dream
hasn't hasn't really shot back into my
my perspective go ahead uh uh after
leaving biking was maybe the best dream
job that I've had and the was a little
tough to go back to the day job but at
this point I I good honest day's work is
to me great and and I'm pretty happy
doing whatever so we do odd jobs we we
take down trees here and there I've
worked I've managed a bike shop I've
done different things I'm pretty open to
doing work so if maybe form a business
in the future would love to like sell
beer and kombucha
of my truck I just feel like I'm ready
to do anything again I feel maybe back
to where I started where where it's
catch the dream you know it's maybe fall
in love again
maybe maybe go jump a bike I feel like
there's a strings of potential and
there's there's golden strings that I
can grab and you know I just live a
humble life but go have some fun