Greg Newkirk, probably the most talented rider that I have had the privilege
of associating with. My first downhill race ever pitted me against
Greg, and many junior-x duels later I'm still trying to chase him down.
February 1st, 2004. The day following the Spotted Owl DH. That
day was all about Greg, who took the downhill victory by a commanding 20
seconds, and then pulled the sickest move I have ever witnessed a bro
execute. He went home injured, wasn't sure how bad. Turns out
it was serious. I caught up with Greg that afternoon, he was confined
to a recliner but bearing the pain well. We talked about the last ride,
and where our riding is going in the future. He was a little groggy,
but Greg agreed to do an interview.
Justin: So the basics; your name, age, racing class, disciplines,
height, weight? Greg: Greg Newkirk, professional downhiller, eighteen, no
sponsor, still going big... I think i'm 5'11 and 180.
J: What kind of equipment are you running right now; frame, wheels, etc.
? G: Kona Stab Primo, a Shiver front end, fifth element rear shock, 321
Mavic rims, Hayes disc brakes, MRP, Race Face splined cranks, and a Race
Face bottom bracket. I got Michelin 2.8 front tire, and an Intense
rear tire.
J: Is that the best rig you've been on so far? G: Yes, it's the most stable platform for mobbing that i've ever been
on. It can hang, high speed, low speed, big hits, takes fifteen foot
quarry drops, doesn't even phase it.
J: Got any ladies in you life these days? G: Yeah, I got my girlfriend Rose, been with her about a month.
J: How long have you guys known each other? G: About six months, she goes to Eureka High
J: Do you have any tattoos or piercings? G: No, no tattoos or piercings.
J: No plans? G: No, I wanna get a bike tattoo someday, but i gotta think about it
for awhile.
J: Do you prefer to ride left or right foot forward? G: Right foot forward most the time, but left foot if you got to.
J: What would your pre-race tunes of choice be? G: Metallica
J: How many years have you been racing? G: I think i've been racing four years, maybe more.
J: What was your first race? G: My first race was Tish Tang, Tish Tang downhill.
J: What did you ride? G: Diamond Back.
J: That little yellow full suspension jobber? G: Yeah, Diamond Back G 100, sick.
J: Do you classify yourself the way you ride? Are you a free rider,
racer, dirt jumper? G: Free riding, free riding is great cause it doesn't really put you
in any class, you can do whatever you want, you don't have to be part of
the group necessarily. Your just a rider. You ride anything,
no limits.
J: What changes have you noticed in the local scene since you started
riding? G: Lately there's been a group of hardcore riders, trail builders,
that's what we needed around here. For like a year no one thought
about building trails, just to ride, they'd maybe build a race course, smooth
out a berm on the local trail. But actually getting out there and
building trails that are shuttelable and accessible to everyone, and putting
them in the right spot.
J: Are people stepping it up, are there imaginations getting better? G: The videos, the videos are giving people ideas. The videos
are showing what's possible on bikes, showing people that they can ride
a lot of stuff that they never thought about riding before.
J: How has your riding progressed in the last year? G: I think it's been getting a lot better. I've had a couple
major injuries this year, broke my pelvis, and then before that my arm was
busted up. But i've improved a lot this year. I've gotten a
lot stronger, been building lots of trail, just riding, and getting in shape.
Forcing myself to do cross country rides on my downhill bike. Its
not the best pedaler but it will get to the same spot a cross country bike
will.
J: What type of terrain, course, conditions, favor your style? G: I think the Spotted Owl Course and Tish Tang...
J: What about the Spotted Owl course suited you? G: It's got everything, high speed, low speed, cornering, braking,
bike control is the main thing on that course. Its not about who can
pedal the hardest, or who can let off the brakes the longest. It's
who can be the smoothest, control the bike over all the tight obstacles.
J: It's all about momentum. G: Yeah, keeping your momentum up, being smooth. I like world
cup style courses, with big hits and big drops, but a tight course through
the woods is fun, it's good shit.
J: What local riders do you consider rivals, where do you have an edge
on them? G: I don't know if there is an edge with any of the riders around here.
There's you (Justin), Sean, Matt, Brian, and Hank, and Jared Delong,
and Jake, they're all top contenders, just know how to mob. You guys
all have the same skills I do, anyone can do it, it's just who puts it down
when it needs to be put down, who can go fast when they need to.
J: Are you getting better at going fast when you need to? G: Yeah, i've been top three or four among pirate racers lately. I
never really won many races, i won the junior class, for my age category
i'd win that kinda stuff, but never actually had fastest time and won the
race. Now that i'm eighteen i'm in the class with all the old guys,
so gotta throw down on all the old guys.
J: What has been your best result? G: Definitely the Spotted Owl, I was having a blast yesterday. I
couldn't believe I put down those two fast times.
J: What did you do to prepare for that race, with your equipment, with
your head? G: I had shifting for this race, usually my bike doesn't shift, I get
only two gears. At the Injun Devil I didn't shift, I just left it
in one gear. Pedaling gear wasn't the best for going downhill, but the Injun
Devil had pedaling so I needed it. But I was shifting a lot down the
Spotted Owl, some spots where you just have to.
J: I heard you were talking a lot of shit before that race, turned out
not to be shit, but what were you saying? G: Oh I was under the influence a little bit, I was talking, I was
trying to predict the future.
J: You pretty much knew you were going to be fast on the trail? G: I knew I was gonna be fast, I knew Brian and Hank were gonna be
fast. I was saying we could win it, it was our trail, we've been riding,
we got it no problem.
J: After you first run did you think you had it no problem? G: After my first run I was scared, Matt was right behind me, but he
was talking sub two. Under two minutes, I think its possible, I think
I could beat it now. I didn't want to go for it, I wasn't trying to,
I was trying to stay ahead of Matt, and if he was going for sub two I knew
I had to be faster then my first run. He definitely put the pressure
on. My plan going into the race was to get the first run mobbed, get
my best run in and then take it easy.
J: Where and what do you see yourself riding in five years? G: In the next five years I hope to be riding, a homemade bike, a custom
bike. I'm taking classes at CR.. i'm taking welding classes, shop classes.
Hopefully me and Brian, Brian and Hank are taking the classes too,
so between us we should be able to put a bike together. It would be
cool, low budget, mass production, pump out like ten frames, get people riding...
I'm thinking build something with the same kinda geometry as the Stab, I
like how that bike rides, rides pretty tall.
J: Where do you see downhill mountain biking, as a sport, in five years? G: I think its going to be in the olympics pretty soon. It's
getting pretty major, there's a lot of people showing up. All the
Pirate Races locally are getting bigger... I like it, competition is fun.
J: It has definitely been snowballing its been good to see people get
out and ride their bikes. G: Yeah I'm stoked, like on the Injun Devil course how close all the
times were, we've got some competition around here now, it's not just you
(Justin), me, and Sean anymore. I'm stoked on all the riders.
WORDS ASSOCIATION
Lycra - No
Free ride - Good Stuff
Ski Lift - Sweet
Patriot - Pass
Budweiser - Race Motivation
Fitness - Ride Your Bike A Lot
Clipless - Dangerous
Transgenders - No Good
Wade Bootes - Too Fast
Grip Shift - Crap Shift
Jib - What's Jib?
NORBA - Too Expensive
Straight Edge - I don't know, what do you mean by straight edge?
Shimano - Pretty weak, breakable.
Road - Sometimes good, sometimes bad.
J: Any closing remarks? G: Be safe, think about your lines before you just mob it.
J: Wait, on that note you should tell us a little bit about your quarry
line yesterday. You and me walked back up and kinda scoped something
out, I didn't think you were gonna hit it, what was going through your head? G: I was looking for a bunch of lines, the quarry's got infinite possibilities,
I was going for something big. The drop I found wasn't too big,
I knew I could land on my bike. Even if it was to flat ground I could
probably land and it would be ok. I was just hoping I wouldn't get
bucked off and land on flat, over the handlebars. I knew I had to land
on my bike though, when I was scooping the lip I almost fell off the drop.
The drop itself was sketch because the run in is super steep, and
there's a point of no return, you have to go for it once you get your bike
down into the chute, can't just turn around, you have to go for it. So
I Just went big it was the only thing I could do. On the landing I felt
good, hit it clean, I stomped the landing. Bounced pretty hard, I bottomed
out pretty hard on the seat. Then I pulled over, felt pain in my back,
so I laid there for ten minutes. Got up and thought I was ok, but
I knew I was hurting once I sat down. Went to the E.R. The ER
doctor said I was fine, but I demanded an x-ray, and it turned out I had a
broken back. Compression fracture in my back bones, 4-6 weeks is what
they're saying, I wanna see what the real doctor tells me. I think it
will heal up just fine.
J: That's rough dude I can't wait until you back out mobbing again. G: I'll be back. I need to get some advanced armor, hockey armor,
some kinda braces, kidney belt, but I'll be back I've been getting hurt too
much, gotta start taking it easy.
Mobber Gallery