Chris Duncan Talks Dirt

Chris Duncan Photo

Have you ever wished you could get paid to ride your bike all day? Well, that's exactly what Chris Duncan does. He's one of the top freestyle mountain bikers on the planet and he recently put down his bike for a few moments to talk to me about dirt jumping, breaking bones and picking up dog poop.

Simon: Hey Chris, so do you have any nicknames or do you just go by plain, old Chris?
Chris: Well on the contest circuit they call me The Dunk Dog - it's from my last name being Duncan. My other nickname is Night Wolf. I got that because whenever me and my buddies would go on road trips to bike events, I'd always be the guy who would drive all night to get there. So, they'd always be like right on, the Night Wolf is driving tonight.

Simon: Your nicknames seem to have a canine theme. Did you have a dog when you were a kid?
Chris: Yeah. One of the worst things I had to do as a kid was to go to the back yard and pick up my dog Chloe's poop. I'd be like, "Dad, why do you make me do this? It's so smelly and stinky."

Simon: Well, let's talk about riding bikes. When did you first get on a bike and how did you make flying off jumps on two wheels your job?
Chris: I started riding bikes when I was five and then when I was seven I started getting into it more and more and just riding every day. At the age of 11, I did flatlanding on my BMX. I switched to mountain biking because I wanted a change and wanted something new.

Simon: What do you like most about mountain biking?
Chris: Mountain bikes are a step away from BMX. You can jump a lot farther, land a lot harder and the suspension will soak it up so you can go a lot bigger. Getting big and going fast and getting lots of air are the biggest things that attracts me to mountain biking.

Simon: Has getting big air on your bike ever caused you big pain?
Chris:I once broke my sternum - my chest bone. The handle bar stabbed me in the chest and cracked the bone. It was quite an ordeal. It was a bad crash but I love riding my bike so much that I never get scared. Sometimes people don't understand that. They can't see how you can jump off cliffs or do a backflip and just ride away.

Simon: What's the best way for a kid like me to become a pro?
Chris: It's all about commitment and you gotta love to ride. I ride my bike every day, eight hours a day. I've never done anything else since I was a kid. I've just rode my bike. Find some friends who like to ride and just do it all the time and then find competitions to enter.

Simon: As a final question, can you settle a bet between me and Sindy? What's more disgusting - nose picking or farting?
Chris: I would say picking your nose because sometimes you can't wash your hands and if you forget that you picked your nose and touched someone else's food or something that someone was going to use to drink, that's way grosser. Farting is just natural.

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