|The fear factor|
|Around the Academy:
Experience helps in knowing when to take it steady and when to let it all hang out.
But then I also think that the older you get the more aware you become of the dangers involved.
You've had more chance to have more accidents and you know that it hurts.
Younger people riding definitely have an advantage in that they have no fear.
So they have a more gung-ho attitude which isn't always ideal.
When you've had bad crashes or you've seen your friends crash badly, you realise what can happen.
Only recently I was riding in a race in America and one of the girls there died racing.
I've heard of people dying mountain biking but never at a race.
It suddenly makes you realise what you're doing is a dangerous sport and the risks you're taking are high.
In times like that you take a step back and think, 'Is this worth it?'
You dress up in your body armour and your helmet and think you're a gladiator out on your bike - you feel like you're immortal.
And you don't realise that, if you fall off, that stuff will protect you, but it's not going to stop you breaking things.
The girl's death obviously put a dampener on the whole event.
And it gave everyone perspective on what we often forget - that what we're doing as a job is potentially fatal.
You've got to remember that and not get carried away with the adrenalin.
It's important to know when to slow down and when to push harder.