Tell us a little about yourself
Jeff Anderson, grew up and live in greater Vancouver BC. I am currently a computer engineer (chip design). 37, married with two kids who are currently 6 and 8.
How long have you been riding bike trials? What is your riding level (beginner, intermediate, expert, elite)?
I have been trying to ride trials for 25 years now, I like to think of myself at the elite level.
How did you discover bike trials and how did you get started? What age were you when you started?
Ryan Leech came to a school nearby to show the film Evolve and do a sidehop demo. I was hooked ever since. I was in grade 6 or 7.
How would you define/describe “bike trials” in your own words to someone who never heard of it?
Riding a bike over obstacles. Lately I have been calling it parkour on a bike.
What type of bike trials riding do you prefer and where do you like to ride?
Riding new places is always the best, but also with friends. I ride “competition” style. I enjoy conquering new obstacles, lines, and sections.
Why do you ride bike trials and what keeps you motivated to keep riding?
I enjoy learning new techniques and the process of learning them. There is always something new to learn or perfect, with trials.
What other styles of cycling do you do? How has trials helped you improve your skills in those other biking disciplines (and vice versa)?
I transitioned from mountain biking to trials, but have come back to mountain biking the last few years. Trials definitely gives you a good base to work with for any cycling sport.
How often do you ride trials? What sort of routine do you have for practice versus riding for fun versus making edits, etc. – how much time is dedicated to each?
I usually ride about once a week but lately I have been trying to get back in shape for Bentonville’s C1 and North American championships riding about 4 times a week. I usually make a section and then ride it 2-3 times then make another. Usually riding for 1.5-2 hrs.
What’s the bike trials scene like near you? How many other riders are there? Do you have regular group rides? Comps?
Vancouver has a decent trials scene. Riders come and go but there is always someone to ride with. The Port Moody Trials park is the usual riding spot as it is undercover and has lights on for rides after work. We also have a decent mototrials scene with a local mototrials park called Canadian Pacific Trials Association CPTA where we hold competitions. We used to have more competitions but usually at least once a year.
How do you manage fear when doing new/bigger moves or lines?
Best to block it out and be focused, otherwise that’s when you make mistakes. I don’t tend to do lines that scare me anymore. I focus more on the techniques, and stamina.
What are your personal goals with respect to trials (near-term and long-term)?
Current goal is to stay in shape to compete at the elite level. Long-term stay in shape to still be able to ride trials.
Who are your bike trials ‘heroes’ and/or influences? Favorite trials video(s)?
Ryan leech, Jeff Lenosky (evolve, contact), Danny Holroyd, Adam Burns (Trials Kings) Kenny Belaey, Vincent Hermance, Gilles Coustellier, Benito Ros, Dani Comas, (UCI competition videos), Craig Lee Scott, Neil Tunicliffe, (Zoo Videos), is what i grew up watching. Lately I have been watching anything Charlie Rolls. And of course the local riders I rode with influenced me a lot.
You were North American Trials Champion for quite a few years. How do you prepare physically and mentally for competitions? How has your approach to preparing for competitions changed over the years?
The best way to prepare for competitions is to do competitions. So in the past I used to try to go to all the UCI world cups and organize local competitions and of course the NATC competitions. With less time on my hands these days, I just ride and try to make sections, but. Definitely hard to replicate a true competition experience. The other aspect of training is the gym work. I used to do lots of gym work, these days I focus on the legs and try to spend more time on the bike.
What are some tips can you share with us for how to perform better during trials competitions?
I would say what most people lack is the stamina to perform many moves in a row. When you start with trials most people are very focused on one technique at a time so linking moves one after the other is missed. So I would say if people are wanting to compete, work more on doing 10-12 moves in a row that you can do, versus trying to do something you can’t do, over and over again.
You competed with the UCI elite riders over in Europe. How many seasons did you ride over there? What was the most difficult aspect of competing in the UCI events?
I started riding international events in 2008 but got more serious from 2014-2016. Other than the competitions being very hard, the difficult part is the logistics of being in foreign country trying to find the events, and where to stay, and what to eat. All those things compound on top of the difficulties of training and having a routine for success. Big thanks to my wife Dona for helping me with all the logistics on our 2014-2016 World Cup tour, I couldn’t have done it without her.
You and Steve Dickin started Trials Stars Bike Shows back in 2007 and have done trials shows all over the world. Where’s the craziest (or most interesting) place that you’ve put on a trials show?
I think the most beautiful place we have performed is the top of Whistler Mountain. We are doing less shows these days, Steve has had shoulder surgery recently and Is healing up. Hopefully we will perform more shows this summer.
You’ve been one of Webcyclery’s team riders for a while. Tell us about how you connected with them and how you ended up one of their team riders. How has this partnership helped your trials career?
I have had a few sponsors over the years. It has helped me with costs for sure. I think when you’re young you want to get sponsors because it’s the cool thing to do and of course when you’re young you are broke so you see a big benefit. But I think if I was to start again, and rewind time back to my twenties, I would tell myself to focus on getting an audience versus getting sponsors. I think now there are many platforms to do this; obviously YouTube, Patreon etc. All sponsors are interested in advertising and if your audience is small the value you bring to your sponsors is small. Once you have a large audience then the potential sponsors will be part of your audience and they will come to you and you will have more leverage for negotiation because they already know your value.
What are your perspectives on the trials biking scene in general and in North America in particular?
I think in general trials is a developing sport, in North America and the rest of the world.
What would you like to see happening in North America with respect to bike trials?
I think to grow the sport we need to start from the bottom up. More clubs and teachers/coaches for kids to learn. And then on the other end we elite riders and promoters need to focus on getting more eyeballs watching the sport. We are not competing against each other but competing against all the other content out there. We should be asking why should people watch trials and how can we get more people watching. Until we get a large audience people will still be still stuck in their day jobs (not that there’s anything wrong with that).
Any interesting / funny / crazy bike trials stories or experiences you can share?
In 2008 I was invited to a BIU masters world cup in Shanghai China. This was my first international competition, where I was competing against big names like Dani Comas, Kazuki Terai, Ben Savage, Petar Bartak, etc. At the same time Ot Pi was doing a world record stair climb up the Jin Mao tower. Ot Pi regained his stair climb world record. I remember being at the top of the tower where Ot Pi finished his climb, seeing the camera man, who had to follow Ot up 88 stories, was completely wrecked. He did not train like Ot Pi did. The competition went well as I managed to qualify into the finals, which included Dani Comas, Kazuki Terai, Petar Bartak, and myself. In the finals there was a barrel section that was super slippery and I fell twisting my ankle pretty badly. I finished the finals, running on adrenaline but ended up 4th.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to start bike trials or has just started?
Just have fun with it and take the time to learn the techniques the proper way.
Anything else about bike trials that you’d like to share?
I think there is a lot of potential with bike trials, we just need to make it more accessible for new participants and new viewers. I think the UCI and organizers have done a great job making the live stream interesting and the sections competitive and exciting. So I think the platform is there, we just need to help get more eyeballs on it.
How do people find you online? (i.e., YouTube, web, social media, etc.)
@JeffTrials on Instagram or @trialsstars on YouTube.
Who is the one North American bike trials rider (any skills level) that you think I should interview?
You should interview Brian Hong and ask him about his experience riding and now teaching his son Tony to ride. You’ll find him @porty.moody.trials.park
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