How old are you?
29 and 1 week.

Where do you live?
Hamilton.

Who makes it possible?
Haro bikes, QuietChaos Clothing, T.Whites Bikes and my wife for collecting me from the Hospital when needed!

Lester getting his gangster lean on at the Beverland compound. Photo Mike Zombie

First bike?
Redline RL 540 BMX back in the mid 90s then a Giant Acapulco late ‘90s, needless to say its hi-tensile steel frame didn’t last too long!

What can you not live without?
A bike of some sort, be it a MTB, BMX or road bike, so long as there’s something to ride I’m all good.

Skids make Lester happy. Photo Ryan McRae

When you’re not riding bikes you are?
Trying to make a living with QuietChaos clothing, surfing the net, or at a café somewhere.

What are your favourite five albums?
Albums is a hard one, I’ll usually scalp single tracks from the web or mates….But, anything from Fat Freddies, MF Doom, Whitest Boy Alive, Major Lazer, The Cool Kids, DJ Foamo, Skream quite a journey through the genres I guess.

What are your favourite five video parts?
Can’t really pinpoint any (bad memory!) but I quite like some of the stuff in the NWD series where BMX style jumps / tricks are taken to the mountains. But I’ve got to say I’m a race vid fan, the NWD style stuff is impressive to watch a couple of times, and the riding is so sick but tends to get a bit repetitive after a while, but race vids I can watch over and over, currently F1RST, The Tipping Point (with sound down and some music playing) and the old Sprung series would be the faves.

What’s wrong with mountain biking?
Kids in tight pants and no brakes on hardtails; get a BMX already, way better for that sort of carry on! Cross-Country riders getting more funding than the downhillers just because it’s an Olympic sport. We’ve got the best downhillers in the world who get very little support financially, while our XCers who can barely finish a World Cup race get the focus of the funding. In saying that it’s slowly changing and there are some upcoming XC racers who could change all this!

What’s right with mountain biking?
Dirt, mud, skids, jumps, sunshine, rain, uphill slogs, Southstar Shuttles, single chainrings, triple chainrings, 2.1” XC race tyres, 2.5” downhill tyres, trail bikes, jump bikes, downhill bikes, XC bikes, off camber corners, bermed corners, after ride ‘spent’ feelings, climbing up gnarly root sections to bomb back down them, kickouts, tabletops and all kinds of other radness.

Tight jeans are for 20s, Lester knows that! Photo Mike Zombie

Who do you look up to?
Kurt Vories, he’s been in the game for so long, can ride everything well, and he’s making a living from not racing, and back in the day was a DH legend. I also look up to any of the guys taking an idea and seeing it through, Jeff Carter with the Southstar Shuttles, Dodzy and Rob with the Zerode project, Gaz from NZO, and many others who had an idea, lots doubted but they persisted.

Ever worn Lycra?
Yep, still do quite regularly on the roadie, you look like a ‘tard wearing jeans and a tee while out for a road ride!

What are your vices?
Morning coffee, lunch time coffee, afternoon coffee, internet blog surfing, blowing off work to ride “why do today what you can do tomorrow?”