FRANKLY THURSDAY
JOE SIMPSON
Frankly Thursdays is back. Loyal readers will remember these short interviews with local legends, interesting characters, and just cool folk who make up the weaves and wefts of our esoteric past time. This Thursday, we get to know Joe Simpson.
Who is Joe Simpson?
Sheesh. Loaded question. Just some guy, riding a bike far too small for him around in circles over and over.
I guess I’m also a son, brother, partner, friend, and a bit of a weirdo.
Where do you live?
Christchurch. I love it here—everything you need is pedalling distance from downtown and a bunch of good people live here too.
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
A very vocal cat wanting to be fed breakfast or the crushing weight of not feeling productive by sleeping in.
What do you do for a crust?
Official title is Field Market Developer for Specialized New Zealand, looking after Christchurch South.
This mainly involves gallivanting around the South Island to annoy retailers and occasionally fix things.
I’m lucky to deal with a great network of stores full of capable staff, so I’m usually just there to assist and keep everyone up to speed with what’s going on or what’s coming soon.
What do you do for fun?
Bikes—catch a session somewhere or go for a pedal around the city. Hang out with my lady. Tinker in the shed. See friends.
What’s your ideal day off?
Sleep in a little, get brunch with Julia, get a lap in somewhere, maybe film a clip if we’re feeling on and then end up having a beer and food somewhere nice.
What are your vices?
Coffee, potato chips, cheese, beers. I’m probably on my phone doomscrolling a bit too much also.
When did you get into BMX?
I did the typical kid thing from around 8-9 or so—riding around the neighbourhood with my mates, jumping gutters and stuff. I played a bunch of sports, rode dirt bikes as well but nothing really beat the accessibility and freedom of putting your shoes on and going outside to ride.
As it was the early 2000s too, I loved everything X-Games and Tony Hawk and I’d always try and record the X-Air coverage on TV. It was mind blowing that this stuff was happening in New Zealand. My dad took me to the Planet X Games on the waterfront in maybe 2002, which was my first real taste of seeing pros in person. In this case it was Dave Osato, a young Josh Harrington, and Kiwi legends like Phil Irwin and Dave Manconi.
Around this time too, my local library randomly would have BMX Plus! magazines, which I would devour cover to cover. I would know who rode for who and what parts they ran. I can probably still recall half of it now! Ha, ha.
I guess it became a bit more real when the Waikanae skatepark got built around the corner from my primary school in 2002-03. I would spend every possible morning and afternoon there. The bowl is still one of the best in New Zealand—two hips and a spine that you can hit in a circle, with a spine going in and a box jump going out.
I was very lucky to have a great park to grow up with, along with a strong scene of older riders who were good role models to us groms too.
How did you get into mountain biking?
My good mate Phil Leyten got into a bit of DH on his Giant STP at start of high school, and he met Jamie Lyall who would ride BMX occasionally. Jamie introduced us to New World Disorder and took us up to Levin a few times on our crappy hardtails. Mountain biking to me before that was dudes turning up at the skatepark on a Kona Stinky in full race kit and jumping stairs badly.
Seeing what downhill is and how gnarly it can be definitely made me a fan, even if it was still quite foreign and scary at that point.
Similar to BMX, getting hold of magazines helped cement the heroics of whoever was inside. My dad would bring home Dirt mags from the bike shop he worked in for a bit which got me hyped on the amazing job the Dirt crew would do. This was Steve Peat/Orange, Sam Hill/Iron Horse era, Minaar on Honda, so I guess I’ve been following mountain biking since around then, and he took me to the world champs in 2006 to watch. I remember the psycho 4X track and John Kirkaldie giving it all for the home crowd.
We moved to Taupo in 2010 right as my parents got into trail riding a bit more, so I got into XC and trail riding around the same time at Craters and the Redwoods, and how great a bit of gravity behind you and a nice bike can be.
Do you think BMX influences the way you ride other bikes?
Big time. Years of skateparks and jumps does help keep things smooth and efficient I would hope.
I feel I can get away with not pedalling too much, and I’m all about popping over something or catching backsides wherever possible. I sometimes forget what big wheels and suspension can do, so I’ll take the smoother, funner line over ploughing through the faster, rougher line any day of the week.
What sort of other riding do you do and why?
I’m lucky to have a big quiver of bikes, and they all get ridden equally; not as much as they should be.
I’m trying to ride my CX bike a bit more this year. Usually, it only comes out a few times each winter and occasionally join the office team for a Friday morning road ride in the hills around Christchurch.
I have a couple singlespeed/pub rigs for cruising around the city too. Any time pedalling around is fine by me.
Favourite tunes to ride to or to get you psyched to ride?
Anything from mid-late 2000s BMX/MTB DVD soundtracks. Specific tracks would be Rebel yell by Billy Idol (Justin Inman, Building the underground), Morning glory by Oasis (Chris Doyle, The system video) and various others from Props, New World Disorder etc.
How would you describe your riding style?
Giraffe like, limbs flailing everywhere. I try to be smooth and precise as much as possible. I’m a sucker for the rules too—tricks have to be done correctly. Remember, if it feels bad, it probably looks bad too.
What’s your favourite riding memory?
It’d have to be a three-way tie between:
- Red Bull Roast It in 2013. It was my first big opportunity to ride with a bunch of pros and feel competitive and part of it. Getting to rub shoulders with a bunch of heroes as an 18-year-old was awesome.
- Getting invited on the S&M Aussie Rules trip and riding a bunch of amazing trail spots all documented by BMX legend Stew Johnson was a dream come true.
- I can’t pick one, but there’s been some hectic sessions at various spots over the years, with everyone on deck killing it in their own way. Often the best ones are on a random weeknight, and they’re often the ones you can barely remember because you were just in it so much.
Favourite trail?
PMP and Dirt Merchant.
Favourite bit of riding kit?
Big fan of my Specialized Demo pants. They’re about seven years old now. They have good pockets, they’re light, breathable, and there’s enough space for pads. And once you’re done, take them off and your legs are virtually dirt free. Plus, you look factory-as too.
What’s the best thing about mountain biking these days?
Sounds a bit broad, but mountain bikes and parts are pretty damn good these days. Whether it be electric or not, what a modern trail bike can do, even at the entry-mid level, compared to even 5-10 years ago is pretty unreal. Light enough, and efficient to pedal, but can also be ridden hard, jumped and hold up pretty well for most riders. With that, it means more people can get into it—the sheer amount of people doing it now is rad and that only means more areas and trails will open up.
I’m a big fan of a lot of the independent media coming out recently too. Vale Inc’s Life Above 1000, When does the Trend end?, all the Hi-Low stuff, the Fast as Fuck videos and others. That there are so many talented riders, builders, and media crews teaming up to produce their version of mountain biking is rad.
What’s the worst thing?
Hitting rocks and trees at speed when crashing. Also, pedalling uphill when you’re unfit and expecting to go the pace you used to after hitting said rocks six months earlier.