My happy place is riding. You're out there by yourself, it's fast, it's physical, there's elbow-to-elbow action and it's individual, so everything's on you. It's always exciting. All tracks are different, so everything's a challenge and nothing gets boring.
My parents have a riding background and I skipped training wheelsand jumped on a bike at 19 months, I think - just getting pushed down the driveway. When I was 5 they took me to the local track in Tauranga and I got hooked. I remember trying to do jumps, trying to copy the older kids, going fast ... It was good fun.
I won my first nationals when I was 7, so my parents thought it might be a good investment to go to the world champs, which were in Melbourne. I ended up top-three and it snowballed from there. Now I'm in the New Zealand High Performance BMX Team.
Because it's a sprinting sport, the training is high intensity and short - maybe two sessions a day, for six days a week. And every day I'll fine-tune my bike and clean it - you've always got to look after your bike.
Before a race, I try to keep my head as clear as possible - try not to think about anything - and that seems to work. Early on, I would have all the self-doubt, but it's fine now. When you're hopping on the gate, that's when the nerves kick in - when you're lined up next to everybody else.
During a race, I try to control my breathing, relax, and just take it one lap at a time. The race doesn't take very long, so there's not much to think about out on the track. I've been doing it a long time, so the riding comes naturally. You solve all the problems in practice, and it's not too bad.
I don't think a result is as good a feeling as all the training itself. If you're doing personal bests - knowing you put the hard work into it - that means more than the actual result.
Travelling is the part I enjoy the most. I've been travelling around the world since I was 17 or 18, and I've just turned 22. Everyone I'm with is in the same boat - everyone loves it, we're all doing it for the same reasons, and we don't take it too seriously, attitude-wise. We have lots of banter and everyone gets on well, so it's good fun. I feel very fortunate.
