I used to do oats a lot when I was in Europe, but I’d find that I’d get really hungry with the blood-sugar crash.
Only in the last few years I’ve decided to eat what I do now.
What music are you listening to these days?
I’ve always liked the older music – I listen to music from the 70s.
I’ve always liked Tracey Chapman and that kind of stuff. I guess that’s what I grew up with because my mum and dad listened to it.
Now that you have two young children, what is your favourite kids’ film or show?
I prefer flicking on YouTube and I watch fishing or mountain biking or motocross stuff.
We’ve been playing the Christmas [films] lately, but most of the time I like putting on the YouTube stuff.
Shrek was the one we watched when we were kids.
What is one challenge about mountain biking that most people wouldn’t know?
I guess it’s the travel and the amount of time that you need to do it.
You have to have that community. We had that here in Whanganui when I was younger, that’s why we were so good, because we had races here all of the time.
That’s the hardest thing, if you don’t have a community to ride with, if you are by yourself, that’s the biggest thing – you can never really grow.
Which three people, alive or dead, would you invite to a dinner party?
For me, I’m really into motocross now, so Ricky Carmichael – who is one of the best of all time and James Stewart jnr.
And I’d say someone like Joe Rogan, just because he knows pretty much everything, so it would be good to chat to those people.
I’d have a yarn and get to know them and then figure things out that way.
What has been the toughest moment in your career?
Now, coming into retirement is the hardest part.
Figuring out what to do next and not being a racer anymore.
It’s good to know that I don’t have to push the limits anymore; I feel safer that way.
I got to the age where I was seeing all of these kids going so fast and I was like “man, I don’t really have to do that, I just enjoy riding my bike – that’s what I want to do”.
The only other thing I wish I’d have is a world championship gold medal. I’ve had everything else.
Where in the world would you love to visit one day?
The only place I haven’t been is Egypt, pretty much.
I’d love to see the pyramids. I’ve pretty much been everywhere in Europe, travelled most of the places in the world, [Egypt’s] the one that stands out.
What has been the proudest moment in your career?
Everyone wants to win a race and then I won a World Cup, so that was the biggest moment for me.
At the time, I didn’t really feel like it was that special. Now I look back and think it was pretty crazy at the time to win.
It was just a good run for me, that was all that mattered at the time.
What is your favourite thing about Whanganui?
Everything is so close and you don’t have to travel very far.
I live out of town and people from Whanganui think that’s really far, but I’ve lived in Christchurch for 12 years where it takes forever to get anywhere.
You can pretty much never be late in Whanganui.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I don’t know – hopefully, the same sort of person.
My kids will be older, so I’ll be a little bit wiser and hopefully doing the same sort of stuff.
When I was younger, I feel like the older people weren’t really doing much, but now I see older people still riding.
When I’m 50, I’ll still be mountain biking, motocross, fishing and hunting.
I’ll bring that on to my kids and they’ll bring that on – I want to be outside, enjoying life.
Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.
