Anneke is a Dutch Mountain Bike race and BMX racer. Specilizing in Four-Cross she was workd champion in this discipline in 2011, 2012 2015 and 2016.
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What is happening everybody welcome back to the segment podcast episode 141 and man I’m trying not to Fanboy out Joey because we have ANUK betin in the studio today to join us and uh I’m kind of I’m sweating trying to sweat Banning you down over there trying to glue down
A bit I know I was cool and calm and then she she came into the studio and I was like oh crap I’m sweating she is amazing for those of you who know I’m sure you all know who anuka is and we’re gonna we’re going to really get a
Chance to hear her story tonight as always super interactive podcast this is your guys’s chance to ask your questions um as we get into anuka story Joey as always let’s uh let’s get out to the hole shot shall we tonight’s hole shot was different it was a 530 hole shot
Yeah yeah who do we have Emmanuel Jimenez no way congratulations Emanuel whole shot award goes out to you my brother he is a Purple Heart vet as you know and uh yes he does get the whole shot who else did we have at the 530 Mark Racing for the whole shot Trail
Pimp up in Lake Tahoe was out there ni I think snow right they did get some snow we got er Blair in the house what’s up he says Awesome YouTube video Amsterdam on a bike he says oh yeah crank brother’s family in the house he’s
Saying we got uh we got Miami in the house with mountain bike Q&A Mr Johnny U he’s out there he said hope shot there’s always a hope that you’re gonna get the whole shot he says what’s up kids was watching a movie and saw the clock oh well thank you for thank you
For coming in you didn’t get the whole shot tonight but you do get a chance to interact with Miss anuka which is a amazing Cass we see you out there what’s up MTB Cass and I know Cass sometimes likes to put the show on at a bike shop
So if you’re there what’s up Bike Shop people good to see you guys yeah that’s super that’s Super Rad Joey you and I had a crazy week I know this is now we’re well into 2024 all of the sponsors and supporters have signed contracts but somehow you
And I were able to get two more sponsors for the show just like right after January do you want to tell them who one of them is well I mean it’s pretty obvious if they’re watching yeah I think I think I’m ripping both of them
Right now you are if you guys are on YouTube watching this live right now if you’re listening in on Spotify or iTunes you can’t see it but uh we were able to sign a contract with Mother Earth Brew Company uh Mother Earth uh they make some great Brew Cali crean one of my
Favorite especially cie with the Nitro and uh Joey what’s one of yours the one that you just mentioned C on Nitro definitely yes C on nro was good TI MRE was good uh so excited to have Mother Earth very familyfriendly and the bruise and the and the bikes and
The buddies that all seems to go together somehow it’s always a good time that that Cali on Nitro is so smooth I’m trying to figure out how to run that Nitro in my tires but yes haven’t got there yet so educational moment for me which I didn’t realize but Nitro is
Basically just smaller Bubbles and that’s why it’s so smooth it’s so smooth which is good pimp say yeah he’s saying camera is the man at Mother Earth yes he is Cam is the man and then with all the rain and and the bikes getting wet and everything there was a new
Product called ride repel that is coming out by a company called P premium bike care they’ve been working on this for three years and we’re able to get p as a supporter of the podcast so really excited about them good stuff going out there a little unique when it comes to
Uh what they’re putting out there with the graphine so I’m excited to have that on the bike I think we got our stuff today in the mail so excited to be rocking some P onik pretty much a ride wrap without the wrap like I mean without the actual physical like you
Wipe it on and it it acts like a ride wrap so I’m I can’t wait to see it it’s G to be amazing it’s going to be amazing MTB Nick is in the house uh he’s saying more rain coming up this weekend yeah all the trails are going to be shaped up
So nice I know everyone’s like please stop raining up please do walk just about an hour ago and they’re still wet out there and um my Trails usually dry like half hour to two or three hours after the rain and it’s just holding the water and saturated man we got to get
That water table down but that is a perfect time while we’re waiting for the trails to listen to a podcast yes while we’re waiting for the trails cleaning the bikes having a mother earth Brew the whole nine yards and one of the episodes that I know you’re going to love is this
One right here because we have professional athlete in the studio Miss anuka bearton I’m gonna bring her on here in a second and we’re gonna be able to really just hear her whole story so without further Ado what do you think Joey shall we bring her on yeah bring
Her on let’s go ladies and gentlemen the one and the only anuka hey what’s up everybody what’s up anuka thank you so much for jumping on the show I can’t believe you’re here we have World talent in the studio right now thank you for having me guys I’m
Super excited to be here we we’re excited to have you and if I re if I look back anuka on your passion for bikes like I read that this started at the age of four is that true yep yeah I got on by really early I think I was
Just not a fan of walking and my mom and dad had this like janky old bike the bike I actually still my parents still have the bike but it’s one of those bikes where uh you can never have a flat tire because it’s it’s just solid and you know it’s it’s so hard
Like when you ride it but yeah I had a little bike and I just did Endless laps around the house when I was uh yeah I started riding when I was three so yeah whoa oh so did you grow up as a would that put you as a tomboy growing up or
Were you just like one of the no you hit the no you hit the nail on the hammer the hammer nail on the Hammer Hammer on the nail so no totally like um you know I grew up in the Netherlands I was born and raised there
I’m a country girl um and when I grew up I was definitely the only girl that was you know into riding bikes and I was always like hanging out with uh the the boys from town playing soccer basketball and then riding bikes so I was definitely a littleit more of a tboy I
See what you were doing there early on already had the game when did you when did you know that you had this Competitive Edge on a bike and then that would lead you into for cross when did you feel that when did you know well I think I didn’t really
Know when I was younger I just rode a bike because I loved it you you know it was like an outlet and um I just had the passion for it and there was a little local BMX track so I grew up racing BMX my parents took me to the local BMX
Track and I just raced like very nationally very local we we never really did any big trips um but then when I was 15 that’s when I did my first like bigger International race like a world championships and um I won so it was
Like oh wow you you know like I I knew I was like pretty good but then winning in an International race was just something like you know the next level and I definitely started really growing from from there like I started really falling in love I was already in love with the
Sport but I guess even more and more you know and then I really had a a vision and a dream of like becoming a professional like BMX racer or mountain bike rider because it took me a couple of years before I made the switch to mountain biking
Um you know I don’t know if you guys know but the Netherlands is as flat as a pancake so there’s no mountain inside so often people go like how did you get into mountain biking or downhill because that was the first thing I started doing there was uh a team in the Netherlands
That were looking for a girl that would be interested in you know um be on the team and race downhill so I went along with them to a trip to like Germany and France and I had no idea what I was doing you know I come from a bike that
Has one break that’s a back Brak has only one gear a BMX bike is fixed and I went to a bike with uh full suspension double crown Forks front brake back Brak disc brakes and you know I got shuttled to the top and then they were like good
Luck and I was like I just like I had no idea what I was doing I crashed in every turn and I I remember coming to the bottom and I was like I love it looking like a true mountain biker I love it I almost died yeah that was the
Best thing ever um so I they took me they took me on that team and that’s where I really got introduced the downhill mountain biking and I was like man this is so awesome this is this is what I want to do you know and so back
In the day I started with downhill did some World Cups and um dual slum was really hot when we were racing World Cups um and then they started doing a four cross so they brought in for cross for the UCI World Cup racing and since I
Had a background in BMX um that was you know the Perfect combo for me doing both of those and um yeah I got into for cross and um in the beginning it was I did not do well and it took me a couple of years to actually you know get to the
Point of winning winning the World Championships in uh for cross yeah my goodness anuka when it comes to going to like dual Crown downhill and then jumping into for cross there were probably moments where you’re like you obviously fell in love with it crashing all the time and learning but was there
A moment when you’re like there’s like dirt in your teeth and you’re like yeah this is it for me like can you remember back to something that really just hooked you yeah well there’s I think I had a few of those that was definitely like I
Just said the first time ever I got introduced to the sport and I was in a different country and I traveled somewhere you know like I said I was just a country girl heartly left you know the Netherlands and just like experiencing all that but then I really
Remembered as well the first World Cup I went to it was in France and I had followed the sport a lot so I remember like seeing tanas and Shawn Palmer and you know like Steve Pete and that I was like just a young girl like 17 years old
And I was just like oh my God like this is the coolest thing ever you know like I want to be like them I want to be like like on Caren Shon I wanna like that was just for me that was like really motivating and um you know seeing other
Women win the World Championships or like I will say the rainbow jersey I definitely got fixated on that like you know like I want I want that I’m not going to retire before I win that race or before I win that Jersey that is right there so sick yes look at it folks
If you’re on YouTube right now there’s the Jersey right there and anuka for the folks who don’t know and I just had to learn about this earlier today before the show I’m like what is for cross and actually see on here Amanda Hamilton from pink bike season 3 is saying they
Need to bring back four cross it looks so intense what is what is forros for those of us who don’t know so like I just said it’s kind of like a mixture between um downhill and BMX um it’s four races line up in a start gate and they go down a
Track that is built um with with jumps BMS uh Rock Gardens it’s normally fairly short it’s like a minute minute long and every every round uh the first two advance to the next round until you get to the final where you have four people lined up in the gate and uh yeah they
Raced each other elbow to Elbow you know down the hill until you know you get the top three or four out of that event so yeah good Lord yeah it’s pretty cool so we see if you if you Wikipedia anuka you’ll see that she becomes a Podium
Monster from 2011 on and now before that like were you cutting your teeth in that era in that section to get to there was there a lot of years of trying to get better trying to get faster in there or did you just come on board and just
Start taking over no no it took me quite a few years yeah I got into like um my first year on Specialized for downhill for the factory team was in 2003 so you know that was quite a few years before that um and that was still
When I was focusing on downhill I did get uh a Podium once on the downhill World Cup I got fifth ones that was five Podium yeah it was a long time ago but I was still very young um and then it definitely took me a while to make that
Transition to for cross different bike and because the competition was just very very strong as as well um and yeah it wasn’t like I just like flipped the switch and I was like hey I’m on the podium they’re like there’s that anuka girl oh no she showed up today she
Showed up no it definitely like took a lot of hard work yeah a lot of hours in in in the gym and training obviously so yeah that’s cool that’s really cool go ahead what a typical four cross track would look like something like that yeah exactly that’s it that’s actually a
Course in Italy and faldi solle uh well known for the downhill as well and um yeah that’s one of the courses yeah we had World Championships uh on that course that’s awesome w wow anuka would do they do looking at that course is it is it something that you lap a couple
Times or is it just one shot you go down from the gate to the bottom and that’s it no so it starts with like a day of practice so our day like you normally get like two hours of practice you can check out the course uh you can practice
It and um the day after we normally have a qualification so it’s a a timed run just you by yourself um you put down the best time uh and that is your starting order for the brackets so it’s basically kind of you can compare it a lot to like
The Border across that they do or ski across it’s kind of the same format you first should do a timed run and after that they’ll set up the brackets for racing and um yeah that’s how to do it wow just talking about it gets me like my my adrenaline I can imagine just
Elbow to Elbow charging down that Hill it’s so crazy you know you say things like Shawn Palmer one of the folks here that’s listening oh here’s a great shot right there look at yeah look at you so this is actually a shot from um crank works and Whistler um so after well
Actually already in those years um but especially after 2013 I started doing a lot of the crank work series too because again I love doing like all the different disciplines and having um at crank works you have all the different discipline like aine downhill uro pump
Track du slum um so I was like man this is something I uh I want to do and that’s a shot at the pump track um in Whistler yeah Lord look at your eyes it looks like you’re gonna eat somebody another gun contest there no
I’ll lose that look at that if you if someone takes a right cross from anuka they’re going down look at those look at those shoulders I know this one’s coming in here women’s MTB network is out there she’s like yes fangirling hardcore I know I know Mia I’m trying to stay
Calm um that’s awesome Trail pimp out Lake Taho saying Sean Palmer’s from Tahoe changed the face of mountain biking from spandex to moto yes yes dang when when you were were you were saying when you were training and you were like starving for that Podium and you were you were going
To get it because if you look at the record you got you got a good handful of it was the was there a lot of gym work that was involved in order to get you to that level or was it more on the bike or
Was it a great balance of both um a great balance of both for sure yeah we we or I say we but with the with the team I spent a lot of time at the Olympic Training Center in the Netherlands and um we would normally
Have like 3 days a week I would be in the gym and then um also endurance training on the road bike or mountain bike and then a lot on the either for cross bike or the mountain bike so yeah a little bit of everything and that’s
How I always like liked it as well I like the diversity of doing all kinds of different things so it keeps my training uh fun you know it’s not just one thing it’s just all these different things and it’s great for your skills and um great
For your mind as well yeah wow that’s cool in your Prime did you feel like could you feel your your body when you were optimal like when you show up somewhere did you know like I feel optimal all this is paying off all this hard work is paying off I’m going to
Compete today could you be were you at that level where you could feel it yeah yeah you could feel you had some good days you’re like yeah you wake up today today’s going to be a good day oh man had some days she wake up you’re like no
No no you’re like not it holy crap it’s today yeah would you go ahead ANUK you’re G yeah or the or the course being so technical or there might be like a massive jump in and you just like you you can’t sleep at night you know you’re
Just like ah I got to do it tomorrow I gotta you know toughen up and really got to hit that and that’s so many stuff that was like goes through your mind with that was there a moment when you felt like a lot a lot of pressure other
Than than winning the race were there other aspects around you that you felt pressure whether it was like being a strong woman in the sport or just carrying sponsors with you and trying to prove yourself was there something that would always kind of like lean on you at
Times um maybe a little bit like I think as athletes and U maybe a little bit more for a lot of the female athletes it’s like um you do need your results in order to you know keep sponsors aboard uh and I think that always in the back
Of your mind if you not have a great season you’re like getting to the end of the season you’re like man I man I don’t really have the results you know to show to my sponsors that they you know that I’m worthwhile investing in so I feel like that is something that is
Definitely in the back of your mind or when you get injured you know that’s definitely something where you’re like oh shoot you know hopefully they’ll stick with me for another year and I can show them that I’m really really up there yeah yeah I could imagine I could
I could feel the pressure just having the results you know I I uh I’m in sales that’s what I do for my job job and it’s like you’re only as good as your last performance it’s like well what about all those other times okay I’ll get back to
Work but you know specifically as as a as a woman and talking to other friends of mine that were women in The Race Arena it seemed like there would be a lopsided kind of a little bit lopsided sometimes when it came to how the how the men showed up and were supported
Versus how the women were I don’t know if you experienced any of that but I had just heard that it could be more difficult for the women in that Arena coming up I it’s probably completely different today but uh but back then boy it sounded pretty tough yeah I think I
Think it it changed so much over the years you know and in a good way and um back in the day um there were just less females riding mountain bikes um and there weren’t really any let’s say if we look at just product specific for sales there weren’t really any women specific
Gear for example where if you look at nowadays there’s women women’s specific gears there’s women’s specific bikes um there’s a lot more catered For the women and back in the day that wasn’t as much and I think to that has you know um it’s
A part of it and um it’s cool too like I was talking to uh Lindsay rter um not too long go and we were back in the mountain bike scene in the early 2000s and I was like we did uh a really big women’s event here in Bentonville we had
Over 300 women uh for a weekend of riding mountain bikes and I we were kind of joking like could you imagine us sitting on the hillside in 2005 and talking about like 20 years from now we’ll have 300 women at a mountain bike event we would have laughed really hard
You know but that’s that’s how it progress you know and that is so awesome that that helps so many women nowadays with in the sport and getting support you know yeah it was not easier back in the day but like we we got pretty far you know and we’re just hoping that we
Can keep pushing that forward that’s so cool that’s very cool it’s it’s inspiring because you know you were definitely a minority back then trying to trying to boost the sport and for women and uh I mean look at this Amanda Hamilton right here she’s anuka best
Racer and best coach so so that’s cool I know right big hearts right there yeah do you did you feel there was a moment when there was more women like getting into the sport was there a moment where you could feel that or you could see that you know just being in
And around the community um I think it was just kind of slowly slowly you could see more like women getting into mountain biking yeah yeah yeah I feel like I see that um nowadays especially there’s it’s cool to see and uh it’s cool to see a lot of the
The clothing lines and um you know the different companies that are catering and bringing out stuff and I don’t know I feel like maybe it’s Southern California but Joe and I sometimes look around when we’re out there riding and I’m like man I wonder if this is the
Fastest growing demographic in our sport right now if it feels like if it feels like it I don’t know if it is because I don’t know the numbers but it feels like it I hope so yeah yeah yeah and so you are now taking Podium your heavy competitor when anuka shows
Up everyone’s like [ __ ] she’s here we gotta perform and and you you’re you’re in the Limelight you’re winning a lot of these races um then things change not too long after uh when it came to that car accident but before we get to that point
Do you can you can you think of some of the the good memories and the good times when you were racing when you were at its peak like what it felt like what it was yeah I mean amazing you know I think 2015 was my one of my best years ever um
I had won the World Championships and four cross I had won the queen of crank works and then I also I was I was racing end dur World Series I got third overall and I won the European championships in Enduro so like that year it was just
Like everything was just a high you know I think as athletes we we have a couple of those years not many but you have one of those years where you just like everything just clicks you’re uh you’re it’s not just you it’s the team as well I think that’s very important too um
Jared grave said something really good on Instagram not too long ago like it is it is about the it’s a team performance still even though I do individual sport like everything clicked that year was specialized to we had amazing bikes amazing mechanic amazing um teammates and all of that just made
For a really fun year you know and fun and the heart work paid off in that year and it was just awesome you know and um yeah the year after that 2016 I struggled a little bit then I got injured so you know all of a sudden you run high and then
Bam damn it so and then I you know so had a few other sponsor changes and um but then 2019 was a really Good Year again um in ews and in the crank work stuff so you know it kind of goes up and down as an athlete and um yeah sometimes
She just on a high and then before you know it you can be back down again so yeah yeah was was there something special that clicked on that 2015 as part of the team was it like a something new that you did whether it was a new
Diet new trainer new bike geometry was there something you could really contribute it to or was it just like this big think up of a of the team yeah I think a lot of things that were falling into place that year you know um just not only with training but also
With riding and I think it’s important too for some events where you have it’s important to have really good teammates and I wrote a lot with Curtis Keane um in those couple of years right there and like pre-writing with him that was a big part for me too you know having um
Somebody that you can ride with all the time and pushes you um that helps you you know perform better and just in the being in the mindset of knowing that you feel good and You’ done it before like the pressure was gone for example like World Championships the pressure was
Kind of gone i’ done it before now I knew kind of almost like you know how not like how you know how to do it but there’s a little definitely like a pressure that’s like it’s taken away a little bit so all of that just helped
With having um a really good year and and trying to be consistent because I remember when I started the endural World Series Series in 2013 I was Mega inconsistent so my goal for like 2015 was consistency I told myself like okay I was all over the place like the years
Before I would like have a good result I would like win a stage and then I was like added to 15 and I was like okay we got to fix that so you know you work on that trying to contain yourself in those long stages and um yeah work on all that
And that year everything just kind of fell together gosh that’s beautiful that’s really cool I could I could definitely I I know what you mean in a way when you say the mental part because the the sport seems so mental and I could feel what you were
Saying when you’re saying you’re on a big stage but you you’ve been there before so like the shock and the lights and the crowds was kind of like I I’ve been here before I can focus on the business and not get too distracted yeah and you get so focused you get so in
That bubble um I remember too that year 2015 was um was a big battle for the queen of crank works and I was so fixated on that last weekend at Whistler because that was the final event out of the three stops that we had like New Zealand friends and then we went to
Whistler and uh and the more events you do the more points you get so I had signed off signed up for whip off and I had just gotten off like the Enduro race and I just like I think that was the day a couple of days before but I only have
My Enduro bike I didn’t have a downhill bike but I was like 29er 2015 take the 29er out on on crap apple and it was really really windy and oh my God yeah so I got a big wind gust I crashed and uh I had to go to the local like Medical
Center to get stitches and I remember being at yeah I was like scraped up it was I was like at the medical center and I was telling the lady that was cleaning me up I was like Could you hurry because I got to be at pump Trek in like two
Hours and so she stitched me up and I literally somewhere there’s a photo um of like my hip was like kind of duct tape up because I had stitches in my hip but there there’s only one thing on your mind and that is like you know I can win
This and I’m I gonna I’m GNA win this like no matter what no matter if I need like stitches and but I need I needed to get to pump track in order to get those points because I just missed the points off the whip off contest because I
Crashed in practice good and then yeah and then I still had to do dual slom as well because that was the last event and that’s where I wrapped it up but it was definitely I always laugh now you know how scars tell a story yeah yeah I was
Like this scar tells a cool story of Whistler when I won the overall that’s freaking amazing I I love that kind of behind the scenes look and you’re like Could you hurry up a little bit yeah no seriously I was like oh man yeah I got places to be oh my
Gosh in those moments did you even feel the pain or were you so focused that the pain just comes after everything’s done no it just came after everything was done yeah yeah yeah Lord yeah my arm was so swollen I remember and I was like just got through those two days and I
Wanted to ride that last Sunday I was in Whistler and enjoy you know but I couldn’t hold on to the bars anymore I was like everything just I was like I’m done oh my God yeah and it wasn’t like crank it up or anything else like that it was crab apple folks gosh
Dang oh man Mountain by Q&A out of Miami saying even if I was in shape enough to race the anxiety would kill me how do you stuff the stress away and perform oh good question I think that comes from years of uh racing and and just the experience
Of doing races like you know I grew up as a young girl racing in BMX so it’s like pretty stressful with BMX racing with eight people and I think that helps a lot um I do I did always say too like the last couple of years in racing the
Things that got harder on me was dealing with the stress because what people don’t see is like you know if you do a lot of races especially if you hit like the crank work series and dur World Series then every single weekend you’re dealing with like oh I can’t really eat
I’m nauseous I’m nervous I can’t really sleep and it’s like you know it’s like you everything is about that race and you’re thinking about the courses and how to prep stuff or set up your bike and that stuff definitely is uh is the hard part of racing yeah wow yeah I can
Imagine that that would have a toll on you over time you know yeah you get some gray hairs yeah just being able to kind of stuff that away so but yeah it sounds like with with with experience comes the M I don’t know maturity may not be the
Right word but with the comfort of the experience you kind of like it takes the edge off a little bit is what it sounds like but it doesn’t sound like it ever goes away it’s there the anxiety and it sounds like you use it as a little bit
Of fuel to get you through yeah I think a lot of athletes will agree like if you feel a little nervous it’s a good sign like you need to have that like kind of tension in your body to perform well if you like wake up in the morning and you
Don’t care you’re like ah then there the fire is not in you you know so having that little bit of anxiety and stress is normally a good thing to have wow dang dang spoken like a beast it’s so cool um and then somebody had mentioned Amanda said uh best coach
So we’re kind of going now from we’re going to transition from the athlete over to over to kind of like the coach and things that you’re doing now now but 2019 is where we left you out there performing and something happened to you that kind of changed your world maybe
Even before you were ready but um are you able do you is it okay if if you share a little bit about what happened yeah yeah for sure I mean I’m I’m fairly open about the whole accident that happened but yeah 2020 Co um had hit us
All uh we were actually we raised in New Zealand for the first crank work of the year had a great start off the season I think I was sitting third overall after that weekend um so it felt great you know um we went back home and um you
Know as a lot of us we kind of had to stay home did our thing but then racing started to pick back up again in the summer I was back in full training and really like looking forward to you know the end of that season because racing
Was going to pick up again but uh I had just gone um uh to ride that day actually in Big Bear up in Big Bear mountain in California and I was driving home and I was at the last traffic light from home and out of nowhere I got um
T-boned by um somebody that ran out at light did not see it yeah I did not see it com in and um was a pretty big impact and in that accident I sustained a um traumatic brain injury so concussion with a whiplash and the two combined um made it for pretty severe braining
Injury oh man and um yeah that was a a big a big change in my life you know it flipped my life like totally around like the weekend prior I I went you know uh I went actually up to Camp Nelson in California I had a amazing weekend I
Spent like nine hours on the bike that weekend with a friend of mine we camp we rode and I went to to like I couldn’t absolutely do anything other than sitting on the couch with these headphones on because I was super sens to noise and oh man basically I I
Straight away went into um uh you know see my doctor and I did I did not go to the hospital that that after the accident because I wasn’t um unconscious I was just full of adrenaline and a shock and I didn’t know like after the adrenaline kind of went
Out of my body I was like things are not right my I was very off yeah I was very off in my um my speech as well uh very slow uh stumbling on Words and my coordination started to get like really weird and I was having really severe
Headaches and I was like okay neck pain started that night and I knew like okay this is serious like this is something is wrong and and this is a great like thing that I’m trying to tell people now too so for me my symptoms got worse in
That week and this is something with brain injuries that a lot of people don’t know but that swelling just that’s the beginning that can be the beginning of a even more and that was definitely the case for me so the week after things got worse and worse and um I started
Having more symptoms and problems and that’s when I started going to um a a like it’s kind of like called a a brain ha uh a brain rehab facility and that’s where I started and yeah after that it was just a a crazy experience you know with ongoing doctor’s appointments and trying
To figure out what was wrong with me yeah wow how how helpless that must feel you know going from this like Peak athlete into this accident and then now you’re trying to figure things out as you’re as you’re going through I remember seeing your Instagram and seeing you going through the rehab and
They were doing so many different things just to kind of get you back to steady state like get you back to where you felt somewhat normal yeah what what were some of the things that you learned you know to help you get back I know there
Was a lot but yeah so and also like with the social media side so I I did not share a lot I was I I didn’t really know what to do I was really lost that might be the right word like I was really lost
With like um if my doctor was making a video in rehab of me I I almost didn’t recognize that person like a person that cannot throw like a ball from left to right hand or can’t find like like hold her balance without starting to shake you know her whole body and
That was very difficult for me to see so I was not ready to share that with the world um and also the fear of like kind of what we talked about earlier the fear of like losing sponsors or getting judged right away and I I just was not
Like able to really share that and but we did a lot of different things it was like trying to figure out and that’s kind of weird like to say about what was wrong with me because brain injuries are so complex it’s not like you go to the
Doctor and hey you broke your you broke your arm it’s like trying to figure out like hey what what happened where is your problem like um what is causing all these symptoms and it took a while to figure it out for me and it has a lot to
Do with for me with my vision and um the nerve connection that I mean it’s so complex up in here yeah there like a billion Pathways yeah yeah but it took a lot of a lot of work to to just slowly build those Pathways again and learn how
To reconnect a lot of things and learn again to like get um used to um kind of the stimulants but also to motion of writing because I had a lot of problems with motion like I couldn’t deal with like motion it was so weird yeah per peripheral motion would make you dizzy
Motion yeah yeah remember like riding trying to ride around the block for the first time and the you know we have the white marks the divider on the on the road like I just couldn’t I couldn’t the brain could not like kind of take it in what it saw it’s like it
Was really weird yeah like trying to grab every line every line as it goes by it just makes you sick like oh my God this got to stop oh my gosh yeah yeah it was crazy so you’re you’re trying to bounce back your sponsors I mean obviously this was your full-time job
Was racing it wasn’t like you were able to be like well hey I’ll see you guys on Saturday I’m going to work now how how did that all land was that stressful and did that work out okay so what I did is I was um very honest and open with my
Sponsors so what I did is I um emailed them all personally um telling them about the accident what had happened and I kept them in the loop and I think that is very important as an athlete to do it’s like you might not show it on
Social media you know you don’t have to is it’s it’s it’s it’s really important to connect with everybody direct at the company um and everybody was very understanding and I think that’s really important and that that helped me a lot too to be really open to them and to
Explain them to like hey I’m I’m in a lawsuit like I can’t post anything of me you know doing anything like riding a bike or whatever because that can all be used against you as well even though if you’re riding around the parking lot just trying to ride a bike again you
Know that could be hold against you and that was just an a whole another level that I had to like deal with as well and which was a pretty stressful sure yeah yeah you had to figure out a whole new way of living like so many different
Ways just yeah trying to recover trying to do what you can for the best you know out output for yourself were so the sponsors obviously they they kept you on board that relationship was was was good good you were able to financially be okay through that or was there stress in
There too uh no I was very stressful yeah because also um you you know the US is a little different as we all know with Health Care system and insurances and even though I have a you know a good insurance but the other person was underinsured and it was not my fault so
It gets really comp complicated in that whole area luckily I had a great lawyer friend of mine as well Alex and he helped me a lot through that whole process but I got to the point in California where I was like I can’t do this anymore I can’t afford this like I
Have maybe four months left in me and then my bank accounts are drained but it was almost yeah I mean living in California is not cheap as well yes it’s true it’s true gas is really expensive I I was like okay something needs to change because this lawsuit can
Uh drag on for another year you know and until until then I don’t see any of that money it’s just me like having to you know pay for everything that I decide to do when it comes to uh rehab so um the thought kind of came to mind for me like
Um to sell the place that I had I had a little condo in California and the house market was pretty good I was like well I’m going to sell it I’m going to like buy a little trailer that I can hook up behind my uh pickup truck and we’re
Going to move and I had like Bentonville was on my mind for a while because I had visited Bentonville and I had two people um that I knew that lived there and I kind of like reached out to them and I was like what do you guys think of me
Moving to Bentonville and they’re like do it that wouldn’t be the Drew family would it what’s that that wouldn’t be rich Drew would it no it it’s not I didn’t really knew Rich uh before moving here I had met him before at a bike Festival
That we we had here but no yeah um so but I decided to uh yeah move here you know like I I sold my condo and then I was like wow I’m really doing this I’m really and everybody was like I was I was like I’m moving and people weren’t
Like especially in California like my friends and neighbors I was like I’m going to Arkansas and everyone was like Arkansas and I was like I’m like it’s really pretty you know like I didn’t really know knew a lot about Arkansas the only thing I knew was like at that time my
Something needed to change because I didn’t love living in California anymore the traffic was really stressing me out you know the medical bills and I was like I there’s only one one thing basically and that is flipping my life around moving here hopefully I didn’t it wasn’t my my like intention right away
To start coaching I had it in my mind you know I was like man it would be really great if I can start coaching and do more with that but the first thing just was like I need to make a change you know and I made that change moved
Here and I remember the second day here that I got here so my friends were actually not home the two people that I knew were not here oh and and we had a massive snowstorm and I was just coming from California you know t-shirt and
Shorts and I was like oh man I was like but not cash this check I know well I kind of I had posted a photo on Instagram that like I had packed up California that I moved to Bentonville so I got some random messages from people in Bentonville and I started
Connecting with people here and I don’t regret it at all it’s been it’s been exactly the change that I needed and I really I love it here it’s been it’s been amazing yeah bville is so cool I fell in love with that place when I went
To the Bentonville bike fest last May I had no idea I had no idea how cool it was and how cool the people are and I’m so stoked for you on that move and I’m sure that was scary especially when they’re like Arkansas like hey she
Really hit her head hard you know going to Arkansas I know I had to like my parents to they had to like basically take out the map of the US and go like Google AR where Arkansas was where it was moving to like you know but yeah
It’s it’s so cool I love it here like I’m definitely like I grew up in the country and this feels a lot more like that and slower pace and um that we have as you know like a beautiful downtown beautiful surrending like area the mountains and like Hills I got to say
And uh very green and it’s just uh an amazing trails and Community like here like the love that the community has for mountain biking or riding bikes you know in general is just phenomenal I was blown away I had no idea I was staying at the bike end and
One morning I had to like bike over to to the local Walmart and first of all I saw drones and they’re like oh yeah the local Walmart actually you can they drone your order to you I’m like what this is amazing and when I got there I
Didn’t have a lock for my bike they’re like I’ll bring it in I like cruising around the local Walmart which seemed more like a tar it was like it was so clean and cool people were awesome yeah and I was like this town is rad and what
Is it like uh 20 new miles of Trail a week or something crazy that I had read that they’re MH yeah they definitely like they build a lot of new trails all the time here I think it depends on weather too how many modes they built
Had a little bit of a we have some some snow in and out in the winter but you can almost write your 12 months out of the year you know so yeah and it’s cool yeah thanks for shopping local too I appreciate it oh yeah heck yeah going to
Walmart yep was like where’s the closest wall yeah and and they give back to the community big time Big Time I was actually looking at drop the hammer and I think it’s Tom one of the one of the sons of the of the Walton family I
Didn’t know who he was but I was looking to drop the hammer I’m like I don’t know should I try it this is day one if I get hurt then I’m like kind of limping around the festival for the next couple days and this dude’s like hey man this
Was computer designed to just drop with the right speed you’ll be fine it looks scary but it’s awesome and I did it and he’s like what’s your name and and I’m like Mark and then I see him later he’s like yo r on Mark so stoked that you did
It and they’re like dude that’s Tom Walton I was like what yeah and that’s a that’s the cool thing about this place you know like they walk around just like like any of us or just sit at the bar or hang out um in the local you know Diner
Or whatever and you wouldn’t even know that that’s themb which is awesome you know yeah yeah yeah I can man I can can see you totally there like growing up as the country girl the mountain bike background you know the racer in you and being in like Disneyland for mountain
Bikes yeah in such a cool spot oh my gosh so obviously getting there must have been such a relief once you landed and once you got roots in uh for your comeback as far as the the rehab for the brain was there other things that you
Found that really kind of helped you get back to now you seeing you on Instagram and YouTube coaching and catching drones out of the air and talking to the camera and all that stuff um was there something there that really helped bring you back that yeah it was um it’s really
Slow you know and not giving up it’s still like it’s it’s it’s an ongoing process and it’s it’s not a Sprint race it’s a Marathon I always say you know and even if I keep progressing like uh two or three per a year it’s still progressing you know and I think it’s
Important um to keep working on it and keep going to therapy keep riding my bike keep pushing myself I still need to find a balance with it all because there’s certain things I just I can’t do or don’t risk anymore which you know it’s it’s a smart thing to do and I
Don’t have to anymore I love like you know I’ve always in C I was already coaching a little bit I was coaching some athletes and I feel like I really I love doing that and that’s something that kind of lit up a new fire it’s like
A reason to get up in the morning you know as an athlete like you when you wake up in the morning there’s a goal you know there’s a you have a purpose in life to get up in the morning and you want to be better than yesterday and I
Think I lost that for a little bit because there was nothing there was nothing than headaches and you know just feeling [ __ ] basically all that stress and then now here it’s like you know I have a purpose again I love what I do and it’s so cool
To pass on the knowledge and passion that I have to it doesn’t matter if it’s like USA cycling riders or if it’s um a 70y old rider that still wants to learn how to catch air or your first like beginner on a mountain bike like I still
Get that same kind of like um um fulfill fulfilling feeling with doing that and I think that’s really important and that’s something that um makes me very excited to be here and to coach and to do all that that’s so cool that’s so cool you’re able to tap into that and and
Find it um for the folks that are watching on YouTube right now there’s actually anuka in action right there she did November 18th MTP skills clinic and it’s it’s cool that you can take take from where you’ve been In the Heat of the competition all that experience and
Being able to give that to a community into folks who want to learn and help them better themselves on the bike because the god the bike just does so much for people yeah it does it it’s it’s amazing you know that the kind of just like teach people um even if it’s the
Fundamentals of stuff or really excel at other skills you you know it’s cool to be able to pass that on and um yeah and also like like you said just like the stuff with with YouTube we just kind of started doing it for fun with my friend
Anderson Bens and drones and I was like I don’t like those like long intros that some people do and I was like we got to make it quicker and I was like how about if I catch the Drone we’re like oh I don’t think anybody has ever done that I
Was like should we try it so we started trying to you know yeah like this is with Anderson and uh it’s been really fun working with him he has such a passion for drones so he came up with this um he’s on the back of a cargo bike um
Just because the Drone has a max reach so I wanted to do the whole Trail at Coler it’s like a seasoned assist that goes to drop the hammer that you just talking about favorites yes yeah so he can’t take that in one shot he has to move himself so another friend Bobby
Came along we rented a cargo bike he’s sitting on the back of the cargo bike go on and he got like he was like full of adrenaline and he couldn’t see anything because he he sees what he’s flying and then oh my God yes and it’s so fun it’s so awesome so
Yeah video he’s going backwards but he’s flying forward so like got mess his head a little bit oh my God you should have seen him when he got done with that first run he was just like Shak and I was like are you sure you want to
Do this I’m like he’s like yeah let’s do it so yeah we’re just trying to share like the stok here in Bentonville the trails that we have and um a lot of people have been really positive feedback on that you know so um it’s it’s all uh kind of new with all the
YouTube and all that but I it’s so fun it’s so cool that you can reach people anywhere around the globe you know and hopefully they’ll see the video and they want to come visit Bentonville yes yeah and you’re doing such a good job you’re a great Ambassador for
Bentonville you’re a natural I feel like you’re a natural in front of the camera I love when you your intro and outro as you catch the Drone and as that as it flies back into you at the end I mean there’s so many I think there was a
Trail Mount mun is saying barf he would barf if he was wearing those goggles and going backwards hey wait I know C desist did he have to do all the tabletops too did or did he stay on the path he stayed on the the expressway to the next to it
Oh my God that is not a straight Expressway either I can’t see it no yeah I think we crashed the Drone like five times because like he hit a bump and then the control would go up and down and I could hear it behind me because all of a like
I was like you’re like back to the top oh my gosh that is classic was he strapped in or was he just sitting on the on the car no I just sitting on the cargo bike yeah oh my gosh so when I went to the benville bike fest for the folks out
There listening there are these cool cargo bikes they make out there and they’re all over like if you are riding and you go to the hub at the end of the day they’re everywhere and people are just cruising them around families are strapping coolers and kids and all kinds
Of things on these things it’s like a local thing and I got to meet one of the owners such a a nice guy and what a cool idea the vibe is is amazing out there yeah I think so like I tell people like come visit to experience it because
Sometimes this still kind of go like oh yeah uh they call themselves The Mountain by capital of the world and I was like yeah but what does that title mean to you you know everybody thinks different of what the mountain B capital of the world is and I was like I agree
With them here because like I live here now and I see what they do do for not only the trails and if you come and visit you can ride all these amazing Trails but there’s a lot more happening on the back side with the community and with getting actually kids on bikes in
School you know that’s what we’re working on now and then we have these Charities that um give people bikes that can’t afford bikes and there’s just so much so much going on on the back side that I think kind of contributes to that name and it’s not just about the trails
Yes we don’t have a lot lot of elevation there’s not like yes we do have some gnarly riding which just you have to look for it and you have to find a local to show you but I think like there’s just a lot more to it with also the
Events that we have the races that we have um what they’re working towards in the future and um I’m actually super excited in a two weeks I’m starting a program with the Benson County Sheriff’s department and it’s um I’m going to be doing a program for kids uh for
Underprivileged kids so kids that do not have the opportunity to ride a bike so they’re going to get a bike from the local charity pedal it forward so they Don donate donating bikes um I got some of my sponsors donating gear like helmets Stars yeah and then I’m going to
Be volunteering to like coach for a couple of weeks so like that stuff is like so important and that’s part of you know being mountain bike capital of the world I think getting these kids on bikes or just like getting any person on a bike and give them the experience that
Like we know how it feels to ride a bik down a trail you know and you want to pass that stoked on and also for the mental aspect you know I think for those kids that have a pretty hard life to experience some freedom and no worries
And just like you know get that feeling it’s just awesome yeah that’s so awesome yeah it is I mean the mountain bike is such a gift they there’s something about overcoming the adversity of doing something on a bike and knowing that you did it that confidence that comes with
It you know it’s just it’s freaking amazing it’s awesome yeah it’s awesome and I think it’s a great part for like or how do I say that for kids to grow in life you know I think it’s like you say you build that confidence and hopefully they take that confidence home and yes
Have that outside of just biking but in their normal life as well you know you can learn so much from riding bikes yes yes well said on that we just got this in trail monster gave a $5 donation to the channel today he says cool footage
Going to have to check out more anuka let him know and the folks out there know where can they check out your YouTube channel yeah um please head over to uh just my name anaka bearton just type it in on YouTube and you’ll find my channel and I posted a video today and
Somebody was like calling it out earlier it’s like a Amsterdam on bike I went back home and I grabbed a little bit of footage of the Dutch on bikes and it’s pretty crazy so sweet sweet yeah that’s cool yeah check it out uh it’s good
Stuff and one of my favorites is I mean you also showcase a lot of the fun Trails there I think you did Jesse’s Last Stand is is a a trail that uh they were racing the you were racing the Drone down there and that’s a fun fast
One to exit out on I I loved that one yeah good that’s one of the OG Trails here as well it’s one of the old original trails that uh the Walton Brothers actually you know worked on and started the whole trail system on on that Hillside so yeah that’s pretty cool
Yeah wow yeah that is cool yeah we were playing on uh something hammer and then we exited out drop the hammer oh no hammer down probably hammer down hammer down hammer down and then that step up we were playing on that step up throwing like trying to throw like no handers all
These like fun things and then we exited out and then went over to Jesse Last Hand and just it was like no breaks all out just go I was like are you sure okay yes awesome and it was like a big just dump of adrenaline like let’s do it
Again they do like a they do like a little grassroot rout event here on Jesse Last Stand and um dog from bomb squat senders uner gets like the the pistol with the the radar speed radar we like a speed radar event on the straight on the bottom there see how yeah yeah
And then we just like they went swag for the fastest person uh that’s also really fun here like we have like little events throughout the week especially during once spring break starts like we have local setting up events or like the Thunderdome throw down people will show up with coolers
And a barbecue and they’ll do like a dual solemn race on the Thursday night so yeah oh man I think okay so I flew in on a Thursday and Jess Hana uh Jess the maker picked us up from the airport and said you want thunder tonight I was like what’s a Thunderdome
And then I got to the hotel and Jeremy the owner of the bike in’s like hey man we’re going to the Thunderdome I’m like what is the Thunderdome we get there I jump in the shuttle we get there they shuttle this in I get out I feel like I’m going to a
Football game there’s all these people tailgating there’s like there’s drinks there’s family there’s barbecues going on and then I get into the trees there’s this giant flat screen screen TV with these guys standing on a bridge with drones and the television is showing is chasing Riders down the trail and that’s
What’s being televised there’s a DJ with music I was like what have I just found in the middle of the forest this is amazing yeah and that goes off for a period of time doesn’t it the Thunderdome on Thursdays yeah we have it for a period of time and then uh it
Stops for a couple of weeks in the summer but this past summer somebody took it over and took kind of like uh the event to the reard and Rogers yeah yeah so they kind of do something in the summer and Rogers now so it’s yeah it’s so cool it’s so fun
Like you said the first time I went there I had the same experience I was like uh what what is this like this is really cool I was like it reminded me a little bit of like the BMX F back in the day you know we we we would all rock up
Or my parents would go with me with the cooler and just set with like chairs on the side of the track and just watch me do my laps and that’s like you know that’s just a community coming together on a Thursday night and hang out and we
All you know tip in with a few things and just have a good time yeah so good that guy was so good I felt like they were filming a movie when I first walked into the trees I’m like how’d you guys get all these Electronics out here this
Is amazing that’s Anderson again that’s the same the same person that I shoot with and uh he’s amazing he has such amazing drone skills you know and like I think that he loves riding too but the passion he has for drones and all that stuff it’s like the passion we have for
Riding you know so put the two together and it’s been so fun like working with him and we’re going to do more and more projects this year too and uh yeah we’ll we’ll keep them coming I love it I love it I mean just seeing how those drones
Would come back up the trail and like they’d zip in and change out the battery real quick and another ratter would drop in and the Drone would drop in after him it was like oh my gosh these guys totally dialed yeah it it was awesome have a couple questions here from the
Chat they want to know TR pimp out of Lake Taho is asking do you ride an ebike and if you do is it a Cano or a Leo um Leo Leo is my to go to yeah yeah Le turbo Leo and I have the turbo Leo SL
Um so I’ve been riding both but um I’m leaning more to theel because I like to have a little bit of support um but I like that it’s lighter and it more feels like a little bit more like my own bike yeah like the normal bike little playful
Yeah pop it around yeah like if I do like I went to a couple of World Cups with USA cycling this year too and um I do a lot of laps so I actually um took my SL um I took the big battery out but I was running it on extenders and it
Worked super well because like I like if I can’t keep up with those like under 23 guys you know and those they’re just hammered they’re so fast so coach needs to be young keeping up on an ebike is perfect for that you know if
You have to like do 15 Laps on a cross country track that day that’s perfect yeah yeah wow yeah that’s cool that’s so cool and a good reason uh to to run one of those keep up with those those young damn those Young Bucks they’re so talented mountain bike Q&A and droing
MTV they both are asking a similar question when is the best time to visit Bentonville I feel like the Fest is so packed yeah you he’s right it’s really busy around like the Bentonville bike Festival personally my favorite time of the year would be fall um fall is
Gorgeous out here the weather is normally really good uh you might have a little bit of rain but last year we hardly had any rain so um it’s the the colors are beautiful um it’s not as crowded as uh I feel like as spring so I
Would say come in uh fall October I’ve heard that before there are like come in October I mean you know it’s okay if it’s okay Amanda Hamilton is asking Mount by Q&A go in the fall like early October the Ozarks are insane in the fall one of
The most beautiful places yes yeah man another Trail Steward for that area she ended up going on P bike Academy and was shouting out your guys’s area so so so I worked I worked a little bit with Amanda before she went on to pink bike and it
Was really cool you know was it was awesome helping her like kind of get ready for that like chapter into like pink bike which I’m sure was pretty hard as well but it was really cool to have her over here and get some time with her
On the bike yeah she’s hilarious to ride with as well a fun Rider all all little all skill but man if you go out with her and her husband Sam you are guaranteed a good side AE of of chuckle yes for sure anuka when it comes to like the
Next chapter in coaching uh what are some of the things that you’re you’re going to be kind of laying out here in 2024 what can we look forward to um well 2024 we got quite a few things on the calendar it’s filling up quick so um I
Will be working with USA cycling again with the cross country team um we have the Pan-American games in the US this year it’s going to be in Utah so I will be going to that event with the team uh they’re going to come to town a couple
Of times for some coaching sessions um and then I’ll go to World Cups with them and Europe World Championships it is an Olympic year um so we’re really excited to see you know who we can get um at the Olympics for USA um it’s still up in the air like it’s
Really hard to get accreditation but if we have plenty then I might go um out there with them as a skills coach um so that’s uh definitely really I’m really excited with that because that part too for me you know kind of being back at
The races and like on it’s might be not inside the race tape kind of because I practice with them on course but like being there as a coach is is so awesome you know because oh you’re home I know what they feel I know what they go
Through um because I’ve been there and then being on the sideline and then seeing them put it all out there you know is really really fulfilling and really cool so I’m really excited to keep doing that with USA cycling um Crank It Up MTB is my coaching business
So we have four clinics coming up in the spring and then I’ll have four in the fall because Summer is fairly busy with other activities um and then we have SE a classic obviously uh Bentonville bike festiv of all uh women of a sunset Summit uh and I’m sure there’s other
Things that I forget now that are coming up um but yeah and then next to that I uh uh coached quite a few private lessons and athletes um during the week here in bville wow do you do coaching online as well if people are open to that if they
Are SE searching you out seeking you out can you do that from AF far or is it harder you could I’m not doing that yet um what I’m learning is that it’s it needs to be back and forth feedback because everybody is so different with
Riding a bike you know we all have our habits some good some bad and so it’s it’s really nice to make make sure that you’re kind of seeing them oneon-one you can you could work with some video feedback for sure um I’m not there yet
So I think I need to find time for that because you know oh yeah and also we’ll be shooting we’ll be shooting more uh YouTube stuff this upcoming year we got some projects already on the calendar together with Anderson uh we also going to go out out of the Bentonville bubble
So if anybody else wants us somewhere let me know holler at us we’ll come we’ll we’ll pack up the Drone and bike and we’ll come and visit your place to shoot some stuff so you’re always welcome to come back to Southern California we’ll get can you imagine some those epic shots out lagona
Oh my God I want to and I really want to go I need to talk to the people at Sky Park too because I miss Sky Park and I miss I miss their cookies yes oh my god oh that’s my weakness favorite cookie what’s your favorite cookie at
Sky Park oh it’s the chocolate the chocolate chip macademian oh I even remember it out of the top of my head and I haven’t been there for two years we we could definitely help out with the sky Park we have our friends over there so um that would be amazing watching you
And Anderson put out some video on some of their Trails they have some newer Trails as well so that will look beautiful and just a drone shot of the whole land of Sky Park look so good it’s so fun I definitely I definitely miss parts of
That and I miss friends uh I sorry I miss friends and parts of that for sure you know because uh yeah we had a lot of awesome friends that I always rode with and going to Sky Park and Big Bear you know um but you know I can always visit
So we have to put that on the calendar this summer this is true this is true and that would be so fun and some of the footage that you would get you guys especially with his skills and you catching the drones like nobody has an intro like that if you guys haven’t had
A chance you have to go how is it is there ever a couple takes where like the drone’s coming in and and you you have to Fumble it you have to redo the the take or is it like one yeah it’s been we had a couple of couple of like whoopsies
Or that I dropped it and I was like sorry I like I hope I didn’t break anything thing yeah where that he comes in really fast and I’m just like it just it’s hard to time sometimes but it actually works a lot better than we thought and it was
Kind of funny I remember my dad seeing like one of the First videos that we did that and he was like he was not having it he’s like you can’t you can’t do that like what if what if your finger gets stuck in the propeller or something you know
Like okay yeah it’s fine I still got all my fingers yeah yeah it’s super it’s it’s it’s a fun way that we just like randomly figure that out you know and people seem to really like it I love it and um we can do everything in one shot which is pretty
Cool too amazing wow TimeWise that’s got to be huge yeah yeah if I don’t mess up the intros it’s like I’ll be like because Anderson can’t hear me um on the camera you know he’s looking there’s there’s the GoPro on top that is shooting the actual footage and then
There’s a little camera on a drone itself and that’s where he sees me through the the fpv goggles so I always need to like sign language so that’s why you always see me do this because if I do this it means like he can take off
Again and he’s we’re good yeah if I do like this like f NE around retake retake yeah yeah that’s so exciting I love that you I love that you are doing that and thank you for for giving us a peek behind the curtains on that which is awesome Trail
Pimp just dropped a $9.99 for us here on the show tonight look at you anuka bringing in the Cash Money nice some of those blooper reels out too like some of the mistakes that’ll be good yeah for sure yeah we actually we need to get on that because uh you just
Mentioned Jess uh the maker Jess Hanah so I love Jess as well and she’s local we often hang out and we just did that trail manners video trying to be in a fun way telling people like and we have so many good bloopers from that one
Because we were like dressed up and we had one of our friends that was dressed up as like the bad guy and um yeah I know oh go yeah it was really if you people haven’t seen it but it’s also like you know it was it was so so fun for those
Of you who are on on iTunes and Spotify we’re on Instagram right now on Ana’s Instagram and there’s uh parts of that video right there oh my gosh you guys are cracking me up and and if you see je when you see Jess tell her she owes me
Like 20 pounds of coffee because she always releases her funny stuff in the morning when I’m drinking coffee and I spit it out because I’m laughing so hard yeah we’re we’re we’re also planning to do a few collaps like this upcoming year and I can’t wait yeah I
Had that idea and I was like man Jess like please like like let’s do this this is like but it’s like YouTube as well or like people like always have to have an opinion which is the hard harder side of like social media and like Jess and I
Are kind of on the same like same level with that like that’s a pretty hard part and people can be pretty nasty and like there were some comments coming like on that video and we’re like really like people like what we’re just trying to do
Is like in a funny way try to remind yourself that you pass on the left and like and people were like well why are you influencers standing in the middle of the trail filming a video and I’m like it’s okay like you can’t win you
Can’t win with that stuff but you know a lot of people loved it we had a blast shooting it and um yeah that’s the most important thing exactly that’s the most important part that you’re having that positive impact and you’re sharing the message and of course there’s going to
Be people that are going to say something I and for some reason it’s humans when we read it all the other 200 great positive fun things go out the window we just remember the one negative thing yeah I’ll be a bad at night and I’ll be like God damn it like I’ll be
Like hurt by that like one comment and I’m like did that person really have to say it like that you know yeah I remember I put out a little video of me writing in Whistler and I had a great time and there were other comments like
I’m glad you made it so cool did you try this Trail one person goes oh there he goes all the money and no talent and I’m like first of all buddy I just started mountain biking second of all why do I care but that’s all I can think about
Like how do you even know I have money I don’t even did you check my bank account like hell but yeah it’s hard to ignore as a human yeah for sure yeah it’s hard not to get caught up into it and it’s like you know it’s part of our jobs to
Uh put it out put it all out there but it it’s also like hard to be vulnerable just like I said earlier with like be going through like rehab and stuff like that and talking about that and it’s like yeah it’s it’s okay like I’m very kind
Of picky with what I put out like I try to keep it as much as like kind of work you know riding towards that and not constantly behind to scene what I what I eat on my dinner plate or you know like stuff like that I think it’s important
Too for yourself to kind of find a balance because otherwise you’re just constantly going to be stuck on your phone you know and I decide definitely decided already a long time ago that I did not want to do that and just share what why people are following me you
Know and I hope that it’s for riding my bike and maybe the dog every now and then that’s it right right it’s good to have those boundaries that that you set for yourself it’s healthy yeah yeah it’s important yeah yeah otherwise it could take over I mean easily take over it
Just it wants more it wants more yeah oh man anuka it’s been so awesome to have you on the show before you go there is this new thing that we’re doing where we are asking you a question that was left to you by our previous guest our previous guest Naomi Southern California Ripper
Kind of new to mountain biking but she is like really taking off and growing and doing all these great things out there and she’s kind of new to Southern California she was our last guest and she asked this question to you if you could put one quote on your
Mirror for you to see every day to help benefit you what would that say what would you put on your mirror to remind yourself every day huh that’s a good one I like to think back my mom would always say like the sun will come up tomorrow if things are
Sh you know it it’s like sometimes you just need to get through the day if things are not going well or I think especially with like going through a bit of a dark time with the head injury I think for me it was okay tomorrow better
Day you know and I think it’s always important to keep your head up and work hard work hard play hard you know God love that that’s almost too but yeah oh that’s great that’s yeah yeah yeah putting that in perspective like there will be a [ __ ] sandwich and it will end
Eventually there’s a storm and it will end and the sun will come back out but to just weather it is what I hear you say yeah wow wow and what you put in you’re going to get out you put in that hard work yes to get through it you get
That on the other side I love that awesome that is very good that was actually Joey Yates idea I can’t take any credit for that but uh that that’s beautiful so we’ll ask you a question off air here in a minute for the next week’s guest for
You to leave for them and anuka remind the folks again if they are have they haven’t fallen in love with you yet on this podcast which I’m sure they all have and uh where can they follow your journey from this point forward remind them one more time all right well you
Can find me on Instagram uh ANUK Bon and on Facebook um and then YouTube as well and then I got my website so if you ever come to town to Bentonville please hit me up if you want to get a lesson or join a clinic um I would love to help
Anybody out improve their skills or just have a good time riding bikes um yeah thank you guys thank you so much for having me this was a blast it was really cool to catch up and talk about all these things heck yeah it was a pleasure
Having you I’m so glad we got to have you on the show episode 141 with anuka ladies and gentlemen the one and we’ll see you guys all on the next episode and anuka we will be visiting Bentonville in the near future and if you guys haven’t had a chance you got to
Go to the happiest place on Earth for bikes Bentonville Arkansas we’ll see you guys on the next episode
2 Comments
Good Stuff
Anneke has awesome talent ,and is such an amazing person. Thanks for bringing her on!