A lot has happened to Chris Birch since he made his Red Bull X-Fighters debut in London last year. And as Battersea gets ready to welcome the series back on August 14, Justin Hynes caught up with the British rider for a quick chat…
What have you been up to since last year in London?
A lot! Tons of things have changed for me personally. The biggest change is that I’m no longer part of a team, I’m now riding for myself. I was riding for FMX4Ever in Belgium but I’ve left that now and moved down to Spain where I’ve been riding a lot with Andre Villa. It’s been a major bonus. I think I’m riding better than I have ever have done.
Living in Belgium was no different to living in the UK to be honest, in terms of riding. The weather is just too unpredictable and that was the whole reason to move to Spain. It’s great there. I have a nice little apartment that overlooks the Mediterranean. I wake up every morning with the sun shining through. It’s a great way to start your day. I moved there permanently in January and just got everything sorted out – new place, new bike, everything.
So that’s home now?
Yeah, but because Andre is away at the moment I’m riding a lot in the South of France – I do get about a bit! I’ll ride with Thomas and Charles Pagés while I’m there. I’ll ride with them near Biarritz for about two and half weeks before London, which will be really helpful. It’s been a crazy period but honestly everything is so positive and heading in the right direction. I’m riding better than ever. It was a gamble to leave the team I was riding for but thankfully it’s really paid off.
Does riding with Andre differ from riding with the Pagés?
Andre’s course is great for your riding skills. If you can go round his whole course and trick then you’re doing really well. Some of the jumps are really tough. The Pagés’ course is different. It’s great for progression. It’s safe, with longer run-ups and has a great foam pit. If you really want to go and learn something it’s the place to be. I felt totally comfortable there. You feel that anything is possible, from front flips, double back flips to stuff that may not have been done before. It just gives you confidence, which is why I’ll spend the two weeks before London there.
Was it a big step up to ride in London last year?
I’d never done anything as big as that before. This is Red Bull X-Fighters, it’s the biggest tour in the world with the biggest and best riders. I’d done big events but they were demos, which is completely different – normally just one jump. The course was a good one to come into I think. I was comfortable at the level I was at then. But I think I’ve got better and at the moment I’m very comfortable with my riding, so whatever they throw at it this year I think I’ll be able to handle it.
I’m more relaxed this year because I know what to expect. But what I will do this year is rest when I can during the event. That’s the biggest thing I noticed last year. If I wasn’t on my bike, then I was in front of a camera or doing other stuff. If there is down time I have to take it and rest when I can. I would like to find some time just to think things through and plan what I’m going to do. But, it was amazing. It gave me a lot of experience and I’m better prepared than last year.
Denis Klero/Red Bull Photofiles
Did you find the level of competition tough?
Everyone wants to have fun but the level these guys are at is awesome. You have to bring the best out of yourself and the course and whatever happens in that 90 seconds. The standard is so high it’s often the smallest thing that decides which way the judges go.
It is competitive but you still want your friends to do well. It is a sport and everyone’s there to win it, but all the riders are still friends and you still want everyone to be safe and to ride well. Every one of those guys could win. It’s a really fine line. Actually there isn’t a line – everyone’s on the same playing field here. It’s simply down to who puts it together best on the night. And that’s what’s so great about the sport, it’s impossible to call most of the time.
If the level is the same, is it purely down to confidence then?
A lot comes down to mental strength. You can always tell when a rider is not feeling comfortable, just in the way they pull their tricks. You can tell when someone’s on it. For example, Andre recently said to me: “no matter what they build, I can ride it”. That’s a confident rider. Since he won in Mexico, he has just sparked and there’s no stopping him.
Did riding at Red Bull X-Fighters push you to a new level?
I’ve always ridden well under pressure. It did push me. And it will do the same this year. I’ll go to Battersea and I’ll do the best run I can possible do. That will involve some things that are difficult and risky, but all I want to do is stick that run. If I do that, we’ll just what happens with the judges.
What Red Bull X-Fighters really did was give me a goal to aim for. I never had that before, it was just demos and shows. You didn’t have to push yourself. But ever since I saw that Red Bull X-Fighters is coming back to Battersea, I was like: “OK, I’m not going to jump up and down but I am pencilling that date in and I will do anything I can to get there”. Then once I got the official invitation I was like: “Right, we’re on!”
With that as the goal, did you then set other goals – of learning new tricks, improving certain areas?
Yes, I did, but mostly it was just a case of riding as much as possible. I’m now riding with top guys like Andre and that certainly helps. He’s got a saying, which really makes sense to me: “Stop being a pussy and get out of your comfort zone”. That’s what it’s all about. It just doesn’t happen if you don’t put the effort in. There is an element of the ‘rock star’ about the sport that’s great but what the public don’t see is all the hours in the days and weeks before a competition that go into making it look easy.
Did you have a wish list for this year in Battersea in terms of tricks?
Yeah, definitely. I know exactly what I want to learn for London. Some I’ve already done, some I need to work on. I’ll have the two weeks in the south of France to get it all right. Part of it is that I got to see a lot of footage of myself riding in London last year and there were things from my run I knew I could do better. And there were some things where I definitely thought ‘I’m not doing that again!’ I think I was trying to be inventive and innovative but when I saw it, it just doesn’t look good at all. I was trying to do something a bit different but in this case it really didn’t work! That one had to go!
There’s one new thing I’m going to try, which is very rare, I’m working on it. Whether it will be ready for London I don’t know but I’m going to go for it. But I really want to try and do a unique run with tricks you may not see every day.
What do you expect then from the event this time round?
A bigger course, a lot more people there – 28,000. It should be amazing. But you know when the helmet goes on it’s my time and you’re totally focused on what you’re going to do. I hear the crowd but when it comes to the run I’m totally committed.
After that I’ll just go for it, bust big and see what happens with the judges. Whatever happens I’ll do the best I can do and just try to stick that run.
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