Jesse Melamed Talks Tech, Setup, His 2020 Season and More

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Jesse Melamed is always a popular guest on the show, and he certainly didn’t disappoint with this detailed chat. We get stuck into his 2020 season, taking the EWS overall, and dealing with Covid. We also get pretty in-depth on getting his new bike set up, and we end up chatting about Formula 1 too. Jesse is a technically focussed athlete at the top of the sport, and has plenty of interesting things to say, so hit play and have a listen to this episode with Jesse Melamed.

You can follow Jesse on Instagram @jessemelamed and find his YouTube channel here.

Supporting Partners

Crankbrothers

Crankbrothers have just launched their new range of shoes, and I’ve been testing the Boa version of the clip and the flat shoe, and I’m really impressed. They are super comfy straight out of the box, and have some lovely design details, like rubber dots in the heel cup to stop your heel from lifting. The sole on the flat pedal shoe is a great balance of pedal grip and the ability to adjust the position of your foot on the pedal. The sole on the clip shoe has transformed my clipped-in riding experience, and it’s way easier to clip in and out with the Crankbrothers shoes. This means that I feel way more confident on the trails. You can check out the entire Crankbrothers shoe range at crankbrothers.com, and find your local dealer here.

Misspent Summers

Misspent Summers is a group of incredibly talented people who love riding bikes. They have just released their 2020 mountain bike yearbook, Meltdown. It’s a work of art, packing 240 pages with incredible photos and writing. Which serves as a memory of some of the good times that 2020 managed to provide. It’s a great read and a beautiful addition to any coffee table. Also, given how unique 2020 was, it really is a piece of history. I’m stoked to say that they even asked me to write a little article for it, which is a massive honour. So that’s in there for you to read too.

You can get your own copy by heading to misspentsummers.com/meltdown and as a Downtime listener, you can get yourself a lovely free Misspent Summers wall calendar with your copy of Meltdown until the end of March using the code ‘meltdowntime’ at the checkout.

Rocky Mountain

Rocky Mountain started back in 1981 and has spent those 40 years exploring trails all over the world. Their R&D Centre is located on Vancouver’s North Shore, just minutes away from the world-famous trail network. It’s there that they build prototypes, test out new designs, and gain inspiration for their brand and product. To find out more, just head to bikes.com.

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Episode Transcript

This is an automated transcription of the episode, so is not perfect. If transcriptions are useful to you, then please let me know and I can consider how to improve the quality of these transcriptions for you.

Jesse Melamed Welcome back to the downtime podcast how’s things with you?

Jesse Melamed  4:40  

I’m great. Thanks. How are you Chris?

Chris  4:42  

Yeah, good. Thank you. Yeah. And I’ve been keeping up to date with your Instagram of late and it looks like you’ve had some pretty good snow over the last couple of months. How’s it been?

Jesse Melamed  4:52  

Yeah, I mean, I live in a part of the world where we get snow every year. I just depends how much to take advantage of it. So this year, I guess with the delay Season I’ve subconsciously been a little bit more Okay, letting myself go skiing in the past I like it’s not the sun the best trading day, but this year that binding passes so it’s just only ski touring, which is definitely pretty good. You know, long on days out there so yeah, getting out and it’s been it’s been really actually hasn’t been the best snow year but I’ve just been getting out and taking advantage of it.

Chris  5:25  

Cool and that I guess it counts as part of your training right ski towards pretty artwork.

Jesse Melamed  5:29  

Yeah, borderline for sure. It’s it definitely is hardware that we’re doing. I don’t know. It’s kind of like enduro days was six, seven hours out and, and then pretty intense, like ski down. So it’s pretty similar. It’s just not quite to the level of like, you know, the robot capacity of biking, but I would say it’s pretty good training for sure. Lisa, Lisa says I’m telling myself because it’s really fun.

Chris  5:54  

Do you ever get worried about the injury side of things? I guess you hit it a little bit? You’ve got a late start to the season this year.

Jesse Melamed  6:00  

Yeah. I mean, don’t bring that up. I try not to think about it. I mean, yeah, like, I’m a good skier for a long time. And I obviously do get carried away as we’ve seen in my bike doing crazy stuff. But I’ve tried to keep it well within my limits so that I’m not risking injury, doing anything. There’s nothing that I’m going to do. And I’ll be like, oh, like this is kind of sketchy. So yeah, it’s in the back of my mind. But I mean, you can walk down the street and an icy day, and you can crash and hurt yourself. So I’m not going to stop myself from doing things that are fun, just because there’s a risk of injury, or else I would do nothing.

Chris  6:52  

For sure. Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. Well, let’s, let’s talk a bit about the last year or so. And last time we caught up you were away testing, I think getting ready for the season to start. But as we all know now it didn’t quite start, as any of us had planned. How did you feel when you found out that things were starting to get cancelled? And it was starting to impact the racing?

Jesse Melamed  6:59  

Yeah, it was a tough blow. I’m sure for a lot of people, it was really hard. And yeah, I remember kind of feeling a little bit lost direction wise, like, you know, someone’s wildlife is put into racing and, and I’m really someone who, like 24, seven, I’m thinking about it. And every little decision that I make in a day, kind of is with performance in the back of my head. So I like doing that. That’s, you know why I’m doing this. It’s my passion. I love and I love to do what I do. But it when when the racing went away, I was kind of just like, What do I do? So that was that was tough. And we were actually on a film trip. At that point, when it just happened, kind of like it was it was cancelling, I think on a second last day of filming with for the Smith. That helmet launch the full face. And so it was good that we were kind of wet people. And we were still doing something at that time and then work on the ferry back. And it was kind of like, Whoa, you know, we shouldn’t have been there, I guess in hindsight, because we’re with a bunch of different people from the States and all that. But that ended up being fine. And it was just, yeah, we’re all just kind of dumbfounded. You’re like wow, Racing’s cancelled, like, Who would have ever thought this would have happened. And then yeah, like, a few weeks later, I got I kind of really enjoyed it, I was like, this is you know, this is an opportunity to take a mid career hiatus and, and not have any downsides to it. So I had, you know, great roommates and just had a really good time making good data, good drinks, and kind of being a, I wouldn’t say like a delinquent or anything, but just kind of not being an athlete all the time, not where every part of my life is directed towards some sort of performance. And that was quite free. I felt a lot of freedom in that. And that was pretty great, honestly. But for me, which I always know only lasts like, last of maybe, I don’t know, three weeks, and then I bought some kettlebells and just became a kettlebell athlete. So I always need something to do but it was it was a really nice break in the beginning. And then no, again, it was like one of those things where something like that happens and you you have the time to focus your energy on different things. So yeah, kind of just tried, you know, I tried doing more yoga and and more things like that, to you know, is this something that I should be doing? Because I never really got down with those things. And I still don’t so, tried some things didn’t did like some things. But yeah, it was it was it was tough in the beginning. And then yeah, it’s just a mindset shift. And that’s something that I learned as well. It’s just you have to kind of use things to your advantage and shift your mindset and it was it was good practice for that. And here we are, things haven’t changed much, but they’ve changed a lot.

Chris  9:54  

Yeah, it’s been a really strange Yes. Do you do you ever as an athlete in that situation, do you ever sort of worry about your income effectively, because your job is racing and suddenly you can’t do your job. And there’s a lot of people around the world that are in that position, you know, non athletes that have been businesses have been forced to close or whatever. But was that ever a worry for you? Or do you guys kind of feel some level of security? They don’t really know what

Jesse Melamed  10:20  

yeah, I mean, I, yes, I had some, I mean, I actually didn’t have worries, I guess. But there was things coming out. And like anyone else we had, I mean, we had our pay effected, just because we’re not racing, and we get paid to race. So you know, rock is a business, and they’re trying to make sure that they survive. So they definitely cut our pay for a little while. And, you know, that was something that was kind of mutually agreed upon, just because, you know, it’s fair. And eventually, because we had racing, it wasn’t so bad. But I know that a lot of people in the industry, like a lot of athletes, it was it was kind of really dependent on on the company, but a lot of athletes kind of had some sort of pay structured amendment, and some didn’t. So it’s that’s kind of just the way it goes and all things but yeah, in the beginning, I wasn’t too concerned. Because I was like, Well, you know, in the winter, you pay me a full salary. And that’s just because I’m training and doing what I need to do to be the best. So why would that change just because we’re not racing? Like, I understand that. We aren’t, we might not be racing at any point. So I do agree that for a period, it makes sense that I wouldn’t get paid like the months I was supposed to race, you know, I shouldn’t get paid a full salary. Because all those kind of down months of training that you pay me for are offset by the fact that I do this racing. So if that racing isn’t there, then yeah, I’m a pretty, you know, understandable person and a fair person. So I definitely agreed with part of it. I was like, Yeah, I think that’s fair. I feel guilty taking money for something that I’m not actually doing. So then, yeah, I think and then going into this year, I mean, to jump ahead. I mean, I had to sign a contract. So I kind of that wasn’t really yeah, I wasn’t I wasn’t worried about this whole Coronavirus thing and limited race, I knew we would be racing, and then just the fact that it might be limited. I was like, Look, that doesn’t change what I do and the level that I do that. So yeah, it definitely was an interesting, interesting time for all of these things.

Chris  12:28  

Yeah, definitely does it does that make you think a bit wider about the things you do alongside the race? Like, I mean, you’d already started a YouTube channel before this all happened. But a lot of athletes have gone harder or got into that area, is that something that you maybe put more focus into now,

Jesse Melamed  12:45  

it was just something to do honestly, like, it’s like Instagram, I don’t do it, because I, I don’t do it cuz I need to. And that’s like a signing bonus, or whatever. It’s just like, I need something to do. And people like it. And you know, again, like, I feel like every one of these things, I bring up my brother, but he’s just he’s very, he’s very good at these kind of things. And he’s just, he was always telling me to do these videos, because I have all my racing and training videos from the AWS and he’s like, you should just do that home and go through, like how you dissect a trail and all this stuff. And I was like, Yeah, whatever. And then, when I had all the time, I was like, Well, yeah, this is perfect. I can’t really, you know, there’s a time I’m sure it’s the same in the UK, like, people don’t really want you to be shredding too hard, because of, you know, putting strain on the hospitals. So going out and filming was kind of perfect. And yeah, I just kind of did that. And it took off like it was, I mean, I got a way better response than I expected. And it was really great and fun. But it was man, it was a lot of work. Like I was putting in easily like in the beginning when I was learning things like 40 hour editing weeks trying to get those videos put together. Because, yeah, I just have these ideas and like comparing my race line and practice line, like side by side and learning how to do that was just like, man, it took so long. So it was I got a little bit burnt out. That’s for sure. That’s why there hasn’t been a video in like five months, because I’m like, you know what, I love doing these and I know people love them. But for myself, that’s not my job. I’m not a YouTuber, and I really just want to train and I don’t have any energy besides training to put into those videos. So they’ll come back for anyone that’s listening, but I just need to do them on my own time. So that I enjoy them as much as other people do.

Chris  14:29  

For sure, yes, a huge amount of work. But yeah, I’ve really enjoyed watching especially the trail breakdown stuff, I find that super interesting to see how you break down a trail to get top to bottom as fast as possible. And I like those because like yeah,

Jesse Melamed  14:41  

I don’t need to break down each trail for everyone because you’re never gonna ride those trails and maybe you will but it’s just the fact that if you put yourself in that situation, I’m gonna get on this tangent of like, Oh, yeah, then you do this and this and like, so it’s kind of, you know, the sections of trails are like a trophy. That you’ll have on your trail. I’ll go through how I would do it. And then you can take that to your trail. And I think that’s pretty applicable for anyone that’s riding trails that have a similar trail feature. So I think it I think it worked out well. And yeah, I mean, like I said, it was really fun. It gave me something to do so.

Chris  15:17  

Yeah, but yeah, like you say, it’s the editing part. That’s the tricky bit, isn’t it?

Jesse Melamed  15:20  

And the filming, like you kind of, I mean, just the way I am like, if I’m doing something, I don’t do anything half assed and I need to be really good at it. So I I kind of overwhelm or intimidate myself with the effort that I have to put in to put out like, really good content. And so my channel was like pretty, I would say, like raw compared to a lot of others. And I was like, well, I want it to be, you know, really cool. And then I was like, well, I can’t like that’s not my job. So I had to hold myself back. And I really liked it was definitely also after that the other races to do more uploading, like more practice and the race videos. And so that’s like a little bit extra thing that I was putting in which I’m definitely happy that it didn’t affect my racing, because that’s one of those things where it might be a distraction and in something like that, but it obviously ended up not being a distraction. But those are like yeah, dealing with the shitty Airbnb internet and in Europe, like leaving my computer open all night, trying to upload a video on the internet, it was pretty funny. But those ones I thought were really cool and did a really cool insight for something that you know, and duo does struggle to get content out. So I think it was cool to give like a different perspective on it. And I mean, also, it was lucky that I I won and had the race winning videos, I think, looking back, I go back and watch those videos. And I’m like, What did I do? Right? And you like, man, not like not a whole lot.

Chris  16:48  

Your a critical guy though, Yes, a lot. That went pretty well.

Jesse Melamed  16:52  

And it was cool. Like having all my competitors like I remember Adrian Dailey and some other guys commenting being like, you know, I went that fast. Like, I didn’t, I didn’t see do anything crazy. Like I guess you expect when someone wins that they just kind of like, like demolish that trail. But I think I was very smooth and consistent on that one. And it just didn’t really put a foot wrong. But it’s definitely It was

Chris  17:17  

incredible to watch, like, especially the intensity, I guess over that period of time that you can hear how hard you’re working.

Jesse Melamed  17:25  

Yeah, I mean, like that long stages. And that’s something that I didn’t really understand was ever in question. Like, I remember. trophy of nations. What’s that? That’s two years ago now. Yeah, don’t Yeah. 2019. We had Rhys Verner on our team. And yeah, he was saying he’s like, Wow, I didn’t realise that how hard you had to go and do a stage. And he’s really he’s obviously really good. He’s super fit. And he’s had some really good results. But I think it’s one of those things where you just, you get into this idea of things, and maybe you don’t realise that. Yeah, you’re, I’m pushing to the absolute max to about blowing up where I can still control my bike and see straight. But you also know like, how a stage evolve. So that statements are Matt like, a super technical. So I wanted to be quite cogniscent for that section. And then when it gets to the bottom, I was like, Okay, yeah, it’s still a bit technical. But there’s a lot of pedalling and you just have to hammer because you’re almost at the bottom so like, if I crafted them and retired Well, I mean, that’s a risk I take but I also need to be going absolutely redline to this part. So depends on the stage for sure.

Chris  18:38  

Yeah, it didn’t look like you’re doing a lot of resting to be fair.

Jesse Melamed  18:41  

No, there’s no I mean, resting is like you’re resting if there’s a nice straight downhill that you can’t pedal on. Yeah, so there’s not really much resting stage unless it’s 20 minutes long.

Chris  18:56  

Fair Play. Let’s chat a little bit about the bikes before we get too much into 2020 season. So I think you’re gonna start the season on the slate spent quite a bit of time on that in the offseason you’re getting on well with it. And I don’t think the Altitude was going to be available. Was it for the start of the season. Is that right?

Jesse Melamed  19:13  

Yeah, yeah, correct. Yeah, so like last time I had a call I was in I was in Phoenix because I needed to get some time testing the slayer for like different conditions because we were supposed to be in Chile that year. So I wanted to go on to someone that wasn’t, you know, wet and muddy in Squamish, so I need to get some dry and we’ve stuff and I was going pretty well. I made a lot of progress that week. And yeah, I guess. And I think I said it in that podcast probably but just quickly like I did that race in Mexico two falls ago and my bike got stolen so I had to borrow a bike and she had a slayer and Radek sales like damn this thing is sick like I couldn’t believe hopping on someone else’s bike on the 650 b version, no less. So like 180mm of travel, not any of parts or anything, and I just had an absolute blast. And I was like, I kind of messaged Rocky, as soon as I got home like, hey, I need to try this bike. And I think it was in the pipeline that I would get one, I’m sure eventually, but I was just like, I need to test this because maybe I want to race this, you know, bridging the gap between altitude and they got me one and that was awesome. And then yeah, so the spending time on that bike and it was more the just Yeah, the updated fit the updated geometry. Man, it really worked. It’s definitely a bigger bike. And it was kind of nice in some parts, but it’s also not like everyday agile, agile bike. But yeah, got that one put it dialled in, and we’re planning on starting the season on that. And I was pretty excited, honestly, I was like, Okay, I think we’re gonna have a pretty good advantage, you know, switching to a newer bike, and then having another new bike that someone to switch to, with the time to get it get up to speed on it. And I was also like, it’ll bridge the gap between the sizes, because sizings just keeps going so big. So my instinct was like a 430 reach. And then my Slayer was a 442. And the allergies are 450. So like, I was like, I can’t jump from 430 to a 450 reach. So this will be a good kind of stepping stone to that. And that was another reason I did it. And now I love that bike. I still I may still have it the same one in my garage, and I still ride it quite often. And it’s pretty amazing. How good that bike is for like its intentions, you know, like it pedals really well for being 170 mil. You know, free ride bike, I guess.

Chris  21:42  

Yeah, it’s a big bike for sure.

And then when did you first get the chance to ride the altitude then? Were you hinting at the fact that you tested that last time we spoke?

Jesse Melamed  21:51  

I think so. Yeah, I must have been pretty clear about that. Cuz we couldn’t talk about it. It was supposed to lacz think Originally, it would have launched Crankworx. And we’d have it the Euro trip before that. I think I think we were supposed to go to we were racing to do that year. I don’t know, sometime in May, we’re going to erase and we bring the altitude and race it for that euroblock as like the cool wrap job that we had that the rod wrap like camouflage. erase that for the for the races. Yeah. And then it would launch at Crankworx. So yeah, I knew I knew that that would that would happen. So

Chris  22:31  

how did you go about getting that setup? Because I think I’m sure I read somewhere that you ended up kind of changing some of the setup chips to get it from a leverage rate and chainstay length perspective to be Yeah,

Jesse Melamed  22:45  

this is a tough one because yeah, again, like I like to please everybody and people are getting upset that we were changing the spike. But the thing is, is and I was gonna go into this like Slayer was a stepping stone to the altitude but I don’t know if it’s really tough getting new bikes as professional athletes because you know, I spent you know, I spend three years on the old opportunity then three years on the instinct or maybe two twoand a two and a bit years and you just your two years of dial in that thing. It’s not like you get that thing you get on it and you dial in some cockpit stuff and like okay, sweet. It’s like two years of little money changes every month and no every year and that they need to just become such a weapon in their hands because you’re so used to it. So then Slayer, like changing the Slayer. I had a, you know, tough time. And it’s funny looking at Mexico where I jumped on a random sleigh with 800 mil wide bars, like not my tires, not like carbon wheels, and had a super good time. And like I didn’t, I wasn’t having good stage results. Like, I remember trying because again, I just hate sucking so I was like, Okay, I gotta like I just still win this race. And I think I won maybe a stage or two but I was like, I was I was definitely still surprised at how good I was on that bike. And then conversely, I got a bike with all of my parts like all of my sponsors and set up the way that I think I want it and like yes, you jump on the bike and it’s sweet. But then as soon as you start trying to go faster, you’re like, us just doesn’t work. It’s like just live these little things like it’s just it’s just not it’s not working for me and so setting up a bike to race is really tough like it I just find it takes forever because you got to find what works and what doesn’t. So I did that you know had all winter for the sleigh and then you get the altitude and Okay, it’s not gonna be that bad. Like, I know this can take some time, which is why we wanted the bike early before racing so we could dial them in and yeah, so what we did and like, yeah, it’s a blend of like theoretical and actual. So, you know, theoretically making the altitude a lot more like a slayer was what I wanted to do. So asking engineers make us a custom chipset. Make us the customer and chip, just to kind of make it as much like this layer as possible. So then from there, you can like have a good base. So you’re like, confident changing, because you’re like, Okay, I already know that I have the bike set up properly. And that’s what’s happening this winter is, I know that I have a bike setup, that’s obviously really good. And so now I can kind of start changing into what the bike is designed for. But yeah, it was it was tough. And there was new suspension that year from Fox, which is always, you know, good and bad. Because it’s completely again, it’s not a thing that you just have to start from scratch on. And with a new bike, it was kind of a lot, and we didn’t have our usual test sessions because of COVID. So that was really tough. That was probably one of the toughest things. Actually, those are pretty underrated. Honestly, it’s like if you get a new bike and you suspension and you don’t have Fox Tech’s to help you dial it in, like, man, it takes a long, long time to get that stuff going. Because we’re super lucky. We have a fox service centre in Burnaby, at the waist base headquarters in Vancouver and the architect is super nice. So like we would just be taking shocks to him like every week getting a new to new to new tune and just trying to find our find our shock tune. And that was that was pretty cool. And yeah, so everything. I mean, obviously everything came together. And I’m super thankful for everyone that had a hand in that because it was a lot of a lot of work to get that bike dialled in, obviously, like you can hop on that thing fast, but to hop on it, and when, and like put yourself at the absolute limit is not an easy thing to do when your bike is kind of brand new, and everything’s brand new.

Chris  26:41  

Definitely. And there’s some further changes there. Right, you went from air to coil on the rear shock? Yeah,

Jesse Melamed  26:47  

yeah, that was, I don’t know why, like, it just really worked. I think the I think the engineer actually told me that the altitude is less progressive than our past instinct, which seems weird because I couldn’t run the call on the hustings because it was just too all the way. But it’s also possible that a new Fox coil is just that much better. So who knows it just it definitely worked. I felt like with the air shock tune that I had on the bike at the time, I couldn’t get the bike to sit and that’s where a lot of these problems came from is the bike just wasn’t sitting the way that I wanted it to and I just wasn’t able to be in my comfortable position. And I was really struggling like all through crack works at sama series like I just I couldn’t I couldn’t figure it out. And that was just I think because I hadn’t been able to get the ny 21 like Fox X2 to validate and like the air shock because I ended up just switching to my Slayer and a Sydney downhill and minder on the slayer because I had the old x two on that bike I had it dialled in and and that’s when I finally started doing well on those races because I just rode my road my Slayer with that shock and then I for some reason you know, I always try to think of all the possibilities and I gotten a coil shock that was size for the sleigh I got it resized by the fox guys, and I think I put that on a day before going to Europe because we were obviously super busy at crack works and I put that on I was like oh, like just what a relief The fight is finally works and all these changes like with that the custom chipset in in the ride nine and through area. And I feel like all of those did kind of come from the theoretical from the Slayer. But also, because I wasn’t, I wasn’t sitting just I was just slightly off on the bike. And I was just trying to find a way to make it feel more comfortable. And yeah, it was it was tough. But then as soon as I switch the coils off, like all of that’s gone away, like I feel like I could go back to whatever the whatever the stock chips, I would have ran like probably position two or three on the stock chipset and then whatever the chainstay and I probably would have been fine. But I was also too scared. Like I wasn’t gonna change anything like we I was hopping on a plane to Europe, I was, you know, arriving next week, I’m racing zoom out, like I’m not changing things that close the race. Even though I just said I changed to a coil, but that was a positive change. So that was fine. And then after that race, I was like, Okay, well, I’m not changing anything. I’m just whatever, like, this is the bike I’m doing. I’m gonna finish the season on it because it’s obviously working well and then I’ll I’ll start changing things in the winter.

Chris  29:19  

Yeah, when you say it was upsetting how you want it about what you mean? Is it about like the support in the mid stroke or

Jesse Melamed  29:27  

it’s more like just the minute reactions on the rear end like I felt like it wasn’t reacting the way that I wanted it to and expected it to. Yeah, I mean, all I can say is that I know that my Slayer with my the way I had my old axe to setup which came from a bike that you know from settings that we had dialled in with Fox previously is like, that shock just works so well. It worked exactly the way I wanted it to and all that stopped the Big bumps, it’s the little bumps where like, you’re going down a trail, it’s not super steep, and it’s just kind of like, blocking you in a way that you don’t really expect it to. And then when you are kind of like landing into a compression or something, and then you want it to turn a corner, it’s just like, it maybe goes too far. Or like, yeah, it was, I mean, it was just, it was just me and the suspension setup. Like I just, I couldn’t figure out the suspension setup on that coil kind of by myself without a fox tech, I guess. And it’s just, it just didn’t react the way I wanted it to. And so sitting in the bike, like I mean, in my neutral position, when I’m just going through whatever terrain and doing whatever it’s the base of it wasn’t comfortable, I guess is the is the way to put it that wasn’t like wasn’t an extension of me where a bike is fully dialled in is like I can do it wrong, because I know exactly how my bikes gonna react. And that’s kind of the issue. It just wasn’t, I just wasn’t confident. It wasn’t confident inspiring. So that was kind of the issue with it. And yeah, I think I mean, I still haven’t actually tested their shock yet. So I don’t know how to fix that. But the coils are working pretty damn well. zones gonna keep that for now.

Chris  31:12  

Yeah, definitely. And that altitude, like I said, it’s a little bit longer than both the instinct and the Slayer. And in the past, you’ve always run, I think 32 mil stem, but you’ve gone for a 40 on that. Yeah, explain a bit about how you’ve ended up there because that seems counterintuitive because some good investigative work.

Jesse Melamed  31:31  

Funny story, actually. I mean, it kind of comes back from going back reassessing all of my crashes and trying to figure out why I crashed the same way so many times. And I think part of it is the way the Yeah, the bike to and to meal stem I was when I’m cornering. I’m pushing my front wheel rather than cornering over my front wheel, I guess. And we went to a testing trip in Port Angeles, which is in Washington, just south of the border. Before COVID. Obviously, like in January, February, I just gotten a slayer when I’d gotten home. So I just built up my sleigh. And I was like, yeah, I’m down to go do some testing runs with me and Miranda and a couple other friends and Breanna Atkinson and Gil kitten over there. And so everyone just shuttling and we just got a toxic day just gotten the new I think it was maybe the site at that point, whatever the newest logo, I think it was a site and they’re like, wow, this bike is so big. It’s so long. And I was like Yeah, same with me. And I was like, are you gonna like shorten your stamp or something? And brains like no, no, never like 40 mil stamp, if you can run a 40 that is the best length of stamp like 50 if you’d like to short, but I would never go shorter than a 40. And I was like, Well, why is like it’s just and I mean, obviously this is his you know, he’s probably got a pretty stubborn opinion. But he’s like 40 mm is just the best length for cornering feel and weight over the front, like depending on your front stand and all that. And I was like, okay, like, sure. And then, yeah, I think I just put a 40 on the slayer and caught I was like, Yeah, okay, the bikes definitely bigger, that’s longer, but I see what he’s saying it, it puts me in a lot better position. cornering. And that’s something that I think cornering is probably like my worst skill. If you want to break skills into a very large category, I just, I’m not a great, I don’t have great technique. And I just, I’m not coming from XC I never practised that stuff. And so I felt like I needed all the help I could get. And so again, going through a bigger bite from Slayer, that altitude, I was like, Okay, well, I definitely obviously I tried all of them. I tried different handlebar widths and, and different stem lengths just to make sure and I was like, I don’t I didn’t, I didn’t notice enough negative effect on the length of the stem as much as I noticed a positive effect on the length of like the longest stem to kind of corner and put me in a better position. So that was a super interesting thing, because I went through a way bigger bike plus a longer stem. So but now we’re at a point where like, you know, is my bike too big? It’s hot. This bike isn’t built around me. Right. So it’s like, it’s interesting, like Remi’s prob like I think Remi’s gone back to a meet me is on a medium right now, which I’m on a medium and Remi’s I don’t know what is the 510 511? I’m five, seven. So you know what, we’re gonna be on the same bike. It’s kind of crazy.

Chris  34:24  

I can’t quite get my head around the 40 mil thing because it feels like I guess maybe it pulls you further forward and puts more weight on the front. It’s that way. It’s

Jesse Melamed  34:34  

just like where if you if you imagine like the leverage on your front tire patch, like you’re putting yourself Yeah, I mean, it’s eight Mills from a from a two to two mile stance, not a lot and maybe this is all placebo in my head. It’s eight mils of rotating your centre of mass, tiny bit forward, which might be evening like the pressure on your front and rear wheel. And when I go into Do a corner and I have you know, my weight on my outside arm and I’m pushing down, it’s eight miles farther forward, which means it’s more overtop of the front tire contact patch rather than, like, behind it and pushing forward. Because you’re kind of driving through a corner. So it’s changing the angle and the like. Yeah, the angle of pressure on your, on your tire. And it’s Yeah, super minute. But I think this all comes from like moto racing and, and that’s where like all what do they call it, the trail of the fork and all of that kind of stuff. I’ve gone into a few scientific papers, trying to figure out all that steering inputs and stuff from moto. But yeah, it’s I mean, it’s something that it worked. And I mean, my altitude now is obviously way longer. It’s way lower. In the front end, I used to run a really tall truck front end, because I just liked the position that put me in for like going down steep things. I was like, man, I can just like stand on my bike, and I’m really comfortable. But I totally changed all that. And yeah, it worked. Because I think like I said, I don’t have great cornering technique. And it forced me into a position that was good technique where like, you know, hip hinge in hips or out your your over your front end, but not like, you just you’re just your chest is kind of up and open over the front end, not your whole body. And yeah, I think it just kind of worked. And it I could feel it. When I was in Europe, definitely. Like once all the bike was set up. Like I had to put less effort in coordinating I felt like I was I was relaxing more in a race when I was cornering because I didn’t have to. I wasn’t so scared. I wasn’t I didn’t have to try as hard to like get traction. I was just like, I’m in my like neutral position. I just have a lot more even pressure and better traction around these corners and everything like that. So yeah, I mean, this. I mean, that’s just like the bike as a whole. Everything that I ended up doing. I think it just it worked, which is kind of pretty good. gratification.

Chris  37:01  

Yeah, definitely. I guess it must play in with a fork offset to some extent as well, like, Yeah, sure. I heard somewhere that matching your stem length to your fork offset is like the optimal place to be I just totally convinced on but I’ll have to

Jesse Melamed  37:19  

go and look that up. But yeah, I remember two years ago, 2018. We got new new forks, because I guess we were all like running 29 forks off of the 27 five offset. And then so they switched from a 51 mill to a 44 on the foxes and I remember growing and testing and I was in Santa Cruz. And those are sweet. I was like, Yeah, I mean, like it works like no, no worries, we had opposite Jordan. So it was really good. And he was able to dial everything in so that we didn’t have any issues and then refer to Zealand a little bit early go to Queenstown, just to do some testing and get because again, we’re new new suspension. And we needed to get the testing done. I just remember immediately being like, Oh, my God is terrible, like I can’t. And that one was different in that because of shortening the offset. That felt like when I was going down steep sections, I was just a tiny bit too far over my front end. And it felt like that my wheel is being pushed back and under me. And I was just like always on the verge of going over the front, like just always going over the handlebars. And that was pretty brutal, which ended up that’s when we ordered angles sets to for the first time, order them to New Zealand and then put those in and totally change that bike to make that offset work. And that again worked as well, because I think I got a podium that week. So yeah, I mean, yeah, I’m definitely a little bit either don’t care like I’m all in nothing, either don’t care at all. I’ll just run whatever, or I care way too much. And I just try way too many things. And I get way too far down the rabbit hole. But

Chris  38:55  

yeah, eventually you’re still still on the 44 mil offset. Yeah,

Jesse Melamed  38:59  

yeah, that’s like and now it’s like, I just don’t think that instinct was built around the 44 mil offset. There was something that was not they hadn’t caught up to each other because like, like I said, the point I had to be moved to a 44 just for I guess 29 hours and then I think I bike might have been built around the 51. So there’s just something that was was off. And so we just had to kind of change it a bit and I remember I came home and I liked it to the back of my car. I just had two forks and I was swapping forks everyone. Very super budget like no shuttles. I’m pedalling each lap and I’m just swapping a fork in a car park without any bike stand because I’m just like that. And I was testing the 51 to 44 mil offsets and I definitely there’s definitely advantages to both I wasn’t like the 51 was just way better. It’s just that they they would definitely different on the trail and and I was like okay, well they’re different. So, before before is also good and like I felt like it happened way quicker. And like it just it. You turn like the input that your bar, we’re way more precise and quick and the inputs in your wheel and on the ground. And I like that again, because I was like, Okay, well, I can figure out how to ride steps faster and better, because that’s what I’m really good at. But I would love how being better cornering says I don’t get a 44 is actually is actually pretty good.

Chris  40:24  

It’s mad, isn’t it? It’s so hard to do a controlled experiment with one variable because you change one thing, but it still isn’t just that one thing, only changing and that’s

Jesse Melamed  40:34  

a thing. And so it’s not the one thing that you should change. Like if you’re changing your fork offset, like you say, and maybe have to change your stem length. Like there’s a lot of different things. If you change your stem length, well, we’ll also be shading a stack at a handle by whether your Bible like you can change one thing and test it but you might not be changing into the most optimised way of trying it out.

Chris  40:55  

I think my head’s gonna explode to talk about racing.

Jesse Melamed  40:59  

All your podcast with baby and so it’s not any worse than that. Baby is the best listen to about that. He’s just so so much experience.

Chris  41:09  

We need to get you to on the same podcast one day, that’d be fun.

Jesse Melamed  41:12  

Now you also gotta go I gotta get videos on the podcast because I feel like he is the same. Like, I think that guy like, Yeah, he’s like fat Fabian, as well. It’s so critical and and they just dive into it so much. And they have the capability to do so much stuff. Like, I mean, yeah, I look at that Lapierre team. And yeah, that was. I mean, that was definitely the first team. I think I reached out to you. I was just like, I want to be on your team. Just because they I just think that that programme is so cool. Like,

Chris  41:44  

yeah, but I think they’ve got stuff going on. Now that is, like, above and beyond what some of the other teams are up to, like on the technical side of things.

Jesse Melamed  41:54  

I just think that they, they’re doing all the things that I’m doing, but at a much better level, like all these little minute changes to make sure that bike fits you and reacts the exact way that you want and is fully optimised. Like they just they changed, you know, their rocker links and, and all the other things and I just know that from talking to Craig, the mechanic like he thinks the same way that I do, I think and and like, they just are optimising that bike. It’s not like they’re doing some crazy, innovative stuff. It’s just that bike is completely perfect for for ageing. And the funny thing is, is like we’re the same height and same weight. I was like, Look, I’ll just come in and put me on that fight. It’ll work. It’ll work fine. Yeah, I don’t know if it’s anything crazy at this point, I’m sure like they’re obviously working on a next thing that it’s possible. I mean, you look at the old Lapierre bike that Bruni and those guys rode and that thing was unreal. Yeah. So, I mean, they obviously create, really, and obviously, Adrian’s really fast and that bike isn’t not true, but she can be fast on that bike. So I think Nico’s inputs go farther than crazy innovations. It’s just the bikes themselves that they’re producing, I think are probably just really good.

Chris  43:11  

Yeah, definitely. He’s on the he’s on the list. I just haven’t managed to track him down yet. But one day, we’ll make that happen. Yeah, that’d

be you.

You, Fabian an echo. Yeah. I look forward to it. Let’s chat a little bit about the crank work servicers. Because I guess you guys in a way, you were quite lucky to get some sort of relatively early racing in 2020. In the grand scheme of things, what what was that like as a series because very different to what you’d normally we do. And I suppose

Jesse Melamed  43:37  

it was amazing. First off, like definitely, such a fun, fun time and so good, but it was also kind of a summer camp and a boot camp. And I don’t know what else like it was just so intense. But it was really cool. Because, you know, we Deron is a super great guy. And he brought us in right from the beginning. Like we knew about that, probably from like, April, I think we had our first talk. And he was just, it was very refreshing for him to be so transparent. And, and, you know, not last minute things like hey, like, I will have this idea. Or you guys in basically right from the beginning. Like he understands that he needs athletes to put something like this on and so I thought that was really cool. Like, even before he’d started doing that much or like, knew that he could do it. He’s bringing us in. And so we had talks, like every month, I think. And it was so it was looking good. We’re all excited. And maybe it was gonna happen, but I’m pretty sure that they didn’t get some sort of approval or insurance. Like, before we were on the buses going to the event and now like yeah, so we might not be actually like starting on Monday, but we’ll see. And so, I’m just like, yeah, the hoops that they had to go through for that was I don’t even want to know, okay, it would have been insane. And then like, obviously for them to like it’s just, it was so. So I don’t know if it looked like that from the outside, but we’re racing every day. Like it was like a race four days in a row, and then you get three days off. And then another four days of racing like it was, by the end of it, it was still really fun. But I was just getting scared. I was like, Man, I’m just getting tired. And I’m still like, I’ve never finished on a downhill runner. Like, yeah, it just, it was definitely a kind of a war of attrition, which I really, I love those types of things. So I was I was really into it. And I thought it was really, really good. And yeah, I think it was, it was a lot It was, it was a lot. And I don’t know if that’s the way it should be done. Again, I’d like to see it again. But like, maybe just be a little bit nicer on the athletes. And like, obviously, you know, people are gonna say, well, that’s what practice is in general, but it’s different when I feel like this series was built around the whole thing. Everyone’s doing every event. So every event counts a lot more than like, someone’s at a crack quick, stupid downhill on the window. And then they’re just doing pumptrack and do all for fun, because it’s a good time. It’s like, if we’re trying to win this thing, it’s like everyone, everyone has to do every event. So every event is very important. So every event is a serious and you have to do really well and and then it was three weeks of that. So I realised Yeah, it was it was pretty, pretty crazy. But beyond that, I think it was really great for me personally because during something like dual slalom is you know talking about cornering is a really forced me to learn and practice on that stuff I’ve never been doing before and I’ve never really been good at. I hit like dirt jumps as a kid and obviously did all those things when I was younger, but in more recent years, I just never had a bike and I never did that stuff. So dual slalom and little, little precise jump tracks like that was pretty crazy. Rdh probably the most terrifying thing because I’ve never been good at hitting jumps fast. And yeah, the downhill was really fun, because it’s obviously I mean, those downhill tracks went World Cup level. So it was basically just enduro stages. So yeah, it was it was it was really cool. And it was fun to be with everybody and hang out with people that you don’t normally hang out with especially because, you know, for the most Canadians are downhill so you don’t get to really race with them too much. And that was really fun. And then obviously like more of the freeride type of people on the crank works people so it was just kind of bringing a lot of athletes together that you pass by a lot but don’t get to hang out with and that was it was really cool.

Chris  47:33  

Yeah, nice to hang out with a different bunch. What was it like racing, psychosis?

Jesse Melamed  47:37  

Ah, that I mean, first of all, that trailer is sick like probably maybe my favourite joke in the world now cuz it’s just insane. I mean that how long is that? It was 10 minutes? I think. So besides the super steep thing is just ridiculously steep that I can’t even describe how steep that is. Because I’m good steep. I’m a good steep strata and that scared the shit out of me like it was it’s it’s so sustained that you’re like, you do not want to pick up speed because there’s absolutely no way you shut it down like you once you start going a speed that’s like you knew base speed. And if you go a little bit faster like that’s your base speed so like you can’t go faster because you’ll never be able to slow down so it’s crazy how steep that thing is. But then the trail after that like all the way down like the next nine minutes of trail was just fast high speed ripping, beautiful bc dirt just for nine minutes straight and you’re like god this is so good. And then so as a whole like I thought it was you know, for us it’s like any nurse is like I mean there’s some stages in material that are like probably that sick where it’s you know 1015 minutes long but just yeah, there’s some shitty parts of those those ones but just being on a trail for that long. That’s that good. You can’t help but just be like man this is amazing. Like you just you have so much time to think that you’re like coming to five minutes 10 minutes on the job and like man this is sick because you’re just like ripping at such a speed and just in the flow of it and it just feels so good and yeah, that trail is having that trail was amazing. And the climb the metal was pretty hilarious like well on I know what it was the minute like you had to hike it I think I tried to ride in practice once and it was not worth it. But yeah, that was that was really cool. And I’d obviously had grown up watching that so like it was really cool to raise that because I remember watching those those movies with Sam and Stevie and never think I’d ever do it because I thought it was like super downhill like I’d always just kind of thought it was a gnarly downhill track which it is is because the the steep sections and there’s like a shot of Stevie and one of the one of the one of the movies and like he’s just ripping down this like Sandy thing is blowing it up and like that thing that part is sick because you can go pretty fast on that part and do it he is hauling down that section. It’s insane.

Chris  49:57  

How did you times compared to those guys bye Back in the day, yeah, we

Jesse Melamed  50:01  

actually we beat them. I mean, Henry laid down an absolutely we like he said he just did not. Like he just threw caution to the wind and he was on that new Norco downhill bike. And I think like, yeah, you can go really fast on that trail. So I think I was still 617 seconds quicker than Sam’s best time. So I think you’d have to fact check. I don’t know, like, I want to say Sam was a 1028. And that was a 1011 or something. Okay. So maybe it’s in the 11 to the 10s. Like something around that. But yeah, definitely. Yeah, like 1020 seconds. And then Henry was like, 15 seconds quicker than me. So

we ride down single crown

I was on. I was on an enduro bike. Yeah. Yeah. Impressive. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was crazy. It’s cool that we beat those times, you would expect that we would like I mean, obviously, it’s Sam Hill and Stevie Smith, but it’s just the older bikes. And yeah, and I mean, honestly, fitness like that was how many years ago, but everyone is arguably a lot more fitter. Now to be able to do a 10 minute stage. I mean, we still finish that track, and you’re like, pretty much cocked. But not like, cardio was it was more like my hands were just my, my hands are just dead. My arms are just dead by the end of it.

Chris  51:23  

But if I play, what do you think doing that event put you in a better position compared to some of the other races then when you get to get to Europe and get to study with us? For example, hadn’t

Jesse Melamed  51:35  

sorry, crack books as a whole. You mean the man? Yeah, the

Chris  51:38  

saucers just having that race in under your belt and getting fired up again, for

Jesse Melamed  51:41  

sure that no doubt, no doubt about it. I mean, I obviously didn’t choose to have to have the advantage. I just, you know, did this event. And it’s always the case for us, though, that we come into a season without racing. Because racing starts so early for us. Like we’re still buried in the snow when we go go away. So we’ve never come into a season with racing on their belt. And that’s kind of always been a disadvantage for us. So I know that like Martin kind of called me out, I think for you know, he’s like, Well, you know, I didn’t have three weeks of bracing leading up and desert mat, and I was like, okay, whatever. You guys don’t ever have to travel to North America, and you get pre racing before your races. So you can talk to me about disadvantages when you have advantages every single year, considering we’re going into a 10 race, European World Cup, and there’s not a single side of the pond. So I’ll ask you about that later. Yeah, you can tell him I’m a bit biassed about that. But ya know, 100% Yeah. And even even more than just getting racing under the belt like it was almost like a training and skills camp like doing dual doing downhill. ADH, maybe not. And then doing a duo like you’re doing different disciplines that are it’s like training. It’s like okay, well here’s downhill for our super max speed dialling and dialling and run and getting up to you know, 100% speed and then his dual slalom through like cornering and, and precise agility and cognitive function. And then there’s there’s enduro for obviously, enduro stuff, and then the day after day, like, there’s definitely a heavy rest period after that, because we’re so beat down But yeah, I mean, that was and then to like figuring out my bikes for that like learning a lot and dialling in like for the new bike was really good. So that was pretty huge. I mean, if I had a bike that I if I didn’t have a new bike, I wouldn’t have been making as much progress I think throughout the rest of but I was able to change things like every day and and race test it. So that was pretty, pretty beneficial. And yeah, just racing under the belt, getting your mind getting the jitters out like a you know, going to the mat. And especially with the way I think went like classic COVID, where you just show up, and then frickin stages are getting cancelled, and the weather is absolutely miserable. I feel like what I learned from COVID, and what I learned from craftworks, I was able to just really be unfazed by it all. Like I just remember being in the hotel. And I’m not usually I used to be a pretty nervous racer, like race day, pretty anxious. And I still am because I’m anxious, because I just want to have a good result, basically. And so I was just like, Ah, you know what, like, whatever if we race sweet, like I just, I have fun on the trails and practice and just get out there so that delays, it’s more like you just get bored. Like you just can’t really do much because you have to conserve your energy and you have to make sure that you’re ready to go if you go so like eating and not you know, not too much caffeine consumption or like all these little things like you have to make sure that you’re ready to go when you have to go and so you can’t dislike ways around and go to McDonald’s or go to a coffee shop and have coffee and treats like I was just kind of bored. I was like I just need something to do. But yeah, that It definitely helped that I was just kind of like, easy go on for all that and then you get the first agent. It’s just like it’s just such a crapshoot but ended up ended up being okay.

Chris  55:10  

Yeah, what all right in that first first place on the first stage in third place on the second stage of thing it?

Jesse Melamed  55:16  

Yeah, I think I definitely I you know what i did right for the first time I did wrong for the second stage because I was just, I was like, wow, okay, I didn’t expect that on the first stage. And so second stage, I just tried a little bit too hard. And I think that in my GoPro video, you can watch it and you just like, I think I tell myself, like, come on Jesse. Like, stop being an idiot. Because I just like blew two corners, because I was just coming in too fast and thinking too far ahead. And I’m like, okay, like, stop, just ride your bike the way you know, you can ride your bike. And then pedal really hard, because that’s just super physical. And yeah, it’s kind of like, yeah, me being me. I was like, Well, shit, I lost that stage. Like, I shouldn’t win the race because I lost the stage. I lost it by less than I won the first one. So

Chris  56:01  

while the first was the Queen stage, as well says more points. So

Jesse Melamed  56:05  

it wasn’t Yeah, yeah, more points on it doesn’t really matter, because there was no overall so.

Chris  56:09  

Yeah, of course. Yeah. Fair. And does that then sort of put you in a pretty good place confidence wise, because you’re effectively kind of leading the series, I suppose. After the first round, although at that point, that wasn’t a serious was that?

Jesse Melamed  56:24  

Yeah, I think like, um, it definitely, it definitely does, for sure. But I’ve had pretty good results, I’d say over, I’ve had a lot of injuries, obviously. But regardless of those injuries, I have not been outside the top 10. So I’ve had this kind of confidence of like, Okay, I know that I can be fast on a bike when I stopped making stupid mistakes. And so I’ve always kind of had this in the back of my mind, like, you just have to, you know, be more consistent and put together and stop making those little mistakes that have been consequences. So yeah, and like, obviously, I want What’s this, I know that I can be there. But this is now like, Okay, I know that I can be there without putting everything on the line. I guess it like being the absolute best that I can be because I didn’t feel like I was putting it all out there. I was just kind of like, yeah, I’m racing my hardest, but I’m not like killing myself trying to win. And but at once I was like, okay, that’s kind of cool to know that. My, you know, comfortable level comfortable race level is fast enough. And that’s, that’s pretty sweet. And that’s just good for the longevity of my career too, at this point. So I’m pretty happy that pretty happy that it happened the way it happened. And um, you know, there’s obviously so much that went into it and years and years of learning and and dialling things in to get to that point. It’s not like ours, the overnight success, which is different to a lot of people and a lot like what people don’t see. And I think it’s Yeah, I like it this way. I think it makes it that much sweeter and, and more gratifying when it takes so long to put it together.

Chris  58:07  

Yeah, definitely. Definitely. You went from there on to pH of a year and the weather was a little bit better than it was in Serbia. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about how that race went. Because it was it was a bit more mixed that one for you. Yeah,

Jesse Melamed  58:18  

not good. I mean, I, yeah, it’s it’s tough to say and I can say things however, I want to say them. But stage one, I was like, Okay, you know what, you you won a race already. You don’t have to be a hero. So don’t. And in that first stage, I was like, starting starting well, like wasn’t doing anything crazy. And then I just yeah, I, I really feel like I just got unlucky in this one corner and like a rock came out on my front wheel and put my wheel on the wrong side of a tree. And I just went down over the bars and like, crashes happened. But that one was unfortunate, because it was unforeseeable. And then it put me in a position that was like, I can’t just get up from this. My bars are twisted. So I wrote my bicep and I stopped on twist them, and then I trusted them more. And yeah, that was unfortunate, because I lost some time. And I was like, Okay, well, that was a bad start. But learning from that I picked up in one the second stage. So I knew that I was writing well, and then yeah, the third stage was the rain came down. And you can I don’t know, I just I didn’t. I could say that I had maybe the worst conditions because I was starting last but I didn’t I didn’t do well on that stage. Like I just I didn’t write it the way it could have been written I guess like, I think jack was only two people in front of me and he was up there on that stage. So like I shouldn’t have lost the most times I did but it definitely Yeah, didn’t help. didn’t help my day, that’s for sure. And then I went on and enjoyed the last couple really well like just super and those ones were like insanely technical because it was like a head rain and there was like they were kind of clay based. So they’re super slick. super tight. And like, I just wrote those I thought like, really, really well, like after those two I was like, okay, like, I can’t ask to race a trail any better than that. And I’m happy with that. So I still got seventh which, you know, falls in line with my top 10 consistency, but it’s not where I want to be obvious. And I think without the crash think without the crash on stage one because I had GoPro I timed it, I would have been second, and I don’t think he I don’t think Adrian was beatable, that race honestly, like he was. He was on it. So like, I don’t think I would have I’m not bummed that I didn’t win because I couldn’t have won. I don’t think I could have beat him. But it’s nice to know that, you know, taking the time, I’ve staged my stage to stage one crash, like I could have been set, obviously, like, other things could have happened. But I just know that I was I was there and Tom was at least

Chris  1:00:50  

Yeah, I did that fire you up even more for the last round in finale, then to kind of really

Jesse Melamed  1:00:56  

fired me up to I don’t know, I think I also didn’t do things as right heading into Pietro like, we had a lot of time off. And after that, I was like, kind of trying not to take things too seriously. So I was like, just having a good time riding and, and maybe, like, overrode. So I was maybe a bit tired going to Petra, so I just really took it easy going into finale. And I think I just did my I did my normal race prep finale. And that I think just put me in a better position and and that always loved for now. And the trails are great. And I think a lot of those shells sued me even though I didn’t love the pipe jank stuff. And the last stage is honestly pretty shit. But yeah, I think I just needed to go back to riding and having fun. And it definitely worked.

Chris  1:01:50  

Yeah, well, three stage wins in a sec on the last stage was that was that a conscious decision to just back off a little bit on that last stage to keep it safe and bring it home? Or that was? Yeah,

Jesse Melamed  1:02:02  

it was conscious because of spin. Just wanted to prove something wrong. After I say spirit, I think like, he wanted me to go for total status, domination. And he’s like, he’s like, Oh, are you gonna like, you know, play at the Jessie way where you just can’t check the records in the last stage. And I was like, No, you know what? Now? I’m older and wiser. I’m gonna slow down, make sure I can finish this race. And not risk. You know, as cool as it would be the whatever stage I don’t need to win every stage. I didn’t have to I don’t think I knew the time gaps was is kind of maybe a bit sketchy. Like, I think I was 17 seconds ahead, which is a huge margin. So I’d have If I had known that, I think maybe I did. I might have known it because I might have been like, okay, 17 is pretty big. Like, I’d have to ride like a complete idiot to lose that on that stage. So I think that’s probably what I said. And yeah, that was definitely a purposeful, so I’m proud of myself for that. I think that was, you know, a very good, good way to take it. You know, I didn’t I never feels good to lose time. Like, I hated that flow. And jack became so much on that stage, like, Well, shit, like, I’m slow. But yeah, I think it was. It was good. And it’s just crazy. how tight the time zone like I cannot imagine racing downhill because I just wouldn’t feel accomplished. If I walk by like, less than a second. Like, how can you? I mean, you think you won. If it’s like, a hair’s wet, just, I don’t know, some gust of wind, like push for your cross a line or something. And so I won that race. I don’t know. Like, I lost like nine seconds, maybe I must, it must have been like around 11 seconds in the lead or 10 or nine or something. And you’re like, Man, that’s so miniscule. Like, one mistake, and I wouldn’t have won that race. So like, Yeah, one wrong line, one crash. It’s It’s so so small that I want to win a race and be like I won that race.

Chris  1:04:01  

Play? Yeah. Well, it turned out it turned out well. I mean, looking back now on that season, how do you feel about I’m guessing you’ve done a bit of a bit of thinking and try to work out

Jesse Melamed  1:04:13  

super hard. Yeah, I mean, I think that like I said before, I think just so happy that I didn’t, you know, I never give up over the years. And I kept on putting in work regardless if it was working or not, like, I mean, not that it was the training was working, but like, I was crashing or or I wasn’t getting the results. They absolutely wanted to like, I just never stopped putting in 100% effort, and then it finally paid off with an unofficial, unofficial world champion. Yeah, I mean, I look back on that year and knowing that I don’t Yeah, I don’t care if it’s like in record books, but I was number one. So I’ll always know that I had a season in which for me, I’ve had maybe one One complete season, I think over the years. So that’s, that’s a huge success to me just completing a full season. And then also completing a season as being, you know, the number one that was there. So, yeah, I mean, I think it’s, I’ll always have that. And that’s I feel pretty accomplished. And I think that I want to do that again, obviously, but I just, I feel quite content. I’m like, okay, you know, I’m 29. Now, I’ve been racing for eight or nine years. And like, this isn’t the say, obviously, I’m never gonna retire because I love racing. And I’m not done with it, just like, I’ve been chasing that for so long, and have put so many broken bones that align for that, that I have to kind of look back take stock and really appreciate what I what I had. So

Chris  1:05:51  

yeah, I’ve always had a bit of a relief,

Jesse Melamed  1:05:52  

definitely a relief. I mean, I always kind of go through seasons, like just wanting one result. So I can kind of have that relief, like, Okay, I’m there. Like, I proved that I am fast. And now I can like, work on being fast. And I know, that’s not like the best way to look at things, but it’s just the way that my mind works. I need to like, own a race or like, I just need one stage to show that I was there. to note show myself that I have it and then from there, I can be like, Okay, I’m I’m there. Like, I know that I know that I have

Unknown Speaker  1:06:23  

to say that you did anything different that season?

Jesse Melamed  1:06:29  

No, not really, I think I’ve because of not getting, you know, thick because of things not going right in the beginning of racing. I’ve always added things to my programme of you know, whether it’s whatever gym training and and regular training and mental training and, and physio and all of these things like they all just add up. And I slowly just had all the pieces of the puzzle, I feel like and they all just kind of came together. And yeah, it was also a kind of perfect storm. I think graphics are a huge benefit to my racing. And it definitely provided a lot of practice and warm up and get a new age to get us out. So there’s that I mean, I’m not gonna like discount the fact that I yes, I was lucky in the way that things worked out for sure. I think it was. Yeah, it just worked out for me pretty well. But I mean, having said that, we all had to deal with your Coronavirus and not doing anything and having everything in jeopardy, like I never stopped. I like I said I had maybe three weeks off. And then I was pretty hard into training and like keeping things going throughout the summer, no matter if we were racing or not. So like, yes, we raised but I would have kept that training going all the way until now. So I feel like I have really good discipline and motivation for that kind of side of it. So I never, I never really lapse, which is I think also shown in my ability to always kind of get a top 10 is my training is always everything’s always there, you know, at some point or another, so I feel like I just had the ability to come in with the absolutely perfect prep into that season in it. And work the bike. You know, I had an amazing bike and an amazing staff and amazing team and everything, everything was there. So I think it just was, you know, kind of good timing for everything.

Unknown Speaker  1:08:15  

Yeah, well, so

Chris  1:08:16  

everything you’ve learned then from that season, will you change the way you approach this season? As a result? Like, will you will you change up anything in your training or in your process? Or in your preparation?

Jesse Melamed  1:08:27  

Yeah, I mean, a little bit like, I think I’ll, I’ll go a little bit easier on myself now. Because I you know, I just I always obviously just want to win and I want to be the best and I sacrifice a lot of things to get to that. That point. I feel like I treat my winters like an entire training camp. So I am, like I said, I’m skiing a little bit more and I’m you know, not trying to be as perfect in my, in my training, just trying to be very consistent, especially with the delay season and what’s going on. Like I’m just trying to be consistent, not perfect. So that’s a bit of a change. And then beyond that, I mean, no, I mean, why, why change things. I think that was a huge reason why I resigned with rocky like, you know, I jokingly said that I messaged last year and that was like jokingly not jokingly, I it was like talking to Craig I was like hey, like you guys have a sweet programme, like, let me know if there’s room. And yeah, I mean, the negotiation was rocky definitely took some time just so that we are all on the same page. But it was it’s tough because the last time I was signing with them after I won, it’s like everyone kind of wants you and this year is a bit different for sure. I think just with COVID like how wasn’t really I didn’t have a lot of that I had some offers but no one’s like, you know, no one really wanted to pony up for anything, which is interesting. Like there was what I wanted, but it wasn’t like you know, I just want and here’s like your golden deal but I think Regardless of all that, like I just rocky has just been really good to me. And I just like this. I like the story. I’m someone who just likes things the way they are and, and things that just kind of happen a certain way, like had something happen a different way. And I probably be super stoked for it. But Rocky, you know, the way it came about my old trainer had me on this local cycling programme, and then I just met the right people. And I just got in at the right time. And it was just very natural. And it’s just kind of been that way, since it’s not like this big corporate thing. It’s like, I just know everybody at Rocky and those guys were fighting really hard for me to, you know, get the, the executives to pay me what I wanted, which is, you know, very nice. And, yeah, I think that’s huge. I have a team that we have right now. And I didn’t want I didn’t want to actively leave the team that we built before. Like the team leaves me, you know, like, I didn’t, I didn’t want to leave that because I think that they’re a huge part of my success. Like I’m halen and ramjas teammates is amazing. And having Tara and Trotter and Matt, like on the staff side is just, everything just works really well. I think it was funny, Matt saying Matt was our new mechanic this year. And he was coming from a different team and being like, man, your team is so fun. And like, you’re genuinely friends that hang out at the races. And we’re like, Well, yeah, isn’t that what it’s supposed to be? But I think you know, I live I live in Squamish with Tara and Remy in Atlanta. And I see them like, at least once a week, throughout the week, throughout the year, and we’re hanging out all the time. And that’s pretty special. So I’m with rocky just down the road. Like, yeah, I just so just saying all that. I think, why, how could I leave? I mean, sure, I could get my money somewhere else. But it, I get to a certain point, I’m like, Well, I’m doing pretty well. Like I don’t need to be greedy just to like, up end my life. And so signing with rocky again is pretty huge. And I think it shows good commitment on their end because obviously they didn’t sign me as a top writer and I am now top writer and I know that that’s not easy for I’m sure their finance team to look at the balance sheet and be like, Man, what the hell? Why is this someone’s money guarded this person. But I looked at it and like I and I draw this up in our meetings, I was like, you guys have always had amazing programmes. Like if you look, you know, Rocky, I think is this is our 40th anniversary. So we’ve been around been around quite a while now, which is pretty cool. But throughout all those years, Rocky has always been at the forefront of kind of the wave of what’s going on like they were the throw rod is like the the free riders with tippy and slay and semmens. And that was like huge and then around I think maybe before that, I guess I had like the XC programme with

Dre and and they had Converse on there. And we’re gonna hold on Vermont like that a huge XC team that I grew up watching at the at the World Cups, and they had stream Zhonya and cam corn and downhill slide. And so they have always had this history of like doing things really well like not dipping their things, new things into everything. But when they’re doing something, they’re doing it really well. So they’ve had those race teams, I’ve had the free rider teams and and now they have the enduro team. And as long as that last, like, I really want to be a part of that, because I think it’s going to be a legacy that we look back on pretty fondly. And so yeah, I’m really happy to resign and, and, and I think it’s sweet that they are still committed to the programme, even though it’s kind of probably blue grown past what they had anticipated. So yeah, I’m super appreciative of that. And I didn’t, I didn’t want to change that. And so that makes things a lot easier. You know, like, I don’t have to, I don’t want to change anything, everything stays the same. And I can stay comfortable and and probably put all my focus into training and yeah, just kind of being the best that I can be. Yeah,

Chris  1:13:56  

well on second year on that bike. So you’ve hopefully gone through some of those early learning headaches of getting it closer to optimum. But there’s still more to do. But

Jesse Melamed  1:14:06  

yeah, there’s a few things that I’m really excited to try. So we’ll see. Yeah, that hasn’t started yet. I think, again, with a delay, it’s it’s really hard to write like, we can ride you in the winter, but it’s really hard to test and ride properly. So it’s almost like diminishing returns, like how much you’re gonna like rescue or put out there to like, go and test so haven’t done anything yet. I mean, it’s knowing that whatever if we had a normal start to the season, but we have so much time in the summer that I’m not too worried. So lots of cool things that I’m going to try there and I’m yeah, I think that though there could be some good things but yeah, I think the altitude is a solid bike and it’s been cool to see the reviews come out actually. And people think the same thing because I’m proving it is one thing but I really genuinely think that the bike is super fun and super capable and yeah, I really like it. So it’s it’s I’m happy that we stand that programme for Another year and hopefully now we’re like, stay on the altitude. Like we kind of went from the old altitude, which I did really well on. Actually, I’ve been on the previous two altitude platforms. Like when I first got on the team, it was the first altitude and it was actually called the altitude enduro team. So it was a long time ago, and then the new altitude that came out, obviously, one on that, and that was really sweet. And then we switched at 29 and which is the instinct and now that the options are 29, I went back on that, and hopefully we can kind of continue to develop and, and improve this bike that we’re currently on. I mean, I have no idea how to go about that, which is why there’s engineers that are paid to do that. But yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s a sweet bike, and hopefully, hopefully, we can get everyone dialled in on it, because I know that no ram in Erlanger want to do the same thing. So yeah, we got some wisdom.

Chris  1:15:50  

Is there anything on your list of experiments that you can tell us about? Are you keeping your cards close to your chest?

Jesse Melamed  1:15:55  

Yeah, I mean, just more things that rocky probably doesn’t want me to do the bike. But yeah, I guess the main thing is, I do want to try, reach adjust, just because I just want to know, like, is my bike too big? For me? And would I be better suited to maybe a slightly shorter reach? So I’ll test that. And just just to know, like, I mean, yes, the bike worked well, for me. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t work better. So. Yeah, well, we’ll see. And there’s a few other things, but I think that’s

Chris  1:16:29  

just gonna, we’re just gonna do reach adjust with a headset.

Jesse Melamed  1:16:32  

Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Chris  1:16:35  

So how much can you change it on that? Five?

Unknown Speaker  1:16:38  

mil? Okay, it’s

Unknown Speaker  1:16:40  

a fair chunk, then.

Jesse Melamed  1:16:41  

Yeah, I mean, fair bit. So if I’m at like, I don’t know the exact number because we have that custom chip in. So like, I want to say it’s like 450, around 450, let’s say and so if I can get it to 445. That’s pretty big as a slayer, the way that I was running it, eventually, it was a 446. I think. It definitely felt a little bit more comfortable. So yeah, I think I think that would be pretty sweet. So and I mean, yeah, just I mean, basically, for me doing a medium. I’m like, Well, I gotta try like something. Because if he likes a medium better, like that’s pretty telling smalls, I think too small for me. So it’s hard to know, because like, you know, we’re, we’re different sizes, but not like the perfect small, medium size or medium large size. So as he calls it to me in the medium than I am to him, or in the large, so it’s Yeah, definitely super complicated. And yeah,

Chris  1:17:33  

it shows how tricky it is for brands to size, you know, to create three or four sizes and arrange that work for the majority of people, isn’t it?

Jesse Melamed  1:17:39  

Yeah, totally. I mean, every bite monster comes out. Now I’m looking at the resizing just to be like, okay, where are they placing my bikes, and honestly, none of them are in the range that I want them to, I think I want something in like mid 444 45, or 440 to 445, I think would be the perfect for me, but no one can exabyte at size. They’re all like, either too big or too small. And it’s That’s crazy. So I know no matter where you are, no matter what bike like. I mean, if you find a bike that fits you, that’s probably that just stick with that. But because you’re not going to be perfect on every size, like on a medium for every bike brand. They’re all going to be slightly different.

Chris  1:18:19  

Yeah. And not everyone is searching for the, you know, the x plus little percent of performance.

Jesse Melamed  1:18:26  

Are they like, yeah,

Chris  1:18:27  

you guys are very unique in that respect.

Jesse Melamed  1:18:29  

Yeah, but I mean, that’s why we had to kind of change our bikes a little bit I feel like and why people should understand that. It’s like you can I could be fine on a small or medium I’m sure. Like, I would have fun either way, is maybe a bit of compromise to each. So anyone buying a bike is like, yeah, buy the bike that fits you the best, and it’ll be really good. For sure. And then you can kind of change a few things around that. But yeah, I mean, if you’re super serious and just buy a bike that fits you, but how do you know what like? I don’t I don’t really like no one has made some sort of calculation of height to reach or anything like that, or front and rear centre. Like there’s nothing really around that says I, which is kind of crazy. actually think about it. Like all of all of this is coming out and for how many years now? We’ve been going longer, lower slacker. How come no one’s tried to like, figure out the optimal like, hey, you’re 170 centimetres tall. Okay, this is like your reach that you should be on this bike.

Chris  1:19:34  

be interested in if someone had that spreadsheet. I bet someone somewhere has got something they have a fabyan fabyan has it? I’ll ask him that.

Jesse Melamed  1:19:42  

Yeah, I’d like because I tried to. I’ve tried to figure that out in his podcast cuz I think Troy’s similar size to me and I was trying to figure out what Troy was doing to his bicycle. I know that canyons pretty good at modifying and and optimising their bikes. And so I was like, Yeah, what’s he doing? And I forget like he ended up. He ended up sizing up but Richard Justin shorter, right? Do you remember?

Chris  1:20:09  

Yeah, but I think, yeah, and then he was full 29. But he’s dropped back to the mullet version now, but I think he’s still on the same frame size so large with the reach back, which is 10 mil back, I think on the sender.

Jesse Melamed  1:20:24  

Yeah, because it was kind of a bag and I couldn’t I couldn’t figure out exactly what he’d ended up on. But it’s obviously different for a downhill bike. But it’s interesting because yeah, I I tried to study other people as much as I can to learn from them. And now you’re looking at someone like Tani and that bike definitely look like it got bigger for her when she said she liked. But then you get to the races? And like, I don’t know, like, I don’t know. Yeah,

Chris  1:20:52  

I’m pretty sure she’s on the medium. And again, with the reach set to the shortest, or that

Jesse Melamed  1:20:58  

has just, it’s just one of those things where you can ride a bike and, and train at home. And then as soon as you go to a race, it just it really makes apparent what you kind of been missing. And everyone kind of struggled with that because you can’t get racing. But yeah, someone will say, and I have a few instances where I think of like someone’s like, yeah, my bike is sick. Like I love the way it’s handling like this, and they get to a race. And I know from being a racer, that they’re probably having some huge internal struggles right now because they’re not performing the way they want to. And yeah, like on the outside, obviously never gonna, like really let that be apparent. But yeah, I think as races, we’re always struggling like this, the syndicate and the foxes is pretty good for that. Because it shows like, you know, maybe some of that’s played up, but definitely, there’s just constant like, changing and nothing is good enough, because I don’t think anyone thinks that bike is perfect. or, or, you know, amazing. It’s just, it’s always gonna feel bad in some place. And that’s what I’m gonna focus on. So it’s just

Chris  1:22:00  

constantly changing. And it’s the same in other sports with a complex kind of setup, I guess, like formula automotive sports example, like the car is never perfect. Yeah, they just work throughout the weekend to get it as close to optimum as they can.

Jesse Melamed  1:22:15  

Yeah, f1 I don’t understand. Like I’ve been watching basically, since driver survive came out. And I learned like enough about it. I’ve watched every race for the last three years. And, okay, I guess I don’t understand enough of what they can change to understand what they are changing. Like, I know that they complain about their car and this, and they’re stealing the balance. But I’m like, those cars are so complex, like what do they actually what do they actually able to change and wise loses cars so much better than everybody else’s car? Like? I know what the bass like they have a more powerful car and they’re like, downforce to the corners is a lot better without sacrificing the straight line speed. But when they’re actually changing stuff on the car, like the balance on practice and stuff, like what? Yeah, like, what do they feel? How can they? Yes, that’s that’s pretty, too high level for me. I think

Chris  1:23:08  

it would be an interesting chat, wouldn’t it to sit down with someone, like an engineer go through that?

Jesse Melamed  1:23:13  

Yeah, it’s interesting. You know, I I have a joke with like, Tara and because like, we watch f1 and, I mean, I just like those guys just don’t seem like athletes to me. They just seem like no, playboy is a travel the world. And they’re just really good at driving cars. But I know that’s taking away a huge amount from them, because they’re obviously the best of what they do in that sport is arguably the pinnacle of sport, but they just, you know, you, I follow them on Instagram and like watching them train and I put air quotes because like, I don’t know, like, they had to change their neck and have to be genuinely fit but like met like those guys. I remember one day I was scrolling through Instagram. And there’s a post of Max Verstappen doing like split squats with dumbbells. And he’s got like, like, it was like 10 or 15 pound dumbbells and like, okay, cool, whatever. And then the next post was Troy do the exact same exercise with like, 80 pound dumbbells and you’re like, this is what I mean. I feel like it’s a bit different. I mean, those guys, I guess have to be light so they can’t put on too much or too much muscle but you follow someone like Louis and you’re like, Man, what does that guy do? He just, he’s just a celebrity. And he’s really freakin good at driving a car.

Unknown Speaker  1:24:29  

Yeah, like he’s

Jesse Melamed  1:24:31  

absolutely nigma for me, because I I can’t understand that he just does not seem like a champion. You know, like in when I when I follow him what i see i just i don’t see that. Obviously, I’m not discrediting what he does at all because he’s done seven years now, I think in a row and like, Yeah, dude, that’s insane to be at the top of that sport for that long.

Chris  1:24:53  

So you think he’s he doesn’t seem like someone who would win that much because of how much other stuff he seems distracted by play.

Jesse Melamed  1:25:02  

Yeah, he’s just he’s you know, he’s kind of supposed to do on a daily on a daily, like a day to day basis. He’s got his. He’s got his clothing line with Tommy Hilfiger, and so on his sponsorships and things he’s probably got to do and how, like, how can you manage all that and show up to a race and still do so like?

Chris  1:25:24  

I guess they have a lot more staff, they get paid a lot more than mountain bikers, so they could have a lot more people to do things for them. Yeah,

Jesse Melamed  1:25:31  

I mean, true. That’s the thing is like, I just wonder like, is it kind of a forest? Like, is it? I don’t know, are we are we being fed something that’s like, once, you just have to make it to f1. And you just have to make it to the best team, and they need to be pretty damn good. But like, the car and the team does so much like, do you have to be the absolute best driver in the world? This guy is kind of what I think. And that’s probably an unpopular opinion. But I just, I still watch and I still enjoy it. But I just, I started watching my Moto GP COVID. And that is way more excited those guys because they do there’s so much more skill involved, like difference, I guess, more visual skill, where like, I can see them leaving the bike, and I can see the mistakes that they’re doing or what they’re doing, right. Whereas an f1 car, like, you can’t see the skill those guys have, because all they’re doing is all you see them doing is turning the wheel. But there’s so much more that goes into the strategy and all the different buttons they have and how to turn and what they can feel in the car. Like, I understand that I don’t understand, which is why I’m not too critical. So but Moto GP and that this season was insane. And watching those guys, it’s so cool, because, yeah, you just just watch them, like put it on the line. It’s crazy.

Chris  1:26:46  

Yeah, the race is incredible. You should it sounds like you’ve missed the good areas of Formula One, like you should try and find some old ones to watch as it’s got so technical, and so aerodynamically dominated. That it just it’s I mean, I used to watch it all the time. And I don’t think I’ve sat and watched a race for four or five years all the way

Jesse Melamed  1:27:06  

through for now. Like I would say one out of 10 races is exciting.

Chris  1:27:10  

Either one is definitely highlights. There’s good. Yeah,

Jesse Melamed  1:27:13  

that’s for sure. But it’s just yeah, I think what you’re saying is right, like, I want to watch it in the days when like they had to shift and like, just control the car lock or like, I feel like the car does so much. Now. It’s all it’s all technical. And you have your race engineer, and he’s the one that’s really like, you know, they’re the ones that are kind of doing all the all the work. You’re just putting your life on the line by being in the car. Yeah,

Chris  1:27:38  

be interesting to see like, how hard it really is to get someone who’s a reasonable driver and put them in an f1 car. See what happens?

Jesse Melamed  1:27:46  

Well, I mean, it was evidenced by I don’t know if you saw George Russell, because was it Louis COVID for one of the second last race or something and yeah, and they put George Russell in his car and like he, he killed it. Like, he went from the worst car in the field to the best driving. He ended up having a flat and a lot of issues with a pit stop. I think so like he didn’t do well. But he was going to win. I think if like if the whole pit survival didn’t happen and the flat, I think he would have won and you’re like, Okay, yeah, I mean, he’s also probably a really good driver. Like, that’s why he’s been on the Mercedes development team forever. But at the same time, like, I wouldn’t expect me being a good rider. Like, as good as I am. You couldn’t put me on let’s say lorises biker boy, like similar size and weight. And and say that I’m just going to win. Like, I would like to think that I could, yes, sure. I could probably do pretty well. But I don’t think I shouldn’t I shouldn’t be able to or let’s say someone in in downhill, I guess it’d be a better example. Like, who was like a 20th? Place rider? That’s really good. And then you could put them on like Lauryssens by a quick or they’re gonna go and win the next race? I don’t think so. And that’s, I mean, like an S in f1. It’s like, okay, you take the guy in the absolute worst guy who finishes, he doesn’t actually finish last because it’s really good driver, but mostly last put them in the best car and he wins. It’s like, yeah, I mean, yeah. What does that come down to?

Chris  1:29:19  

Yeah, less of it must be about the driver, right? Because

Jesse Melamed  1:29:25  

I know that I’m implying that but I don’t want to say it because I don’t want to take away from what those guys do you like, obviously, that. It’s incredible. But I just yeah, it makes you wonder like,

Chris  1:29:36  

Yeah, but maybe flip it the other way that the vehicle provides is a bigger percentage of the ultimate performance than it is with a mountain bike.

Jesse Melamed  1:29:44  

Yeah, yeah, for sure.

Chris  1:29:45  

I think that’s fair to say because it’s on a mountain bike. The power comes from the rider, not the bike. And as a percentage of the massive move. Yeah, definitely. It’s a lot more of it is the rider than the bike whereas in the car. It’s It’s a very different situation. But yeah, I’m sure they’re still incredibly talented. Yeah. Yeah, just very different.

Jesse Melamed  1:30:08  

So let’s, let’s

Chris  1:30:08  

bring it back to mountain biking briefly, but we I think you touched on your, on how you felt about it earlier. But we’ve got a season that is going to be solely in Europe, the Whistler round was cancelled. And before it even was announced, almost. And that makes it tricky again, for you guys, I suppose. Do you feel that it puts you at a bit of a disadvantage compared to people based in Europe?

Jesse Melamed  1:30:31  

Yeah, I mean, it’s just always been that way. And we’re not the only ones obviously, that you know. So South Americans and pan Asia like New Zealand, Kiwis have always had to deal with it. But I think europeans don’t really understand how kind of fortunate they are like, I was on the European team for quite a few years. And the complaints every time they had to fly to Canada, the US was like, Can you do this once a year? And I understand jet lag is pretty shitty. But like, Yeah, we do it every year, multiple times. And that’s one of the things where I kind of thought, okay, Mark can say what he says about Matt, but I had to show up deal with jet lag. A guy I don’t I’m really bad with jet lag. It’s sleep kind of in general. It takes a lot for me that down. I didn’t like I didn’t sleep a full night until Thursday. So basically halfway through practice. And then I’m finally sleeping. And I’m racing like, so yes, I have all this cool prep stuff. But like, jet lag hits me really hard. And it’s something that always kind of messes me up. So yeah, I think that I don’t know. And I know that I keep talking to him Miranda and the downer people like they complain when they’re deployed in Montana. It’s like, well, first of all, it’s east coast. So you’re not even doing that that as many hours. And like she has like once a year. And I know that they maybe understand but I just don’t I think they’re very spoiled. Honestly. Like it’s it’s tough job in the world. And with a lot more stress that’s involved with flying across the across the world, and there’s jetlag and there’s different culture and different food and all this stuff. So it is definitely it’s it’s tough on us for sure. And I mean, we joke about all the time, but we just do not have trails like yet like all of your house trails, like Yeah, but we cannot find a shitty enough trail to train on. There, most of them are really good, but like, you know, some of those stages that get put in are just so ridiculous. And I’m going to try to find them but we get like I think we need to make some sort of arrangement with the hiking club in in Squamish or something so we can go ride their trails, but seems like it I think, I don’t know. It’s it’s tough, but it’s just the way it is. And I’ve never really like complained about it, because it’s just it is what it is and and Europe is able to put on all these races. So I’m happy that we get to go I love going to Europe, and I love the places that we get to go to I think it’s amazing. And finding those hidden gems of trails in these random places in Europe is incredible. Like I remember like, whenever that was like, the trails, they’re like, just this random sleepy town in France and some of the sickest trip like they’re not trails because they’re not really bike trails, but they’re so good. And I think that’s, that’s so rad, and I love it, but it’d be nice if it was more of a World Series and this year especially it’s like, I mean, I’m just grateful that we can have seasons. I don’t know, I don’t care that it’s all in Europe. I mean, I do but I’m like I’m not gonna complain about it because we get to it so like who I’m never going to complain about that. But yeah, it’s gonna be tough I think with I mean obviously we’re sort of in the council I think I never thought it was going to be on so I think we’ll have a stable entire summer and yeah, there’s no point in coming back and having to quarantine twice so that’ll be I

Chris  1:33:49  

was gonna say where you base yourself in Europe for this is quite a big gap isn’t there in August, I guess four months?

Jesse Melamed  1:33:54  

I think. Yeah. So I mean, we’ll see I’m not super looking forward to that. I guess I’m I’m looking forward to the fact that we have a spring and a summer expand at home which I don’t normally do so that’ll be really cool. But yeah, spending that long of a suitcases isn’t isn’t the most fun thing and especially just in COVID like you can’t really really maximise you can’t go anywhere that you want and do anything that you want like otherwise it’d be sweet just have a year road trip and tourist for a couple months but I don’t know I don’t know what we’re gonna do yet. We haven’t had teams just kind of talking about it so we’ll see but Matt whatever he said least we get at least we have to go race and I’m excited to go back to a lot of the places I’m stoked to go back to people’s and in elite them so that’ll be a that’ll be sweet. I’m stoked to do those and go back to Canada and the tutorial I feel like we have a really good lineup of races this this this summer so hopefully, I mean, I’m I’m pretty like maybe I’m setting myself up for disappointment now but I’m pretty confident that this is going to happen. So Yeah, hopefully that hopefully that all happens.

Chris  1:35:02  

Yeah, things seem to be on a positive trend in Europe at the moment, I think, yeah, if that continues, then nothing is

Jesse Melamed  1:35:10  

happening so soon because I feel like the closer we get to the summer and the more that we get into summer things definitely just seemed like they got better last year. And that’s why I’m kind of hopeful like, the period that there is a set in this year, at least the first block is like when things were the most calm last year. So

Chris  1:35:26  

yeah, and we fit it. Certainly in the UK. It feels like we should be a bit ahead of that this year, like the curve is dropping off. Now instead of picking up down guiding, so it’s good. Yeah, fingers crossed. I mean, it’s not been easy to get there, but hopefully will give us a good summer and much more normality than we’ve had for a wee while now.

Jesse Melamed  1:35:48  

Yeah. Well, I hope so for you guys this case. I mean, I think we’ve had a pretty pretty lucky here, but yeah,

Chris  1:35:56  

we shall see Fingers crossed. But yeah, well, we’re, we’re getting close to end of our time, so we should probably wrap up. But if people want to keep up to speed with what you’re up to, where is the best place for them to head?

Jesse Melamed  1:36:09  

Yeah, Jesse Melamed on Instagram is definitely all of my stuff. Everything goes through there. And then I’ll eventually get my YouTube back up and running. And there’s a few new things coming in like the spring so we’ll see some more stuff there. And yeah, definitely Instagram probably the best. I feel like I do a pretty good job of bringing people into most of what I do not the everyday boring stuff and training stuff all the time. But definitely genuinely like what I’m what I’m up to. So,

Chris  1:36:37  

so cool. Yeah, we’ll put some links in the show notes to both of those people can find it and yeah, wish you all the best. Hopefully, we have a better season than last year but that you get on as well as you did last year.

Unknown Speaker  1:36:49  

Yeah,

Chris  1:36:49  

looking forward to seeing that goes swimmingly. Well, thanks for the chat as a pleasure. And

Jesse Melamed  1:36:54  

yeah, until next time,