November 5, 2004

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Click on pic for more photos of Tracy! Photo by Lucas Kane

MZ: So why didn’t you race in England’s National Championships this year?

Moseley: The UCI recently enforced a rule that requires all National Champions to wear their National Champion jersey at every UCI ranked event the following season. Had I won, the space available for sponsors logos on my National Championship jersey would be limited and the sponsors that support our team would have lost valuable advertising space. Because our sponsors make the team a reality, Kona felt it would be better that I didn’t race and avoid the possibility of conflict all together.

MZ: Did you ever imagine that the jersey you’d wear while riding your bike would cause such a problem?

Moseley: Never! In fact, I never expected to still be racing at this point in my life and I certainly did not expect people to be paying for space on my jersey! (Laughs)

MZ: How did your illustrious career begin?

Moseley: A long time ago, my brother raced cross-country and the first time I went to watch him I thought, "Ah - that’s too much work." He suggested that I try something other than cross-country so I decided to enter a local dual-slalom race. I did pretty good the first year and the next year I won. After the race, someone said to me, "Do you realize who you’ve just beaten?"

It turns out that the girls I had beaten were some of the best female riders in the country. After that, I started racing the nationals in 1995 and I slowly worked my way on to the World Cup. It’s been nearly ten years now.

MZ: Early in your career, who did you look up to?

Moseley: I looked at people like Nico Vouilloz and Anne-Caroline Chausson. They’re the two who’ve dominated for the last ten years and you have to look at where they’re getting their advantage. Who knows the answer to that though - I’d love to.

MZ: You’ve probably been asked this question a million times, but can Chausson be beaten? I mean, she’s been crowned downhill World Champ for the last ten years and she continues to dominate the sport.

Moseley: I think it’s only when you believe that you can do it that it suddenly becomes possible. Now, at this point in my life, I do believe it’s possible. She’s not riding that much faster than the top girls and I think it’s just a matter of getting it right that one time.

MZ: What’s the reality of competing at such a high level, day after day, year after year?

Moseley: With corporate sponsors, you’ve got to keep a lot of people happy and sometimes you start to put a lot of pressure on yourself especially when you realize that once you get to the top, there’s only one way down. You hold yourself at the top as long as you can but it takes a lot out of you.

MZ: Downhill mountain biking has a small audience compared to say tennis or golf. Have you ever been recognized in public?

Moseley: Once I went to a moto-cross race and some kids recognized me. That was the first time I’d been recognized outside of the mountain bike industry and I suddenly thought, ‘Imagine if I was famous.’ Just the thought of people hording you for an autograph is really unpleasant.

MZ: But some people love fame and fortune!

Moseley: I believe that everyone’s the same whether you’re great at a sport or not. In fact, I think you’re the same as the next guy and that it is just within your sport that you’re someone special. But that’s when I think you realize where your focus and your drive comes from. You have to be driven from inside and want to improve for yourself, rather than do things to make other people appreciate you.

MZ: While the cross-country racers are clean shaven and have a reputation of being endurance athletes, the downhill racers are often compared to a motorcycle gang - fast, furious and riding with reckless abandonment. I guess Shaun Palmer set the tone years ago. What’s it’s really like on the downhill tour?

Moseley: Things have chilled out because there are sponsors to please and as a rider you can’t afford to not be in good shape the next day, but there’s still loads of funny stuff that happens. It is like a circus at times, but you just learn to leave before things get too bad.

MZ: Any funny stories from the road?

Moseley: It’s usually the standard stuff. Someone trashed a rental car. Some guys were riding trials in their hotel rooms bouncing off the walls and between their beds. It’s always the same goons, but you need those people. You have the entertainers and those that aren’t - you always have the whole spectrum in any group. It is the wandering circus of the world cup.