The NSMB Podcast
From the team behind NSMB.com, The NSMB podcast will go behind the scenes with the makers, breakers, and risk-takers of our favourite sport. Interviews, news, and other important topics will all be on the menu.
The NSMB Podcast
Steve Vanderhoek
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Deniz Merdano sits down with North Shore freerider Steve Vanderhoek to discuss his day-to-day life as a firefighter and how it influences his decisions when pioneering some of the most progressive lines on the North Shore, as well as an exciting new project that Steve is working on, set to release in the spring of 2025.
Intro. Connecting through riding. Riding with Brage Vestavik.
Steve VanderhoekI don't really have a group of people that I ride with . I'm just happy to ride with everyone . But I think after a ride like I had with Brage today , which was absolutely at my max , I'm very excited to probably this weekend go for a ride with my dad and just connect and relax and just enjoy a nice mellow ride . And I'm going to enjoy them both equally , they're just different .
Deniz MerdanoJust time on bikes right Just time on bikes .
Steve VanderhoekRight , just time on bikes , yeah welcome back to nsmb podcast .
Deniz MerdanoMy name is dennis merdano and thank you for joining me today . I hope you're having a wonderful december so far and staying warm and cozy on those frozen , muddy trails and for our friends down in Southern Hemisphere , we're envious of you . Well , today I'm joined by a mountain biker's sweetheart , steve Vanderhoek . Steve , a firefighter and extremely talented mountain biker who can dissect one of the most technical moves and the consequential moves on North Shore and beyond with a surgeon's precision . We love watching him ride , we love watching him talk , and I got to talk with him about the projects that he's working on , projects that we worked on together , and what does it take to be a first responder and a mountain biker on the North Shore . I hope you enjoy it . All right , welcome everyone . This is the NSMB podcast and we're here with Steve Vanderhoek in North Shore . Like you didn't wander off too far .
Steve VanderhoekWe're in my home , I'm home . Yeah , this is in my home . This is a great home . This is gonna be a very comfortable podcast .
Deniz MerdanoAnd I think last time I was here was around Christmas time too , and I enjoyed the amount of decorations and the vibes in this house . It's a house , it's home .
Steve VanderhoekIt's Kelsey , it's home . I'm lucky to be with a woman like interior decorator , real estate photographer . She goes and shoots high-end real estate , comes back with her ideas that we don't have the money for , but she makes it work . Yeah , you could just go to Michael's and make it work . Yeah , we look high-end on a low budget .
Deniz MerdanoThat's awesome . You know , you've got to look the part and that's great . Well , thanks for having me .
Steve VanderhoekThis is super fun .
Deniz MerdanoAnd this is quite informal , which is , I think , the nicest way of doing it .
Steve VanderhoekThat's my style , yeah , yeah .
Deniz MerdanoHow was your day ?
Steve VanderhoekToday was . I'm actually on a bit of a comedown today . I just got to go on a ride of my favorite trails on Seymour with Brage Vestivic , jeff Gullovich and my good buddy Owen Cartouche from Race Face , and it was hectic man .
Deniz MerdanoLike I was A bunch of amateurs riding the North Shore .
Steve VanderhoekOh , just a bunch of amateurs . No , it was insane . Like you know , you think you've ridden here all your life and you think you're at you know a certain level and you think you're kind of good and gnarly , and then you go ride with a guy that's like that , far above you and it's eye-opening and respectable and awesome so yeah .
Deniz MerdanoSo how does that work , like inviting someone who's never ridden here . I don't think brog has been here I mean he's been here for the week or so yeah , he's been pemby .
Steve VanderhoekHe just got back from the island riding provost with some of the the fast kids out there and then I think this was his first taste of the I don't . He rode fifth horseman a couple , like a week ago , and then today was his first seymour and what a good introduction .
Steve VanderhoekFifth horseman is probably one of the better introductions of north shore I mean fifth horseman and I mean , if you don't know it , like that place has a special place in my heart . Uh , it has everything . It has everything . And like when I was a young kid , uh , ken mott from current lynn valley bikes owner took me out there and my dad paid him to coach me down it . So that trail will always be my favorite on the shore . I've shot videos on it , I test my bikes on it . I think that trail's cool . It's got flow , old-school jumps , nars to the NARS steps and it just runs great in all conditions .
Deniz MerdanoAnd it has a backcountry feel to it too .
Steve VanderhoekIt does great in all conditions and it has a backcountry feel to it too . It does yeah , yeah , you , you kind of ride it and you pop out to that western exposure , looking over like horseshoe bay , and you're like what ? This is a different . You know , where am I now ? Where are we ?
Deniz Merdanoyeah , that's so cool , great trail so you guys rode seymour and you took him on some of your moves , some of your trails . Um , how did that go ? How did that experience go like showing someone that you knew that can ride anything , like do you expect him to ride in a certain level , or like yeah , yeah , I think , like you know the guy , he's coming here .
Steve VanderhoekHe's got everyone wanting to tug at him to come out and ride . So I want to make sure I gave him a good , like a good fun day of biking , with no expectations , but I knew like the level that this guy's at and what he wants to do . Um , so I think I was riding at my 100 speed limit like fastest I've ever ridden down some dark side trails and the guy's like right on my ass , like my arms are so like I've never had arm pump like that in my life , and he was just , you know , like I got like that , like I kind of idolized the guy man , like I think he's one of the coolest guys out there , one of the best riders , and you know , I'm pulling for gaps , almost blowing up in holes , and I just hear him like yeah , buddy , just screaming behind me . I'm like , okay , like I'm doing my job here . I'm giving this guy and that's all I want to do , like I just want to ride with my friends and and show them a good time .
Finding different limits. First responder adventures.
Deniz MerdanoUm , and then when we got to like the actual gnarly features , like he ride him with me , I'd tow him in and then he'd come back and hit them at you know like 50 faster , which is crazy that is really cool to see right with like so much control , like you can tell that the guy right used to be a racer and he's just like immersed in that kind of gnarliness and that's part of the north shore , right like you can ride something a hundred times and every time it has slightly sketchy feel to it because it's ever-changing terrain . Yeah , every time it rains it changes the trail . Every time you ride it , it changes the trail , so it's a new experience .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , every time you ride the trail that you know totally and someone comes in first time and just has a great time on it yeah , actually I had just gone down there with a saw the day before and I raked it and I cleared everything out , so I knew all the lines and he didn't know them and he's still just like holding pace , which was like insane .
Steve VanderhoekBut I think like I have my limit of how hard I want to push and you can just tell his limit is that much higher than mine and it's cool to see it all . Like if I tried to push as fast as him I'd explode and I know that , so I pull it back and he can like go that much further . It's like one of my favorite things about where I've been able to get my kind of self in the industry is just being able to ride with these different people like gully and bearcloth and johnny salido and all these cool guys from around the world . Just such a fun experience to go see their stuff , have them come here and just like see their eyes just be like this is insane . How does that feel ? And it's the shore man . The shore is . It's special and it's cool to share that .
Deniz MerdanoThat is so cool and I imagine he had a great time .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , we were . Actually . We were driving down the dump Mount Seymour Parkway on the way out and we rolled up to a stop sign and he rolled his window down . He's just like , gave me a little chin nod of respect . He's like that day is going to stay in my memories . Bro takes off . I'm like , ah , that's cool . And , like you know , he's got a red bull helmet and he's an insane rider , but he's still just a person .
Steve VanderhoekBut it's cool to be able to like share a day like that and there's no camera crew or anything , it's just just for the riding , just for the love of riding that's so fun and , uh , like you can tell that guy loves riding bikes and it gets me fired up , which is why you know I'm just coming down from that high from today that's so cool .
Deniz MerdanoAnd so this is your fourth day off and you're you're back to work tomorrow back to work tomorrow .
Steve VanderhoekI think I rode it's unseasonably nicer now . We had a bunch of rain . Uh , it's december 5th now and that was four days of perfect weather . It was so I took full advantage of it . I'm very tired gonna go into work . You're full , you're . You're buckets full I'm buckets full . I'm gonna sleep . Amazing tonight we got a heavy storm coming tomorrow , so at the fire hall I'll be busy with right , so letting in car .
Deniz MerdanoSome people may not know you're . You're a firefighter . Yeah , um , not quite paramedic , but you guys do a lot of paramedic .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , like first response yeah , I was a licensed paramedic before I got into fire and I've maintained that license and now I'm going into my 12th year of full-time firefighting yeah , and that schedule works for you and yeah , it's great , like we would .
Steve VanderhoekWe work 24 hour shifts so even though like I have , I mean I have quite a bit of time off , but I still work by like 48 hours a week so I get my hours in , but I I work while people sleep and we're pretty busy here in North Van City . I'd say , you know , on average we maybe do like five to eight calls per night , so like you're not getting much rest , right , but uh , yeah , it gives me lots of , lots of time to go shooting with kelsey test bikes , travel , like kind of living the dream man .
Deniz MerdanoI'm loving it right , because when it's off , it's off . You move on with your life , and then you go to work , work intense and move out of it .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , I like to . I like to say I leave it at the fire hall . But , um , I mean , I have struggled with that this year and the previous year , just like as I've gotten a bit older and gone through my career , like I have struggled to leave it at the fire hall . So there have been certain calls that have been sticking with me more but , um , nearing the end of a year-long project here that you've been able to be around for , um , I'm just going to kind of shed some light into that and some of the things that first responders uh , go through from the mental health side of things , and just how to find , you know , the joy in life and keep it going even after you see some of these things so a lot of your co-workers and first responders on the north shore are mountain bikers themselves .
Deniz MerdanoYeah , adventure sports , um , some extreme sports as well , um is that . How does that connection work at the fire hall when you look into each other and you know eye to eye and know that outside of the fire hall you have a relationship as well as riding buddies or adventure buddies ?
Steve Vanderhoekyeah it , it's really cool because it this job seems to , especially here , attract very like-minded people , not to use a ultra cliche term . But you know , each person there seems to be like high energy . You know , always wanted to look for the the best in life and challenge themselves . Um , so everyone that's there is usually wanting to , you know , go camping or skiing or biking or do something in the backcountry . So on our days off we come back to work and like , oh , how was your weekend ? Like , oh , I was down freaking wingsuiting down in here . Like , oh , man , that's insane , I was riding with brage and it's , it's really cool . And we all ride together , we hang together , we support each other and through the highs and lows , it's , it's a very cool one hall department that I work for and you don't get to relax at work .
Steve VanderhoekIt it's full on dealing with really tough stuff , definitely . I do think that you know like everyone likes to laugh and say two barbecues , two sleepovers , like how's that for you ? And I don't really care what people say . But some departments are obviously slower . Like if you work in a municipality with 20 halls , if you've got an outlying hall , sure you might be able to go to bed and have zero calls , and that sounds really nice as I get a bit older here . But yeah , like I said , we are super busy One hall in kind of the busiest part of North Vancouver dealing with overdoses and medicals ranging from heart attacks to abdominal pain , headaches , seizures , strokes , all those things . So gotta have a good , uh good , level of medical training . And then , you know , go to wires down during storms , fires , marine accidents , trail rescues , we go to everything . So it's it's actually hard to maintain a high level of training and all these things .
Deniz MerdanoYeah , and the fire department is responsible for mountain bike rescues as well , right On the North Shore .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , it's no longer North Shore . Well , north Shore Rescue and forgive me , I'm going to get the there's a certain distance into the forest that um , the district or west van will respond and then , past that we'll go straight to nsr . And then a lot of times they'll be mutual aid , like if there's somewhere far in the back country or dark side of seymour uh district may respond and then realize that it's going to be dark in an hour and they'll call up north shore rescue and they'll get a , a mutual aid , maybe a helicopter extraction . But yeah , the definitely the key for uh takeaway with that is , if you are hurt , don't delay calling right because , uh , it can take us a long time to do extractions yeah , and it doesn't cost you anything .
Steve VanderhoekExactly , yeah we're here to happy to help you .
Deniz MerdanoRight and it must help the whole organization to have mountain bikers that know the trails , know the mountains , absolutely Know the back country .
Steve VanderhoekI've actually got like I work for Northland city . As I said , district surrounds me so I don't actually respond to a lot of the mountain bike crashes . But I've been called before . I can hear sirens in the background , the phone , and it's the captain or a buddy being like hey man , we're on our way to you know X , whatever Y Z trail , where is it ? I'm like , ooh , that's a tough one , man , like that's going to be . You know , hit this trail , turn left here , go down here . When you see the first log , go right and I'll drop them a pin .
Deniz MerdanoAnd I'm like just call North Shore Rescue rescue , like you're not getting this person out . That's crazy . Um , and how , how does that feel having mountain bikers that you work with and then doing projects with them afterwards outside the hall ? You have more special connections within the hall , probably , and totally um , some of the fellows that I met and they seem to not be copies of you , but they seem to think in a very similar manner and the way they work seem to be very methodical , in the way that you work , and they seem to be a communication that is almost silent that you guys can in sync with . Can you touch into that a little bit ?
Steve VanderhoekYeah , I think that's not a loaded question , but I have a lot of things I want to say . So I'm going to say , like the term ignorance is bliss is true , and in this job you lose the ability to just be ignorant to accidents .
Assessing risk and being prepared. Building and riding.
Steve VanderhoekSo I think in the back of your mind , you're always , like , aware of what could happen and you're always planning , you're thinking multiple steps ahead of . You know what you're going to do , your access and your egress , and a lot of times it just changes your , your risk analysis and your decision-making Cause you'll see things you're like , well , you know , I've seen a person hit a tree like this and I've had to extricate them , like , and once you see that ruins your confidence and you're like , yeah , I don't want to do that , um , but yeah , like we're .
Steve VanderhoekI think one of the coolest things is , uh , in my recent build that I did that . I had you photographing , um , I had some of the guys from Vancouver Fire and the Judge North End . They came out and they were actually they were my medics for the for that day .
Deniz MerdanoAnd they brought out backboards and ADs and they were on site ready to know intervene if they needed to . Yeah , and that was really cool to see how prepared you were for the worst case scenario . Um , which is not something that you want to think about worst case scenario but it's I can't not anymore , though .
Steve VanderhoekRight , you know , especially this year we've had , uh , you know , with andrew chu uh , a good friend , passing this year , like it's really even brought the risk even closer to home , and it's it's totally affected me and a lot of people . I know a lot of people have , like you know , some people even considered giving up biking . They're like what's the point ? I mean , for me , the point is nothing makes me more fulfilled and happy , um , than building and riding bikes . So for me , it's just deciding how I can , like , change my perspective and like , if I don't like , I don't feel like I need . I used to have to go out and ride the gnarliest things and that was what I found my satisfaction in , and now I just some days I'm off and I just don't push it anymore , right , but uh , yeah , I was going somewhere with that thought and then then I got my normal adhd brain kind of , so you might have to re-rail me here that's all right , I think it's all good .
Deniz MerdanoYeah , yeah , um it is , it is a community effort yeah like riding is extremely selfish and individualistic act .
Deniz MerdanoGetting out on your mountain bike and it's yeah , it's to clear your own head and it's it's the perfect way to do it , but it takes a whole lot of community to make that happen 100 the people who organize the rides , the people who build the trails , the people who get you out of the trails when something goes wrong , so it's , it's as as widespread as it goes , and you have insane amount of um professions that involve in mountain biking you , you have your lawyers , you have your yeah , man you have , you know , you have your paramedics , you have your firefighters , you have your entertainers . So it's . It's really cool to um kind of learn about different people and that you wouldn't know otherwise . It's what's ?
Steve Vanderhoekit's what makes it so great .
Steve VanderhoekLike everyone , you kind of create the group of people that you like being with and everyone brings something to the table and it's yeah , it's great , like I I've already said it before but that , like that back country bill that I did , it was cool to see 13 , 14 , however many people were there the day of .
Steve VanderhoekIt's kind of like a collection of some of my favorite people with everything they bring to the table . Like you know , I had Caleb Holanco there , who's like I think he's the gnarliest guy on the shore . So I had him there as a friend and a guy that I could bounce ideas off of . I had you there as , like fellow trail builder guy that just wanted to come hang out and also , you know , photographer , and that was really amazing . And then I had other guys that were like like NF , that sponsored me and just wanted to be there my wife filming , my friends that were first aiders , my other buddies that maybe wanted to hit the feature that day , and then just all these collective people coming together just to make the most special day that we had great success , had some beers day for the books , like that , to me , is why I ride bikes mr pepinias .
Deniz MerdanoWhy are we calling mr pepinias that one ?
Steve Vanderhoekis just uh I had multiple people ask me this , so I don't I mean I don't really have a great answer for that one , I just usually think of like something that makes me laugh in the moment and I think it was like coming off of crankworks I just had a ton of picklebacks and I just like pickles , and then my bud buddy went to mexico and he came back and just started calling me mr pepininos , which is just mr pickle and you know would be on like pretty serious calls in the fire department and be like hey , mr pepinios , and you just say I just laugh about it . And when I thought about what I was going to call this one , I just that name was making me laugh the hardest at the moment . So there is literally no deep meaning to that other than and that's the best .
Deniz MerdanoIt makes me laugh . Yeah , phonetically it sounds great . Yeah , um , and the feature itself is nothing to be laughed at . It's so scary , it's as serious as it gets , but it was , and it was so cool . It was not a random , there was nothing random about it . Can you tell me about the process of why you chose that ? And when you saw that rock , what did you think and what it took to get to you deciding , okay , we're doing this because you did tell me that , hey , we might build this , I may not ride it .
Steve VanderhoekI was really ready to not ride that .
Deniz MerdanoYeah , and that was the coolest thing I heard , like putting through all that effort and maybe not riding it .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , so , for starters , with that one , I think my inspiration for that was one I want like I'd build a bunch of big slabs , and I was not I'm getting bored of it , but I'm like , okay , I want to build a really gnarly slab off a really big drop and I want to merge my love for natural terrain and then I want to build something like myself , like I want to build like a big landing , so I want to have like a little bit of natural , to kind of blend with a natural terrain , but also like just something stupid big construction . And then that was number inspiration . Number one . Inspiration number two being I was tired of sneaking around in the local area , where you know it's a little bit frowned upon for doing some digging , like I was getting annoyed at my creativity being limited by receiving a criminal record , and for doing what I love . So I have no problem saying it like , right I . And then that end , uh , being in the , the small area that I build in , I know that people are always watching what I'm doing , and the second I were to drop it , there'd be a flood of people coming to ride my feature , like , let's poach it , let's get it up on Instagram or YouTube . So all my , all my work would just not that I don't want to share things with people , but sometimes it's nice to just have your own thing .
Steve VanderhoekSo , uh , matt Beer , um , he told me about this two to three years ago . He's's like he was in the back country camping and he came across something and he's like , hey , man , I saw a zone that you might be really interested in . I'm like , well , okay , generally , when people tell me that , I'm like I go and look and it's not , um , cause the it was so far away , it's about three hours from my home here and , yeah , eventually , you know , after a year or two , I drove on the backcountry , got my motorcycle and when I came across it it was like a rampage site of squamish , just this insane , perfect rock dirt , aesthetically pleasing . I'm like , damn , I , I found the zone . This is amazing , I have to . I guess I have to . I'm like , well , this is this sucks , like this is far away . And I'm like , okay , I got my motorcycle , started walking around and first came across what is now mr pepinios , and I'm like there's no way I could make this work like I don't know . I even know the first thing about how to build this um and then , yeah , I think 15 build days later it was built , taught myself how to use an Alaskan mill , a bunch of masonry work , concrete work , rock drilling .
Building Mr Pepinillos. Holistic approach to riding. Aging as a rider.
Steve VanderhoekYeah , it was an absolute process to get that done , especially like three hours of commuting every day . I'd get up at 4.30 or 5.00 . I'd be on site at 8.00 in the morning . I'd dig all day and usually leave about 5.30 or 5.00, . I'd be on site at 8.00 in the morning . I'd dig all day and usually leave about 5.00 or 6.00 . I'd get home at 9.00 , I'd go to work the next day , just completely punched . And yeah , I loved every minute of it . I think I had actually just been off work on a little bit of a leave after some bad calls and that was the best thing I could have done . I mean , you were there for a couple days and you just I remember the visual of sitting there milling , looking into snow-capped mountains while there was wildflowers blooming around me .
Deniz MerdanoI'm like this is , this is good it's a special place , it's a really special place and it's super far away .
Steve Vanderhoekyeah , and it's not like I . Like I said , it's not I don't want to share . I just wanted to have my creativity unbound Like I wanted to be able to do everything I wanted at my pace , without hiding , and just do what I wanted , and that was to build a 30 plus foot drop off a rock roll .
Deniz MerdanoAnd it wasn't just about the drop right , like everything had to be perfect , yeah , for it to work , yeah , um , is that how you usually build your stuff ? Like when you see it , you see yourself , visualize yourself doing it and the run out , the run-in , or you just want a slight element of surprise while you write as well ?
Steve VanderhoekI definitely my my send it days are are over , um , and I enjoy the process of it . Uh , I like to look at all the variables and like make my decisions on whether it's like a a safe risk or just a stupid risk . And before I built the landing , a few buddies like drew to my attention , like how heinous my entrance was , that I was gonna do . And I'm like , no , that's nah , that's fine . And then I , once I finished the landing , I went and actually focused on it and I'm like you know what this is like no margin for error . Like if I slept even a little bit , I was a hundred percent not facing the drop anymore . So you know , for me that was that was a variable , that was I needed to deal , deal with .
Steve VanderhoekSo did a bunch of rock work , widened out the the rock and made it rideable . So that was like a check mark for me . And then the next thing was if I blew the corner on the entrance I was going to fall off and be super hurt . So I put a little retaining log there . I had my buddy rappelled off the end of it to catch me the first time I hit it and like those are the things that are kind of important to me now , like if I , if I can't ride it in my brain or if I can't get over that hurdle of what that challenge is , I'll fix it or I won't do it . So that's like I don't want to die , I love riding . I mean , caleb said it really well the other day . He was like there's the hashtag , hashtag , ride or die . Well , how about ride and don't die ? Like I don't want to die for them ? Like would I die for this sport ? I really don't want to . No , I just want to keep doing it .
Steve VanderhoekAnd this is my other like kind of thing that I'm picking up with lately is everyone always says like I love I want to push my limits , I love pushing the limits of the sport . I'm like okay , well , fair , but do you know what happens when you find your limit ? I know you say you like it , but when you find your limit it's either death or serious injury . So are you prepared for that ? Actually , and I don't know if that's just what comes with age and experience , but I don't want to die , I want to keep doing this forever . I ran into north shore betty today . Yep , do you know how old betty is ?
Deniz MerdanoI actually don't betty is , I don't want to be disrespectful 76 years old I told betty today .
Steve VanderhoekI looked at her . I said I had a crazy day with braga . It was amazing . I just don't want to be riding when I'm your age , yeah it's , it's incredible um .
Deniz MerdanoShe is definitely um one of a kind yeah , she's amazing incredible , and I guess part of it is healthy body as well . Right , like you want . This is not an easy sport and the things that we do to our bodies , riding bikes , the way we do um , takes it all definitely . Um , do Definitely , do you have ? I mean , you're fit , you're strong , you're young-ish , young-ish , and that's part of it . Is that building that armor with muscle .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , I've had to . I'm in no way old , but I'm getting older every day and I think I've learned that you can't expect the same from your body and mind without either putting more work in or giving things up and making sacrifices . Like I can't think I can go eat mcdonald's and get hammered five times a week and expect to go ride my bike and not have joint pain or have like a foggy , foggy head . So I've made like a ton of uh changes and sacrifices over the last couple years and they're not even things that I care giving up because , like being fit , being clear-minded , uh , to go ride with my friends and do what I love is that's what's most important to me . So I don't really view it as giving thing up . I'm'm just like huh , I have my time with that .
Deniz MerdanoSo there's so many non-biking related activities that you do to improve your biking experience .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , definitely Like for me . I've focused and it's cool to see the . You know like I'm happy to admit it . With the fire hall I'd say I developed like a pretty bad drinking problem . Like , uh , with the stresses and anxieties and like some of the calls I've been to , I started like drinking really heavily and I and I did it knowing I was doing it to like numb things out . Um , I even tell Kelsey I'm like tonight I'm drinking for the wrong reason . She's like okay , she's so supportive , like she's incredible Um , but then I really really not only did I see that as a crutch .
Steve VanderhoekThat was not good for me progressing in all aspects of my life , but it just health-wise . It's makes you all bunged up in the head and you have fat and get joint pain and muscle atrophy . It's not good . So for me , like I gave up drinking for almost two years and now I'm back like very casually having a few , and I have no problem with people that drink at all , like I don't care , it's just for me . I had to get control over it again and I feel like I have control over it , like I can do it right . I can have a beer without like coming home and having six more Um and , like I said , no judgment pass . I just I noticed it was really limiting my quality of life , so I got control of that and then diet has been something that I've really been enjoying diving into um , which is a really annoying world because you got YouTubers , you got Instagram , fitness influencers .
Steve VanderhoekYou have one group saying that the carnivore diet is the be-all end-all . The next is saying that the vegan diet is the be-all end-all , which is like couldn't be more opposite . You're like , how do I pick the right thing to do when there's but anyways , silly tangent to go down ? But anyways , for me , I've just been eating whole food ingredients and simple stuff and it's insane . Like I sleep better , put on muscle mass more , less joint pain that's great . And it's like , okay , this is , this is cool . Like it's not that much effort to eat well , and I feel like amazing .
Deniz MerdanoSo that's been fun , that's great yeah , yeah , and and mental aspect of it is yeah , it's a huge part of it asking for help when you realize you need help . Yeah , it's what I did this year for asking for help when you realize you need help .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , it's what I did this year for sure , Like I'm very comfortable talking about it . I definitely don't want to push those topics on people that don't want to listen , but that's what I got friends like you for Always
Community-driven film project.
Steve Vanderhoekgreat to listen Anytime .
Deniz MerdanoThat's so cool . And so what are you excited about now ? Like I don't want to say what's next , but like what is what is exciting for you to get out and do what you do on the bike ?
Steve VanderhoekYeah . So for a couple of things , one in particular that I'm extremely excited about , and I think it started with a bunch of people coming up , uh , asking me about my relationship with my wife and like , oh , would you ever create a behind the scenes video of what it takes to make your edits ? And I'm like it's actually kind of a cool idea . So I got uh , jeff livingston hired on this year , pulled a bunch of budget from a bunch of brands and started basically it was going to get a year and a half of uh footage , uh of jeff just following us around shooting behind the scenes of everything , and that's really evolved into I mean , it's snowballed into a huge project now , like we have , like johan's crash and his recovery , coming back to writing , um , you know the legacy of andrew chu , like I filmed days with him before his passing , and then I have a bunch of tribute stuff we've worked on for him building of lines going to Utah , uh , the fire hall , uh , booking off on like a mental health claim there , and then reaching out to a bunch of the other people that have been instrumental in creating our critical incident stress management team , um , talking with them , and so our goal is to release this in the spring , but it'll you know , those are just some of the topics my relationship with my dad and my brother , and how biking has brought us together and improved our life .
Steve VanderhoekUm , yeah , all that and my goal is to premiere it on the north shore somewhere , large scale , make a community event out of it . In the next coming weeks . I'd like to , you know , create like a , a contest or something where people can submit videos to me or go , create a video between now and the thing and then premiere their videos as well , like little shorts , like edits of groms or just so we . I just want to create a big north shore community night again a community event .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , yeah , so it'd be . You know , my film , plus a bunch of other community films , bring in some speakers to talk about risk assessment , like my buddies from North Shore Rescue , some mental health talk . Just share the love of the sport and yeah , I think the sport's amazing . That's the one takeaway . And then the other is you know , it's okay to not be okay . You don't have to make a big
Mental health, expanding on the Mr Pepinillos line, and pursuits outside mountain biking. Sponsors and gear.
Steve Vanderhoekdeal about it , just surround yourself with amazing community people and that's how you get through it . It takes a village . It takes a village , yeah , yeah , like I really , I really I don't .
Steve VanderhoekI'm not looking for like a poor me thing here . I'm really just trying to show people that it's totally okay to be okay and you're not alone . Like if you're having a bad time a lot of us are having a bad time . If you ball it up , don't talk about it Definitely becomes worse . But just find those people that you just like being around and that you're comfortable around , people that you just like being around and that you're comfortable around . If you're uncomfortable saying these things to people , maybe you're not around the right people , right ? So , um , hard one to sum up what I want to do with this film . But yeah , that's my , my goal . My goal is to create something very community driven and it doesn't feel like a finite thing .
Deniz MerdanoIt feels like hopefully it'll evolve into a forever thing .
Steve VanderhoekExactly , yeah , totally Like it's . I went into this film at kind of my lowest point of my life in the last little while and that was like the opening segment to this film is like , yeah , I'm kind of effed up right now , but hopefully by the end of this year I'm less effed up , and I am and it's just through chatting about it and not making it more than it needs to be . Yeah , yeah , so that's one thing . And then , other than that bunch of other , I want to shoot another edit on fifth horseman . I want to build , continue building my line into like what I would consider my own personal rampage line , like Mr Pepinio's . Four more features that will come after it . Right , and yeah , just ride with my friends . Do my officer course at the fire hall right now . So get my captain's course . Okay , it's actually a really busy year .
Deniz MerdanoYeah , no kidding . Yeah , you need more on your plate .
Steve VanderhoekYeah . And then top it all off . They're like , hey , do you want to teach the emergency vehicle operations course and also build it , because we don't have one ? I'm like , yeah , of course I do so . Now I'm also the instructor for all fire truck operations for my department , so that's cool .
Deniz MerdanoYeah , I mean , you're a guy who likes knobs and shiny things .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , I like twisting knobs and pulling levers Toggle switches . I got a pretty mechanical brain so I I like it , but I'm really bad at saying no .
Deniz MerdanoBut I have a very full year ahead of me , right , so you already run like you always ran your own program with bikes and um stuff . Right , like you've yeah you picked and choose and um what works for you , how's ? How's that working ?
Steve Vanderhoekit's very cool . I think , uh , I get asked sometimes in , uh , from people around the world . They'll send me messages and be like hey , like how do you get sponsored ? Like what was it like trying to get it ? I'm like , dude , I I don't mean to be disrespectful , but like I didn't want it , I did not pursue it and I've never sent out a sponsorship email in my entire life because that seems like a lot of work . But , um , I think I mean , I don't know , I'm not trying to sound cocky by saying this , but I think if you truly just do what you love , sometimes good things can happen .
Steve VanderhoekAnd I just went out in the backcountry , built a bunch of lines that I thought were exciting and fit my style and because of that , uh , remy and yoan reached out to me like that looks really exciting . So then I went , created a youtube videos with them and that was kind of brought my instagram numbers up a little bit . And then I had brands start to reach out to me and be like hey , that's really cool , like maybe you could go do that line , but with our bike and we'll give you one . I'm like , oh , sick , that sounds cool . Um , and it's just snowballed into that , uh , and then really the only reason I have this is because my wife is a very talented photographer and filmer and kelsey toes , and she shoots it all so absolutely yeah .
Steve VanderhoekSo you know , hey , oh , she's yelling from above , get back to work . But uh , yeah , you know , normally like if you're a professional athlete and you had an idea , you pitch the idea to a brand and then they find a filmer . You find a filmer and and then all three of you guys meet up and got to make it happen on that day . Whereas for me , like , we have an idea and then we're like I'll get it done when we get it done and then usually , once we're done it , we'll just like , show it to a brand . They're like , oh my gosh , I love this , and then they'll they'll pay for it or throw their name on it , right , but uh , I love , I love riding bikes so much that I would .
Steve VanderhoekI don't want to . I would never sacrifice riding a product that I didn't like . I know that probably seems like a shameless plug , but I've said no to many brands because I'm like it's not worth it to me to not enjoy my time on my bike . So everything that I ride , I can easily say it's what I ride anyways , so it's nice to spend less on it .
Steve VanderhoekGreat to be in a position to be able to say no .
Deniz MerdanoThat's a great spot on it . Great to be in a position to be able to say no , that's that's totally a great spot .
Steve VanderhoekWell , and just like to be in a position of promoting a product that I believe in is really nice , like I don't , if I'm out there saying , hey , this max's tire really helped me on this slab , it did like it did like it's straight up , like that's what I want to run and that's why I choose to run it .
Deniz MerdanoSo is there anything
Bike tech, nerding out on gear. Tires, brakes, etc.
Deniz Merdanospecific about bikes these days that you're really excited about , like your bike or bikes in general ? Um ?
Steve Vanderhoekyeah , there's , I think . Uh , I like to see that the extreme numbers are kind of kind of pulling back a little bit , like the super super slack and the super super long . I'm starting to see numbers get a little bit more , um , neutral and comfortable . Um , I like seeing topics that I've argued with with people before about , like hub engagement and , uh , what do you call that ? Yeah , like pedal feedback and break jack and stuff like that being like affecting suspension performance and people telling me that it doesn't . And then trying products like an o-chain or less engagement hubs and seeing that effect it has and how much smoother it is , and you're like , oh , that actually is a thing . And then there's , you know , there's o-chain and rim pack and all these different brands coming out with ways to reduce pedal feedback . I find that really cool . I like those little , small little issues that some people don't think are an issue but actually do give you improvements in your ride . I love that stuff . And then , yeah , braking and suspension . I'm a mega nerd when it comes to tuning .
Deniz MerdanoYou're arguably one of the most controlled brake users on the North Shore . Thank you , yeah , and it's incredible because , yeah , watching you use your brake is like Morse code , like you're sending messages to outer space . Please make these tires stick .
Steve VanderhoekDon't , please don't die .
Deniz MerdanoSo that must be a super important thing for you , like the feel of the brakes and the amount of power they have , definitely how quickly you can access that power yeah , yeah , it's cool to see like try different brake compounds and then like see how a brake is marketed with all-out power versus modulation or what's too much modulation .
Steve VanderhoekLike you know , I'm not gonna go throw certain brands under the bus , but you know one of the most common oe spec ones that I ran for a long time . You just feel like you're pulling so hard . And then I remember riding with remy and joan . We'd get halfway down the lap and I'm like death gripping , I'm in so much pain . And they're like what is wrong with you ? Like what do you mean ? This is just how you guys not pumped out . And then now you know I got them , these hate breaks that I'm riding now and light lever feel , um , good modulation , but definitely took me a while to learn that like the power came on way quicker .
Steve VanderhoekSo in the beginning I actually regressed with my riding because I would pull way too much brake and I started slipping . I'm like what the hell ? So I ? They have less modulation than a tram but they have a lighter lever feel and easier to access braking power . So there's tons of brands like trp . I haven't tried , I've never even ran shimano . Uh , the new mavens . I'm here sick too , but uh they're great products out there .
Deniz MerdanoYeah , I'm just yeah , it's just .
Steve VanderhoekIt's so cool that there's so many products you can access and each one kind of has like their specific thing . They all have a hand they work for yeah , and like not every product is the best for everyone . Like I could see some people getting on a set of a's and maybe having a hard time . Like I say , sometimes having a code is a good training wheel break because you like can't pull too much brake . Sometimes you know , like pull super hard , you're not even locking up your tires and sometimes what do you weigh ?
Steve VanderhoekI mean we you know , I'm 180 180 pounds .
Deniz MerdanoSo it's average , just slightly above average of mountain bikers in general . Yeah , and then , um , yeah , like when you're taking advice from people or saying certain things work for them , you got to make sure they're not 120 pounds or they're not , you know , 250 pounds 100 you got to find your spectrum of um .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , total bike mass and I think I , like I said , I really enjoy this new challenge of being able to ride , test , product and , like , actually promote things I I believe in and I'm very not pushy like I make it . I make a point of not being pushy on my social media , I'd rather just use my writing to display the product . And if people reach out to me they're like hey man , like I noticed you're on these breaks , like do you like them ? Yeah , man , I love them and in my opinion , that should be , you know , the ethical way of selling something so we're going to see like signature steve anaheim , signature chain ring bolt anytime soon oh I , I don't know .
Steve VanderhoekI'm not looking for any extra work so yeah , maybe definitely not looking for extra work sv looks pretty good and you know logo .
Deniz MerdanoIf you sign make me rich .
Steve VanderhoekMake me more money , so make me more anodized purple . I need to be able to pay for all my wife's decorations that you can see around me yeah , yeah , it's , uh , it's excessive but yeah , I , I absolutely love that's so cool .
Steve VanderhoekI love nerding out like I have to always gauge the person because I could take that nerd level to the next level . But I'm so happy you asked that question because you're a bike tech . No , I love bike stuff . Um , and some people like they are like , oh yeah , man , I haven't checked my tire pressure in like three months and I don't get . I'm like , and that's's okay , like they , they get away with it . Um , for me , I just I love seeing what subtle changes can make big improvements in my riding .
Deniz MerdanoSo what should get better on bikes in your , in your point of view ? What do we do for ?
Steve VanderhoekDarren , that there , currently , I'm reaching into my brain and I'm not finding . I'm currently not finding anything . That is a complaint of mine to be honest um do they need to be lighter ?
Deniz Merdanodo we need lighter bikes ? Not like what ? Does your bike weigh ?
Steve Vanderhoekheavy weight at uh , my bikes are usually fairly heavy , like even like I've tried to go light bikes with like wheel sets . That doesn't work . Uh , light casing doesn't work .
Deniz MerdanoUm , I think my bike is on average like a trail bike is 37 to 38 and a half pounds um , we currently had a interesting round of uh discussion at nsnb about cam's 37 pound trail bikes , um , and it just ran off on this interesting tangent and yeah , like because bikes went too light for a while . Right and yeah .
Steve VanderhoekI mean they get lighter with more aggressive numbers so you ride them faster and then they break . So it's funny , like right now I'm on a Troy which has a 63 and a half head angle . It's a 150 160 mile bike but like just the way it's built , uh , and the angles are like I would say like kind of perfect for what I've been looking for and I'm like riding it like a downhill bike because it's like , it's just like it's super yeah it's like a super poppy .
Steve VanderhoekUm , yeah , I really I wish I had a good answer for you on that one , but like I think I'd be making something up because there isn't anything that I have a really strong opinion about . I'm thinking right now bars and stems . Some guys had a big talk with Brian Park from Pinkbike the other day about 35 mil bars and his hate for them and I'm like I don't really care . I don't care , I am fit , I can handle 35 mil bars . I know , maybe I don't really care , like I don't care Like they're , I am fit , I can handle them .
Steve VanderhoekI know , maybe I don't pick up on that Right . Like frames , carbon versus aluminum , don't care , have fun on both of them I enjoy . I'd say I'm like pretty hard set on carbon rims . I like to have carbon rims . That's where I notice a big difference . And like cornering , holding a line , not getting deflected , like I remember the first time I tried to set a carbon hoops I was like , oh okay , this is nice . Like it's like having a responsive set of skis , like when you lean into it they do what they tell you , as opposed to like , oh , noodle out , um , but yeah , like right now I've got a carbon spartan . It's awesome . Then I got a aluminum troy and yeah , I don't know , like the aluminum a little more flexy , but like I like it right yeah , so what you like , what's your ?
Steve Vanderhoekmaybe hop on your thing that you want to see changed and maybe you'll spark an idea I mean , I think the only thing that needs to change on my bike is the rider .
Deniz MerdanoBut uh , no , come on now . I agree , like I'm always asking for better brakes and tires that you know , weigh nothing but also have incredible flat protection , and yeah , but as a whole , I think the bike geometry somewhere around 63 and a half to 64 degree , um 160 mils of travel in the back and 160 , 170 on the front does everything really really well , and I too am not too picky with material they're made out of . I like carbon wheels , like you , um , I feel like they're springier out of corners , um , and I don't I don't weigh as much as you do , but not not , you know , not a huge difference there , but , um , I definitely don't ride as aggressive as you do .
Steve VanderhoekYou're pretty aggressive , I mean you're . You're building your own line out in my zone too , which is very cool .
Deniz MerdanoIt's a it's a mortal's line . It's pretty cool .
Steve VanderhoekAll are welcome , yeah .
Deniz MerdanoIt's uh , yeah , the bikes . Bikes are great and it's those little things right , like a lower engagement hub or slight different spoke count or spoke tension or the way you set your brake levers . It's those little things that make you feel comfortable on the bike . That makes a bigger difference than trying to find the best setup out there is , which is really cool , and I , I test stuff . So stuff on my bike changes a lot , yeah , but it doesn't take too long to get comfortable with whatever is on the bike eventually yeah , testing products is is very cool .
Steve VanderhoekUm , yeah , I think I'm kind of on the same boat as you . Like , I'm super open to changes in product . Like , if someone sends me something , it's super different . I'll definitely try it .
Deniz MerdanoBut yeah , and how are the trails changing with the bikes , like should ? Are the trails changing for the bikes that we're riding in your opinion ?
Steve Vanderhoekyeah , I mean the . I find that , like , the shore used to be so janky and still is kind of janky , but uh , now things are just going faster and faster and I'll notice that the way people are building now is to kind of be able to sustain speeds on trails . You know , like holes are getting filled in , corners are more supportive , um , certain lines where you might like nuke a tree , then certain obstacles are like speeds have just increased so much . Um , yeah , yeah , they're a lot of the shore's definitely getting a lot more flow trails than we'd had in the past . Um , so you're starting to see you know you still just be big big bikes and now you're seeing a lot more smaller bikes and e-bikes , stall bikes flow is not like it equals to boring right , like we're talking about north shore flow , so there's always a rock still working place yeah , I definitely like it's funny .
Steve Vanderhoeksometimes I'll have people reach out like , hey man , I'd love to go for a ride with you , but you know you'd probably be bored . I'm like I am never bored like ever I love I'll go ride , like espresso on repeat or ladies or trails . I've ridden 500 times and if I'm going at a hundred percent of my speed or 20% , I'll find a way to have fun , like I'll just pop around and do silly gaps or work on a skill I that's all fun .
Deniz MerdanoSo you're riding with a , you know you're riding with Brage , and then you go ride with your dad who's getting back into biking . Um , tell me about that , like how's ? How's that working for you and him ?
Steve VanderhoekYeah , I mean , I just think I don't . I don't feel the same every single day . Like some days I wake up and I feel gnarly and I'm just ready to charge , and other days , like I , it's the furthest thing from what I want to do and I just want to ride my bike . And you know , or sometimes I'll show up to Cyprus and people will be like , oh , we're riding fifth with you , like I remember that video that you , you shot on fifth horseman , like are you going to pull for that gap ? I'm like , dude , I I don't even know if I want to ride my freaking bike today , like I'm chilling . So you know , sometimes I have different groups of people that I'll ride with , with different moods , I'm feeling , but I'm I don't really have a group of people that I ride with . I'm just happy to ride with everyone .
Steve VanderhoekBut I think , after a ride like I had with Braga today , which was absolutely at my max , I'm very excited to probably this weekend to go for a ride with my dad and just connect and relax and just enjoy a nice mellow ride . And I'm gonna enjoy them both equally , they're just different . Just time on bikes , right , just time on bikes , yeah , um , and I'm just really happy that I can share that with my dad , like as he gets a little bit older and I get a little bit older . I just really don't want to take it , take advantage of any time . I had right . You can hear my cat scratching in the background . These mics are pretty , pretty impressive .
Deniz MerdanoThey were good , yeah anyways . Um sorry , that's sweet and you went to rampage this year . That was your
Rampage. Risk & perception.
Deniz Merdanofirst time . First time around page yes , and that was the first time women got to run their own lines . Tell me about that , like what did , because you went to utah previously , like a couple of months ago yep , I went to utah to .
Steve VanderhoekI knew that I could never go to utah and shoot a groundbreaking edit , nor did I want to , because there's kids doing cliffhangers off of 60 foot step downs , um . So I wanted to go just to create like a more relatable piece about an individual's first time in terrain that he's never ridden and kind of the process of figuring that out over a 10 day period . And I think that my wife Kelsey did a really good job of capturing the vibe of just how out of my element I felt there but how I just loved every second of it . Like bigger drops , more exposure , didn't know the dirt smaller jumps like not even that big jumps , but just having no trees to gauge my speed . So you're coming into these things and somehow , with the trees here , I'm able to be like , yeah , that's my speed . Brake tap , tap , tap greased it there . I'm like I literally don't know if I'm gonna go 50 feet past . This thing like this is terrifying , so like that was amazing . And then , uh , yeah , I brought my bike down but I only rode like three times at rampage . I just wanted to be a part of it .
Steve VanderhoekLike you know me well , I pretty much throw like rampage is christmas . I have all the friends over , we bake some cinnamon buns and fruit salads and beers . It's the best day ever . So to go witness that was crazy , but I 100% can say I enjoyed the women's absolutely the most . I think one of my highlights is Camino Gear coming up to me being like hey , steve , I built a Steve line in my line and like that was a really special moment for me . And sure enough , I walked up there and it's like a near vert rock roll to 25 foot drop to Hain shoot . I'm like you certainly did .
Deniz MerdanoI wouldn't write that .
Steve VanderhoekThat's something Um , and yeah , I just like watching the women come together and supporting each other and just being so stoked to be included , and deservedly so , like their venue is mayhem . The drop that Cammy and Chelsea did is bigger than any drop I've ever done in my life Massive , huge consequences exposure . Robin was flipping stuff with like until you see what Robin Goom's flipped . It was big and gnarly to begin with but if she overshot or knuckled that she would have OTB'd to like maybe death . Like it was this little catch perm at the end I'm like holy crap . So you know Kelsey was there filming for Freeride Entertainment . So you see Kelsey in the mix and being utilized as like the forefront of women's Freeride . And then all the girls just like coming together and laying down heater runs and , you know , solidifying their you know , deserved words are hard or no , they deserve to be there . I was so happy to be there and just witness it . And then the guys was like man , the level that they're at is insane , you know it's unrelatable .
Steve VanderhoekIt's , it's really . It's just , it's so many years they've been doing it and pushing , pushing , pushing uh , you know , come back to the same venue over and over again , like if you're gonna come , then you're gonna level up . Um , I think that the canyon gap that tyler mccall did was one of the craziest things I've ever done . And then , you know , I heard like ice had wanted to flip it . I'm like what the hell , dude , like , do I even want to watch this ? Yeah , exactly like . I can certainly answer with confidence that I would never want to , nor would I deserve being there . But like the level , you know , if anybody thinks I'm good at biking , they're infinitely better .
Deniz MerdanoIt's wild , right , and just like their risk acceptance is next level and like the cost of progression and the cost of staying relevant is is huge . Right , and you ride with some of these people and um women and men at rampage and can you decipher what's ? What is it like to look at a future at a place like rampampage and put yourself in their shoe and say yeah that goes or like or like . What is that process ? Because you know some of these people .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , I think .
Deniz MerdanoAnd especially for women who've never really , yeah , ridden there .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , I think , with a lot of my writing , some people will say like , oh , you're gnarly or you're crazy . And I'm like I really actually don't even think I'm that gnarly or crazy , it's just that I've written since I was like four . So when it comes to you know , when it comes to doing things , I look at it from every angle and I'm like do I have the skills ? Yep , like , what are the variables here ? Am I pretty much 100% confident ? I'm going to nail it ? Yep , then I'll do it . And I feel like I can look at a line , I can tell where my wheel is going to slip . And then I have a plan A , b , c and D . So like , if I slip here , I'm going there . If I slip there , I'm going here .
Steve VanderhoekIf I doing it , then um so , and that's the process that I saw with a lot of the athletes out there is they , especially the women , like it was really . They were they're pushing their limits , but they were really like still doing things that were like I can hit a drop this big , I can ride a line this steep . I've done this , I've done this . I just gotta link it . And you know , in no way am I saying anything negative about the men , but like in my point of view , like like how can you look at a 100 foot gap or a gap over a canyon into a corner and be like , oh yeah , I got that 100 . It's like , dude , how can you say that you can't ? Um , and I'm not taking anything away from anybody , and then please don't anybody come after me for saying anything negative , but it just that's for me .
Steve VanderhoekI can't comprehend that right um , like when and when t-mac hit that , he greased it , but like if you went too big , you are slamming into a vertical wall at full speed . So , um , and that's just . You know the your limit progression . So that's why I will have reached my limit for that progression , because I don't want it at all .
Steve VanderhoekAnd it's funny , this little uh uh flow rider , who's uh , one of the most talented kids around here . I remember he's a young , young kid and he said , steve , the uh , pursuit of avoiding mediocrity comes at great consequences . Like , wow , that's very , that's very true and very mature of you . And it actually has stuck with me Like , for sure , the pursuit of just trying to , yeah is the very high consequences . And uh , so for me , you just gotta be doing it for the right reasons . And a lot of times I'll look at things and I'll , and lately I'm like , why am I doing this ? Right , and my answer is because it's going to look really sick on Instagram . And guys , you're going to say that's really sick of you for doing that . And then I say I'm not doing it Because I'm like , dude , it's going to feel cool , it's going to look cool for a day and everyone's going to be like yeah , you're so awesome . Great yeah , never mind .
Deniz MerdanoNext . So I try to look at that . That's the lens I use for things now , and so what do you think about really , really talented young riders doing some incredible things and things that you would pass on ?
Steve VanderhoekHow do you think their perception of risk management and perception of reality of having a long mountain bike career or long mountain bike you know , time on the bike Um , how does that tie into , yeah , like longevity and it's a very tough one , cause I , when I was younger not even that much younger , I had I walked back into the fire hall , fire hall after a few days off and guys are gonna be dude , you gotta slow down , you're going to die . And I would just look at them . I'm like you guys are idiots , be dude , you gotta slow down , you're gonna die . And I just look at them . I'm like you guys are idiots , I'm invincible , I can't be touched like . I know that
Youth and the influence of confidence in mountain biking. Tour de Gnar & injury.
Steve Vanderhoeksounds cocky , but that's how I felt .
Steve VanderhoekUm , so when it comes to young people , I think like you can't get like maturity and experience without experience , so you can't just tell that to young riders and have them just take your word for it , like they're going to figure it out themselves . Um , but , on the other hand , with truly confidence is a game changer when it comes to your chances of being successful in a race or on a line . Like if a lot of times when kids are younger , they're just a hundred percent confident and a lot of times that really works out well , because when you enter something without confidence , you ride 50 percent worse , with full reservation , without the brain capacity to make decisions on your way through it , and then when you're riding with like full confidence , eyes open and alertness , you'll , you can , you're just riding way better like you . Just it's like you win a race , you get momentum , you get better and better and better and then you slam . And then now you have in the back of the mind that you can slam .
Steve VanderhoekAnd then you see racers that just never come back . They're like I lost the edge . So that's the edge . When you you have the edge , you can kind of perform up at that level . When you've lost the edge , you need to acknowledge . When you've lost the edge , I would say I I think I've lost the edge . I lost the edge when I slammed on busted axe during Tour de Nars . I still ride narrowly stuff , but that edge is gone and I'll never get it back and I don't want it back because I can't unsee it .
Deniz MerdanoAnd that's okay , and that was a circumstantial crash , you think ?
Steve VanderhoekThe reason I crashed on that ? Well , I ran out of skill for one , let's be honest . The reason I crashed on that well , I ran out of skill for one , let's be honest . The reason I crashed there was because there was way too many people on that line and more than three quarters of them were not prepared to ride that line Like to that . At that moment it only been me , remy , and you on the head hit the line , and that's just because that is what we ride day in , day out and it's a full braking control line .
Steve VanderhoekCertain riders over there that I've seen ride way easier lines and crash . So when they are looking at it , they're like oh yeah , just jump here and break here . I'm like , oh my gosh , like I'm gonna see , I'm gonna see a death here , um . So I got really stressed . I Didn't want to own that and my way of dealing with that was go make it look as heinous as possible , right , so that no one wants to ride it , because it looks like I just got away with it .
Steve VanderhoekAnd then I didn't get away with it Like I , I know , I know it was manned way faster as being a dick . And then I pulled and as soon as I landed , I'm like I'm , I'm done , and a few people off the pedals . And then I I got lucky , like I torpedoed into the forest and I almost hit a , a tree head on , and that would have been pretty bad , um , but yeah , that was a . I think that after that day , my love for like big group rides and kind of like amping each other up , kind of dissipated . Um , and in saying all these things like like , I definitely I don't want to sound negative or jaded , it's just , these are my experiences and this is what's led like .
Deniz MerdanoThis is where my what I uh value has changed so
Responsibility & promoting the importance of risk assessment and preparation.
Deniz Merdanodo you feel like you have a responsibility for I don't want to say like coaching the young writers , but like influencing them the right way ?
Steve VanderhoekI mean , I I would . I don't know if I like feel a responsibility . I I want to like , I would love to impact the youth in the scene in a positive way as best as I can . But I also have to be . Like you know , there's only so much I can do and I know from my experience that if I was listening to me I would just tell myself to shut up . Like you don't know , old man , like you don't know what you're talking about . So I think you know . I just want to try to lead by example and even though I still rode my fairly scary line in the backcountry that looked really high risk .
Steve VanderhoekI had two helicopters North Shore Rescue and Squamish Church and Rescue were contacted . I have radios . They had a whole written-up plan from me telling them what time I was going to drop in weather conditions , teams on site , vehicles , pins , everything . And then I had AADs , backboards , bleed control , fracture management , everything on site that if things went bad I had a way out of it and the only reason I hit that was because I felt 100 confident and I remember actually asking you and margus , and I said because I felt guilty , that if I put myself in harm's way and crash in front of you . You guys have to document me deleting myself . And I remember asking you I'm like , do you feel good with me on this ? And you're like , yep , I'm like margus , you okay . He's like , oh yeah , you good , I'm like okay , and that filled me with confidence . I know I kind of dipped out of the tangent there , but I mean no , I don't .
Deniz MerdanoWe didn't say yes because we wanted the shot , but we no , no , but like I , asked you as a friend , like if , yeah , you know it was , it was good communication .
Steve VanderhoekBut yeah , it's definitely . It's not a struggle for me , but I , I would really love to moving forward , mentor the youth , teach risk assessment , but yeah , like it , it's a hard thing to do while also promoting jumping off a 30-foot drop in the backcountry . Yeah , so you know I don't want to . I mean , my vocabulary is limited today .
Deniz MerdanoI think you're doing great .
Steve VanderhoekThere's just there's words . I'm searching for that . I don't know . I just don't want to be doing one thing and then doing the other . So , yeah , I'd like to lead by example . I'd like to promote risk assessment . That's what this film is . But the amount of the enjoyment I have out of doing those gnarly crazy things is massive . It's so satisfying . But you really do have to , you know , know your limit and play within it . You don't have to . I think the thing is I see too many kids taking the bit like the steps too quickly . Um , they're like oh , I did a 10 foot drop , so I'm gonna do a 30 foot drop . I'm like what you should do ?
Deniz Merdano30 , 10 foot drops and then do a 30 foot drop , maybe in a year or 10 . It's like . It's like the guy who jumps off a cliff and thinks that hey , I'm flying until the ground comes up , so you don't know what can go wrong , because you haven't had the experience of exactly go wrong .
Steve VanderhoekUh , yeah , me and wade simmons were having a chat um , and I really liked what he said here . Um , you know there is a lot . There's infinitely better riders than me , but I've been riding my whole life . I think I'm pretty okay biking , uh , and wade said people can get to like 90 to 95 percent of our level quite quickly . Actually , it's that five percent um that we've gained through riding our entire life is going to give us the longevity and the ability to make decisions and risk assessment . So you just can't experience . But I'm not here to tell kids they can't do anything .
Deniz MerdanoNo , just do it smart .
Steve VanderhoekI really want to see do it smart and do it for the right reasons .
Deniz MerdanoHave a , plan B .
Steve VanderhoekI mean , I didn't grow up with a phone in my hand . It's got to be crazy . It's gotta be crazy . It's gotta be crazy to get into a sport to look at a screen and be like , yeah , but Tom Van Steenburgen just front flipped an 80 foot step down and he's fine Like I should be totally fine hitting this .
Steve VanderhoekAnd I've seen that rationale . People are like dude , you're scared because something's telling you that you're scared . Listen to that . And when I coach or teach people , I always tell people , write it in your mind before you do it , and once you've done that , you gotta want it . If you're coming into Brutus so scared , don't do it . Do it when you want it . You're like I just want to feel that feeling of going off and then you're going to hit it with confidence . You've seen it already . That's when you should hit it , but otherwise you're going to be backseat reserved , scared . I'm like , well , why are you doing it ? You don't want to do it right , and a lot of times it just comes down for the clip , right ? Everyone wants the clip . Damn , clip , damn the .
Deniz MerdanoThat's so well said , yeah . And having ridden with you numerous times , I've never seen you pressure anyone into doing anything , which was super admirable , because it can be intimidating riding with someone of your caliber . And , yeah , feel it out , check your boxes , yeah , and only do it if you can see yourself doing it .
Steve VanderhoekSo that's it . And the other thing that I want to say too , is , you know you may have people hearing this Accidents do happen . You cannot account for everything . Every time I pick up my bike , I accept the fact that today could be my last day on earth , maybe , if I have that really freak accident . Maybe I really don't want it to be , but I go out and I make a conscious effort to make smart decisions . But , yeah , you can't eliminate all risk from the sport . Even you know , some people would be like what do they think was going to happen doing a 20 foot gap ? I'm like the same thing could happen if you fell off a side of a bridge on pipeline right , which I've seen happen . I actually have pulled people off the mountain with the worst injuries . So , yeah , it's an inherently dangerous sport .
Deniz MerdanoSo is skiing , so as many things so I was walking down a sidewalk , so I was walking down a sidewalk .
Steve VanderhoekYeah , I've been to a lot more pedestrians truck at my job than I have . Mountain bike rescues , yeah , but um again it's the phones distracted by the phones . It really is actually distracted .
Steve VanderhoekIt's actually insane phone distracts you with the social media , or the phone distracts you I'll be on crazy car accidents or fires and things and I'm standing on the side of the road and I'm watching cars coming at me and they'll turn their head and rubber neck and look at the accident scene and me for like five seconds and I'm as you're driving . I'm like this guy is not looking forward and we get secondary accidents all the time . Oh , crash . I'm like pull over . Yeah , you idiots do it . What the hell ?
Deniz MerdanoUm , yeah you , you deal with some really intense stuff day to day .
Steve VanderhoekIt's yeah , it's definitely some days are chill and other days you see some really awful things . Um , I do love it though yeah , yeah , yeah , that's incredible
Wrapping up. "Good brakes and good friends".
Steve Vanderhoek.
Deniz MerdanoUm , yeah , I think this has been really fun , it's a great podcast .
Steve VanderhoekIt's a good chat , yeah I enjoyed it .
Deniz MerdanoYeah , it's the comfort of home , that's right . Yeah , it's the chairs .
Steve VanderhoekIt's the kelsey's decorations yeah yeah , yeah , that's , uh , no , I've really enjoyed . I've really enjoyed those questions and you actually hit on really where my mind truly is right now when it comes to biking and what I want to give back to the community and the just the message that I want to portray to people we just want good breaks and good friends I just want good breaks and my bike to be less than 30 pounds and never break .
Deniz MerdanoI was kidding and always have someone fun to ride with . Exactly that's awesome . Well , thanks for your time . Thanks , buddy , I think that was super fun . Um , yeah , steve andrew hook cheers yeah , I've been riding on the shore for 30 odd years and saving people for 15 odd years , so you know who you're going to call . Thanks so much for listening , thank you .