RIDE SETUP
Andrew Taylor rides the Marin Attack Trail 6.9, Quake 7.9 and Alcatraz bikes in 2009.

COMPETITION STATS
2009 Results
3rd Place - New Zealand Dirt Jump Open
Best Line - Frew Farm Jam, New Zealand

2008 Results
2nd Place - Crankworx Colorado
Best Trick Award - Crankworx Colorado
2nd Place - Highland MTB's Claymore Challenge
2nd Place - Nissan Townhill Slopestyle in Italy
4th Place - Austrian King of Dirt
5th Place - Red Bull Bike at Ray's MTB

I started mountain biking when I was around 14 years old, doing little cool cross country races with friends from my area. I really enjoyed it and began riding in more races, like Sea Otter, a big race in California. At Sea Otter I started racing downhill and slalom races. I liked that even better and from then on I raced in local downhill races, for instance at Sandhill.

About a year later I went from racing to dirt jumping, because it was easier to go to jump spots and ride instead of having to travel so far to go to all the races. I had discovered dirt jumping at Sea Otter. That year Jamie Goldman won the dirt jump contest and that got me all psyched up on dirt jumping.

When I was 16, I went to Whistler for the first time in order to see Crankworx. That was also the first time I saw a Slopestyle contest. It was really sweet and Paul B. won that year. I knew this was the style of riding I wanted to do. I got the support of a bike company and entered any amateur contest I could at that time. A full year later, I was 17 and turning 18, I entered my first amateur Slopestyle contest - the Harvest Huck Fest - when it was my Slopestyle debut and I ended up second in that contest.

When I finally graduated from high school, I wanted to give it some time to push my riding and pursue my career as a mountain biker. My parents are really supportive of my dream. They come to all the local contests whenever they can.

My actual breakthrough was the Super Session at Woodward. I won an award there and started getting some media coverage in the magazines. As a result I got more support from sponsors and started going to every contest I possibly could. That year (2007), I also competed in the Teva Mountain Games. It was my first contest as a pro rider and I won! From there I went to Crankworx Colorado and took 4th place. Then I went to Crankworx in Whistler where I placed 7th. My final contest of that year was Clawworx and I took 4th place again. I finished off the season with a part in the Drop-in TV series. For 2,5 months we traveled around the West Coast and had a really good time.

The 2007 season had reinforced my conviction that I wanted to pursue a career in mountain biking. From then on, I basically dedicated my life to it. I started traveling down to Aptos to ride with all the good riders and practiced at Woodward. I put a lot of time and effort in training to get ready for the 2008 season.

As I was riding with all those guys, I truly progressed and learned new tricks all the time. In 2008 I made my way over to European contest. I rode Qashqai, 26 Trixx, and the Austrian King of Dirt. Then I came home for all the Slopestyle Contests in North America. The first one was the Claymore Challenge in New Hampshire and I took second there. At Crankworx Colorado I placed second again and won the Red Bull Best Line Award. Then there was Crankworx in Whistler. They only took eight people to the finals and I placed 11th... but I wasn't the only rider who was disappointed as many good riders were hit by that new rule. Clawworx got pretty much rained out and my fork snapped, so I didn't get to ride it at all. In September I went back to Europe for the rescheduled 26 Trixx and took 7th. Next I went to the Red Bull Fam Jam in Sacramento. I took second there and was really motivated for my last contest of the season: the Red Bull Rampage. But again rain took over and we could only do one run to qualify. You could either make it or break it and unfortunately I crashed.

After that I started filming for 'Barred for Life'. My last adventure of the year was my debut in the adiridas team: together with Phil Sundbaum I rode my bike down a bobsled run at the Bobsleigh World Cup in Igls (Austria) - a once in a lifetime experience and difficult to top.