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.

2009 RIDE SETUP
Andrew Taylor will be riding the Marin Wolf Ridge, Quake XLT 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