10 Questions and 1 Video With Eliot Jackson

Eliot Jackson takes what he gets from off-season moto training to his Pivot Phoenix Carbon DH bike and finds his flow in Southern California.

1. It's the off season - what are you up to for the next few months?

The off-season is a process – it starts off as a much needed vacation and rest from a full season of competition, but it ramps up quick and gets really intense by the end.
 
The time away from competition is well planned. I like to think of it in four parts. Part one is when I first come home. I have time to mentally and physically relax, do some fun rides, dirt jumps and moto. The second part gets a bit more serious. My early unstructured training includes road rides, I get into the gym a bit and get my base miles around my home base in Thousand Oaks. The third segment is really rigidly structured training in Santa Barbara with my trainer, Jarrett Kolich. I’ve been doing this for long enough that the gym work is really focused on addressing specific weaknesses and imbalances, not so much the traditional squats/deadlift routine, which only requires maintenance now. Basically we try to fix anything that I am bad at or that we noticed was an issue in the previous season. On the bike, there are a ton of intervals and I spend a lot of time riding the downhill bike. The fourth part takes place in New Zealand – you really can’t do better for access to great DH tracks, high quality road rides and gyms right outside your door. I spend 3-4 days a week on the DH bike there, looking to find that edge for competition.

2. After a great start, last season went off track – what happened? 

I felt the best I ever had and I knew I was riding good with a podium at Crankworx, NZ. Then, I had a huge, unlucky crash at the Lourdes race: I miss-timed a bump before a stepdown, went over the bars and separated my right shoulder and tore a ligament attached to my left collarbone. By far it was the worst crash I have ever had – I am surprised I didn’t get more seriously hurt and I credit my weightlifting and moto riding in the winter for building the strength that actually kept it from being worse.
 
After the crash, I took some time off for physical therapy back in the USA. Then, I was training in Whistler before Fort William, caught my bar on a tree while in the air, crashed and reinjured my right shoulder. The second crash was so much harder mentally, I had already done all the rehab and was feeling really good and was so bummed to have to go back to the beginning again.
 
After another month and a half of rehab, I came back for Lenzerheide, felt ok, but I think I was just really far behind at that point, I just didn’t have enough riding, racing and conditioning time under my belt for the remaining races compared to the competition. I was really frustrated for the rest of the season – I had everything perfect at the start of the season, and to not be able to ride the way I wanted to was extremely hard.
 
It was a huge learning experience – I have never had an injury before and I think you have to learn how to be injured as an athlete. The biggest thing I took away was that you have to be able to change your expectations. You have to keep doing what you need to do to recover and stop worrying about results or even how you're riding. You just have to be consistent, diligent and confident that you will get back to where you want to be.

3. What are you doing this season to prep and prevent injuries in 2016?

The exact same thing I did last year. I was totally dialed. I think we improved on a few things with the program, but nothing major other than starting a bit earlier.

4. What bikes do you ride most in the off-season?  

I ride my Vault and my Phoenix DH bike. I put in lots of base miles and do a ton of specific DH training. Not a lot in between.

5. Do you ever don lycra?  

Yes! I really enjoy road riding – it’s serene, you can zone out, I have great riding locally in the coastal canyons. I love the Latigo Canyon climb in the Santa Monica mountains and the Old San Marcos descent in Santa Barbara.

6. Why do you ride a moto in the winter? How does it benefit you? 

This year I’ve put a bit more time on the moto, which is why I included it in the new video edit. I ride motocross because it is really, really fun and it is great upper body training. It also helps me to focus and be aggressive on the DH bike.

7. Do you have favorite off-season training partners? 

I like to train solo and with my trainer. I like to keep all my off-season riding non-competitive and really focus on constantly improving my fitness and skills, rather than always comparing myself to someone else.

8. Where do you plan to train this year?

In Southern California and in New Zealand. New Zealand is a great place to wrap up the off-season because the riding is so easy to get to – DH, road riding, it is all right out your door. The downhill is so good – it’s gnarly, but safe enough to ride every day – perfect for winter training.

9. What are your goals for 2016?

To be consistent in everything I do.

10. What do you do that isn’t bikes in the off-season? How do you maintain mental balance?

I like to read – right now I am reading Zero to One by Peter Theil, but I read a lot of fiction, too. During the season, I read on the road and usually have a couple of books I am into at any time. I also play, record and mix music – some of my music has been used in videos edits for companies like Red Bull, which is fun.