1) Hey Jay, I have not seen much of you on your bike recently is this due to injury (if I remember rightly I read somewhere that you had ongoing back problems) or is it a conscious decision to concentrate on Macneil and the contests you are involved with?
I get asked this question a lot. So here’s the deal. You haven’t seen ANY of me on my bike. I quit, partly because of injuries, but the main reason is that I just got sick of all the travel. I traveled the world for about twenty years. I had a great time and lots of great experiences but after that long anything gets old. I’m not one of those guys who can go down to the local park and cruise either. I never had fun on my bike like that. It’s either 110 percent or nothing for me. So I don’t even own a bmx now. I’ve just been riding my MacNeil 26 inch cruiser for transportation for the last few years and that’s good for me.
2) Classic question this one, what is the worst injury you have ever had, the list must be extensive with you coming from the generation of riders and contests that it was a given that you where going too come away hurt. I recall you being out with numerous rotator cuff problems over the years?
One time I hung front wheel on a backflip fakie. Got tossed to the flat and fucked my back up. That was probably the start of my back problems. It was in 91. I almost paralyzed myself. It still fucks with my head when I think about it. I don’t know if it was my worst but it was up there.
3) What typically goes down in a day with the beast?
These days it’s pretty chilling, which is just the way I like it. I just go to work at the company. I love the people I work with and I’m super proud of the company we’ve built. For recreation I do a lot of yoga, kayaking, riding my cruiser and mellow stuff like that.
4) I know how passionate you have always been about pushing BMX in Canada, what with the Metro jams and your distribution company Ten Pack, what does it mean to you to be a role model and ambassador for kids that get into BMX in Canada?
I’m always super excited to promote the sport in Canada. I have a lot of good memories from my years as a rider. Now that I’m in the position to help give younger riders great memories I’m all about it.
5) MacNeil has been at the forefront of some pretty pioneering designs and technology over the years, would you give us a quick description of what you as a company are trying to bring to the industry and also where you are at with being the patented owner of the monster that is the pivotal system, I heard it has gone well beyond the realms of just the bmx industry.
You can thank Darcy Saccucci for all of the ground breaking products MacNeil has released over the years. He’s actually the one who convinced me to start MacNeil in the first place. And Harrison Boyce is responsible for all of the graphic design. Those two have been the driving force of the company while I was out of town riding, or putting on events. They’re both incredibly creative and driven to break new ground in their design. Now that I’m back in the office every day, I’m becoming more and more involved with the day to day stuff. This is going to Allow Darcy and Harrison to be more creative in 2009. I can’t wait to see the stuff them come up with.
I’m glad you asked about the Pivotal patent. It’s definitely not the monster everyone thinks it is. It’s actually been really tough to deal with all of the work that comes with it. If we could do it all over again we would have quietly gone to Velo and had them release it without anyone knowing it was us. Then companies would have been more into it. Since everyone knew MacNeil owned it they got all worried about paying the royalty and giving us some kind of advantage. I don’t think most riders or even company owners realize how many patents are paid when they produce bike parts because they are quietly built into the prices. Every time you make pegs with anti rotation holes in them, or use a threadless headset, or use pedals with thread in pins, someone who never rode a bmx gets paid. Those are just a few of the many examples. At least with Pivotal your paying a royalty to a group of riders who’ve dedicated their lives to bmx.
6) You rode for Schwinn for many years and during that time they produced "American Muscle"( which was produced by the original props dudes for those who don’t know) do you look back on those days fondly and are were you pissed it wasn’t called "Canadian Muscle" because as far as I am concerned you and Osato where the only ones able to do anything on those 40lb lead Schwinn frames.
I look back on the Schwinn days as some of the best times of my life. I can’t even begin to describe how good it was. Everyone who worked there and everyone on the team was the best. Things got a bit shitty at the end which made me leave, but the first four out of my five years there were amazing. I still stay in touch with a bunch of the people who used to work there.
7) You have been known to speak your mind over the years, do you think the industry could do with a bit more honesty rather than people who adapt themselves to fit in and darent ruffle any feathers?
I don’t think we need anymore feathers ruffled as much as companies need to cooperate more to grow the pie rather than fighting over the same shit. If there had been more cooperation during the X Games years we’d all be rich now instead of struggling to keep our way of life going.
8) Ali has been with you since the beginning of MacNeil, how the hell have you put up with that energy ball for so long and not fobbed him off on someone else?
I can honestly say that it’s been an absolute pleasure sponsoring Ali over the years. He’s so much fun to be around, he’s so dedicated to MacNeil, and he kills it on his bike. Ali is someone that every pro rider should aspire to be like. Don’t let this go to your head Ali you fucker, but I do love you and appreciate all that you’ve done for the company.
9) I just did the classic google search of your name and it came back with a MTV cribs of your house as well as a wikipedia result all about you that must be pretty weird to think that bmx would have brought you those things.
When I was coming up dreaming of being a pro rider there wasn’t any chance of money or fame. If you were a top guy you’d make about 50k per year. Then ESPN came along and shit got wild. As much as I butted heads with them I also know where the money came from to start MacNeil and buy my house.
10) What trick cant you do that you really should be able to?
Who cares? I don’t ride anymore.
11) When are you next coming to England, its been too long?
Who knows. I don’t really like to travel anymore. So it might be a while.
Schwinn - American Muscle
MTV Cribs