Tyler Morland Interview

Jan 11, 2007
by Tyler Maine  
Wow where do I start, I first met Tyler Morland on the race scene in British Columbia a few years ago while he was touring around with some of his good buddies on Team Evolve. I had known of him prior to that for being the guy that was showing up at Mt.7 for Psychosis with a group of buddies out of Whistler to take the money away from the locals. But it was at the races that we started chatting and eventually became friends. I think this may be a trend in how Tyler has met and made a lot of friends over the years.

Speaking of his friends, they are the people that helped me the most with this interview. I went to the folks that really know him and we came up with the goods that you the readers at Pinkbike.com really want to know.

Here is part 1 of the Tyler Morland Interview:Tyler Morland is 25 years old and calls Whistler B.C. home. Growing up and wearing lycra in Prince George B.C., he eventually made the move to Whistler where his riding style grew into what it is today. He is currently one of the top descenders in Canada and has had his riding featured in both The Collective and ROAM films. Going from shop rat employee status to working as a SRAM ambasador in a matter of years. Here's a look into the world of Tyler Morland:
-Brule

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Name:Tyler Charles Morland
Age:26 years young
Height:6 feet and counting (taller then in grade Cool
Weight:185 pounds
Job Title:SRAM Special Agent
Riding Style:Fast on Dirt!


LM-The kids at school want to know what music you have playing in your head when you're racing?

TM-Music choice changes fairly frequently. I listen to just about everything but lately a lot of TV on the radio, Arcade fire and The Killers.

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Photo by sterlinglorence.com


How come your teeth crumble when you eat fruit? If you made teeth what material would you use?

I hate my teeth and it sucks when they just fall apart but if I could build custom ones they would be gold son, GOLD!

AB-How many times a day do you clean your teeth with a piece of paper?


TM-Pretty much every time I eat… so a lot. My teeth fail and then I fix them and then they fail again. Currently though, they are fixed and I have eliminated all need for paper touching my teeth.

AB-Without being a kiss ass liar what changes/additions would you like to see in the Whistler bike park? Best/ worse this year and why?

Well I am a true advocate of Mountain biking. So more trails with amazing corners kinda like Karate Monkey, with flowing amazingness and a couple of steeps. But really, lets see some god damned single track. If I see one more amazing piece of single track get mowed down with the excavator I might explode with my blood raining down in pools of hate! Hopefully the explosion arrives with such force the excavator bursts into flames. Remember Hart of Darkness or that amazing section below the containers on Duff Man. I do because I loved those sections, they where hard, tech and you had to work for it and now you wouldn’t think anything of them because they’re mellow and wide. No, don’t get me wrong I like most everything up there but true single track just keeps disappearing. The other fav we need more of would be the wide open fast stuff, but there’s none of that either just a very safe, very wide, easy going excavated pieces of trail popping up. The course we flagged for Nationals was amazing but that couldn’t stay open due to other trail conflicts. Bummer. The way things are going B-line won’t be wide enough or easy enough and they’ll wreck that to! I love the bike park to much and maybe I get just a touch too emotional… With Karate Monkey my faith has been a little restored and I hope we get a couple more gems like that and of course a bigger, more bad ass A-line is pretty much over due. Don’t ya think?

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Orchard Gap at KBC


AB-What happened at the NWD 6 premier in Vancouver?

I drank to much and probably made an ass of myself. That’s pretty much all you're going to get.

AB-Why do you deny me the things I want most?

Feels good! But really life’s hard and maybe you have to work harder to get what you want. Nothing’s free Adam. Nothing!

AB-Can I have a white Argyle?

No.

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AB-As a sponsor would SRAM like to give out prizes for most days/laps in the Whistler bike park?

Just because you're winning that competition doesn’t mean you get a medal but if you're lucky your 1.6 million vertical feet might get rewarded and so might every one that breaks the one million foot mark. Keep your fingers crossed.

AB-Are your forearms actually bigger than your biceps? Measure.

I just measured and it’s sad but true my forearms are a whole inch bigger. How sad, I have tube arms.

AB-Do you and your girlfriend have matching phone numbers?


Just the last four digits. Hey at least its not matching bomber jackets with Morland Truck’n on the back.

AB-How many baby grouse did you orphan this summer?

One or two but I’m still loosing 2:1 compared to Kevin and Kenny. They straight murdered a bird on top of the GLC drop.

AB-How did it feel at Nationals being the previous national champ to come 2nd on your home turf?

Thanks. This is a really nice question coming from one of my best friends… Jerk! It hurt, but Mitchell was pinning it all year and he’s my team mate. So if any one beat me that day I was ok with him.

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Photos by
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Mike Reid

AB-As a %, how often are you late for things?

Never. Still haven’t missed a flight all year…. Ok I lied, I can be a little tardy.

AB-What's the single favourite piece of your bike right now?

My Avid Code brakes. Amazing.

AB-When was the last time you were detained by the police?

A few weeks back when the infamous booze cruz went a little sideways. We made it out unscathed and I even slept in my own bed but it was a little sketch when the 15 or so of us were on our knees with our hands on the wall. I strongly advise taking Adam and Gunner’s approach, watch from across the street.

LA-What got you into biking?

My dad rode mtb when I was a kid and then we moved to a super cool house that had endless single track out of the back yard. So he pretty much fueled the fire. I also had an uncle that shredded and worked in the industry and he was a major player too.

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First real XC bike, where a lot of us began.

LA-First DH bike you’ve ever owned?

First rig was a Santacruz Super 8 but the first bike I used for dh was a Rocky Mountain Vertex I remember putting a couple of Intense tires on it and trying to shred Cop Killer. I got to the bottom and noticed the 2.7 ate through the arch of my Sid… that sucked but the ride was amazing.

LA-About your riding skills. Natural or hard worker?

I think it’s environment. I grew up with single track seriously 30 ft from my door and then I moved to Whistler with pretty much the same set up but with six hard boiled roommates. These guys absolutely punished me on a bike. They got rad everyday and I was right there… kind of complaining but stuck it out. The riding here is just so amazing that if you ride enough your going to get better. I remember riding this trail (Yo Mama) and I wasn’t “ feeling it”. Near the bottom and we came up to a little drop and everyone was sessioning but not me cause I wasn’t “feeling it” so Eric Paulson (legend) called me out, gave me shit and even did it on my very own bike! This in turn made me feel bad, but boy did I ever “feel it" after that. I never wanted instant redemption so bad. The Peer group is so important and things changed after that!

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From This
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Through This
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To This

*Last pic in segment by Harookz.com*


LA-Do you do any special training?

Whistler Bike park is as special as it gets.

LA-Has the new gig at SRAM affected your riding/racing in any way?


Maybe but I don’t think its an excuse for anything. I just need to have a plan and execute it. I don’t know too many people with the same kind of balancing act so I’m treading fairly new waters. The support from work is amazing and a lot of the success has been because of SRAM. Dawson has taken care of me from day one and Boobar always makes sure I’m riding enough and in the right head space and you know HB is in there givin up some key secrets. There’s also some serious perks working with these guys. The race truck is like a home on wheels and even comes with a tech named Pickled you can try and wrestle to the ground, but really they're supportive and that makes the juggle not so bad.

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These are some
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of the great guys
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I work with

LA-What is your affiliation with Chromag? Does this cause any conflicts with other sponsors like Cove?

I watched Chromag grow up in our living room and I can say I had a hand in it. Hard to compare any sponsor to a relationship like that. Its like the bastard child you abandoned and adopted some other kid but you know the bastard child is getting bigger, stronger and maybe one day, like in some horrible TV show it will come back kill your adopted son and want back in… Weird but hopefully it makes sense. Right now both bike’s have a place and they’re both going to have a place for a long time.

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His roots run
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deep with the
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Bastard Child

LA-Superstitious? And pre-race rituals?

Preperation is really important so I just make sure I’m organized and my socks are pulled up. I would be lieing if I said I didn’t have some querks, every racer does but that’s for me to try and deal with.

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The view on Mt.7 alone, makes it number one


LA-Best track you’ve ever ridden?

Mt. 7 in Golden is my fave, good mix of everything mountain biking and they know how to build corners.

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Pic by Ian Hylands


Brule-You race select WC races but seem to have a soft spot for races like Mt.7 in Golden?

Golden is really fun and I have an old friend from high school that lives their so if I didn’t show up she would probably send me threats in the mail. Mag’s is a ripper and I love going and just hanging out. The club there in Golden knows how to hold an event and when you start to get a feel for events out there, you just feel at home in Golden. At other races there’s rules like if you miss your pre run because you blew up your free hub they just want to yell at you and send you home. That situation would never happen in Golden…Never!

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Brule-How do you put it all together for a race that lasts 13 mins?


It’s easy when you love a course as much as Golden. Confidence, fitness and the right enviroment. I go in just to enjoy my time there (always so short)

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LA-Are you picky about your bike setup?

I think everyone is. If my bike has new grips and fairly fresh rubber I'm a happy kid.

LA-Pedal of choice? Flats or Spuds?

They both have a place and I love riding both of them.

LA-Worst crash or worst "oh sh-t!!!!" riding moment?


Any moment I'm lying there winded and hurting on the inside is the worst but the last day of the bike park dealt me a nasty one. I might of been getting a little lazy that day, but I smashed in both of my knees with my top tube and almost broke both collar bones, ball riding into two trees, but I was lucky and came out just beat down, winded with no broken bones.

LA-Who would win in a Cage fight – Kantor vs Dawson?

Dawson is a little power house but Kantor, the hell hammer, would hands down dominate.

JB-So when are you moving to Chicago?

When I grow up and want to buy a house and a nice car.

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*Well that wraps up Part 1 of the Tyler Morland interview, I hope you are all enjoying the questions and great pictures. Check back next friday, January 19th, 2007 for the second half.*

Posted In:
Interviews


Author Info:
brule avatar

Member since Mar 27, 2001
3,581 articles

18 Comments
  • 1 0
 Killer interview Tyler B. When is part 2 going to be posted?....I am getting bored here in the C dot R dot and need some more good reading material. One of the most interesting interview of a industry insider, sounds like a nice guy too. Plus he is a man who likes his corners.

More Karatee Monkey and way less bulldozer trails.
  • 0 0
 From one who raged in the Gutbuster or shredded the Sandblast back in the day, against the legends like Rob Hill and your very own father, I salute you Tyler, you come from and represent the most fearsome and truely destinctive cycling dynasties to have existed in western Canada and more.
  • 0 0
 Nice one Brule! Tyler M. is top man! I’ve had the chance to ride with him quite a few times and I can honestly tell you he is one of the nicest guy you'll fine on the circuit!! And did I mention he’s FAST! ;o) Rawk on!
  • 0 0
 Sweet Interview, Definetly a lot better then most magazine interviews. Morland seems like a rad guy, and fast.
  • 1 0
 hey!! its the same dude as in the POD!!!!!!!!!
  • 0 0
 ya man thanks so much Tyler golden is the has some of the best trails to ride Mt7, K.H.M.R, and the back country.
  • 0 0
 Brule your the man, you have awasome pics, articles, and it all is very well done, PROPS bro.
  • 0 0
 I wonder if i ever donned spandex and raced him back in Prince George growing up.
  • 0 0
 like it a lot, was good to read...as "oV3r1d3" said keep it up!
  • 0 0
 Awsome interview! The Prince George folk love it in Golden!
  • 0 0
 Nice job Tyler. Smile Keep up the good work...
  • 0 0
 I would be really impressed if you orphaned a baby bear!
  • 0 0
 Thanks Tyler for giving the love to Golden, Mt 7 is a blast to ride.
  • 0 0
 YAAAAAAAAAAAAA GO PRINCE GEORGE WOOT WOOT!!!!!!!!!
  • 0 0
 Where the hell is Prince George?
  • 1 0
 fucking
  • 0 0
 better than your typical or not typical MTB magazine interview-keep it up!
  • 0 0
 nice one Ty!







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