Getting To Know: Dan Booker - Tasmania's Flat Pedal Wonderboy

Dan Booker

Flat pedal racers are few and far between these days as bikes and tracks have evolved, but every once in a while one of those special riders pops onto the scene.

When Sam Hill met up with another foot-out, flat-out Australian carving up the Maydena Bike Park, that rider's bike handling skills did all the talking. Soon after, Sam got in touch with Nukeproof's team manager and they approached the talented Tasmanian.

As quickly as the opportunity presented itself, a global pandemic halted Dan Booker's hopes. With the world at a stand still, Dan went off the grid, shut down his social media, and a year passed before fate would reconnect them.

---

Who is Dan Booker?

I am a 25-year-old Australian who loves being outside. I have been riding and racing for most of my life and recently got the opportunity to turn it into a job this season.

Where are you from and where do you live now?

I was lucky enough to grow up in Tasmania, which is an island that sits below the southeast corner of Australia. I grew up in Hobart, which is the capital city. Tasmania has always had some amazing riding but has recently exploded with the government backing a whole bunch of parks for MTB tourism. I’m excited for the spotlight to be on Tassie for the first two rounds of the UCI Enduro this season. At the moment I have been based between Hobart and Queenstown, NZ.

How did you get into mountain biking?

The house I grew up in was on top of a hill with a bit of land so my brother and I would build tracks down either side of the property. My mum and dad let us go crazy. I was obsessed and would spend hours every day after school watching the New World Disorder movies, then head outside to build jumps and turns in the backyard.

What does a typical day look like for you?

At the moment I’ve been spending a fair bit of time in the gym and lapping the bike park. I’ll also switch it up and head to the lake for a swim, then go for a trail ride in the evening. I prefer to stay relaxed in between the training sessions but also balance that with as much time on the bike as I can.

Who are your supporters or sponsors?

I am stoked with my setup for the next couple of years! I’m riding for Nukeproof Sram Factory Racing, which includes Nukeproof Bikes, SRAM, RockShox, Michelin, 7IDP, Camelbak, Wahoo Fitness, Rapid Racer Products, Leatt, Peaty's Products, and Applied Nutrition.

What would you say are your strengths?

One strength of mine is staying highly optimistic and having strong self-talk. If something goes wrong I’m not dwelling on it too much. I'm already thinking about how I can learn from it or improve upon that scenario next time. That makes it easier to get through a rough training session or turn the day around after an average stage at a race.

What are your weaknesses?

Promoting myself is something that I struggle with. I love riding and prefer to let my riding and results speak for me. I find it hard to be super active on social media which is something that’s pushed quite heavily in the industry. I tend to only post when I’ve worked hard to land something or place well at a race.

Who or what inspires you?

I’m super lucky to have a whole bunch of epic friends around me. I would say they inspire me the most. They’re constantly pushing their limits, doing inner work, or working on projects bigger than themselves. That’s what inspires me the most

What hobbies do you have outside of biking?

My favorite thing to do outside of biking has to be surfing. It’s about as far away from a mountain bike track as you can get, which is great for keeping life diverse. Searching for waves takes you to some beautiful parts of the world and the feeling of being in the ocean is as good as it gets!

You’ve been racing multiple disciplines; World Cup DH, Enduro World Series and Crankworx events. What bikes are you riding right now and do you have a favorite amongst them?

It was a busy season! At all the EWS rounds last year, I raced a Giga 297. Nukeproof has a prototype downhill bike which I rode at the World Cups. I have a 27.5 Reactor built up for the dual slaloms, as well as a Solum hardtail. This off-season I have spent a heap of time on the Mega and I’ll race that at the enduro races next season. If I had to pick one, the Giga is the most fun bike I’ve owned!

You’re a flat pedal rider through and through, right? Would you say there is a big difference in your bike setup compared to other clipless riders, for both DH and enduro?

Yeah, I am. I used to ride clips as a junior but have been strictly on flats for the last eight years. I have been considering giving clips another go, but then I think about the look Sam and Nigel would give me. That’s enough to stay on flats, haha. I think I tend to ride a softer rear shock setup and get along a bit better with coil shocks on those bikes.

Are there any tips that you can pass on to other flat pedal riders?

Having proper shoes and pedals make the biggest difference - I’ve got the Nukeproof Horizon Sam Hill pedals on all my bikes. I take all the washers out from behind the pins to make them as tall as possible.

Your riding and race results grabbed the attention of the legend and your current Nukeproof teammate, Sam Hill. How did that all play out?

It’s a bit of a crazy story! Revolution, an Australian MTB magazine, ran a competition to win a day riding with Sam at Maydena. I was working at the bike park as a trail builder when Sam and the winner travelled down, so I took the day off work to give them a bit of a tour.

I just remember trying to scare Sam down some of the wildest tracks Maydena had on a wet day and us both being wide-eyed at the bottom. Sam must have gotten in touch with the guys at Nukeproof because they reached out to me on Instagram saying they were keen to chat. I sent them an email, but unfortunately it was the week the world totally shut down because of Covid and I never heard back.

I sent them a follow-up email about a year later asking if they were still interested. At that time I had gone fully off the grid and had no social media at all so they had to go off Sam’s word and some race results from a few years earlier. I’m super thankful that the people at Nukeproof for taking a bit of a risk and sent out some bikes to me.

I managed to get myself over to New Zealand in between Covid travel restrictions for a holiday. About two months after, the border suddenly shut, meaning I was stuck over there for another six months of living in a van, unable to travel home. Fortunately, that meant I was able to compete at Crankworx Rotorua while there was no racing at the time in Australia. I just had my Giga over there but managed to get on the podium in the downhill and dual slalom. This caught Nukeproof and SRAM’s attention, eventually sparking talks and allowing me to race a full season in Europe and North America in 2022!

You travelled to races around the world last season. What was your favorite venue?

That’s a hard question. I visited so many amazing places last year. Crans Montana in Switzerland had to be one of the standouts for me. The trails were insane and the views from the start gate made you feel like you were on top of the world.

What was the most important lesson you learned this season, on or off the bike?

Rest. I started the season quite strong but just did far too much racing. In the first eleven weeks this season, I did nine races and didn’t feel like I properly recovered for the rest of the season.

Racing back-to-back is full-on. It begins with a track walk on Thursday, practice on Friday and Saturday, racing Sunday, packing up and sometimes driving 10-12 hours on Monday. Tuesday allows for a day to recover, then the whole process starts again with the pit setup on Wednesday. The mental and physical toll catches up to you and so there were some races last year I just wasn’t in it.

What does your offseason look like, or do you even have one, since you live in the Southern Hemisphere?

It’s tricky to have an off-season in the Southern Hemisphere. You can race the entire way through if you want to. This is the first time I’ve had the opportunity to have a proper off-season. I’ve usually needed to return to work outside of racing, so I’m excited that I’ve been able to rest up, reset, and get on with solid prep for the next season. I’ve decided to base myself in Queenstown, NZ for the summer because the level of riding here is ridiculous. It’s the perfect environment to push yourself in.

What are your goals for the 2023 season?

I prefer not to set result goals but I want to feel like I’ve put everything into it. So I suppose my goals are to have a solid off-season of training, ride my bike as much as I can, follow good processes and be happy and healthy at the races. If I can tick all those boxes then the results should come.

What does the future look like for Dan Booker?

For the next two years, I’ll be riding full-time for Nukeproof focusing on the enduro World Cups, with a bit of downhill and Crankworx on the side. It’s a dream come true. I’m stoked to see where it takes me and the experiences I’ll get to have along the way.

Posted In:
Interviews Nukeproof Dan Booker