JACK MOIR
After posting a tenth place finish at the Hafjell World Champs in 2014, Australian ripper Jack Moir was ready to come storming into 2015. With a new team behind him, well-laid plans and focussed intentions, his year would unfortunately come to a screeching halt when a minor injury turned into a long, frustrating, and festering ball and chain. Now in his second year with the Intense Factory Team, Moir is healthy and in good form. Having recently come in fifth at the 2015 Toyota Australian Open DH, and taking the top step of the podium at the first two rounds of the Aussie National DH Series, Moir is keen to keep his momentum going into the 2016 World Cup season. So why does Rob Warner call him "Shark Attack Jack" and what makes this young Aussie racer tick, both on and off the track? Who is Jack Moir?You are about to find out!
Where are you from and where do you live now?I'm from the Morisset Park on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. I've moved around a bit, but pretty much lived here my whole life.
Who do you ride for?The Intense Cycles Factory Team - SRAM, RockShox, Maxxis Tires, POC, Renthal, DT Swiss, Fabric, e*thirteen Components, Crank Brothers and Five Ten.
Where are you happiest?Definitely in the mountains, or in the water!
What’s been your favourite race/contest venue?There are a few, but I think I would have to say Hafjell, Norway! Such a cool track with a good mix of everything. Pretty sad that it's not on the circuit anymore. Also really keen to get back to Cairns at the beginning of next year. Such a rad feeling racing a World Cup in your own country.
What are your favourite trails?I have some pretty cool trails around home, but my favourite place to ride is in Morzine, France. That place has an endless supply of roots and loam.
What are your strengths?Fighting off sharks?
What are your weaknesses?Collar bones apparently... And trying not to skid my commy ute (Commodore) when it's raining… That's some serious self-control ha-ha!
What’s been your worst crash over the years? Jack's beloved Commodore Ute... I've had a real bad injury streak over the last year and most people think I just keep crashing and wrecking myself, but most of it has been complications from surgery etc. So here it is... It all started with a shoulder dislocation at Crankworx Europe, mid-season in 2014. I managed that fine and ended up racing the rest of the season and getting my best result ever at world champs in Norway.
At the end of that year, I popped it out again and decided to get surgery in the off-season so it would be 100% for 2015. I did six months of rehab, trained the hardest I ever had and flew over to Spain all fired up for the first World Cup in France. I had just signed with the Intense Factory team and was super excited to continue the season where I left off in 2014. Then I broke my collarbone training, two days after I arrived.
It was a minor break, but the surgeon recommended a plate so I could get back to racing ASAP. I went in for surgery the next day and was told I would be back training in four weeks. Two weeks later the wound became infected and I went back into surgery to get it cleaned out. At this point I'm thinking okay, minor setback, no biggy.... Two weeks after that the plate started to poke out of my skin and I went back into surgery to remove the plate. It was really draining spending all this time injured in a foreign country with no family or friends around, and by this point I was over the whole thing and was thinking of going home. Obviously, I would have gone home at the start if I knew all this was going to happen. However, the wound seemed to heal up after this surgery and about six weeks later I got the all clear and was in Switzerland for the 4th World Cup.
I had a little crash in practice and felt my collarbone snap. I was confused as to why the bone had broken as it didn't feel like I crashed that hard. At this point I knew that my season was over for good. Devastated and extremely frustrated, I flew home to get it all sorted out and try and forget everything that had happened. I went in for my 5th surgery that year and came out with another plate. The surgeon did swabs of the bone and they came back saying I had a bone infection. This meant the bone was really weak and hadn't healed properly, hence why it snapped so easily in Switzerland...
I was in hospital for two weeks with a PICC line feeding antibiotics directly into my heart. When I got out of hospital I had this line in for another month, attached to a little antibiotic bottle that I had to carry around. I then had a further two months of oral antibiotics.
It definitely was not the year I had planned for my first season on a factory team and I never thought a simple broken collar bone would put me out for a whole season. A huge thanks to my team manager Ivan and his wife Monica for looking after me in Spain, it was really tough being surrounded by new people, but these guys welcomed me into their home and looked after me while I was injured. Also a big thanks to everyone at Intense and all the other team sponsors for the endless support throughout the whole year. I really appreciate it and I'm so grateful to be surrounded by such a rad bunch of people. Can't wait for the 2016 season now that I'm fit and healthy.
What’s been your luckiest escape?My luckiest escape would have to be when I got nibbled on by a shark in 2007. I got away with about 500 stitches and was super lucky not to lose my leg!
Which bike from over the years, conjures up the best memories?My first downhill bike! A Kona Stinky that I used to send off anything possible haha. Freeeride!!!
What bikes are you riding right now?Today? It was a tough decision between my Carbine29er and my Spider275 for this morning's XC bash, but in the end I opted for the Spider. Now I'm
hanging out for some arvo shuttles on mynew M16 Carbon. So lucky to wake up and have to choose what bike to ride.... It was only ever a dream to own a quiver of bikes like this!
Who’s your favourite rider?Sam and Brendog. We used to sit in class watching edits of them slaying it on Iron Horses back in the day to get stoked for after school push runs. Giving us computers when we got to high school was a big mistake ha-ha!
Who or what inspires you?Inspirational quotes on Instagram and Tumblr.
What do you enjoy doing away from bikes?If I'm not riding my bike I'm at the beach. I pretty much surf every day if there are waves around. I also just bought a 125, so been cutting a few laps on that lately as well. Got a good crew back home, we are always running a muck rallying old cars or finding something fun to do.
What are you listening to right now?Chillin' out to some
Sticky Fingers.
What’s your favourite bike movie?Earthed 5! All of the Earthed movies are dope!
What's your favorite non-bike movie/tv show?I just watched Straight outta Compton and that was hectic! There are too many... I go through so many TV series' when travelling, but at the moment I'm watching Suits and Narcos, which are both really good.
What’s your favourite non-bike website?Hmm...
What’s your favourite motto or saying?"Ya live and ya learn" - You can literally do anything, and then say that afterwards, and you can feel better about yourself.
What grinds your gears?Not enough chain lube.
What makes you happy?Bikes, boards, burritos, waves, and when Tim Butler takes me shuttling every week!
If you weren’t a pro mountain biker, what would you be doing?I would be Dan Bilzerian.
If you were in charge of the sport, what changes would you make?I'm sure it's much easier said than done, and it's easy to criticise from the side lines but... Maybe try and organise the race schedule a little better? 2016 for example - it wouldn't hurt anyone to start it off in Australia, then go to Europe, rather than make the Aussies and Kiwis fly over for the first round in France to then fly back to Australia for Cairns, then straight back to Europe for the rest of the season.
When you hang up your racing shoes, how do you want to be remembered?I'm not quite sure... I would just be stoked if people remembered me I guess!
What does the future hold for Jack Moir?We will have to wait and see!
Additional photos: Carmen Herrero: @car_herrero
We wish Jack the best of luck in 2016. PB.
MENTIONS:
@intensecyclesusa,
@SramMedia,
@Maxxis,
@FiveTen
Shark "nibbles" his leg
Those injuries were sAvage
FTW
www.instagram.com/p/BABFvwylSn4/?taken-by=aarongwin1
Otherway, this guy here is crazy ! these injuries aren't little ... "I would be Dan Bilzerian " legend