SLOPESTYLE DIGGERS
Slopestyle diggers is our section dedicated to the world of mtb slopestyle and mtb street.
ABOUT SLOPESTYLE DIGGERS
We made this segment focused on mtb street and mtb slopestyle in order to give a place to all those guys who go riding with us to do street on their bike 26 - 24, a space in which the kids can send us their videos parts on trails - parks or on the street, we will also enjoy entertaining interviews with great riders and much more.
ALEXIS ROUSSEL ( FRANCE ) - INTERVIEW
I think riding a bike is definitely the best thing that has ever happened to me.
I grew up in Brindas, a small town 30 minutes from Lyon, France, I had the opportunity to
having parents who push their children to play sports from an early age. Younger, I did quite a lot of sports like
triathlon and other "more conventional" sports but one day a youtube video changed my life.
I saw that famous video of a guy riding trials bikes on the streets and that's how it all started! I wanted
to do the same, so I searched the internet to get one of these bikes, but it was expensive, so I ended up
buying a used dirtjump one cold winter night in 2014, the next few days I was trying to
do what I saw in these videos. There was no skatepark in my city at that time, I didn't know
no one from that sport around me so I was alone most of the time and I wasn't making much progress. he mtb
it was more like a once a week activity but i was enjoying this little expedition in my hometown
trying to find things to jump off or a ladder to the gap.
I quit triathlon in 2016. In my hometown they just made a cool new park with a pumptrack next to it,
I was afraid that people would make fun of me, so I mostly rode alone or at night when no one was around.
my age was there. I saw a guy doing a bunch of tricks out of the bowl one day and he was riding
the same kind of bike as me and i was so impressed by what i just saw i wanted to do the same so i
I asked him to show me how to drop in a bowl, then how to do a 180, etc. From that day on, I began to have
more interested in dirtjump or mtb park, wanted to ride more but still afraid of people's eyes
for some reasons.
September 2017 I entered the architecture school of Grenoble, I was riding more and more in the streets until I got
my bike stolen in the middle of the year, it took me the rest of the year to build a new one, in June 2018 I lost my
first year of university for 0.03 pts, so I have to pass again only the class I missed, so it wasn't much, I had myself with a year ahead of me and a lot of free time. So I took this opportunity to ride more, more and more
sessions, I was falling a little more in love with riding a bike. My first somersault and I didn't put any hands that
summer, first barspin at the end of that same year And from then on I never wanted to do another
sport that was not this.
I loved riding in parks more than dirt, mainly because it was more accessible and I didn't know anything about
beginner dirt bikes at the time. I was riding mostly with bmx guys so I ended up riding in parks and streets.
with them. I was and still am the only guy riding 26in wheels in the bmx group lol.
I was getting better and better, and after the lockdown during the summer of 2020 I received a call from Alex
Jumelin offers me a place as a flow team rider on a bike brand. I was so excited behind my phone
that day !
The year passed, we are in the summer of 2021, I finished my degree in architecture (3 year degree) but I wanted to
take a year off to breathe before starting my masters. So I took that year off with the goal of
see where cycling could take me. I was riding almost every day, pushing over and over again what was
doing, we started filming a joint project with 14 other guys called "Jeunesse Grenobloise" who
it almost took the whole year. And one day I decided to join a friend for a 1 week trip in BCN.
There, by sheer coincidence, I met the guys from The Rise, the legends I was watching on YouTube.
and more ! while keeping a low profile, I was mentally screaming when I was next to them, I was so excited to finally meet them,
people who are into the same things as me, ended up getting clips for me for the BCN DAYS 6 video
project that came out later that same year. I kept in touch with them and one day Jeremy Menduni
He offered me to join the team as a flow rider. I accepted instantly, I was living a dream, to be in the
Same team as the guys I was considering as my inspiration, that was crazy! This sabbatical year could not
spin better. End of summer 2022, I received my frame just before going to the Czech Republic for
an erasmus year I left Grenoble crying behind the wheel, with Jeunesse Grenobloise and hella good
Memories of this town and this crazy city. I would not be the person I am without these towns
gathered in this city, horsemen or not. I experienced the worst as well as the best there, crying, laughing, screaming but that
It was life, and he was grateful to be able to live that.
Now I'm still in Prague, I'm still riding my bike and filming a project that I hope I can bring to light.
summer i miss these guys but they keep pushing me to use more messages thru, and i found
some really nice guys here to ride (still mainly bmxers hahahah).
Feelings about riding a bike.
I have never been so passionate about anything else as riding a bike, it is such a great emotion being surrounded by people, pushing each other to go beyond our limits, and there is no better emotion
that after so much work to finally be able to get the tricks, the line you dreamed of. street mtb
It's a small word still, and The Rise keeps it alive, but I hope one day, people will see the same thing.
beauty I saw in her.
Being here making the most of what your environment offers you and leads you to boost your
creativity; That's the most interesting thing about street driving. Riding a bike kept my head above water
in my hardest moments when I felt that everything was collapsing around me. At this moment I jump
On a bike, I feel safe and away from any problems that life brings you on a daily basis. I'm so thankful to be
part of this world, to be part of street mtb and to be part of The Rise and I hope that one day, I will contribute to
this world too and leave my own mark.
