Simon: When you are not on your bike, what are you doing?
Mike Spinner: Well I still ride my bike as much as I can, because at the end of the day that’s the thing I enjoy the most. If I'm not on my bike, I'm probably on a plane. I am flying so much it's not even funny. Like I get free upgrades just for the fact I'm on it all the time. Since January, I've done about 50,000 miles in an airplane so far. I've been to Australia twice. I'm probably on a flight once a week. That takes up time, you know.
Simon: How has the Free Flow Amateur Tour helped you?
Mike Spinner: Oh man, like I said before, if it wasn’t for the Free Flow tour, I would not be here today. In the back of my mind, 'if I ride my bike like I ride everyday and push myself, I can be super good at this.' And it worked out. When I got there, I was riding with the best pros in the world. A lot of people enter a pro contest and skip the amateur contests. I've talked to a lot of pros and they said, to technically become a professional, you have to enter an amateur contest and win that. That’s what I did. I did it the proper way.
Simon: What was it like competing in the Dew tour last year?
Mike Spinner:I was like "Oh my God, this is crazy, Dave Mirra is right there." It was amazing, I had the biggest smile on my face, no joke. I was just being overly nice to everyone. Everybody must have thought I was crazy! (laughs)
Simon: Taking second overall in the Dew Tour, how much of a dream was your whole last year?
Mike Spinner: I had two goals coming into last year. I had the realistic goal and the fake goal. The realistic goal: make top 10 in every contest and get top 10 overall. The fake goal, or the dream goal, was get top three and win a contest. Well, I got second place overall, won a contest and got trick of the year for doing the 1080. So you can't imagine how stoked I was. But then, when I won the contest I was like 'oh my God, it’s possible to win.' So this year, Im just riding every day trying to get ready.
Simon: How often are you recognized nowadays?
Mike Spinner: It's been more and more. I was in Australia, and I was seriously just hanging out in the downtown area, and I had a bunch of kids come up to me and say, "Can we get your picture. Can we get your autograph?" That’s awesome. I'm not going to lie; it's kind of cool.
Simon: What are your goals for the 2008 Dew Tour?
Mike Spinner: Being realistic and not even kidding, win at least two and win top three. I think everyone needs goals to go forward and that’s definitely my goal this year. I would be stoked if that happened, but winning the Dew Cup would be way better. (laughs)
Simon: What advice would you have for any kid who wants to follow in your footsteps?
Mike Spinner: I would say, whatever you do you have to love to do it. Not even think about any accomplishments you're going to get from it if that makes sense? Whether it's skateboarding, BMX, basketball, hockey, football - you have to love to do it, have a passion to do it. If you're that good, people will notice you, you won’t have to worry about getting noticed. And at the end of the day, if you love to do it and your that good, something good will happen.
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