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The Brett Rheeder interview: a three-year road back to Rampage

How a new perspective carried the Canadian to his "best contests ever"

Photo by: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

When Brett Rheeder stood on top of the podium at 2022 Red Bull Rampage, it meant more than a second victory at the event. That’s an exclusive club to join and a remarkable accomplishment. But, for the Ontario-born rider, it marked the end of a three-year battle to get back to competition.

Before this year, the last time Rheeder lined up for a contest was back in 2019. Not just Rampage, but any competition. A lot has changed in that time. The Canadian has a new bike, Commencal, after parting ways with his sponsor of nine years at the start of 2022. He’s launched his own component brand, Title. More importantly, he’s found a new perspective on riding that, he says, made his two competitions this summer, Proving Grounds and Rampage, “the best two contests I’ve ever competed in.”

If Brett Rheeder made his winning run in Utah look easy, it’s because he’s found a new level of calmness, or balance in his life. Getting there, though, wasn’t easy. When we talked with the Mt. Albert, Ont.-born rider over zoom, detailed how that helped win Rampage, plus a few other big surprises.

Brett Rheeder puts his mark on Rampage once again. Photo: Paris Gore / Red Bull Content Pool

Facing fears in Utah 

Rheeder’s comeback wasn’t supposed to happen this year. Just weeks before last year’s Red Bull Rampage, he crashed in training and hurt his knee. That took him out of the 2021 event. It also made for a three-year break between his last Rampage appearance (and last contest) in 2019 and his return in 2022.

Three years is a long time to be away from anything, never mind something as unique as Rampage. As Rheeder found out on a scouting trip, the return to the desert wasn’t as easy as expected.

“When we went down to Utah, it was terrifying looking at all the old features, and I questioned my involvement in Rampage” Rheeder recalls. Refamiliarizing himself with the desert took time. “We went and looked at that stuff a couple of times and I got on my bike a couple of times. Every day got a little bit easier. But it was so hot when we went that we really couldn’t get much done.”

Tail whips on the way to a Red Bull Rampage win. Photo: Garth Milan / Red Bull Content Pool

Finding proof at Proving Grounds

After deciding battling against temperatures well into the 40s Celcius (over 100-degrees Fahrenheit) was a losing game, Rheeder’s crew packed up and headed back towards Canada. He made a last-minute decision to stop in and support his girlfriend, Casey Brown, at Proving Grounds in Oregon. Initially, the detour was just to support and watch. But, with Rampage looming, plans changed and he made the decision to compete.

“That first event was welcoming, to an extent, but I was just questioning so much,” Rheeder admits. “Whether I still had what it took to do a contest, or to even hit features like that was a big question mark for me.”

Rheeder ended up winning Proving Grounds, his first contest since 2019. (Brown finished second) The last-minute detour ended up being a major marker on his return to Utah.

“It became extremely clear that it doesn’t just leave,” Rheeder says of the impact of the Proving Grounds experience. “You do have the skill, it’s just buried deep, deep down. Proving Grounds was how I could access that. After that, I knew we were on track for Rampage.”

Rheeder back on top at Red Bull Rampage. Photo: Garth Milan / Red Bull Content Pool

Tapping into a new perspective

It is surprising to hear someone as accomplished as Brett Rheeder questioning his ability to compete. The Canadian has a list of wins to his name that spans over a decade of contests around the globe. But that doubt is just the start. The pandemic was hard for everyone, Rheeder included.

“That was the darkest of times. I believed that I would never get back to contests or even back to being a professional mountain biker,” the Canadian recalls. But challenging times can lead to breakthroughs. For Rheeder, the dark period led to a new perspective on riding.

“It taught me the most important things in life. And that isn’t winning contests,” Rheeder says, adding, “anymore, anyways. I’m thankful to that part of my life and I accomplished a lot in it, but it sure is an unhealthy way to live.”

“I was defining myself by my results, from when I was 18 to 28 years old. It became clear that I didn’t like my relationship with the sport at the time. Everything I did was for a win. I started losing friends,” Rheeder admits, pausing before adding, “I just didn’t like myself.”

That led to his first decision to step back from competition in early 2020. In the long period between then and now, his approach to the sport has shifted.

“I’ve changed a lot over the last three years. I have a greater picture of how my life should be lived and how I want to live it,” Rheeder shares with a calm confidence. “Now, everything moving forward is meant to be for fun and be really impactful for people and for myself.”

Brett Rheeder and Thomas Genon celebrate in Utah. Photo: Robin O’Neill / Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull Rampage, redefined

Fast forward to the start gate of Red Bull Rampage 2022. Brett Rheeder drops in, makes a wildly technical run look easy and ends up earning his second win at the iconic freeride event. That puts him in an exclusive group, just a handful of riders have more than one win to their name. But it is when I ask Rheeder if he was able to enter one of the most intense competitve environments in sports without getting drawn back into competition negatively that the incredibly calm Canadian gets excited.

“I was! I proved it at Proving Grounds, that I was able to compete with that mindset. I think once you find that, it’s with you.”

That shift completely changed the Rampage experience for Rheeder.

“It was way better. The last two contests I competed in were the best two contests I’ve ever competed in because,” Rheeder adds, after a pause, “Because I didn’t care about the result. I really didn’t. I just tapped into the skills that I have and that I’ve been working on. There was no pressure and no expectation that I put on myself, which I constantly did.”

“This year was truly me against myself,” the Canadian continues, quickly correcting to “me with myself, if anything. Not against anything, just me, with me, competing. And it worked really well.”

The shift wasn’t as much about adding anything as much as letting things go.

“Expectation and pressure is just a huge wall you have to climb over – but it doesn’t have to be there,” Rheeder shares, adding he thinks the shift can work for anyone. “Your skills don’t change if you take the expectation away. It’s just a block.”

“It felt good to come back to Rampage with a new perspective on riding in general, and competing,” The Canadian says of his win. “To spend all that time with my team, successfully finish a line, and then get down to the bottom and have it be the best run of the day was pretty rewarding.”

Brett Rheeder surveys the Rampage venue. Samantha Saskia Dugon / Red Bull Content Pool

Where to from here?

Why, if he’s so focused on letting go of any attachment to results, was Brett Rheeder at Rampage, or Proving Grounds, to start with? Why mount a comeback after so long away. Well, the answer lies in what comes next. When I asked him what his plans are now that he has a second win, a calm falls over him.

“Well, I’ve decided that I’m done competing. Just two days ago, I decided that that’s it for me,” Rheeder says, lowering his tone.”There’s a lot for me than winning contests, I think. I’ve done that. It’s not fulfilling. It’s not something that I want to keep doing. There’s more for me, and I don’t know exactly what that is yet, but that makes me pretty excited for the future.”

Rheeder is very careful to add that he is only stepping away from competition, not his career on bikes. “I’m still a mountain biker. I will still be doing things that people can watch and that people can see and follow.”

This year’s ride at Red Bull Rampage solidified that decision.

“I wanted to make sure that I went out on a positive note. Before these contests, that was my goal but I didn’t know how I would do it,” Rheeder admits. “As I reflect, and I reflect every day on Rampage, I’m realizing that I gave myself two contests on a high note, with a lot of positivity, and it seems right. So I think it’s time.”

Brett Rheeder’s single-crown Commencal FRS mid-tail whip. Photo: Bartek Wolinski / Red Bull Content Pool

About that bike…

While Brett Rheeder is moving on from competition, he’ll continue to ride for Commencal. That includes the custom FRS he piloted to the win this year. It’s the second single-crown bike to win Rampage in a row, after Brandon Semenuk’s win in 2020. Does that herald a shift that the field will be forced to follow?

“I think it depends on the athlete,” Rheeder says. “I think you’re going to see bikes of different varieties at Rampages coming up.”

“We spent a lot of time making that bike optimal for the run that I wanted to do,” Rheeder says. Specifically, it needed to be able to spin for a tail whip – requiring a single-crown fork – and rotate for his flat-drop backflip. To make the latter work, Commencal adapted the FRS so the Canadian could run a 26″ rear wheel without altering the suspension feel.

“For looping out on a backflip off of a flat drop, it is super important to have a short chain stay. The longer it is, the harder it is to loop out,” Rheeder explains, adding that “Looping a bike out like that and not rotating would be just the worst thing ever.”

As for the single-crown fork? Rheeder says his run this year is proof it shouldn’t hold any rider back.

“The stuff I did in my line was the biggest I’ve ever done. Way better than in years past and the bike is fine. All it does it let you progress the sport more and lets you express your creativity more.”

Before his injury in 2020, Rheeder had plans to bring a single-crown. He also showed up at his first Rampage, back in 2012, with a single-crown bike, before moving back to full DH bikes for a few years. For him, it works with his style of riding. “It just allows me to expand my bag of tricks on that terrain, which makes it more challenging, which makes it more exciting and fulfilling for me.”

While it won’t be at Rampage, we’re all excited to see what Brett Rheeder decides to do with that bike next.

If you missed Brett Rheeder’s incredible winning run at Red Bull Rampage you can watch a full replay free in Canada (and around the world except possibly the U.S.A.) on Red Bull TV. For highlights and more interviews, watch this video: