Introductions:
Paul: Paul Angus, 22 years…er 23 years [laughs]…24? 23 years old - I'm 24 in July, and I'm from Edinburgh.
Chris: Chris Ball, from Edinburgh, and I'm 22.

How long have you both been riding down a hill?
Paul: Since '99.
Chris: I've been racing since '99, but I've been riding downhill since probably about '98, or something.

How did you get into it?
Chris: Just progression from riding a bike really. I just got more into it and built some wee tracks.

Were you always into mountain biking?
Chris: Yes.

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What about you, Paul?
Paul: [Laughs} I just got a bike for my birthday - a GT RTS and just started arsing about - jumping and stuff. Jumping's how I started learning how to ride, just did loads of jumps - jumped everywhere [laughs], then I met Stuart Nicol and he told me to go along to a race in Innerleithen and that was it - never looked back.

You were saying before that you much prefer just riding your bike an free-riding to racing, but that you can only get sponsored for racing, so you need to do it. Have I just answered my own question?
Paul: [Laughs] Nah, nah. I like racing, it's good just for the scene - hanging out with your friends. It's like a wee holiday every week and you get to see loads of different places, which is really good fun. But just doing stuff like this is good - jumping's my favourite thing.

Chris?
Chris: I dunno, I like to…

[Interrupting] Why does your shoulder stick up in that strange way?
Chris: I fell off [laughs] at a race two years ago - in 2001.

What happened?
Chris: I separated it. It was at Dunkeld. [Mass noises of disgust as Chris makes the bone stick out in a very wrong angle from his shoulder]

So anyway - racing or just riding?
Chris: I dunno - I really like the relaxed atmosphere of days like today, just riding with your mates. But racing's cool because it's a bit more structured - you get to go away to places and see loads of places and it's always a good laugh.

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What are the best rankings/placings that you've had?
Chris: My top World Cup placing was 22nd. That was in Alp D'Huez, in France, in June last year. In the Nationals, I got second, I think, and in Scotland, I won the Scottish Champs.
Paul: I won the Scottish Series as a Senior in 2001, when I was riding for The Clan, and then in the World Cups, I got a fluky 37th - no 36th because that guy got disqualified. Actually it was 2000 that I won the Scottish Series and I got 36th at the Vancouver World Cup, because [laughs] I went down before it pissed it down, so [laughs] I did alright there.

Stu Thomson did that too, didn't he?
Paul: Er, yeah. [laughs] he was a jammy bastard. World Cups are where it's at. They're the best fun.

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