Jakub Hejl is the great hope of Czech MTB biking. Not long ago, he took 3rd place at the first Czech silver stop of the FMB tour, which took place on June 16-17 in the Dolní Vítkovice region of Ostrava and was called the Iron Town Session. You will find out how Jakub evaluates the track, the organization and his overall impression of the first ever Czech FMB tour stop in the following interview.
SEE HOW IT LOOKED AT HORSEFEATHERS IRON TOWN SESSION 2023
Jakub Hejl is a 24-year-old freestyle MTB biker from Velké Meziříčí. He belongs to the absolute top in his discipline. In May 2022, he took second place at the silver stop of the FMB tour in Zurich, Switzerland, third place this year at the silver stop of the FMB tour in Ostrava - Horsefeathers Iron Town, and he also has a world first in the form of a 360 double tail whip to barspin trick.
What are your overall impressions of the HF Iron Town Session in Ostrava?
I really liked it. Iron Town Session was the first world FMB stop we had in the Czech Republic, and I must say that its organization went like clockwork. There was huge competition, but at the same time it was home, there were people I knew, so it was great. At the end of the event I said to myself that it end quickly and that I would like to do it again. In addition, the industrial environment was amazing, I just really liked it.
Iron Town Session was the first silver FMB stop in the Czech Republic. How do you rate the organization compared to other silver stops within the FMB Tour abroad?
It was the first year and it was such a step into the unknown for Kamil and for all the people who organized it. I was a little worried for them at first, that everything would work as it should. But it really surprised me in a good way, as well as the riders who were invited. The organization was really phenomenal. The riders were well taken care of, everything was clear, nothing moved. That doesn't really happen all the time. Compared to other silver and gold stops I've been to, this one was at least equal to, or even surpassed, the gold ones in terms of organization. It was really cool.
How was the track setup?
It was a slopestyle track, which means that there is a mix of different styles of obstacles. It had two sections. The first section consisted of a large starting tower, which was 8 meters high, and a series of three consecutive jumps. The first jump was classically the biggest, and then it gradually got smaller. In the second section there was another starting tower, then a spin - a very fun obstacle, everyone loved it. Next there was a step down which had an amazing size. After that there was a big curved wallride and a big jump. The track was thus divided into two parts, and especially the second part was really great, technical and incredibly fun. There were a few details that would like to be fine-tuned in the future in the first part, if the next year is held. But the second part was really praised by everyone, it was a blast.
Do you have any tips how to improve the first part?
Definitely somehow improve that speed. You had to pedal everywhere, because the landings did not have such a radius that it could be pumped up. And especially for the third jump, which was the smallest and there was no more speed for it. The solution would be to either lower the landing or make the first landing higher so that it makes sense with speed. But that's just a detail that just needs to be fine-tuned and it will be a blast.
Which of the obstacles did you enjoy the most? And which, on the contrary, was a bit problematic for you?
I definitely enjoyed the spin (dirt jump with a kicked radius almost to 90 degrees) with a step down in the second part. It really surprised me, I haven't jumped such a big spin for a long time, but I felt comfortable on it, I was always able to fly high and I had a lot of fun. I could ride it all day and not get tired of it. The third jump was problematic for me, all the riders agreed on that.
How did it go during the rides? How many did you have?
There were always two rides for pre-qualification, qualification and final. So if you messed up one ride, you always had one more chance to fix it.
You placed 3rd which is great! Did you have a top trick in your rides that you know was the one that sent you to the box?
I didn't even show what I wanted there. So I probably wouldn't pinpoint any trick that sent me there because the tricks didn't really stand out. Rather, it was probably the smoothness and continuity of the ride. And in that second section I was flying higher than most of the riders, so maybe that sent me to that third place. But when I look at my ride, it wasn't any ultra hard tricks. My strategy was to go clean the first run to have some confidence, and the second run to put something there, but somehow it didn't work out for me on the second run.
What happened that you didn't get the tricks you wanted to do?
I was in a good state of mind for the second run, but the first jump was critical for me. I did a frontflip no hand there, but I flew over the jump and then I didn't have the necessary speed anymore. Somehow I finished the first section, but I didn't even like the ride anymore and I wanted to drop it. But everyone started cheering for me, so on the last jump I wanted to add the main trick, but right before it I straightened my legs so that I could pedal and my foot slipped and again I didn't have the speed for it. So it all kind of went wrong because of that speed. I have two tricks that I have never put anywhere, not even on videos, so I wanted to show them there, but it didn't work out.
And what about the competition? What big names appeared there?
All the riders who were there were really high ranked riders. I was surprised by how many came. For example, David Godziek, who is currently in the TOP 3, who also won it. And then there are a number of riders who are in the TOP 20. For example, Jake Atkinson from England, who was second, is a rising star who, in my opinion, will ride Crankworkx in a while. It was really successful in terms of competition, and I'm very happy for that, everyone really liked it and would like to come next year. Everyone also really liked the industrial environment, it was so different and everyone was excited about it.
Did you have time to enjoy any side events that were going on there? Did you attend any parties?
I don't drink much in general and I like my regime, so before the competition I didn't go to any parties, I concentrated on training and thought about my rides. However, what really mattered to me was when, at the end, after the announcement of the results, people came to ask me for my signature, said very kind words to me and took pictures with me. That was really nice and touching and I still live by it to this day. :) And as for the after-party, I went there with the boys, had two beers, danced, and went to bed around one. But I enjoyed it a lot.
Are there any other competitions waiting for you this year?
In July it's so much quieter as far as competitions go, there are only two FMB stops in Canada going on, and we decided to skip that as it's quite expensive as we'd have to be there for three weeks. And then there are events in Spain and Germany. I'm definitely going to Spain, it's in less than 5 weeks, so that's my main goal now. It will be a gold stop, so I want to properly prepare for it.
