Ever wonder what it’s like to travel as much as a top pro bmxer? By no means is Mike “Hucker” Clark a “normal” pro but he travels more than most and is possibly the best at entertaining himself to keep it fun and not get burnt out. We decided to sit down with Mike and see what it takes, and hear about some of his stories on how he keeps it fun. “So I just turned around and pooped in the shower while we was taking a shower.” Hit more to read one of our funniest interviews we’ve done.
Did you get to travel much before you were a pro rider?
Before I was pro I never really got to travel, I went to Vegas a couple times and to Riverside and San Diego and that was pretty much it when it came to riding bikes.
Have you been anywhere with family?
No, pretty much the farthest I traveled with my family was Nevada and so I never really went too far from California.
When I graduated High school I was lucky enough to ride the dew tour so and that’s when I started traveling a bunch. 2006 I got to go to all five stops of the Dew Tour, I think it was like Kentucky, Denver, Portland, Florida, Salt Lake City and I think that was it. Then from there it escalated and took off, I got picked up by Redline and they paid for all my travel to any contest I wanted to go to.
What was your first international trip?
My first international trip was Red Bull elevation in 2006 or 2007 in Whistler Canada and it was insane! Jay Miron set it up and he treated BMXers like in a way that BMXers don’t really get treated. We got there and we felt like rock stars, it was nuts. I roomed with Oregon super ripper Justin Inman and then I roomed with Gary Young too. I remember getting to the hotel and checking in and there were just hot Red Bull girls there checking us in and then we go into the room and there were these ropes that said our names and Red Bull Elevation on it, a case of Red Bull, a bottle of Jack Danielle’s and a box of condoms, and there was also a map with every bar in the city that Red Bull sponsored that we could go to and drink for free. The only way to describe it is being treated like a rock star and its insane because to this day there are no contests like that one and it was one of the first ones I got to go to, so I got spoiled first round. I don’t like using the term rock star but it’s the only way to describe that contest.
Back then did you have any travel essentials that you had to bring or was it not thought out at all?
I’ve always been very good at over packing, I would bring a pair of underwear for each day if have that many pairs of underwear, and sox. Just cause I always sweat profusely, its insane. I always made sure I had enough clothes for trips and that was pretty much it. I didn’t care as much as pants and shorts as much as I did underwear and shirts. You smell that?
Yeah….?
I just farted…. Haha.
Traveling nowadays I gotta have a set routine when getting ready. I need to bring certain electronics, I love to bring my GoPro everywhere with me now because I’ve been using it a bunch and its fun to shoot with. Mainly phone chargers, I used to bring my computer everywhere with me but I don’t really care too much about it anymore. I love bringing my back rollers on trips with me. Oh, and there’s one thing I always forget and have like 50 of them is neck pillows. Anthony Napolitan always makes fun of me because I always forget them and need to buy one at the airport. Ever since I broke my neck I need one or else I started getting uncomfortable after a while of sitting there.
Do you sweat it a bunch when you have tons of travel time in front of you or do you just deal with it?
Its crazy how many people gets so bummed out when they have a long flight and they’re like “ Shit, I’m stuck in an airplane for 12 or 14 hrs…” They’re just miserable and I’ve learned I really enjoy traveling. The whole process of leaving my house to go to the airport to going through the airport, even going through TSA, people get stressed out and I don’t even care anymore. It’s part of it and I’ve accepted it. Its just like downtime that you get to take to do whatever you want in the little area that you’re in. You could listen to music, mess around on the computer, make little edits, read a book if you want or watch a movies. I’ve always been really good at sleeping on planes too. The worst is when I have all these things I want to do when I get on the plane and then I fall asleep in the first 10 minutes, but that’s not all bad either.
What has been the craziest place you’ve been to?
China, I only went to Shanghai but China for sure. That place is pretty much completely opposite from our day to day life in the US. Not in a bad way at all but just in a way that’s really eye opening to see firsthand.
You get into a lot of crazy situations in your life and your known to do some wild shit off the bike, do you find yourself in those situations more on trips or at home?
When you’re on trips you have a whole different mentality and that’s entertainment. You’re stuck in a van with 6 dudes for a week, it can get kinda boring and I’m not going to lie shit can get weird. You got stay entertained and sometimes it gets taken too far and overboard but at the end of the day it’s all fun-and-games as long as no one gets hurt, and then you clean up your mess.
On this last Florida trip, you may or may not have, but definitely did shit in the shower while Tyler was taking a shower, how do you get in the frame of mind to do something like that?
Hahaha, what even sparked that I don’t even remember?
Tyler said you went into the bathroom while he was showering, and so he mooned you and then he said next thing he knew he saw your butt hanging over the tub and a turd shot out?
Ya I’m not proud of that moment but it sure was funny. I think he gave me the goat actually. We just got back to the hotel and I had to poop really bad so I ran into the bathroom and Tyler was taking a shower. I sat down and he folds his wiener back between his legs and then moons me and I see all of Tyler Fernengel. I’m like “What the fuck, really?!” So I just turned around and pooped in the shower while we was taking a shower. It was really quick, didn’t last long and… yeah I’ve never done that before. I don’t know what was going through my mind at the time but it felt right, so I just went with it and it was pretty hilarious. It was pretty disgusting but everyone seemed to get a pretty good kick out of it, except for (Mike) Mastroni.
You seem to have a nac for making friends everywhere you go while making a scene everywhere you go, talk about that.
When I’m on the road I get into some wild scenarios while meeting random people and making new best friends in five minutes. I love making a perfectly normal situation super awkward for everybody. There is just something about it that is hilarious. Kris Fox is a prime example; I love this guy with all my heart and he’s one of my best friends, but there’s something about being on the road with him, you kinda want to just stress him out a bit! To me an awkward scenario is comedy.
Is that why you love listening to music on planes with a load speaker?
Haha, I just try to get people to have fun and get into a good mood and sometimes people are really serious and grouchy when on a plane and I try to play some good tunes to cheer them up. Some people get stoked on it and other people don’t like it too much.
To wrap up this interview, what was the most surreal/best moment of your life? If you can single out one memory from the rest.
There was this one day in New Zealand last year. I was on a trip and we drove an hour from Queenstown to these super rad super fast downhill trails, had an awesome session there. Then we drove like 5 minutes to an airport, got in a helicopter, flew for an hour to the top of a glacier to get some ice for these beers that we had. After that we flew to the coast to dive for lobsters and go spear fishing, got a bunch of lobster. Then we flew along the coast the whole way back to this lake where we were meeting up with the rest of the crew where I jumped into the lake from the heli from like 40 feet up. Then I hopped in the back of a boat and went wake skating . I can’t event believe that I was able to do any of that stuff let alone all in one day, that was probably the most epic day of my life.
Phu Vu
Best person on earth