The devil of mountain biking

A conversation with the devil

Mountain bike races tend to attract a colorful crew of fans, from chainsaw-wielding hecklers to those who have raided their closets for any costume imaginable. At the Lake Placid World Cup last month, one man stood out from the crowd with an outfit straight from the underworld. 

 I caught up trackside with Tristan Raab to hear all about his devilish attire, inspired by the Tour de France’s Didi the Devil. 

What’s your name and where are you from? 

My name is Tristan Raab. I'm originally from Troy, New York, although I live in Florida now. This race is in my own backyard so I had to come up here for it. 

What inspired the costume? 

There's a guy named Didi that does the Tour de France. I just didn't see anything like that over here in the States. I've been to the Snowshoe World Cup a few times and a couple other races, and didn't see anything like it, so this is my interpretation of it.

Do you ride or race yourself? 

Yeah, I'm a big time rider. I enjoy it a lot. I used to race back in my teens. I haven't raced in a long time. I'm just a free rider now. I just enjoy getting out and doing the trails. I'm not worried about the times anymore. 

Do you have a favorite racer? 

Jolanda Neff, by far. Lea Davison, although she retired. Now she's doing the commentary now, which is great to hear her still in the scene. Jolanda is one of my favorites. Really nice. She does really well with the technical stuff so it's always good to see her race. 

Where does your energy come from? 

Just my love of mountain biking. I started when I was a kid. Like I said, I raced for a little while in my teens. Kind of got away from it for a little while but got back into it soon after and I just love it. It's a good time. 

When they're right here, sweating, spitting, you're right next to the course, you can't help but just get involved in enjoying it. And it's tough. I mean, I've been there too. It's just these guys and girls are just a whole lot faster than I ever was, and to see them ripping up hills like this is awesome.

This rock garden looks really tough 

It's really tough, really technical, and because it's a little bit wet, it's very soft and slippery so it's formidable, for sure. 

I just know I would strike a pedal 

And that's why we're not racing here today. 

Where’d you get the costume and props? 

Amazon. I mean, the shorts, a red shirt, I can kind of do on my own. But you know, the tambourine and the trident are from Amazon. 

Anything else you want to tell the world? 

Come to Lake Placid. They're happy to have us here and then they put on a great

race.