I don’t talk about the high-level racers I’ve worked with because our coaching relationship is nobody’s business, their success is theirs, and they are people just like everyone else.
However … I just saw on Pinkbike that Mille Johnset has retired from World Cup downhill racing. She’s been racing at the world level since 2018. Now, at 25, she’s ready to move on.
In 2012 her father Håvard emailed me saying his daughter loves riding and seems to have potential, and he wants to support her. Mille and I started weekly Zoom coaching on the family land. Håvard was so cool. I’d describe a piece of terrain that would help Mille’s skills, and the next week it was built.
In 2013 Håvard brought Mille to Boulder, CO to work with me in person. I remember her being a great athlete, very coachable, and a quality person. I agreed that she had limitless potential. Håvard said with absolute confidence, “She’ll be racing World Cups.”
Mille and Håvard send the Valmont Bike Park slopestyle in 2013.
Dialing in drops. At this time Mille was 12 years old. We focused on getting her into a lower hinge with her elbows behind the bars rather than above them.
Mille did it! Racing for elite teams like Atherton Racing and Canyon CLLCTV, she earned wins and podiums at the highest level.
Now that’s a World Cup hinge!
Perhaps even more extraordinary, she has the wisdom to step away from full-time racing. As she said:
Dear Mille, you had no idea what you were getting yourself into. Back in 2018, you just wanted to race. You wanted to get faster, prove something to yourself, and see how far you could take it. You probably thought the hardest part would be riding. It wasn't. There were injuries, disappointment, pressure, bad results, and plenty of moments that hurt more than you expected. But you kept coming back, and I'm so glad you did begin.
Because somewhere along the way, you got to live a life you probably couldn't even have imagined back then. You traveled the world with a bike. You stood on World Cup start lines and even World Cup podiums. You met incredible people who became some of your best friends. You laughed, you cried, you grew, and you made memories that will stay with you forever. You gave racing everything you knew how to give it, and I think you should be proud of that. Not because everything went exactly how you dreamt it would. It didn't. But because you chased it, you committed to it. You gave yourself the chance to find out how far you could go, and now things are changing.
I'm stepping away from World Cup racing, not because I stopped loving racing and definitely not because I stopped loving riding bikes. I just don't feel like I need to build my whole life around World Cups anymore. I still want to ride fast. I still want to race when it feels right, and I still want bikes to take me new places. I just want to leave some room for everything else, too.
So if I could tell you anything now, it would be this. Don't worry so much about where it all ends up. You're going to get so much more from this than results, and when this chapter ends, it doesn't mean the story does. It just means it's time for a new one.
Congratulations Mille, and good luck at Hardline! 🙏🏼🤙🏼✨
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There are a few riders moving away from the WC circus to focus on their own projects, which looks similar to the move away from the surfing World Cup to 'soulsurfing' projects. The new social media ecosystem allows for an income stream away from the main events. And to my eye there's also a slow but welcome change from 'riding to win' to 'riding to enjoy', which is undermining competitions both at the elite and grassroots level.
Disclaimer: I've always been crap at racing so my view may be skewed :)