EXPN: So what has been going on with you lately?

Ryan Nyquist: Last couple months, I had ankle surgery. I had some stuff fixed in there so I have been laying low, trying to heal up. This is actually my first contest back so I am going to skip the vert comp and I'll only be doing street. I'll be floating around, just seeing how it feels and using this as a tester.

EXPN: When did you hurt your ankle?

RN: Over two years ago, actually. I just kinda dealt with it, didn't wear an ankle brace for the past two-and-a-half years. It hurt but I didn't want to get it fixed because there was too much other stuff going on, I was just too busy. So finally it started hurting really bad, started folding over like 90 degrees and so I thought I should get it done. So it worked out well actually, it was at a point where I wouldn't miss too many contests.

EXPN: That's cool. Can you explain what exactly was wrong with your ankle?

RN: On the outside on my left ankle I had ripped two ligaments and had those reattached, and then there were chips and a gap in the bone. What happens is that calcium starts to fill the gap and it keeps going and each time you roll it, it gets worse and worse. So I had this bone spur like the size of a nickel and they pulled that out of there. It was crazy.

EXPN: Brutal, that is pretty gnarly. So how do you feel about the recent surge in popularity with action sports?

RN: I think it is awesome, a lot of people can really relate to it now. Kids can just go out there and ride a bike, skateboard, whatever, just doing their own thing. I think it is rad, especially for the athletes because they can go out and do what they love for a living. Most of them can make a living from good sponsors.

EXPN: What do you think some of the reasons are behind the sports blowing up?

RN: I don't know. It's hard to say, but it probably appeals to the younger generation. skateboarding has always been a bigger sport and BMX also. Kids get psyched to see it on TV and to see that they can actually go out and do that stuff.

EXPN: Are there any guys you want to talk about? Any young riders for Haro that you want to talk about?

RN: We have a new rider at Haro, his name is Josh Harrington, he just turned pro. He is only 17 and he is out of hand. He is awesome on street, but he qualified for vert here. Hopefully he will be able to ride in the street comp. He is doing some crazy street stuff, tech stuff, he can go big and is fun to watch. He is going to be one of the riders that could be on top. Hopefully everything goes well for him.

EXPN: So give us a typical day in your life; what you do, where you ride.

RN: I guess when I am all healthy, I get up at like eight or nine, start paying bills and do whatever needs to be done. Then at like one or two I start riding till it is dark or I get tired. Then come home, get cleaned up and go hang out with the boys. Pretty lax day, really.

EXPN: So what are your favorite places to ride, your local spots?

RN: Greenville, N.C., where I live, is seriously out of hand for people that ride there. I think there are more than 12 pros now, people keep on moving in. We have so many ramps, a public skatepark, and so many pros and good people to ride with, it's awesome.

EXPN: So over the winter you were pretty much chilling and trying to get healthy?

RN: Yeah, over the winter I was riding a lot because I felt really good before, but I was just riding vert one day and I rolled my ankle the other way and I knew that it wasn't good, so I knew I had to go and get surgery. It was basically the past couple of months that I have been kinda chilling. But in the winter time, I did a lot of riding and have been trying to learn some new stuff.

EXPN: Now last year you guys had a movie in the TUBE film festival. You have anything planned for this year?

RN: Not really, we are taking a vacation from that one. That was a pretty long project, it took over a year to get it all together. But it definitely turned out good and we were stoked on the whole thing. I think we are concentrating on riding this year and hopefully all that goes well this year too.

EXPN: Can you give any insight into how your sponsors feel about ESPN comps and all this TV exposure? How does that directly affect you guys as far as like cash flow and getting money from sponsors?

RN: I mean, TV and sponsorships have a direct correlation with each other. Obviously if you get TV time and the sponsors logos are on there, they are going to be psyched and they will hopefully sell more product and then your salary will go up. It's getting to where there are a lot of TV sponsored contests. I love going to contests, but hopefully in the future it will progress to where you can go to the contests if you want to, but it won't be that big of a deal. I think if it goes in that direction it will be good for a lot of people. It will mean that you won't necessarily have to go on this crazy tour schedule and be gone all of the summer. It would be nice if you could just pick a couple to go to. I think that would be cool for everybody.

EXPN: What's going on with Haro bikes this year? Are you guys rolling out any new bikes or anything?

RN: Haro has been just an awesome sponsor to have. I think they give all the riders the freedom of just being individualy sponsored, where a lot of the companies don't let the riders do that. As a company they are doing awesome. When a lot of bike companies sales went down, Haro's went up and I think that is a direct relationship with the riders: me, Dave, Josh, Chad. There are a lot of good riders out there promoting the product line, doing well in contests and trying hard to ride well. I think it is a good combination, really. We work well together and I hope it keeps on going.

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