Fabien Cousinié

How does FOX contribute to your success?
FOX brings me the best product that fits my riding style, in Mountain Downhill we all know that suspensions are one of the most important parts of the bike.

Tell us about your best race or event and how it changed you.
So far I don't if it's my best race in terms of riding but it was my first title. It was back in 2002 I was 15 years old at the French Championship. I remember I was dreaming about becoming a young French champion, I wanted it so bad that I was dreaming about the win. Then at the race I had such a crazy run but I ended up winning. A couple of days after it, I was still dreaming about the race and I was confused because I thought my win at the race was still a dream.

Tell us about your bike/vehicle setup.
I think I have a basic setup, nothing like average rebound, not too slow and not too fast and average compression, not too hard or not too soft. I used to try to ride with softer compression in rough tracks because of a harm pump problem but I can tell that since I started riding FOX products I don't have a harm pump problem anymore. Thanks guys.

What else is in your garage?
All the kinds of bicycles that you can get from BMX to Road and all MTB Morewood range, 4X, XC, enduro, freeride and DH. I also have a motorbike as a big MX fan. I also have a couple of snowscoots with FOX suspensions.

What's your training regimen?
For the physical part I do a lot of XC ride, road ride then a couple of times a week at the gym also. For riding, I do a lot of BMX, DH and MX. During the winter I ride a lot of snowscoots which is a pretty good winter activity for those who are like me, a handlebar addict.

Any major injuries, and how did you recover?
When I was 17, I broke my heel in 3 places and at the same time broke all of the ligaments in my ankle and also got my knee broken... season was over. I spent a full summer swimming in a lake just by my house and I can tell that helped me a lot.

What's your typical pre-race/event meal? Guilty pleasure?
No typical pre-race meal, just something light to make sure I don't want to take a nap just before the start.

How do you determine which races or events to enter each year?
I determine the race first of all by importance, I do all of the world cups then after that I do the races where the tracks are good and also events which are good for the sport like urban races.

What motivated you to get started professionally?
The lifestyle... Being a Downhill racer gives you the opportunity to travel the world, and meet some great people in amazing places. I don't think a lot of sports can give you such a good experience.

What separates you from other professional athletes?
The time... sometimes seconds, sometimes thousands of a second...

What would you be doing if you weren't a professional athlete?
Riding MX, and being a filmmaker.

What's the best thing about being a professional athlete?
Travelling

What other sports are you interested in?
I'm involved in snowscoot racing and I'm actually a boarder-cross snowscoot World Champion, so in the winter I snowscoot a lot. Then I love to ride MX and Enduro in motorbike.

Any advice to the readers dreaming to turn pro?
Believe in yourself and train as hard as your dreams are big.

What are your favorite magazines and websites?
Dirt Magazine and Pinkbike

Favorite movie quote?
French movie: "le bisou, le bisou, le bisou..."

Who is your hero?
Travis Pastrana

Are you a Mac or PC? Mac

Top 3 bands Ok Go, Daft Punk, and Kanye West

Greatest strength I don't give up

Most frustrating challenge Spending a lot of time working on getting my masters degree at a university while other racers are training.