Ten Questions: Chris Ball

Published on Wednesday 9 April 2008 10:35

Chris Ball, 26, is the director of Dirt School, a mountain bike company. He lives in Marchmont.

1 What is your earliest memory of Edinburgh? As a child, during the school holidays. My mum would take us in to meet my dad for lunch at Blackford Pond and I would feed the ducks.

2 What are your memories of school? Penicuik High School used to ban full-size footballs so every lunch we would play with a tennis ball. It felt ridiculous and, looking back, it's probably why I took up cycling.

3 Where is your favourite place in Edinburgh? The Meadows on a warm summer evening. It's always got a great vibe.

4 What are the best things about Edinburgh? I love the fact that from where I live, the city centre is ten minutes in one direction and the city limits is ten minutes the other way.

5 What would I change about the city? I would improve the cycle network and public transport links to the Borders, providing more city dwellers with an easy and accessible means of getting their bikes to the hills.

6 The perfect Edinburgh day/night out? It would have to be breakfast and coffee in Bruntsfield with Kate, my girlfriend, followed by a run around Arthur's Seat and the Crags. I'd have some food at the Nile Valley restaurant and then go into the Grassmarket for a few quiet drinks.

7 Which sports interest you? Mountain biking, surfing, snowboarding, running, the list goes on. Pretty much anything that can give you a different perspective on your environment, outdoors and in any weather.

8 What was your most embarrassing moment? Being left alone at a stand-up comic's first night at the Festival. The venue was tiny and it was so bad all of my mates ran out, leaving just me, a pint and the offensively bad comic.

9 What is your greatest achievement? I would like to say it was one of my own sporting or academic results. But, when Ruaridh Cunningham won his gold medal at the World Championships, knowing that I had helped him achieve his goal having worked so closely with him, gave me a greater sense of achievement than anything else I know of.

10 Sum up Edinburgh in three words. Everything you'd want.