Downtime - The Mountain Bike Podcast

Ash Smith, is responsible for the world’s first point-to-point multi day enduro race, the Trans-Provence and now the Stone King Rally. With the first ever Stone King Rally starting today, we sat down to find out more. We discuss Ash’s background, the Trans-Provence and starting a brewery. As well as finding out all about the Stone King Rally. Way more than just an enduro race, Stone King offers us all the chance to sample some of the best mountain biking adventures on the planet, through a...

Louise-Anna Ferguson is a Scottish born, Queenstown based rider who’s been quietly getting on with riding a bike insanely well across multiple disciplines. 2022 is a big year for Louise-Anna where she’s already taken part in Red Bull Formation, taken a top 20 in her first EWS and 4th place in Leogang at her second ever world cup after missing a day of practice. We sat down in the Tweed Valley to chat about her story so far, her experience in New Zealand, at Red Bull Formation and her plans...

Richie Rude and Shaun Hughes are a rider/mechanic pairing that have seen huge amounts of success together, so getting the chance to chat to them together and delve into that relationship was really interesting to me. We sat down just ahead of the first EWS of the year, which, by the way, Richie won. We chat about how they met, the transition from downhill to enduro racing and get into how their relationship works. Hear about the psychological side of supporting each other, why Shaun rides...

The third round of the 2022 Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup took place this weekend in Leogang. The racing was insane, and I'm joined by Eliot Jackson and Neko Mulally to chat all about it. We'll find out about the track, the conditions and discuss some of the incredible performances. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Eliot Jackson and Neko Mulally. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of...

The third round of the 2022 Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup is in Leogang this weekend, so we’re kicking off the race week by chatting with coach to the stars, Chris Kilmurray aka PointOne Athletic. We chat about the track, the weather, absences from riders like Loic, Tahnée and Reece and plenty more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Chris Kilmurray. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of...

So as you might already know, Chris decided that he wanted to give EWS a go, and over the last 6 months or so has been getting ready for the EWS100 here in the Tweed Valley. Today Katy Winton is asking the questions and we’re going to be finding out all about Chris’ first ever EWS experience. Alongside Chris, is Innes Graham. A past guest of the show and ex-world cup downhill racer, Innes also made the decision to race his first EWS this year, but rather than the 100, he’s in the pro...

Olly Morris as an experienced coach and elite level rider who works with both the Mondraker downhill team and Laurie Greenland. With my attempt at the EWS100 just around the corner, I decided it was time to give Olly a call and get his help. We chat about how to approach the race to give myself the best possible chance of performing well. From classifying stages to finding the rhythm of a trail, there is some great advice here. We also catch up on how Olly has been working with the Mondraker...

Cam Cole is an ex downhill racer with some incredible results under his belt, who now looks after the GT Factory Racing downhill and enduro teams. Cam and I sat down at the Fort William world cup to chat about his racing career and why he decided to leave racing behind. Find out what brought Cam back to World Cups, and hear his thoughts on what it takes to perform. Cam is someone who is not only able to ride a bike really quickly, but he’s also clearly spent a lot of time reading, learning...

The second round of the 2022 Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup took place this weekend in Fort William. That means it's time to sit down with Eliot Jackson and Neko Mulally to hear all about it. We chat about the support for UK riders, the crowd, the demands of the track, wind, rain and plenty more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Eliot Jackson and Neko Mulally. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the...

The second round of the 2022 Mountain Bike Downhill World Cup is in Fort William this weekend, so we’re kicking off the race week by chatting with coach to the stars, Chris Kilmurray aka PointOne Athletic. We chat about emotional tokens, wind tunnel testing, the positives and negatives of a high-pivot bike on this track and plenty more. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Chris Kilmurray. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the...

Guy Kesteven is a journalist and product tester who I really enjoyed chatting to last year. So I thought why not have a catch up. We sat down to chat about the bike industry and to get Guys’ thoughts on some of the products he’s been testing. Yes, we get into some tech details and chat about some products, but this turned out to be a pretty different conversation to the one I was expecting. What really comes across is just how awesome mountain biking is, how much better it’s getting and the...

Ever wondered which mountain bike is best for you? I’m guessing I’m not the only one who’s spent hours looking at geometry charts, thinking about how much travel I actually need and trying to work out which is the right bike for me, my riding and my ability. So I thought it would be interesting to get three regular riders, and three bikes that sit across the range from 150mm to 170mm of rear travel, with different takes on things like reach, chain stay length and head angle, to see how they...

Ever wondered what actually goes on at a press camp? Is it all just heli-lifts, free beer and endless supplies of the latest products? It's something I've always wondered about and I recently got the chance to find out as I was invited to attend Bike Connection Agency in Italy. I thought it would be good to put together some chat with some of the journalists and brands from the camp, as well as sharing some of my own experiences and catching up with the people who are responsible for the...

Mountain bike nutrition is a puzzling subject, with so much misleading information out there. In my quest to be ready for the EWS100 in the Tweed Valley in June, I decided to talk to an expert and get my head around the basics of nutrition for both active people, which we all are, and for the race event itself. We cover our appetites and how protein intake is key to that. Jamie provides some guidance on protein and where we can find the information we need to ensure we are getting the right...

James Anderson grew up with monoplegia. This left him with significantly reduced muscle development in his right hand side, as well as dyslexia and dyspraxia. James had significant challenges to overcome and a diagnosis that said he would never play sports. Fast forward a chunk of years and James is now an elite-level downhill racer with his sights set on great things and a lot to thank mountain biking for. His story inspired me and I wanted to share it with you all. From the physical...

Last week Canyon launched their latest eBike, the Canyon Spectral:ON. The team at Canyon have worked tirelessly to take eBikes to the next level. Removing range anxiety with an incredible 900Wh battery, whilst creating a bike that’s lively and fun to ride on the trails. Today we’re joined by Patrick Schmidt and Christian Parmenter from Canyon’s eBike team, to find out what it takes to produce a cutting edge eBike. We’ll be hearing about the level of detail they went into to deliver something...

What happens when you put a regular rider, like me, on a World Cup downhiller's custom prototype bike? Well I was lucky enough to get the chance to ride Neko Mulally's Frameworks high-pivot prototype to find out. Hit play and hear how I got on. If you'd like to see some footage of me riding the bike then you can find that on my YouTube channel here. If you'd like to see some more in-depth tech on the bike then I have a bike check video here and Neko has tonnes of content on his YouTube...

Today I’m joined by The Strength Factory's Ben Plenge to find out how we can all go about being sharp and powerful this summer. Ben shares the secrets behind training for power and tells us how to achieve those crank bending sprints that we would all love to have. What’s even better is that you get to avoid feeling the burn! We also chat about getting ready for an event, or a trip, to maximise the chances of it going well when it comes around. We also catch up on my EWS100 training, or lack...

The first round of the 2022 Mountain Bike World Cup took place in Lourdes this weekend and it was an incredible season opener. A wild track, great conditions and some seriously committed riding from the Worlds best. It’s time to dig into the detail and find out what went on. So sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Eliot Jackson and Neko Mulally. Supported By Maxxis Tyres Maxxis is synonymous with performance and racing and is the winningest brand in the history of World Cup and...

Sustainability is a word that we hear often these days and for good reason, but how is mountain biking doing? The release of the first sustainability report by Trek last year really started to shine a light on the scale of the challenge that we face, so I thought it would be a good idea to sit down with an expert and find out more. Mike Bascombe is a mountain biker and a consultant who specialises in sustainability. We chat about what sustainability means and the benefits that it can bring...