Hans Rey, Coming To Your Town

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Hans ‘No Way’ Rey needs no introduction to the readers of Singletrack, right? He is a pioneer of extreme Mountain Biking and Trials riding, considered by many to be the original ‘Freerider’. A former Trials World Champion, inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 1999 and renowned for his incredible bike displays. Hans is one of the best-known mountain bikers both inside and outside of the sport, having performed in front of 3.5 billion viewers worldwide as part of an extreme sports act during the 1996 Olympic Games closing ceremony.

Hans riding in Africa. Photo by Martin Bissig.

Since retiring from racing in 1997, Hans formed the ‘Hans Rey Adventure Team’ – which involves a vast range of mountain biking adventures, from biking across Iceland with British Downhill legend Steve Peat, to completing the first bike descent of Mount Kenya – and now Hans brings his amazing stories from his 30-year career on two wheels, to stages across the UK as he tours his debut ‘audience with…’ style show, Riding Life, to 11 UK theatres, from Horsham to Inverness, presented by adrenaline-activity speakers specialists, Speakers from the Edge, and in association with GT Bicycles and Deuter backpacks

It’s not the first time Hans has appeared on a UK stage (and we covered a previous talk here), but this is the first time he’s done a UK theatre tour with his talk.

Rey’s ‘No Way’ moniker comes from all the times he said he would try a particularly insane stunt to be told “no way” by other riders, before completing it. As a result, Hans is one of the leading figures to have helped propel mountain biking from the niche sport it was in the 1980s to the major activity millions now enjoy across the globe, and Danny MacAskill has cited him as a big influence. In fact, the pair took on a journey to summit Kilimanjaro with bikes last year – something we covered in issue 112 of Singletrack. 

In Riding Life, Hans will tell his fascinating stories on a personal level, taking audiences on an inspiring journey through his life, showing some of the best trails and riding destinations worldwide. Covering his early riding days in Germany, the mountain bike boom in America, his extreme biking feats, awesome adventures – which include riding the Indian Himalayas, the Alps and Inca Trails, and traversing the Sinai Desert – and how his charity Wheels4Life is changing the world one bike at a time. Hans will also offer his vision for the future of the sport and what keeps him motivated.

Having been to listen to Hans in the past, we can recommend going to see this still-entertaining legend of the sport.

Fortunately, Hans has promised ‘Zero Karaoke’ on this tour.

Riding Life is touring UK theatres, from Wednesday 1 November, to Saturday, 25 November. To book tickets, or for further details, visit www.speakersfromtheedge.com

 

Hans Rey. November 2017

Wed 1                  MALVERN           Malvern Theatres                           01684 892277malvern-theatres.co.uk

Thurs 2                BRECON              Theatr Brycheiniog                        01874 611622brycheiniog.co.uk

Sat 4                     LEEDS                   Carriageworks                                 0113 376 0318 / leeds.gov.uk/Carriageworks

Thurs 9                HORSHAM          The Capitol                                       01403 750220 / thecapitolhorsham.com

Fri 10                    BUXTON              Arts Centre                                       01298 72190 / buxtonoperahouse.org.uk

Fri 17                    LANCASTER        The Dukes                                         01524 598500 / dukes-lancaster.org

Sat 18                   DUNKELD            Birnam Arts                                      01350 727674 / birnamarts.com

Sun 19                 INVERNESS         Eden Court                                       01463 234234 / eden-court.co.uk

Mon 20                GLASGOW          Drygate                                             drygate.com

Wed 22                ANDOVER           The Lights                                         01264 368368 / thelights.org.uk

Sat 25                   NEWTOWN         Theatr Hafren                                  01686 614555 / thehafren.co.uk

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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