Corona Coaster | From Crankworx to Cornwall with Tom Isted

In this episode of Live To Ride we travelled to Cornwall on the south east coast of Britain to find out how Tom Isted, a regular on the FMB series has been dealing with a summer at home. Between his private training compound and Woody’s Bike Park he’s got everything he needs to take his riding to the next level.

Tom Isted, known previously for his skills on a BMX he has left the small wheels behind in search of bigger jumps and in the recent years has competed in the Crankworx slopestyle, Audi Nine Knights and is a regular on the top spot of the UK Dirt Wars competitions. Being based in Cornwall, a county known more for its water sports Tom told us how he much preferred to be in the hills.

“Cornwall is a coastal county so we’ve got more coastline than we’ve got anything else, most people are in the sea but I don’t like the sea so I’m happily in the hills riding bikes..”

Not interested in the sea.

We first met Tom at Woody’s bike park, set just back from the sea the park boasts a large range of bike trails ranging from flowy blues to double blacks with some of the biggest jumps you’ll see in a UK bike park.

“It’s more of a jump park for downhill bikes, high speed big corners, big jumps and big berms. I just want to go fast and roost some berms. Anything where you’re flat out and hanging on for dear life is what I like to do..”

Seagull impression?

During lock down the park was closed and Tom struggled not being able to ride with anyone but now that the lockdown has eased the park is re open and during filming it was really busy with around 70 guests.

It’s seriously impressive seeing what Tom can do on his downhill bike however when it comes to training for the FMB he’s got his own private compound just 10 minutes from his house.

“You always had to travel quite a lot to ride, at least an hour to a good skatepark but now I’ve got this place just 10 minutes from my house, so it makes my life a lot easier.”

Tom’s passionate about taking the tricks he learnt on his BMX and doing them on bigger and bigger jumps, it all starts on his huge air bag where he can safely push his limits before trying it on dirt.

With events starting up again Tom was at Dirt Wars last weekend where he took the win, a strong start to what will hopefully be a short but jam packed season.

Thanks for reading and watching this episode of Live To Ride, please subscribe for more and a massive thank you to this episode’s sponsor Carder Tech.

Film & Photos:@nicoturnervideos / @livetoridemtb / Kieran Kenney

Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.