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0:18
Yeah.
0:24
We are here now.
0:25
Yeah.
0:26
And then we'll
0:28
I drive through the Dudley tunnel and
0:30
she's here and go through the center of
0:31
town to the zoo. Oh, okay. And then
0:34
And then we can just just dodge through
0:35
this house and you stay in the adventure
0:36
nest. It is just adventure right in the
0:39
middle of just such urban industrial,
0:42
you know, sort of area.
0:46
Like Isla, I started mountain biking in
0:48
the West Midlands in the '80s looking
0:50
for off-road adventure wherever I could.
0:53
Along with everyone else it seemed, I
0:55
believed that mountain biking was an
0:57
all-American invention.
1:00
But it turns out there is another story
1:03
and one that's much closer to home.
1:15
I decided to seek out some of the people
1:17
who make up the British story. I began
1:20
at the beginning with the Roughstuff
1:21
Fellowship, the oldest off-road cycling
1:24
organization in the world.
1:27
I found some films in here the other day
1:30
which you might be interested in. What
1:31
are these of? These are films of
1:34
Roughstuff cycling holidays in Scotland
1:36
and they and they are the '70s on
1:39
camping cycling holidays in Scotland.
1:41
Wow. Yeah.
1:43
Piece of history. Yeah.
1:46
Frank Bryley was there right at the
1:48
start riding with a group across his
1:50
native Lancashire.
1:57
You've got to go back and look at
1:58
Lancashire as it was in the 1950s and
2:00
early 60s when it was an industrial
2:02
base.
2:04
And everybody in the Lancashire section
2:05
in those days had a manual job. They
2:08
were in factories, engineering
2:09
workshops, coal mines all the week.
2:13
And at the weekend they wanted some
2:14
fresh air.
2:16
And obviously off-road cycling was one
2:18
of the ways that they could achieve
2:19
that.
2:21
A lot of the members used to go to work
2:23
on the bikes in those days. And they
2:25
only had one bike.
2:27
And they would use it for going to work
2:28
on and for pleasure cycling at the
2:30
weekend. No changes whatsoever.
2:33
So, what were the challenges of that?
2:36
Well, it meant that when you came to a
2:37
hill you had to walk.
2:41
But nobody seemed to bother that.
2:42
Everybody accepted it. We just got off
2:44
and walked.
2:45
They're completely different mentality,
2:46
yeah.
2:48
I always remember when we're in the
2:49
French Alps and we're doing the Tour de
2:50
Mont Blanc and people kept saying, "Why
2:52
have you brought your bikes, you know?
2:54
Why are you not just walking?"
3:06
So, we said, "Because it's there."
3:13
While some riders were escaping for
3:14
fresh air, others stayed within the city
3:16
walls.
3:21
But in the 1950s cycle speedway was
3:23
providing a brand new adrenaline rush.
3:30
It also produced a bicycle that now has
3:32
a familiar look to it.
3:35
Something that for city kids enabled
3:37
instant kicks and adventure.
3:40
The tracker bike.
3:45
And there were a lot of us that did what
3:47
we called rough stuff.
3:49
I also I a tracker of an old frame and
3:52
just stick a five-speed derailleur and
3:53
cow horn handlebars on it.
3:56
I actually love the physical sensation
3:58
of riding a bike off-road. I just really
4:00
enjoy how it feels.
4:05
There's something I think when you're
4:06
riding in an urban environment you
4:08
discover these places of of having a
4:09
little secret.
4:11
Everybody else on the road and in their
4:13
traffic jams and their shopping centers
4:15
and you're out here having discovered
4:16
all this stuff.
4:18
See all the line of the ceiling? It's
4:20
running all Yeah. I know, it's just like
4:22
I tried to paint.
4:25
There seems to be in seams. It's just so
4:27
they've built built it in sections. Can
4:29
you see them? The lines come through in
4:30
between. That's amazing.
4:33
The band's coming through here. It's
4:35
getting louder.
4:36
As we rode around on our modern bikes, I
4:38
began to wonder how the Tracker evolved
4:40
into something more than an adapted
4:42
speedway bike.
4:44
What was the missing link?
4:47
I had heard tales of someone making
4:49
bikes to ride off-road years before the
4:51
arrival of mountain bikes from America.
4:53
Jeff Apps. Very much one of the figures
4:55
of the time. And what was he kind of Can
4:57
you remember back then sort of what he
4:59
was known for, what he was doing?
5:02
Um as an innovator um and somebody that
5:04
was just out there putting together what
5:06
what were early mountain bikes. And I
5:07
think um
5:09
the the the international story of
5:11
mountain biking very much focuses on the
5:13
the team of people in the United States
5:15
that have all become famous. A lot of
5:16
them are known um big companies out of
5:18
what they did. But, of course, the same
5:20
thing was developing in other places as
5:22
well. It was developing here. They
5:24
mentioned the Trackers and the
5:25
kids in the 1960s and '70s had them. And
5:28
and then Jeff was one of the people that
5:29
was taking that further, making bikes
5:31
that didn't fall apart, experimenting
5:33
with um wheel sizes, tire sizes, gear
5:36
ratios, and all the other things.
5:43
I quite enjoy trespassing and going
5:46
places I'm not supposed to go, and
5:49
bicycle's ideal for that.
5:56
As kids, we would gather as a gang in
5:59
the local woods and have little races
6:01
and do jumps and all that sort of thing.
6:06
But, I always had this notion that
6:10
it was serious. This was something that
6:12
I felt could develop into a sport and an
6:15
industry.
6:22
That'd be 1963,
6:25
'64, '65, '66.
6:29
Don't forget, mountain bikes didn't
6:31
exist at this point. The only off-road
6:33
two-wheeled vehicles were motorbikes,
6:37
and specifically trials bikes were the
6:38
most versatile of all.
6:51
I wanted a bike to ride, and there was
6:53
nothing available in the shops,
6:55
absolutely nothing.
6:56
And I came to the realization that the
6:59
only thing I can do is build the bike
7:02
that's in my head.
7:13
I had this fantasy that it won't clearly
7:16
do everything a motorbike can do, but it
7:18
could do a whole big chunk of what a
7:19
motorbike could do. So much so that it
7:21
would make a viable alternative.
7:26
It was a constant process of
7:28
development, evolution, trying things
7:30
out.
7:31
See what's This is the stuff. Yeah, Pip,
7:33
I got this. These are all these um
7:36
drawings I managed to save.
7:40
Here somewhere. Where are we?
7:43
Yeah, there we are. That's it there.
7:46
So, that's about 1977.
7:51
This is a competition, wasn't it?
7:52
Yeah, yeah. And the Sunday Times um had
7:55
this national bike of the
7:57
future competition because I think at
7:59
that time we'd had the petrol thing
8:02
issue crisis,
8:03
and people were turning to bicycles as a
8:06
transport option. And there was a sudden
8:08
little little upsurge, mini upsurge of
8:11
interest in cycling. Like, this is the
8:13
future. The judges were going to be like
8:16
top people in design and bicycles.
8:20
And I thought, right, at last, you know,
8:23
I can I'm going to be able to get
8:24
somewhere with this design. What did you
8:27
want your bikes to do? To carry me
8:31
through the landscape
8:34
with the little bit of
8:37
little bit of trials thrown in for good
8:38
measure, you know, the old stream to
8:40
ride through,
8:42
um
8:43
a hill to climb,
8:44
and maybe, you know, a long downhill. Go
8:47
as fast as hell as I could. But, when
8:49
the judges pronounced, which was about 9
8:52
months later, it's quite delayed, they
8:54
said, "Oh, we had lots of entries, but
8:56
they all look like one man powered
8:58
scrambles machines. So, we decided not
9:01
to award a prize."
9:03
Now,
9:05
they didn't think, "Ooh, maybe there's a
9:07
little market developing here that we
9:09
could
9:10
capitalize on."
9:16
One place that knows a gold rush when it
9:18
sees it was developing its own brand of
9:20
off-road riding,
9:22
California.
9:28
Were you aware of what was happening
9:29
sort of the other side of the Atlantic,
9:32
you know, on the West Coast? I became
9:34
aware of that in 1980
9:38
or possibly 81,
9:40
I just picked up a BMX magazine and
9:42
there was a mountain bike.
9:46
I couldn't believe my eyes. I thought,
9:48
"Crikey, I'm not alone."
9:54
You know, Jeff, and us, we were like on
9:57
this whole wild, cutting edge of
10:01
exciting people.
10:03
It was a whole new concept.
10:05
You know, I mean, this whole notion that
10:06
you could take a bike off-road?
10:09
Are you out of your mind?
10:10
You can't do that. And there'd be
10:12
reactions like that all the time.
10:14
Obviously, I mean,
10:16
I wrote to them, as one would,
10:19
having discovered someone else in the
10:21
world who's thinking along the same
10:23
lines.
10:25
The bike, wow, look how laid-back it is,
10:28
you know. Look at the angles on it, the
10:30
extra top tube. It was a really cool
10:32
design.
10:34
Gary
10:35
used to phone me up at about 2:00 in the
10:38
morning,
10:39
having clearly
10:41
um
10:42
smoked a little something.
10:46
And
10:47
to be frank, Gary, and I hope he doesn't
10:50
mind this, I couldn't quite really make
10:52
out what he was trying to say, but it
10:54
was um quite interesting, but we didn't
10:58
develop a relationship, shall we say.
11:00
Were they doing the same thing as you
11:01
were?
11:02
Well, I I assumed they were, yes, but it
11:05
turns out that their primary objective
11:08
was to just belt like as fast as they
11:11
could down a hillside.
11:23
Yeah, it's interesting, you know, the
11:24
the image of mountain biking in the very
11:26
beginning.
11:27
Uh what we like to do was actually a lot
11:29
of cross-country riding. But what really
11:33
sold the bikes was the image of downhill
11:34
racing. I mean, repack, man. And that
11:37
whole insanity, you know, that
11:40
that made people excited about the
11:41
bikes.
11:44
It seemed to me that Jeff had designed
11:46
the perfect off-road bike for the
11:47
British landscape and climate.
11:50
I wondered why then we aren't all riding
11:52
his bikes.
11:54
The Gary Fisher movement was the one
11:56
that caught on and the Jeff Apps
11:58
movement was the one that didn't catch
11:59
on.
12:00
Slow high bikes over obstacles isn't
12:02
really where mountain biking went. It
12:03
went to the fast racing thing, you know.
12:06
I mean, it's entirely our fault, really,
12:08
that that we publicized the the jumping
12:12
thing and the dangerous side of it. And
12:15
Jeff never wanted to do that.
12:18
There's that old thing, man. You got to
12:19
have a big-time sizzle on a steak. And
12:22
the downhill was the sizzle. Oh, man.
12:26
Gary is very important.
12:29
His mother had been a movie publicist
12:31
and he understood how you sprinkled
12:34
fairy dust over stuff and got magazine
12:36
stories and he knew that.
12:39
We had the coolest thing in town, man.
12:40
And you got to turn people on to it and
12:41
they go, "Wow, I'll never be the same."
12:44
That is intoxicating to have that kind
12:47
of power.
12:53
By the early '80s, the combination of
12:55
California cool and the Brits' latent
12:57
desire to get off-road at any
12:59
opportunity meant there was a buzz in
13:01
Britain.
13:04
I came across two guys with their own
13:06
brand of fairy dust who would go on to
13:08
found a company that would change
13:10
everything.
13:14
What do you make of that, Drew?
13:16
I'm not surprised.
13:18
I should be, but not with that. It was
13:20
always going to be something weird and
13:22
wonderful.
13:23
Last night I couldn't sleep and there,
13:26
you know, the emotion of the whole
13:27
thing, you know, you seeing Drew again
13:29
and everything. The cost of a century,
13:31
really.
13:33
We were an unlikely combination.
13:37
If you had your way, Drew, you'd have a
13:39
Muddy Fox disc wheel on the back of
13:40
these, wouldn't you?
13:43
Muddy Fox was cool. Muddy Fox had a cool
13:46
name. Muddy Fox had cool marketing, you
13:48
know? Yeah, absolutely. Muddy Fox.
13:55
Muddy Fox were completely different to
13:59
all the other bike manufacturers I'd
14:01
come across. They were new to the scene.
14:03
Uh they had no heritage. They had no no
14:05
baggage.
14:06
Bike industry then was very staid. You
14:09
know, it was for people who couldn't
14:10
afford cars, or genuine athletes. So,
14:13
there wasn't so much a gap in the
14:14
market, there was this black hole. It
14:16
was
14:17
it was asking to be filled.
14:20
In terms of image, they're hugely
14:21
important. And I think Drew Lawson made
14:25
an extraordinary thing for those days.
14:27
He made a television commercial.
14:45
Drew and Ari were doing amazing stuff to
14:49
in effect create the whole of the market
14:52
in the UK. And it was very much down to
14:55
marketing. They just took a sexy product
14:58
and told people about it.
15:01
We just sort of thought we would be
15:03
manic about it, that we were going to do
15:05
it.
15:06
We will make the market. That was the
15:08
sort of attitude that we had. It seemed
15:10
to work. More and more people just
15:12
wanted the bikes, even if they'd never
15:14
cycled before.
15:17
There was this one we did with um Jackie
15:19
Phelan, who It the women's mountain bike
15:21
champion.
15:23
But when we submitted this to the bike
15:25
magazines, all the male editors said,
15:27
"Ooh, this is sexist. We can't run
15:29
that." But of course, they did cuz there
15:31
was money in it.
15:33
How did you feel about that as a as a
15:34
young girl? I think inspired. A female
15:37
person in the public eye that was also
15:39
out there really doing stuff. Yeah, it's
15:41
the only advert from the era that I can
15:43
remember. It says it all.
15:49
Muddy Fox made the mountain bike and
15:51
some would say cycling fashionable.
15:54
But the traditional cycling community
15:55
was skeptical, to say the least.
15:59
I remember a lot of debate within the
16:01
very traditional cycling club that I was
16:02
a member of at the time. And quite a lot
16:04
of resistance to this new thing. Why
16:06
would you want a mountain bike? What's
16:08
it for? They're slower, they're heavier.
16:10
And I can remember having some quite
16:12
heated chats with people.
16:15
But Isla saw the opportunity to take her
16:18
urban adventures to a whole new level.
16:21
So, this is it?
16:22
Yep.
16:24
Oh. Okay.
16:26
I mean, that is
16:28
That's just dropping straight off, isn't
16:30
it?
16:31
I'm doing it now. Was everybody having a
16:33
go at this, or was it just a few of you?
16:34
Well, there was a group of us that
16:35
egging each other on to have a go at
16:37
more and more stupid drop-offs. I was
16:40
probably one of the ringleaders, so I I
16:42
yeah, used to be the person that would
16:43
go first and then once you proved it was
16:45
possible, then maybe more people would
16:47
have a go at it. This was one of the
16:48
worst.
16:50
Yeah. So, that means in the late '80s,
16:51
you're doing this on
16:53
on very different bikes, yeah?
16:55
no suspension. There must have been some
16:57
accidents along the way. There was a
16:59
chap lived next door and he
17:01
came back one day with two broken arms
17:03
and his mom had a right go at him and
17:05
And and he come here to do this? Yeah,
17:06
cuz he'd come here to do this. And why
17:08
why did you ride off the slag heap? He
17:10
said, "Well, the girl next door's done
17:11
it."
17:17
Eager to venture beyond the slag heaps,
17:19
Isla would join an emerging UK race
17:22
scene.
17:29
I discovered that one of the characters
17:31
at the forefront of those early events
17:33
was none other than Jeff Apps.
17:37
His gatherings at Wendover spawned a
17:39
legendary downhill.
17:43
It became known as Suicide Hill because
17:45
of one rider who thought he would really
17:48
push the boat out. So, he came
17:51
down this hill and at the bottom you can
17:53
see there's a slight ridge. And at that
17:55
point he took off,
17:57
flew through the air, the bike bounced,
18:00
and he went way into the trees there,
18:03
right over our heads, and we heard all
18:05
these branches breaking. Took a photo of
18:08
him in midair and I felt slightly guilty
18:10
afterwards. You know, I should have been
18:12
doing something else and I would have
18:13
would have done to stop him, but someone
18:14
did make some comment about the soles of
18:16
his feet cuz that's all we could see as
18:18
he disappeared through the trees.
18:22
Wendover and its annual bash meetings
18:24
became synonymous with UK mountain bike
18:26
racing.
18:27
It was the obvious choice for Max
18:29
Glaskin and Jeremy Torr to launch the
18:31
first-ever national championship series.
18:36
We would get
18:37
maybe a couple of hundred at the first
18:39
events. By the second year, we were
18:43
getting many hundreds of riders coming
18:45
along.
18:48
What was the atmosphere like? People
18:49
were just pleased to have an event.
18:58
They had something organized. Uh
19:00
organized, I say that loosely. I mean,
19:03
we had very little experience ourselves
19:05
in organizing
19:06
uh
19:07
races whatsoever or any kind of event.
19:11
People mucked in. They came with a
19:13
spirit. We we organized them with that
19:14
spirit. Hey, you want fun, we want to
19:16
have fun, let's just all be relaxed
19:17
about it.
19:19
We did
19:20
only have one rule.
19:24
And that rule was no cheating.
19:28
Cannock was
19:30
a big one.
19:35
Jeez, the lane there was just terrible
19:37
and the mud there was just terrible.
19:44
And people were collapsing.
19:49
They got so covered in mud during the
19:52
race that when they fell on the ground
19:54
afterwards, you couldn't see them
19:56
because they just blended in with the
19:57
mud they were lying on.
20:05
I think the very important thing was
20:07
that nobody would have an injury to with
20:10
British Cycling and any of the official
20:13
bodies.
20:15
It was very much a freelance wild thing
20:19
going on.
20:26
Is this Steve Walland from Team Muddy
20:28
Fox?
20:29
And he's out to get up this impossible
20:31
hill. We we consider ourselves pirates.
20:43
We're the free spirits, we're the
20:45
interesting guys, we're doing something
20:46
new.
20:57
By now, mountain bikes were appearing
20:59
all over the UK.
21:01
But what I was surprised to learn was
21:03
that it was an entirely urban icon that
21:06
had led the way.
21:08
The first widely available, widely
21:11
promoted mountain bike in the UK wasn't
21:14
the Muddy Fox Mountain, it was the Muddy
21:17
Fox Courier. It was a bike that you
21:19
could then go to the city streets with.
21:22
I completely messed up that one. I
21:24
didn't think we should go, but I thought
21:27
was down marketing to this relatively
21:29
cheap bike.
21:32
We had an exhibition. He actually left
21:34
the bike behind. He didn't take it to
21:36
the exhibition. He rejected it.
21:38
I said, "But true." I said, "Yeah, I
21:40
just everything with this damn thing."
21:42
We sold 30,000 of those bikes in one
21:45
exhibition
21:46
in 2 days.
21:48
It's unbelievable.
21:51
The whole of London in a matter of 2
21:54
weeks is just white bikes going all over
21:57
the place.
21:58
I think if you asked anybody in London
22:00
at that time to name a
22:01
mountain bike brand, it would be Muddy
22:03
Fox.
22:06
Mountain biking just seemed to be one of
22:09
those lifestyle things that people
22:11
grasped onto.
22:13
How many people ever went off-road on
22:14
these things? Well, a tiny, tiny
22:16
percentage. It was a lifestyle fashion
22:19
product.
22:21
Just like, man, the whole thing is
22:23
exploding. Cuz all that time in the
22:26
'80s, everybody was out of stock, man.
22:29
Everything you could make would sell.
22:31
Boom.
22:32
Everybody had one. And they changed
22:35
changed what bicycles looked like and
22:37
what a bicycle was.
22:41
It was a fantastic time to be in the
22:43
mountain bike business. Oh, man.
22:47
The cycle industry in the UK was now
22:49
enjoying a boom, and Muddy Fox were
22:51
getting ready for the next level when
22:53
events took an unexpected turn. We've
22:55
been borrowing money for the next wave
22:58
of bikes.
22:59
And the company that was supplying the
23:02
money were frozen by the stock exchange
23:05
and then in a domino effect our assets
23:07
were frozen. We We didn't have control
23:09
over our assets anymore because they
23:10
were tied in
23:12
with this
23:13
financial company. They squeezed our
23:15
company to get their cash out and
23:18
eventually we finished up closing down.
23:22
Um
23:23
How did that feel, Drew?
23:25
Oh, it was devastating. Oh, it was
23:26
horrible feeling. I mean, you put in
23:28
this massive amount of effort and
23:30
creativity and money and A lot of money.
23:32
And then when we closed down
23:35
uh we we normally we lost money except
23:40
except the directors. It was such a
23:42
horrible feeling when when it went down.
23:44
But now I'm
23:46
remembering the good times. That's
23:47
That's a nice thing.
24:14
1988 was a bit of a turning point. We
24:17
had a race up Peebles in Scotland. We
24:21
have got some John St. John's Ambulance
24:23
here today for which we thank them very
24:25
much for coming. That was the very first
24:28
race, I believe, that the professional
24:30
Peugeot guys came in.
24:33
We looked at the Tim Gould and Baker,
24:36
but those first Peugeot guys, we looked
24:38
at them as like complete aliens as, you
24:41
know, we don't like these people. We
24:44
don't want these people in our sport cuz
24:46
our sport isn't like road cycling.
24:58
Tim Gould and and David Baker came in
25:01
they'd come from a road cycle cross
25:02
background and turned up at a mountain
25:04
bike race and just blew everybody away.
25:09
They're actually going to the front of
25:10
the field and staying there the cycle
25:11
cross riders
25:13
mainly because they're very much more
25:15
professional about it.
25:16
They know how to use tactics, they know
25:18
how to train.
25:19
They will always be better than the
25:21
amateur rider.
25:23
They brought an all together more
25:24
professional attitude to the preparation
25:26
and training and that sort of thing and
25:28
they're phenomenal athletes.
25:32
Okay, well done for you on Poggio David.
25:35
Nice win on your first mountain bike
25:36
event. What was it like? Um the start
25:39
was a bit chaotic and then once we got
25:40
clear of the start it was all right.
25:43
And do you think you'll have a go at
25:44
doing a few more, yeah?
25:46
Yeah, we've got we've got a few down
25:48
already.
25:49
And hopefully doing most of the series.
25:52
Well, that sounds good news for mountain
25:53
biking in general. Great. Well done.
25:55
Nice win.
25:57
It surprised us. Took us off guard
25:58
completely because
26:01
the prizes that people were winning at
26:03
our races were ridiculous.
26:10
He did come home 10 minutes before
26:12
everybody else. Actually, if you like
26:14
David, you can have a cap and a t-shirt
26:16
to go with those. You never thought that
26:18
if somebody would come along with an
26:20
emblazoned car and all the gear to get
26:23
them all punched up and all ready to
26:25
fight um that we were putting on events
26:27
that would attract people like that.
26:29
Okay, well done.
26:30
As soon as it started becoming more
26:31
professional
26:33
then you got more money coming into the
26:34
sport which is all good, but it did
26:37
change
26:38
the sport.
26:40
And it in fact it became a sport.
26:51
We started to have to get rules in
26:55
which we were keen on we were keen on
26:57
them because
26:59
meant that they had to be
27:01
policed or then there was room for
27:03
argument.
27:05
For some of us, myself,
27:08
Jeremy Tour who was a big guy in those
27:10
early days
27:13
thought
27:14
this may not be enjoyable for us any
27:17
longer. Tim Davies must be feeling good.
27:19
He's got a 9 point lead over Gool.
27:21
So for Gool to win the title he's got to
27:23
be at least four places clear of Davies.
27:26
I pulled out, Jeremy pulled out
27:29
then the whole scene flourished.
27:33
How do you feel about that?
27:34
I feel good. I feel really good.
27:38
Yeah, it's I
27:42
never
27:43
got in on anything before on the ground
27:46
floor
27:48
and to been involved in those early days
27:51
and to have seen it go from just a few
27:53
people up to hundreds up to thousands.
27:57
I just think it's brilliant.
28:00
The pirates may not have liked what was
28:01
happening but for the emerging magazines
28:03
the star riders were their lifeblood.
28:07
And Steve Behr was there to capture
28:09
their every move.
28:14
Well, here's the here's where we
28:17
store all the 35 mil slides which
28:20
It's the way we used to do everything on
28:22
sheets, number sheets. If I need to find
28:24
it I look it up on the on the computer
28:26
gives me the sheet number. How far back
28:28
does this go?
28:30
I started shooting
28:34
1988.
28:35
So this really is the history of
28:37
mountain biking contained within these
28:39
Yeah, absolutely.
28:40
these bolts.
28:41
Out of the early riders one star was to
28:43
burn particularly bright.
28:45
Perhaps the James Dean of UK mountain
28:47
biking.
28:49
Jason McRoy.
28:51
Hi, this is from the the movie Dirt
28:53
which was made in 1995. This was up at
28:56
Pete Tomkins place. Pete was the
28:58
producer and director of the movie.
29:01
Who um Wow. Whose idea it was
29:04
He just so looked the part Jason, didn't
29:06
he? He had it all Jason.
29:24
Yeah, that's a look that just works.
29:28
And and this one here shows some of the
29:29
action. Take a look.
29:40
Um he had he had an amazing riding
29:43
talent.
29:46
There are a lot of guys that who are
29:47
very talented on bikes, but he could
29:48
also translate that into success in
29:50
racing.
29:55
I actually think the first time I saw
29:57
him was maybe back in '92. And I
30:01
remember him just coming back for like
30:03
flat out style. I was coming past me on
30:05
the trail. But out, mouth wide open, and
30:08
just really stylish, fast, and
30:10
aggressive. Heading into the jump, he
30:12
was only a tenth of a second each side
30:14
of Allison's time. But another fast
30:16
final case saw him take the gold with a
30:18
second to spare.
30:20
In addition to that, he had a great
30:21
personality.
30:22
Uh he was larger than life and and he
30:24
had the looks to go with it.
30:28
Jason made that step to go over to the
30:30
US and to race and to seek sponsorship
30:32
because the US was was where mountain
30:34
biking was at in those early '90s.
30:36
Who is this Jason McRoy character? He's
30:38
put a lot of bike riders in the
30:39
bleachers and goes to the final against
30:41
Miles Rockwell. He was winning
30:44
everything in the UK and he kind of him
30:46
and his dad took that step to to fund
30:47
himself to go out there. This is a very
30:49
close race indeed.
30:51
Over 50 miles an hour. Now look at
30:53
McCoy, he comes around. I haven't seen
30:54
anybody pass there all day. Great pass,
30:57
taking advantage of an opportunity. Now
30:59
Jason McCoy with the advantage,
31:00
Rockwell's almost in the fence, goes
31:02
through the mud.
31:03
McCoy making his move, powering around
31:05
on the outside to take the win. I think
31:08
Jason's impact on mountain biking
31:11
you know, globally was
31:13
um so pivotal.
31:16
Got a contract with Specialized USA. You
31:18
know, the first guy that's got this
31:20
overseas contract and started winning
31:21
some huge races in the US and was really
31:23
starting to put British mountain biking
31:25
on the map.
31:27
Could do anything on that bike.
31:30
And you say this was just before Jason
31:31
died? That was yeah, that was a few
31:33
months before he died. I think it was
31:35
probably
31:36
uh spring '95.
31:40
We'd been with Jason the day before he
31:42
died.
31:44
My last sort of departing picture of
31:46
Jason was him
31:48
turning out of where
31:50
I lived with my mom and dad and grew up.
31:52
Him turning left on his Harley, just
31:54
looking cool as Driving driving
31:56
away a big loud Harley.
31:58
Gave us a wave, we turned the other way
32:01
and went to the pub and I never saw him
32:02
again. Um
32:04
got the call from his mom the next
32:05
morning saying
32:07
Jason didn't make it home last night and
32:09
we We were just in total shock. Couldn't
32:11
believe it.
32:20
The British kind of onslaught was led by
32:23
JMC. W- What he managed to do in a in a
32:26
very short space of time is is just be
32:28
incredibly exciting for the world of
32:30
mountain biking.
32:32
I think that started something in UK
32:34
mountain biking that never left. I think
32:36
there's this attitude in UK mountain
32:38
biking that we're going to be
32:39
you know the top riders from this
32:41
country going to be stars globally. It's
32:43
just a given.
32:44
Once the British got a hold of it, whoa,
32:47
the party got to be a really good party.
32:54
As the '90s progressed, a new trend
32:56
emerged.
32:58
Instead of competing in a number of
32:59
disciplines on the same bike, riders
33:01
began to specialize.
33:04
Which brought new names to the fore.
33:07
Stu Thomson. What an incredible rider.
33:10
What a fun guy to watch and everything.
33:13
And he changed it. He changed the whole
33:15
downhill scene.
33:24
13 30 and 1/2 seconds. That is fast. I
33:27
mean that has been the fastest downhill
33:29
event rider today. But I mean we're
33:31
fast. Jim pulled there. All right. I
33:34
mean that guy
33:35
He was just good and crazy.
33:45
The new breed of UK riders were
33:47
ambitious, aggressive, wild.
33:55
There was just one thing holding them
33:56
back. The bikes themselves.
34:01
And you got to remember when when you
34:02
got a fully rigid mountain bike, even
34:05
with you know big fat tires,
34:07
you were shaken to bits when you got off
34:09
onto anything that wasn't a dirt, you
34:12
know, fire road.
34:14
Something else that has helped the
34:16
riders get down in one piece is
34:17
suspension. The onset of the bouncy bits
34:20
began in earnest in '88 with the flex
34:22
stem. This simple system proved very
34:25
popular with riders on bumpy descent.
34:27
And in 1990, Offroad also produced a
34:29
rear suspension bike.
34:34
Rob, do you remember the first time you
34:35
encountered a bike that had suspension?
34:38
Yeah, it's front suspension, 1993.
34:42
And it was suspension it was that bad it
34:43
would have been better without it, to be
34:45
honest.
34:46
It's that bad.
34:48
It was definitely like the early '90s
34:49
was an incredible time and I wouldn't
34:51
swap it for the world to be you know
34:54
with for any other period of mountain
34:55
biking because there was so much going
34:56
on like I say, you know, front
34:58
suspension and then people invented rear
35:00
suspension, the bikes were changing
35:02
every every week, you know, I mean I was
35:04
sat when I when I started riding for
35:05
Giant
35:07
I went to Los Angeles to ride. We went
35:09
up into the mountains and we tested
35:11
bikes and we'd do a run, come down and
35:13
all the all the Taiwanese would be there
35:14
with computers and then they'd email off
35:16
what we want done from the mountain and
35:18
2 weeks later, you know, we'd have new
35:20
frames to test again and that was the
35:21
development. It was incredible.
35:25
One thing led to another and now we've
35:27
got these incredible bikes.
35:33
Well, now you can go to places where the
35:36
Rough Stuff Fellowship guys in the 1950s
35:38
were pushing their bikes and all of a
35:40
sudden you could now ride your bikes.
35:43
Is that light enough?
35:46
How are you doing, Rob?
35:48
You got a parachute
35:51
Is that a saddle bag?
35:53
I'll go for the saddle bag.
35:56
Do you want me to put that in my
35:56
backpack? Yeah.
35:59
I'll just keep going. It'll be about 4
36:00
miles we leave. That's my knees that is
36:02
at the end of the bike.
36:05
As bikes were rapidly evolving new
36:08
places were needed to test the limits of
36:09
what a mountain bike could do.
36:28
And it was one of the stars of the
36:29
racing who was instrumental in
36:31
kick-starting the UK trail center boom.
36:33
Pace rider Shan Roberts gained her
36:35
second win in the series.
36:43
This is our training ground.
36:45
And we just thought it was such a great
36:46
place to ride and it would be just
36:48
perfect to
36:50
invite other people in here to ride.
36:54
We could see the huge potential in Coed
36:56
y Brenin. We knew the forest, but um and
36:59
it's a really nice forest.
37:02
Yeah, so the idea really was to just
37:04
provide good trails, challenging trails,
37:06
kind of World Cup standard trails was
37:08
the idea to begin with. And put with way
37:10
markers so people could find their way
37:11
without having to have that local
37:13
knowledge.
37:13
No getting lost, no faffing about.
37:15
Yeah. Probably like a theme park for
37:16
bikes.
37:17
Yeah. Probably.
37:21
I think the UK has probably got more
37:23
trail centers than any other country.
37:26
It became
37:28
something here and it spread over to the
37:30
states and all the other countries uh as
37:32
far as you know trail centers go. So, I
37:34
think uh
37:35
UK is definitely a leader on that.
37:37
That's like that's number UK is number
37:39
one at trail centers, no doubt.
37:42
This is going to be a joy, isn't it?
37:45
Think it's called a midlife crisis
37:47
getting back into it in your mid-40s.
37:50
Still good way to hurt yourself.
37:52
Re- really good way to hurt yourself.
37:54
But yeah, it's just as much fun as it
37:56
ever was. Probably more now.
37:58
Huh? Women's field like we got three the
38:00
top three riders in the world as well,
38:02
which
38:02
It's even more bizarre, isn't it?
38:05
But then again, I suppose it was before
38:06
Tracy. Was there anyone before Tracy
38:08
women that were good?
38:11
Yeah. Was Tracy the first top English
38:13
bird?
38:14
Right. Well, this is This is '94, '95.
38:18
Oh, right. Oh, a early on. I have got
38:21
pictures of her going on that Jason
38:23
McRoy thing. Have you? Yeah. Okay.
38:27
That was when you let the balloon up,
38:29
wasn't it, Mo? Yeah.
38:31
You have that one.
38:33
European mountain bike champs. I think
38:35
that was my first
38:37
junior European champs race. And this is
38:39
the worst part of this trip is funded by
38:41
Jason McRoy fund. Um
38:44
managed to get onto the the podium.
38:47
And actually get a whole career that's
38:48
had a balloon and a big white balloon
38:49
with Jason's ashes. And you can see the
38:52
kind of whole British crew there with
38:53
with white balloons. And then we all let
38:55
them off into the the sky there. It's
38:57
pictured in
38:58
one of Mom's little pictures. Has it
38:59
surprised you the success that Tracy's
39:02
had?
39:02
Oh, totally. I can remember the very
39:05
first time Well, you don't. You never
39:07
think your child's going to do it. And I
39:09
remember the first time I thought,
39:10
"Actually, she could do this." And this
39:12
was the worlds that Aura Oh, it's
39:14
Sweden. Sweden.
39:16
Sweden. And she hadn't really, you know,
39:19
podiumed before, but she came in fifth
39:21
at the worlds. And I suddenly thought,
39:23
"Oh my god, my daughter really could win
39:26
a World Cup or really could win a World
39:28
Championship." So, that was the first
39:29
time I really thought, "Wow, she could
39:31
do it." And
39:32
There you go. I was always a bit of a
39:33
pessimist in life.
39:35
And there was, I mean, in those early
39:36
days, this was an area that was hugely
39:39
important cuz you had the Malvern
39:40
Classics, didn't you? So, there
39:41
Yeah. Yeah, certainly that race at
39:43
Malvern's, the Malvern Classic, was was
39:45
the big kind of bike festival of the
39:47
year really for the for the scene in the
39:49
UK.
39:51
And for us to live on the doorstep of
39:52
it, not really realizing at the time how
39:55
big that event was. I know we went to
39:57
watch and then we then went to competed.
39:59
Um and I think that really did probably
40:00
put Malvern on the map. You know, it was
40:02
a a venue that everyone came to and
40:04
flocked to. And the dual descender, the
40:06
bomb hole, the kind of classic features
40:08
that made the Malvern's what it was were
40:10
huge.
40:38
Trials, the discipline of riding through
40:41
a series of obstacles without setting
40:42
foot on the ground, had always been a
40:44
niche part of UK events.
40:54
But in the late '90s, two urban riders
40:56
would take things to a whole new level.
41:03
The moment was captured by Chain
41:05
Spotting, a film that would have an
41:06
influence for years to come.
41:09
I was at my my friend's house one day
41:11
and they had a they had Chain Spotting
41:12
playing on the TV. I remember just
41:14
seeing it and just being
41:16
awestruck.
41:22
We basically paid for our own tickets to
41:24
get on it and we were like, "We just
41:26
want to be on it." And a day in, the the
41:28
guy who was filming it, the guy called
41:31
Nick Brown,
41:32
he was like, "I'm so glad I've got
41:35
trials riders on it cuz we could
41:36
literally do something outside the hotel
41:38
that we were staying in to go and film
41:40
Steve Peat on a mountain."
41:43
Cuz you can do it anywhere.
41:50
Mountain bike trials have been sort of
41:51
fairly basic at at the level we were
41:54
doing it and reporting it in the
41:55
magazines. There'd been a few people who
41:57
were considered trials riders, but I
41:58
guess they weren't really riding trials.
42:00
They were doing tricks and stunts on
42:02
their bicycle.
42:03
This must have been the early '90s. I
42:05
think it was the first shoot I did with
42:06
Martin. If you hold it up to the window,
42:08
it's I went along to a a mountain bike
42:10
race with a friend, Martin Hawes, who
42:13
rode motorcycle trials as well. Martin
42:15
Ashton and Martin Hawes turned up on
42:17
borrowed bikes, I think. Great, isn't
42:19
it? Just blew everybody away. Really
42:21
opened my eyes to see what could be
42:23
done.
42:24
And of course, in the usual fashion, you
42:27
you get their phone numbers and arrange
42:28
to do a photo shoot. Oh, wow.
42:30
A young Martin Ashton leaping off a
42:33
a rock. That's just so good. At the
42:35
time, to be really honest, in the UK,
42:37
the riding level in mountain biking was
42:39
just atrocious for trials. It was just
42:42
there was no one who was actually any
42:44
good. But coming from a background in
42:46
motorcycle trials, mine and Martin's
42:48
level was
42:49
pretty high, you know, we were both
42:50
number one and number two in the country
42:52
at that time.
42:55
The marriage of trials, photography,
42:56
film, and sponsors was a match made in
42:58
heaven, even before YouTube.
43:02
But it was one where the stakes always
43:04
had the potential to be upped.
43:07
Martin would always go out and find
43:09
something incredible to ride.
43:11
Uh more often than not, it was it was
43:13
just about safe enough to do.
43:16
I don't ride over bridges every day to
43:18
practice trials, but you know that you
43:20
can take them skills to a place where
43:22
it's going to be like, wow, it it can't
43:24
go wrong now.
43:26
But that's just mind over matter,
43:28
really. It's not That's not really
43:30
trials riding. That's like, how much do
43:31
you want that photo? How much do you
43:33
want that bit of video? And I've been in
43:35
situations where I'm up on something and
43:36
I I can just think, well, I've got this
43:39
much space to ride across, you know,
43:41
like, if I fall off either side, I'll
43:43
definitely die.
43:46
So, don't ride outside those things.
43:53
That's it. That's the world. It's that
43:55
wide.
43:56
Don't ride off it. That's actually quite
43:58
wide.
43:59
You could ride along that.
44:03
The difference is, I've made a decision
44:04
I'm not going to ride off it.
44:08
You might be thinking I might.
44:15
I remember there were a few times when I
44:17
told Martin that
44:18
you know, I'm not going to photograph
44:20
it, so don't bother to do it because
44:21
you're going to you're going to kill
44:22
yourself doing that kind of thing.
44:24
If he took the photo, he knew I'd try
44:25
it. And I think I think my
44:28
mind had gone past what I can do on my
44:31
bike and how much I wanted the photo.
44:34
And it was more than my skill level.
44:36
So, thank God for Steve Peat.
44:42
As a new century dawned, mountain biking
44:44
in Britain was in a very healthy state.
44:47
But a twist of fate would take it to a
44:49
whole new level.
44:53
And the creation of a spiritual home.
44:56
Early summer in Scotland and Britain's
44:58
highest mountain, Ben Nevis, looks
44:59
peaceful enough. But all that's about to
45:02
change. From the shadow of Ben, the
45:04
World Cup mountain bike tour has come to
45:06
Britain for the first time, and the
45:08
hills are coming alive.
45:13
In 2002, Japan were due to host a
45:16
downhill World Cup.
45:17
Late in the day, they backed out.
45:20
Fort William, previously turned down,
45:23
seized the opportunity.
45:25
The timing couldn't have been better for
45:27
a rising British star.
45:33
So, we've got 2002 footage of that first
45:37
ever World Cup in Fort William. The
45:39
rainy and misty conditions making an
45:40
already difficult course even harder.
45:43
It was a new course for all of us. It
45:44
wasn't like we'd been practicing on Fort
45:46
William track for years, either. So, it
45:47
wasn't like a huge home advantage. The
45:49
atmosphere was tremendous. I think it's
45:51
the first time we'd ever seen anything
45:52
like it. The crowds, so many hundreds of
45:55
people round the course and round the
45:57
finish area, banging on the sides and
45:59
doing Mexican waves. So, the whole
46:01
atmosphere was electric anyway.
46:04
Um you know, and then to see your own
46:05
daughter
46:06
come down and do it was quite special.
46:09
Tracy Moseley here had a crash in the
46:11
qualifying and so starts much earlier
46:14
than her ranking of seventh place, but
46:16
she's looking pretty smooth now in the
46:18
start gate. The fastest qualifier, Missy
46:21
Giove, and further down the So, it was
46:24
my second year of racing full time.
46:27
I just had a couple of decent top 10
46:30
results at World Cups, but to win one
46:32
was almost out of the question. The
46:33
world champion dropping into the arena
46:35
now, Anne-Caroline Chausson.
46:37
Anne-Caroline Chausson, French rider who
46:38
had dominated. If she wasn't winning,
46:40
then usually she basically Missy won,
46:42
but there was the two of them. No one
46:43
was really winning.
46:46
Really looking smooth, but Giove has
46:48
gone down. She crashes. That is going to
46:50
have dented her confidence. The worst
46:53
thing is you feel so guilty cuz you're
46:55
hoping that everybody else is going to
46:56
punch you, and everybody else is going
46:57
to have an off, or they're going to have
46:58
a bad run. And I you feel I shouldn't be
47:01
thinking that, but you know, you're just
47:02
hoping and praying that everybody else
47:04
has a bad day. home to He's calling her
47:07
down to the finish, and Tracy Moseley is
47:10
on course to set the fastest time.
47:12
Jumps into the arena, and it's just the
47:14
straight to go. She can see the time
47:17
ticking away. Tracy Moseley powers in,
47:19
and it's the fastest time so far, and
47:22
Missy Giove is onto the final section.
47:24
Moseley on Tent to Hook, as she watches
47:27
the course.
47:29
Giove almost loses it as she comes down.
47:31
Moseley knows she has the win.
47:34
If I could have asked to have won my
47:36
first ever World Cup, it's somewhere
47:37
that would have been the place, you
47:38
know, to have the first ever race in the
47:40
UK and to have actually won it. It was
47:42
almost too good to be true, and yeah,
47:44
even now I can look back and think,
47:45
"Wow, that was a perfect start to to my
47:47
career, really."
47:49
Amazing. Screaming on the podium and
47:52
sort of seeing her, but watching after
47:54
was the queue of kids wanting her
47:57
autograph. I just stood back and watched
48:00
and and everybody was so thrilled to
48:02
have a British girl win. Dad, you were
48:05
you remember that day. I do. Yes.
48:08
I was crying.
48:10
Very emotional for us both, wasn't it,
48:12
Ben? Oh, yeah. Yeah.
48:18
Congratulations to Tracy Moseley. What a
48:20
brilliant victory and her first World
48:23
Cup win on home soil.
48:27
Elsewhere in Scotland, a young Danny
48:28
MacAskill was discovering a love of
48:30
bikes.
48:34
But having grown up on the idyllic Isle
48:35
of Skye with its mountains and lochs,
48:40
it would be the streets of Edinburgh
48:41
that would ultimately showcase his
48:43
potential.
48:50
Then in 2009, I made this one video
48:53
around Edinburgh.
48:54
And it was my flatmate at the time.
49:04
When we put it online, it was quite a
49:06
big surprise. Kind of hit the
49:07
mainstream, you know, through the news,
49:10
through
49:11
all these kind of different websites and
49:13
things that you get and it was a proper
49:14
viral thing, sort of.
49:21
I watched his video over and over again.
49:23
I was like, "What is he doing? What is
49:25
it?"
49:26
And then I just designed my own video to
49:28
fit
49:29
that kind of thing, a YouTube viral hit.
49:32
And I was like, "I've got to do that."
49:37
I ended up putting a lot of hard work
49:39
into Road Bike Party and it was all kind
49:40
of an idea where I was just praying
49:42
people wouldn't go, "Why did you think
49:44
we wanted a proper road bike stunt
49:46
film?"
49:47
Sounds stupid, but that's also what kind
49:50
of made me think that people would, cuz
49:51
it's kind of stupid.
50:01
I was hoping for 100,000 views over a
50:03
period of time, you know, I was like, if
50:04
I could get 100,000 views, I wouldn't
50:06
feel like a total for making
50:08
this film.
50:10
Unfortunately, on the YouTube channel,
50:12
which was my own channel, was assigned
50:15
to my email address. So, every time
50:17
someone subscribed to my channel or left
50:20
a comment,
50:22
I got like a ding on my phone.
50:33
And a million people watching your video
50:35
on a phone for 24 hours sounds like ding
50:38
ding ding ding ding ding ding ding ding
50:40
ding, just never stop.
50:47
And the Ridge was
50:49
kind of a different one. I wanted to
50:50
have a bit more of an epic feel.
50:54
I really had very low expectations for
50:56
the film. The Ridge is almost the same
50:57
surprise to me in terms of kind of vital
51:01
side that in inspired 2009.
51:04
It was you know, all those years ago.
51:14
It's like,
51:15
ah, I wish I'd done that. That is really
51:18
good.
51:19
But, I could never do anything. He does
51:20
a fabulous job. That video is brilliant,
51:22
but that is mountain biking in an
51:24
extreme, for sure. And my gran thinks
51:27
that's mountain biking. So,
51:30
He can't be wrong. My nan's never wrong.
51:33
Never.
51:36
It seems mountain biking has always been
51:38
a family affair, sometimes literally.
51:41
Today, one name is synonymous with the
51:43
global scene,
51:44
Atherton.
51:46
Perhaps the blame for all of that lies
51:47
firmly at the door of Dan.
51:50
I'm constantly trying to replicate that
51:53
first kind of time I did my first big
51:55
jump really. You know, that feeling you
51:57
get then all the way through your
51:59
career. You're almost constantly chasing
52:02
that feeling almost. And Alfi was always
52:04
more kind of confident in what he
52:06
thought could be done. Like I remember
52:08
times when Alfi we'd be at the jumps
52:10
when we when we were younger kind of
52:12
before we got into mountain biking. He
52:14
came up in all this armor and like a
52:15
motorbike helmet that he borrowed.
52:18
And me and our little mates were sort of
52:20
stood at the edge like
52:22
what's he going to do and then just
52:23
coming hearing down the road to hit this
52:25
jump.
52:26
He didn't even nearly make it. Like he
52:27
took off and it was so far he just was
52:30
twisting in the air and like a massive
52:31
crash.
52:33
He was all right. And in my eyes that
52:35
was the first time, you know, I remember
52:36
seeing like the the ambition that Alfi
52:39
had. I think like he said it's it's
52:40
always about
52:42
you know, like
52:44
having that feeling again. That same
52:45
feeling like you know, I can remember
52:47
winning Fort William for the first time
52:48
and like I was so upset I'd won. Like it
52:51
was just such a huge relief and I
52:53
couldn't stop crying and and it was just
52:55
and like I wish that everyone could feel
52:57
like that cuz it was it was such a good
52:59
feeling and and and it doesn't and
53:01
that's such a shame and and then so you
53:03
think right, well, what what can I do
53:05
now that will make me feel like that cuz
53:07
it it is addictive, you know, you want
53:08
to you want to feel like you've got to
53:10
you know, you ride your bike because you
53:12
feel like you're invincible. You feel
53:13
like you can do anything.
53:23
Since 2002, Fort William has grown up
53:25
into one of the world's leading downhill
53:27
venues.
53:28
2016 looks like a very special year.
53:32
Good afternoon, everyone, and a very
53:34
warm welcome
53:36
Even the sun's come out and the breeze
53:38
is keeping the midges at bay. legendary
53:40
Fort William World Cup.
53:54
Probably the biggest World Cup of the
53:55
year. I mean, I don't know viewer-wise,
53:58
but on site, there's nothing like it. I
54:00
mean, look at how many people are here.
54:11
It's a long wait for everyone. I come
54:12
every year, but it's a pilgrimage. It
54:14
literally is a pilgrimage.
54:43
Yeah, it's going to be It's going to be
54:44
weird at Fort William this year. I mean,
54:47
I've had so many people just say, "Oh,
54:49
wow, it's your last year racing there."
54:50
I was I was going to take a year off and
54:52
not go this year, but I'm definitely
54:53
coming up now.
54:55
You know, I've had such a ride with him,
54:57
really. It's the end of the road for
54:59
for someone who's been in mountain
55:00
biking from the very very beginning.
55:06
Right from the start of downhill, you
55:07
know, Gee Atherton
55:09
right at the top of it.
55:13
There's never been anyone else like
55:14
Steve. Not with his results, not with
55:17
the length of career, and certainly not
55:19
with the following and the love of the
55:20
fans that he has. That's That I think is
55:22
unbeatable.
55:37
Someone I wasn't expecting see here was
55:39
Martin Ashton,
55:41
the trial supremo who had his life
55:43
turned upside down.
55:49
Just had a really awkward fall. Fell
55:51
from about 3 m and
55:54
just land I landed on my shoulders
55:56
there, sort of straight down. My body
55:58
just kind of whipped round, sort of my
56:00
legs towards my face, and it just
56:02
snapped me clean in half. Just did a
56:04
like that, whack. That was it, you know,
56:06
and
56:07
I was just laid on the floor thinking,
56:10
that's that.
56:11
I just knew straight away. I just I
56:12
didn't have a moment's
56:15
didn't think, oh no, what's happened? I
56:16
was just like, that's
56:19
career over.
56:23
I was very aware, as much as I was aware
56:25
I was paralyzed, I was aware I nearly
56:27
died.
56:28
And I was filled with
56:30
like few.
56:32
Like, wow, that was close.
56:34
I nearly died.
56:46
The best thing about the internet now,
56:48
social media, is the comments.
56:50
Cuz people put an awful lot of thought
56:52
into their comments, and
56:54
I think it's one of the things that got
56:55
me through my accident. Um so, with such
56:58
relative
57:01
I won't say ease, cuz it wouldn't hasn't
57:03
been easy, but with a real sense of
57:05
positivity, it's been buoyed by
57:08
an actual voice coming through all the
57:10
time from the cycling community saying,
57:13
"We really want you to handle this, and
57:15
we're really proud of how you're trying
57:16
to handle it."
57:28
So, Martin just said,
57:30
"Can we get
57:31
back on the bike?" I said,
57:33
"Go on, have a go.
57:34
Why not? What could go wrong?" You could
57:36
get hurt.
57:38
Uh, hang on a minute.
57:39
He's already pretty good, isn't he? And
57:41
if he wants to do it, that's fine. I was
57:43
watching the Sochi Olympics actually in
57:46
in the lounge, and I was watching um sit
57:49
skiing, where they sort of in the just
57:51
got a single mono ski underneath this
57:53
bucket seat.
57:54
I was watching it, and I was and my
57:56
mountain bike that I had at the time
57:59
previous to my injury was in the living
58:01
room. I just had it there cuz I I just
58:03
kind of like looking at it.
58:04
And I was looking at this
58:07
mono skiing, and I was looking at the
58:08
bike, and it my brain took a little
58:10
while to catch up, and I was like, "Just
58:12
put that seat on that bike, and roll
58:14
down a hill. They're already doing it.
58:17
They're just using gravity."
58:25
The first time at rain the car park,
58:27
within
58:28
2 minutes he was doing this. Stop using
58:30
the wheels. So, you know, literally.
58:35
That's where the back on track video
58:36
came from. We were just like, "Right,
58:37
okay, get get me to the top of a really
58:39
cool trail,
58:41
and just
58:43
if I have some really good riders with
58:44
me who can keep up to make sure I keep
58:46
going,
58:48
then
58:49
we'll just film it."
58:58
I mean, I've always been around racing
58:59
people, and racing people tend to have a
59:02
can-do attitude, if you like.
59:07
They always try and push themselves
59:08
further, and Martin has exactly that
59:11
attitude. I want to get back on the
59:13
bike.
59:16
To have that level of enjoyment on a
59:18
bike after my accident is amazing. You
59:21
know, cuz I never thought when I had my
59:22
accident that one of the best days
59:24
riding bikes in my life was yet to come.
59:35
Like so many, I watched back on track on
59:38
YouTube.
59:40
And I admit I shed a tear.
59:45
But here on the hallowed ground of Fort
59:47
William,
59:48
along with all the other pilgrims,
59:51
I was about to witness the magic of
59:53
Martin Ashton.
59:55
You know, Ashton,
59:57
you just can't keep a good man down, can
59:59
you?
1:00:01
Martin Ashton is back, and let's hope it
1:00:03
isn't with a bang. Oh, he sets off at a
1:00:05
great incredible pace.
1:00:07
You know, he's been through so much.
1:00:11
Off the jump he goes. His bike's going
1:00:13
to get out straight after this. There's
1:00:15
no doubt about that.
1:00:16
But you can just tell how much it means
1:00:17
to him to get back on a bike. That
1:00:19
That's the whole thing, like. He was
1:00:21
another one like Peter. He just lived to
1:00:22
ride bikes, and thank god, perhaps in a
1:00:25
slightly different way now, he can still
1:00:26
get on a bike.
1:00:30
Ashton sends it. Massive.
1:00:33
Well, look at that.
1:00:35
On this big big finish now, the crowd
1:00:37
are going wild. This is what they came
1:00:40
to see. Martin Ashton then comes down
1:00:42
towards the line.
1:00:50
Martin Ashton is back.
1:01:04
And that demonstrates
1:01:06
how we put something like this into
1:01:08
perspective, is you don't know what's
1:01:09
ahead. You only know what's happening at
1:01:11
this moment.
1:01:13
And this might be the thing that
1:01:15
facilitates that greatest moment to
1:01:17
happen and beyond.
1:01:22
I was there.
1:01:29
I've had a fascinating journey through
1:01:30
UK mountain biking story.
1:01:34
One defined by pioneers, innovators, and
1:01:37
risk-takers who all played their part in
1:01:39
what is now a thriving global scene.
1:01:46
The bikes themselves have evolved into
1:01:48
awesome pieces of kit that often come
1:01:50
with a hefty price tag.
1:01:53
Price of bikes has has escalated because
1:01:55
of the technology we've got. Most people
1:01:58
now turn up at trail centers and their
1:01:59
bikes worth more than their car. That
1:02:01
really isn't uncommon. And the thing
1:02:02
that's happening now, people are you
1:02:04
know, they're stealing a bike, they're
1:02:05
stripping them down. I've actually been
1:02:07
using the data tag system that they can
1:02:09
actually they don't only track and mark
1:02:11
your bike, they also can track all the
1:02:12
components. So, right. We've got a nice
1:02:14
little section of switchbacks here.
1:02:17
Mountain biking has given me such an
1:02:19
amazing life. You know, I didn't ever
1:02:21
expect to to still be involved in the
1:02:23
industry like I am now. I just
1:02:25
want other people to be able to
1:02:26
experience that love for being outdoors,
1:02:28
for getting fit, for going somewhere
1:02:31
under your own power.
1:02:33
It's such an amazing way of transport
1:02:35
and a way of having fun.
1:02:36
Um, and I love seeing people get that
1:02:39
enjoyment, that buzz from it, and seeing
1:02:40
a big smile on their face. Way better.
1:02:42
Brilliant.
1:02:44
Yeah.
1:02:45
Oh, good.
1:02:46
Woo.
1:02:47
Let's go.
1:02:50
One thing that unites all of us, it
1:02:52
seems, urban or rural, pro or novice,
1:02:55
cross-country or downhill, is the love
1:02:57
of the ride.
1:03:04
And all I want to do now is get back on
1:03:06
my bike.
1:03:12
I discovered someone in North Manchester
1:03:14
whose life was transformed by mountain
1:03:16
biking.
1:03:19
Well, I've always been into cycling when
1:03:20
I was younger.
1:03:22
And then I just stopped, like a lot of
1:03:24
people do. And um sort of got into going
1:03:27
to work and going home and eating my tea
1:03:30
and then going to work and going home
1:03:31
and eating my tea and eating the wrong
1:03:33
food and not really doing any exercise
1:03:35
and I thought I've got to do something
1:03:37
about it. So, I just
1:03:38
bought a bike again.
1:03:40
Uh got back into riding my
1:03:42
and and sort of rode my bike more and
1:03:44
more more every year. And uh yeah, just
1:03:47
got more and more into it.
1:03:50
Jason has broken world records with the
1:03:52
likes of Guy Martin and regularly
1:03:53
competes in 24-hour endurance races both
1:03:56
at home and abroad.
1:04:01
Today's ride day is all about overnight
1:04:03
adventure on your doorstep.
1:04:05
Bike packing has become really popular,
1:04:07
a way to turn your bike into a pack mule
1:04:10
and go anywhere.
1:04:11
We're heading for an overnighter in the
1:04:13
local hills.
1:04:26
So, Jason, we building up here
1:04:28
somewhere?
1:04:29
Yeah, well, the wind's picking up over
1:04:30
there, isn't it? So, I think yeah, that
1:04:32
looks like a nice spot over there.
1:04:50
view up here, Jason.
1:04:52
I can't quite believe that we've come
1:04:54
all this way and then we're left looking
1:04:56
down
1:04:56
on Manchester.
1:05:05
What do we want?
1:05:07
Creamy pasta with chicken and spinach.
1:05:10
Or Balkan risotto. Balkan risotto?
1:05:14
Yeah, risotto from the Balkans.
1:05:20
Doing this kind of stuff that, you know,
1:05:22
where we're just miles from the city,
1:05:24
finished work, having a mini adventure,
1:05:27
but back to work tomorrow. Yeah. Yeah.
1:05:29
And this is something you do regularly?
1:05:31
Yeah, well, yeah, I don't do it every
1:05:32
night. I am married. Yeah.
1:05:35
Um
1:05:36
But yeah, we'll we'll we'll arrive
1:05:37
completely knackered, set up a bit of a
1:05:39
camp.
1:05:40
As long as you're really tight, you can
1:05:41
get a decent night's sleep. Yeah. Um
1:05:44
Put on put the kettle on.
1:05:46
Put the malt you on. Exactly.
1:05:48
you wake up you've got a decent view.
1:05:50
I got to say, what does the average
1:05:52
person at work think you do when they
1:05:54
go, like, "Oh, what did you do last
1:05:55
night, J?" So, like, you know, what do
1:05:56
you say?
1:05:58
Well, they think I'm mad. But, you know
1:06:00
what? I think it's the other way around.
1:06:02
I think I think that if you just
1:06:05
if you spend your life, and I'm not
1:06:06
saying there's anything wrong with it,
1:06:07
cuz, you know,
1:06:08
I like watching Emmerdale.
1:06:10
But, if you spend your life watching
1:06:12
Emmerdale, going home, eat your tea, sit
1:06:14
down, watch Emmerdale, go to bed, get
1:06:15
up, go to work, go home, etc., etc.
1:06:19
Then you're mad. You're absolutely
1:06:20
bloody mad. Because, you know, you can
1:06:23
you can just do stuff like this. It
1:06:24
don't cost you anything.
1:06:27
Give it a try.
1:06:29
Should I go first? Yeah, go on. Tell me
1:06:31
if it's ready.
1:06:33
Not bad? Not bad? That's all right.
1:06:38
A few years ago, I just thought miles
1:06:40
back it was all about It was all about
1:06:41
training, riding fast, racing. That's
1:06:44
all That is all it's about, but it's
1:06:45
not.
1:06:46
It's about all sorts of different
1:06:47
things.
1:06:49
It's about all that, but it's also about
1:06:51
just getting out in the hills. It's
1:06:53
about doing daft things like this. It's
1:06:55
about I don't know.
1:06:58
Making stories for your grandkids.
1:07:05
You all right, Jase? All right, mate.
1:07:08
See you in the morning. All right.
1:07:13
Chase. Huh?
1:07:15
I'm a bit cold.
1:09:37
Mhm.
#Sports