In this episode George, Jack and Emilie catch up on World Champs and three World Cups, including a special guest appearance from Camille Balanche. Then they’re joined by the winner of the Les Gets World Cup, Benoit Coulanges before closing out the show with a…
#MakingUpTheNumbers
Making Up The Numbers Podcast with Gracie Hemstreet
In this episode George, Jack and Emilie wrap up the Val Di Sole World Cup and reflect on the season so far, then they’re joined by Norco Factory Team’s Gracey Hemstreet, the Canadian sensation who’s having a fantastic first season in Elite; before rounding out…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast: Aaron Gwin
After a short break they’re back and in this episode George, Jack and Emilie are joined by the five time World Cup Champion, Intense Factory Racing’s Aaron Gwin, to chat about moving away from SoCal, redemption in 2022, and the new era of DH that’s…
New Mondraker DH Bike? – Making Up The Numbers Podcast w/ Brook Macdonald
George, Jack & Emilie round up all of this off season’s #teamrumours & chat with the Bulldog, Brook Macdonald, about his struggles in 2022, a new Mondraker DH bike and the broken back he sustained in 2019. Enjoy… Watch the podcast here: Listen to the…
New rules and new bikes! MUTN Podcast with Richie Rude and Todd Schumlick
In this episode… George, Jack and Emilie try and make sense of the new rule changes. Then they chat with two time EWS Champion Richie Rude about that DSQ in Innerleithen, his battles with Jack Moir and Jesse Melamed, and his return to DH; will…
Epic Race Rumours With Wyn Masters and Ronan Dunne – Making Up The Numbers Podcast
Just a hint of what’s in this episode… A Red Bull Race Series? Mark Wallace, Mille Johnset and Angel Suarez Team Rumours. Wyn bending the plate in his arm. Why was Ronan Dunne riding gloveless at Hardline? Greg Williamson and Sam Blenkinsop Team Rumours. The…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast: Bernard Kerr: Are World Cup Jumps Too Dangerous?
Blenki to Cube? Madison to quit DH? A new rider on Pivot Factory Racing? Just some of the team rumours discussed in this episode of the pod.
Making Up The Numbers | Making Up The Races
Are you missing the race season a bit too much? Our George might not be much of a podium contender, but in lockdown he’s discovered that racing is about much more than just not winning. I’m missing it. The racing. Not the racing per se;…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast | 2020 MTB World Cup – Let’s Go Racing!
We have a 2020 MTB World Cup season on the horizon! Joining George & Jack to discuss it are the UCI’s Simon Burney, Nina Hoffmann, Trek Factory Racing’s Andrew Shandro & Fit 4 Racing’s Jonny Thompson! Last week the UCI released a revised 2020 Downhill…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast | Vali Höll & Thibaut Dapréla
Joining George & Jack for this episode are Junior World Cup Winners Vali Höll and Thibaut Dapréla. Vali Höll is the 2 x Junior Women’s World Champion & 2 x Junior Women’s World Cup Overall Winner & in 2018 she completed the perfect season, winning every…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast | Danny Hart
The race season may be all topsy turvy, but fear not, we have an hour of great chat here with one of the world’s best Downhill riders: Danny Hart. If there’s one rider who certainly isn’t making up the numbers it’s Madison Saracen’s Danny Hart;…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast | Matt Simmonds and Todd Schumlick
The new race season is nearly upon us, which means our elite squad of racers on the MakingUpTheNumbers team is reaching peak form and putting the finishing touches to their pre season training. We’re reliably informed that Binners can now open a bottle of wine…
Danny Hart | Between The Races
Ever wondered what Danny Hart does when he’s not racing? Does he nip down to his local pub for a pint? Does he like a nice G&T in a fancy glass, or a pint of mild in the local Working Men’s Club? Maybe he keeps…
3 Full Face Trail Helmets, Head To Head
We get George and his downhill buddies to put three full face helmets light enough for trail use to the test. I’d like to think that I was assigned this product test because of my literary ability to translate complex product information into real world…
National Downhill Series 2020 Dates Announced
Our #MakingUpTheNumbers team is hard in training, laying down the time in the gym, working on core strength, even running sprints in the local parks. Possibly. They might just be seeing how many pies their core will hold, or racing to catch the last bus…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast Episode 6 | Reece Wilson & Kade Edwards
Last weekend the Trek Factory Racing Downhill team were in town and Reece Wilson and Kade Edwards dropped into the Manchester studio to record a podcast with George Thompson and Binners. Topics of conversation included the 2018 and 2019 DH World Cup seasons, their Trek…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast Episode 5 | Matt Walker
In this episode #MakingUpTheNumbers team members George & Binnsy sit down with Madison Saracen’s Matt Walker. Making Up The Numbers – Episode 5 – Matt Walker In this episode George & Binnsy sit down with 2017 Junior World Champion & five times British National Champion,…
#MakingUpTheNumbers | HSBC National Downhill Series Rd 5 – Ae Forest
George brings us his ‘race’ report from the HSBC National Downhill Series Round 5 / SDA Round 5 – Ae Forest “It’s your worst nightmare this isn’t it?” Binnsy isn’t wrong. After two days of glorious sunshine and dusty trails we’re on the first uplift…
MakingUpTheNumbers | National Downhill Series Round 4 – Hopton
Can 14lbs and 8mm make our George any faster? He heads to his next Downhill race to find out. ‘It’s worse than ever’. MrsMakingUpTheNumbers has finally snapped. My snoring is now unbearable apparently; so, after a visit to the GP I’ve been advised to lose…
Making Up The Numbers Episode 4 | Joe Smith
In this episode George Thompson chats race highlights, bike set up, flat pedals and body armour with Propain Factory Racing’s Joe Smith. George catches up with Propain Factory Racing’s Joe Smith to discuss the 2019 season so far & in particular the Val di Sole…
#MakingUpTheNumbers | National DH Champs – Revolution Bike Park
It was the National Downhill Championships at the weekend – how did our team of podium hopefuls (hope springs eternal…) get on? “Have you seen any older bikes?” Binnsy asks Kris Lord, of his 2014 Saracen Myst. Kris looks down at his pride and joy…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast Episode 3 | Will Longden
Our very own racer of mediocrity, George Thompson, sits down with Will Longden to continue his Making Up The Numbers Podcast for the 2019 season in association with Hope Technology, Revolution Bike Park and us, Singletrack. Hello and welcome to a very special Making Up The Numbers…
Making Up The Numbers Podcast Episode 2 | Jack Reading
Our very own racer of mediocrity, George Thompson, has started a brand new Downhill World Cup, Making Up The Numbers Podcast for the 2019 season in association with Hope Technology, Revolution Bike Park and us, Singletrack. Welcome to the second episode of the Making Up The…
#MakingUpTheNumbers | Whiplash, gravel rash and headaches – National DH Series, Rd 3 Bala
I have wondered if we’d ever get to this point; writing the blog on Monday morning from Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. Safe to say it’s been one hell of a weekend in Bala… Rewind to noon on Friday… I’m still in Menorca, waiting for a flight…
#MakingUpTheNumbers | Fort William – The Warm Up
National Downhill Series Round 2 & SDA Round 3 – Fort William. George Thompson brings us his latest downhill race report from the shadows of the podium. “Let me message Jules and see which one she wants to go to?” “No, no, no, no, NO! Don’t…
#MakingUpTheNumbers | ‘I am not precise, I am cumbersome’ – SDA Rd 2, Innerleithen
George Thompson brings us his race report from SDA Round 2 – Innerleithen where he tries to weave in and out the trees. It’s not him that’s too big, it’s his bike. “We’ve got you a present” Hope’s Matt Rushton has just handed Adam Smith a.k.a.…
#MakingUpTheNumbers – DH English Champs on Danny Hart’s Home Turf
George Thompson reports from the English Championships Gravity Events Round 1 – Hamsterley As I arrive at Danny Hart’s Descend Bike Park in Hamsterley Forest, I’m three-quarters of the way through a podcast with ex-World Cup racer Eliot Jackson. He still hasn’t mentioned Making Up…
#MakingUpTheNumbers | Ae-bandoned – SDA Round 1
‘What’s your favourite season?’ MrsMakingUpTheNumbers asks.Every fibre of my being wants to respond with ‘race season’ but as I open my mouth, I think better of it. ‘Spring’. Tension has been building over the past few weeks. We’ve not talked about it but we both…
Not just #MakingUpTheNumbers – Gloopy Glory at the final round of the HSBC National Downhill Series
‘You just need to commit.’ I know Binnsy’s right but there are far better riders than I going face first into the mud. ‘Come on, give it a go at least’ I tell myself. I commit fully. I crash faster. The bike remains prone in…
Slip Slidin’ Away – #MakingUpTheNumbers At HSBC National DH Series – Round 4, Rhyd-Y-Felin
“Is it impolite to hurry the pharmacist along?” I message Mrs MakingUpTheNumbers. The response comes quickly “Can you check if the missing box from my online order has arrived?” If we all had a special superpower, I have no doubt Mrs MakingUpTheNumbers’ would be making…
Bagging points… #MakingUpTheNumbers at the HSBC National Champs 2018 – Glencoe
George Thompson has sent this picture-heavy epic report from the other weekend’s National DH champs up at Glencoe… Sit back and enjoy! “Oh, so you’re still going to Glencoe then?” “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” If you’re feeling the pressure, answering a question with a…
It’s coming home! – #MakingUpTheNumbers at Masters Worlds 2018 – Vallnord, Andorra
“It’s an honour to ride this track in these conditions!” It’s 11am on Monday morning and Mark Weightman is eulogising. Mark’s one of a kind, like a Graeme Obree of DH; not building bikes out of washing machines but just thinking about things differently. The…
Making It Out Alive – National Downhill Series Rd 3: #MakingUpTheNumbers at Rheola
“Once more unto the breach dear friends, once more” It’s not often that you hear a bit of Shakespeare in the Land Rover on the way up for race runs but it’s just summed up the mood pretty perfectly. In four years of racing I’ve…
Eating Dust With #MakingUpTheNumbers – Pearce Cycles Rd 3: Bala
They say, ‘if you want to get faster, ride with faster people’ and Lord knows I’m trying. As I sit on the start line for the first of my two race runs I’m not a hundred percent sure what’s going on. Another visor destroyed in…
Bad Luck And Trouble In #MakingUpTheNumbers: Gravity Events DH Series Rd 3 – Llangollen
“Rachel” “Rachel” She can’t hear me can she? I’m locked in the bloody garage. “Oh ******* hell”. It’s 6:15 on Saturday morning. The van’s outside with the doors wide open, my wallet’s on the dashboard, phone’s in its cradle, the bike’s in the back and…
Fort William: All the stars, plus #MakingUpTheNumbers – HSBC British Cycling DH Series Rd 2
Rather strangely, the story of Round 2 of the National Downhill Series begins roughly one week earlier, some 300 miles from Fort William on an uplift in Llangollen, Wales. “I don’t think I’ve ever missed a race through injury” Binnsy says with a touch of…
The Coronation Street Of Race Reports – Cwmcarn: #MakingUpTheNumbers
“I like Making Up The Numbers; it’s funny. It’s like a soap opera. Not like EastEnders though as there’s no arguments. It’s like Coronation Street. It’s the Corrie of race reports.” It’s Saturday afternoon and we’re at Cwmcarn for Round One of the highly anticipated…
MakingUpTheNumbers – Gravity Events Round 1: The Race That Didn’t Happen
George Thompson, our regular reporter of mid pack (if he’s doing well) downhill action, is back in action. Well, sort of. He’s got a new team, a new fan club (he’s breeding his own), and he’s got a full race season ahead of him. He’ll…
MakingUpTheNumbers – BDS Round 5, Hopton
*Sniff* It's the final #MakingUpTheNumbers report from the final BDS. Get your tissues out
#MakingUpTheNumbers: Borderline Rd 4 – Revolution Bike Park
George is feeling less than race fit, but that doesn't stop him racing
#MakingUpTheNumbers: DH National Champs in Bala
George and Rachel Thompson bring us a report from the DH National Championships
Masters World Championships, Vallnord – #MakingUpTheNumbers
Downhill ain't easy: Broken bikes, broken vans, and broken bones in Vallnord last week. George Thompson was our man on the ground.
SDA Rd 3 Glencoe – #MakingUpTheNumbers
Would you go Downhill racing on a notoriously difficult course just before your holidays? Our George did
BDS Round 2 Fort William – #MakingUpTheNumbers
While the pros fettled their 29ers, George was racing downhill on a trail bike
BDS Rd 1: Nant Gwrtheyrn – #MakingUpTheNumbers
George 'give up? never!' Thompson fills us in on his less than jubilant weekend
Video: Ae Forest Downhill Course Preview
It's been wet and wild up at Ae Forest today. Will it dry out before racing starts?
Portuguese National DH Round 1 – #MakingUpTheNumbers
George Thompson reports from his first DH race of the season - in Portugal. It's a hard life...
Downhill For Normal Humans: #MakingUpTheNumbers
With the Downhill season kicking off soon, meet our mid-pack man on the ground