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We were talking about this in the Pub the other day š
So, who is it? Where and When did you ride with them, and Why are they the "best" (Speed, confidence, skills, attitude, friendliness, mechanical skills etc all count, just say why!)
I'll start with nominating [b]Alex Balfour guiding with The White Room [/b]
Obviously I've ridden with him in Les Arcs,France. And i'm nominating him because he's not just blindingly fast and composed on a bike, but seems to be the only person I've ever met who never crashes!! I mean, he must do, surely? But I've never seen it, and he rides the most difficult terrain imaginable without making ANY mistakes at warp9 š
So over to you, nominate [b]your[/b] MTB star 8)
I've never ridden with anyone particularly better than me.
You and Graham are arguably better but not amazing LOL.
NO idea as they were all too far away to judge
The best rider for me is one that's best to ride with - so they would have to be slower and more crap than me.
Various WC racers, John Cowan was pretty fun
Er, thanks Weeksy, i think š (i think we can file that under "damming praise"........)
I'm for the record, not even on the same page as the best riders i'm thinking of š
Does cheering on Danny Mac while holding a bike count as 'riding with'?
Binners.
GW
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I've done a skills day and raced against, in a different category mind, Neil Donoghue. Does that [s]make us bezzie mates[/s] count?
I'm going to say my 3 year old, he can already jump better than me, and in a couple of years will probably be able to outride me... His pure enthusiasm as he heads down a trail at high speed, using every tree root and stone to catch some air š
i once followed sam hill and his girlfriend down dirt merchant in whistler - does that count?
lapped by nick Craig - same as nearly everyone else at HtN š
Steve Peat and Shaun Palmer also David Cameron until I got too close
Does this age me?
Gary Foord. Did a skillz session with the local road club youngsters. We chatted for a few minutes then he gave me his bike (the Hope with the rectangular tubing), XTR all over it etc and said 'go and play with it, come back when you are ready, I'll be here for a few hours'. So I did and he was. Gave the bike back, he gave me help setting my bike up better, some riding tips and in due course, drifted off to help someone else.
More recently, Nick Craig came up to see what we were doing at Thetford Forest. Did a short ride with him, amazed at how effortless mtbing really is (well that is how he made it seem).
Both guys were consomethinge professionals and did a first class job representing their sponsors.
You can nominate anyone you like, for any reasons you like, just say why you're nominating them! We could probably collate results at the end to come up with a "championship" position for everyone š
once rode with glupton ... there was dust involved.
Terrahawk, he's a world record holder. He let me have a go on his bike, it was ace fast
Rich and Paul in my bike club. I would love to as good as they are and they share top tips
edhornby - Memberlapped by nick Craig - same as nearly everyone else at HtN
On my first lap.
š
At the watersplash, muttering 'for ****s sake' as he ran past.
I was so proud.
š
As in, "let's go for a ride together,mate":
Mike Metz from Bike Culture in NZ. I guided him in Colorado....when I say guided, it was more a case of, "the trails there Mike, wait for me at the other end please".
Closer to home, Callum Biggin, Warncliffe local and DH racer. Just started riding with him and wish I hadn't. I used to think I was relatively good but point this guy downhill and it makes me feel like a blundering beginner!
As in, "I've ridden in the presence of": I tried following Dan Atherton down Combe Sydenham DH track before I knew who he was...that was an eye opener!
Its difficult to choose and individual. The skillllllz level on an average Monday Night Pub Ride is the [b]AWESOMEZ!!!![/b]
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Jedi š
I followed that guy from the original Whistler Hardtail video down Dirt Merchant once. I couldn't keep up with 180mm each end whilst he was steaming off ahead on his hardtail. I've seen Brendan Fairclough and Sam Pilgrim at Woburn a few times as well but I didnt really ride with them.
Manuel Ducci, 2013 Superenduro series champion. Been lucky enough to ride with him a few times now and get to know him well. Frighteningly fast downhill with that effortless style the top pros have, able to spot creative lines that a mere mortal wouldn't even see, let alone attempt, and a thoroughly nice guy with a good sense of humour, which counts for a lot on a long day on the bike. I'd hate to have to spend a day riding with a fast but boring rider!!
Shared a chalet with Fionn Griffiths and Emmeline Ragot for a few days. I'd have loved to have ridden with them but, well, we all knew I wasn't worthy. š
Wade Simmonds, Geoff gulevich, john Cowan, shaums march, richie schley, Josh bender, Robbie bourdon, Joe schwartz, Darren butler, rob Warner, Jason McRoy, Bob Haro, Matt Hoffman and a number of other colourful 'characters' from bmx and mtn biking over the years š
Will Smyth (bmx). Thankfully i never had to race him (he was very fast) as he was a bit older than me but rode dirt and street with him quite a bit in the late 80's early 90s. Rad, buttery smooth and a lovely chap to boot.
Mark Papworth @ Ciclo Montana, all day long.
Joe Murray came along on our weekly night ride once
I hear he was pretty good in his day
my mate Bob 'Noggin' Norgate. the original sweary northerner.
Binners, I'm not sure anyone bar maybe the top Enduro riders could get close to him. The anology 'theres a Taxi driver in Hull with more talent than Schumacher' really does ring true sometimes.
My whippet mate Steve (ola)
Hez brillz, blisterinz fastz, climbz like a God and haz me laughingz and smilingz each and every timez we ridez outz.
š
You won't know him - kid called Christian, about 15 years ago, we met him in the LBS and offered to take him on our weekend rides.
He was 17, rode a GT Zaskar on flats (unheard of back then in our riding cirles!) with the seat slammed down.
Jeez that kid was fast, so natural on a bike.
So entertaining to watch him fly down our fave descents that we minced down on our rigid XC bikes. Funny lad too. Just brought tears to my eyes, remembering the time I took him on on a "dual descender" and we both crashed. Great times.
He grew out of MTBing cos he discovered the laydeez.
Ah, nostalgia...
[edit]god, it was more than 15 years ago..
I've been on track with Frankie Chili and Leon Camier at different times. Hard to judge which went past me faster š
Steve Peat in his backyard not 2 weeks ago today.
Steve Peat and his son Josh Bryceland, Marc Beaumont(downhill not bloody long distance) and Tracy Mosely.
They were all great fun. Mainly riding on illegal North Wales downhill tracks.
I did accompany Tracy and her boyfriend round the MBR in coed y brenin when a landowner caught us on a downhill track and threw us off his land.
After the Manx End2End one year, I rode back to Douglas with Nick Craig. Had a great chat as he just cruised along.
As there are no women on the list so far...
Alison Sydor before the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Very fast though quiet and humble.
Jacquie Phelan a few times. Mad as a cut snake but a lot of fun, very smart and super strong and capable on a bike.
Dani King and Katie Archibald - raced with them at Newport last winter. They both rode all of the women's races and the mens and still beat me...
Ruaridh Cunningham or Lewis Buchanan I reckon. Couldn't tell you which is better though. And a bit of enduro practice with Mick Hannah where it took him an [i]astonishingly[/i] long time to realise how useless I am š "Naw you go on first mate, you're a local inya, I'll foller ya" Yeah but, no, leave me to my shame.
Leftfield option- Jesse Wigman, who works at alpine in fort william- he's a different sort of "best", I chased him down fort william dh for a while with him on a rigid and me on a dh bike, never seen anything like it... Like trials, at 100mph. I ride things on rigid bikes that most people wouldn't, but if I tried to do that I'd be dead in 10 feet
I crashed next to Manon Carpenter at BPW if that counts?
Keep 'em coming! I love the ones where it's "my mate Dave" etc, as that's what i think Mountain biking is all about, friendship and good times!
Be interesting to see what the STW editorial team could contribute, away from the usual Big Names we are so used to hearing about. Normal people who ride well above their station so to speak š
burnie
I crashed next to Manon Carpenter at BPW if that counts?
Counts! I can think of worse places to land........
Sam - MemberAs there are no women on the list so far...
Other than Ffion Griffiths, Emmeline Ragot, Tracey Moseley and Rachel Atherton of course
My mate Boydie!
I followed Steve peat once, I say followed, I was behind him going the same way, unfortunately no where near the same speed!!!
Depends on your definition of best - I've ridden with Emma Pooley, who I think tops anybody else on this thread in one respect (and I mean ridden with rather than raced against - to be precise raced with). Have also ridden with Tracy Moseley and Liam Killeen - Liam seemed quite impressed with the turn of speed me and mini-aracer managed on the tandem!
I used to ride with a lad call Alex Havers, he looked like the typical image you see of Jesus, but my word could that lad ride, he was so fit he just used to fly along.
His bike handling skills were amazing too, he used to live alone and once admitted to watching tv whilst doing track-stands, he seemed a complete bike really, he could do the trials stuff, had the lungs of an xc racer and was fearless and smooth downhill. A cracking bike mechanic too. I think he just loved bikes. He got a new job, moved to a different part of the country and we lost touch š
I used to ride with Nicole Cooke, all road stuff mind, so doesn't count! She was quicker than most of the blokes even back then - some 20 years ago.
Mate brought his B-i-L with us to Afan. He asks what type of riding it's going to be. I think "ooh, he's worried" and tell him not to worry, it's all rollable and he'll be fine.
He schooled us downhill all day long. Wheelied uphill for the heck of it and between the gates. He was like a circus rider or something.
Found out on the trip that he was a junior WC DH racer who used to room with Sam Hill. It was the weekend of an Enduro and it was hilarious watching him nonchalantly pick off the lads on a seeding run. Never seen anything like it.
But yeah, him I reckon!
Taught me some tricks to do with pumping š
Happened to be at the pump track opposite the velodrome[ manchester] when they had a world cup BMX meet on and she turned up [ and loads of others but she was friendly and chatted to my kids] did a few laps with them talking them through the skills.
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Ffion was on the uplift last time I went to revolution and 4x champion Melissa buhl came night riding with us once then came to pub afterward, don't think she could understand a word.
Used to ride bmx with mick goff, current bmx world champion.
My mate Dave (honestly!)
Especially since he started training for Enduro races last year. He's very smooth and light on the bike. He's fun to follow, though I often crash when I try to take his lines!
Karim Amour (2012 European Enduro champ) was in our uplift van for the day earlier this year in Finale. On each run I tried to stay with him but could never keep him in sight for more than a minute, and that was with him just pumping the trails and me sprinting between corners.
The most interesting thing was how much time he gained by straight-lining corners. Any sort of left-right kink in the trail and he'd just air over the whole thing. I wish I could ride with riders like that all the time. It would make me so much better.
Followed rachel Atherton for 5 covers on the pleny until she jumped off into the off piste. Barrell in the lakes, he and Tracey mosley came to Keswick labour club for the after party.
From the OP spent a week thrashing it round the trails with Alex when he was on a white room holiday.
As there are no women on the list so far...Other than Ffion Griffiths, Emmeline Ragot, Tracey Moseley and Rachel Atherton of course
Maybe Sam doesn't think they are women...
I reckon rob cole/esher shore has won top trumps here (see above). I presume riding with Rob Bourdon involves some 'big air'.
I've ridden round roman lakes in marple with Rat boy on his Blur and he was just manualling constantly and flicking his back end out, finding doubles everywhere.
Karim Amour (2012 European Enduro champ) was in our uplift van for the day earlier this year in Finale. On each run I tried to stay with him but could never keep him in sight for more than a minute, and that was with him just pumping the trails and me sprinting between corners.The most interesting thing was how much time he gained by straight-lining corners. Any sort of left-right kink in the trail and he'd just air over the whole thing. I wish I could ride with riders like that all the time. It would make me so much better.
We had a day with Karim in Tolfa last year - as you say, his ability to straight line stuff by just jumping over it is ridiculous. Trying to follow him and Ducci down one section on a full practice loop was terrifying but probably the steepest learning curve I have ever had.
Did he do his whole "don't stress the suspension, unweight it, slow down to speed up" thing? Seeing him carry speed and almost float was amazing.
I did a Derny training session at Manchester with Marianne Vos. She was SO smooth - we'd all been binned out at about the 60kph point (we were on 88" gears) and she was still there twiddling away on a 78" with a cadence of about 130!
Rode a lap of the Red Bull 24hr (as it was then) at Sandwell Park with Ned Overend. He was cool as, just the nicest guy. We'd met briefly before the race when one of the Specialized crew introduced us so as he caught me up 1/2 a mile out the start he recognised me and I jumped straight onto his wheel. He was calling out for both of us:
"hey, 2-up, can we come past on your left, thank you so much, have a great race" to every rider. None of this "ELITE RIDER!!" shit, he barely raised his voice, always said please and thank you to every rider he passed. Legend.
At the end of the lap, he said "hey, that was great - I'm on a double lap, you coming round again?"
Me, I was too wrecked from a lap at that speed to even contemplate anything other than collapsing!
probably my favourite riding pic
Leading Josh bender, my buddy Rob and Joe Schwartz (Kona Klump rider) down one of the trails on the Garbanzo zone in Whistler, BC
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Now that is cool Esher- cheers for that!
Steve Wade, assuming riding = watching disappear into a cloud of dust over the horizon.
Ben Shepherd is probably the most famous - took him riding in Spain while guiding there and he was filming 'Holiday'. Not too technically gifted, but strong as an ox and good bloke to boot. I seem to recall him being the only member of the BBC crew to come drinking with us too.
More recently, Nick Craig came up to see what we were doing at Thetford Forest. Did a short ride with him, amazed at how effortless mtbing really is (well that is how he made it seem).
He always comes across incredibly well.
I've ridden with Nick Craig a couple of times, but he always just cruises along chatting - super-friendly and never showy.
However, when I was test-riding Banshees, I rode behind Pat Campbell-Jenner for 3 laps of the Dalby Forest test loop.
Another super-friendly guy. It was a real eye-opener to follow into some corners - the speed difference was incredible. He was also able to do scrub whips on the tiniest of little blips in the trail.
It's good to follow someone massively better than you every once in a while. I had a good couple of falls over the next few weeks while I was trying to emulate what I saw š
Most (in)famous would be Lance Armstrong on a couple of his twitter rides š³
At the risk of being accused of plaigirism...
Binners
Steve Peat or Mike Hopkins.
Pretty non-tech stuff with Steve, but even then his class was easy to see.
Mike is an amazing rider. Big jumps, drops etc riding blind really good flow and a sound bloke.
So the best voted riders seems to be between Steve Peat or Binners. š
For "real life" riders rather than the pro's there were some really good riders I did some uplift days with from the MTB Britain forum. Littlegirlbunny is an awesome rider, think she posts here sometimes as well.
An workmate (now moved away) is far and away the fastest. He'd previously taken a summer off to ride European DH circuit but decided to get a "real" job. I guess leaving me for dead still doesn't make you fast enough to be a pro š
One ride with him he was on the Death Bike™ (it tried to kill everyone who rode it). Halfway round he stripped the thread on his left pedal and spent the rest of the ride either pedalling with one leg or standing on the chainstay. I was on a fully functioning FS bike and still couldn't drop him on a fast but technical descent (Devil's Elbow) which I knew and he didn't š³
On reflection, it is probably me
In fairness it's probably a close call between binners and Ian Pendry from Altitude Adventure (8th in veterans class at this years Mega)
No - it is definitely binners.
Are there really no votes yet for Hora himself? For shame, STW.
I'm sure he's ace. But I'm equally sure that he doesn't exist.
To be fair to Hora, he would be a clear winner if he wasn't being constantly let down by inferior and defective equipment, that fails to live up to the demand his skillz place on them
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Its always good to have a complete novice with you on a ride, I recommend it, makes you feel good as you show them some tips and tricks and thats probably how jason mcroy felt when he came riding with my uni bike club. Up to that point in time I mistakenly thought downhillers werent fit, just very skilled, how wrong, Jason destroyed us although to be fair when he showed up every man and his boy then seemed to put on their race head. I think he'd wanted a gentle recovery ride and instead got a bunch of uni riders trying to beat him. ha. funny day. lovely chap.
We did a guided ride with a bloke called Farid Bourebrab in Chamonix lots of years ago. We all thought we were handy on the bikes but this guy was nuts. His tech ability on the rooty climbs left us gawping (he never went lower than middle ring), his fitness on the bits where we were pushing was astounding & he flew down all the DH bits leaving us for dead. We were munching energy bars like they were going out of fashion & all he had was a quick slurp of water from a horse trough!
Found out near the end of the ride he'd rode for Gary Fisher & was something like 3rd in the French DH champs in around 1990. He's still on the go apparently..
http://www.ventoux-bikestrip.com/4/presentation_352871.html
[quote=binners ]To be fair to Hora, he would be a clear winner if he wasn't being constantly let down by inferior and defective equipment, that fails to live up to the demand his skillz place on them
He should try something different.
We had a day with Karim in Tolfa last year - as you say, his ability to straight line stuff by just jumping over it is ridiculous. Trying to follow him and Ducci down one section on a full practice loop was terrifying but probably the steepest learning curve I have ever had.Did he do his whole "don't stress the suspension, unweight it, slow down to speed up" thing? Seeing him carry speed and almost float was amazing.
Yup, he's certainly smooth. The most impressive things was at one point he managed to pull one of the grips off his bars but somehow didn't stack it.
He should try something different.
Are there many and varied types of windsurfing boards on the market? š
I'm gonna upset Alex and go for Andy Barlow from Dirt School. Awesome rider and incredibly well-rounded.
We get riders of all kinds of levels, shapes and sizes who come out to ride with us and we do see some really, really good riders - too many to mention.
I really on local knowledge and sneakiness to stay in front and sometimes not even that works!
@ti-pin-man
I have fond memories of JMC and Plunkett coming riding with the Uni MTB clubs in Newcastle. Team Hardisty Cycles were warned about those rides...