{"id":2071602,"date":"2026-07-31T18:52:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T15:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2071602"},"modified":"2026-07-31T18:52:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T15:52:34","slug":"how-danny-macaskill-tackled-the-impossible-bike-obstacle-course-race-an-exclusive-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2071602","title":{"rendered":"How Danny MacAskill tackled the \u2018Impossible Bike Obstacle Course Race\u2019: An exclusive interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Red Bull has come up with some crazy ideas for bike stunts over the years, but none have been like the Impossible Bike Obstacle Course Race, which features Danny MacAskill, Kriss Kyle, and countless other riders attempting to navigate a floating trails-style course. It\u2019s like a mashup between Red Bull Flugtag<\/a> and MacAskill\u2019s Imaginate<\/a>, or a bike version of Takeshi\u2019s Castle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I got a chance to chat with MacAskill about the video and to learn his secrets to riding skinnies. Spoiler alert: I highly recommend watching the video above before diving into our conversation.<\/p>\n

The following interview transcript has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n

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Did you have any input into the design of the impossible bike obstacle course?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. My friend George Eckleston was actually designing the course for Red Bull, and there were a few different iterations. Some were looking a little bit more BMX with ramps, and then there were some that were a bit more trials, and we tried to go somewhere in between. Something that was going to be accessible to a lot of riders. And then slowly it got harder and harder to the end. So yes, I did have a little bit of input, but not enough, as it turned out to be very hard at the end there.<\/p>\n

Had you seen the course before you showed up?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. Red Bull specifically kept the course a secret until we turned up on the day. They wanted it to be a surprise and to get our response, sort of a little bit like reality TV with real reactions to the course.<\/p>\n

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One of the things that makes the course unique and certainly more challenging is that it is on water. It\u2019s floating and so the obstacles are moving and the skinnies in particular seem like they would be really hard when they\u2019re floating in the water like that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having the course surrounded by water, did that make it at least mentally a little easier? Like, you realize that if you fall, you\u2019re just going to get wet. You\u2019re not hitting concrete. Did that change your perspective at all?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I think that\u2019s one of the things that makes a course like this so much fun.<\/p>\n

I mean, everybody can kind of relate to the fact that bikes don\u2019t go on water. I think it\u2019s something that people just enjoy watching. If bikes are going anywhere near water, there\u2019s a potential to fall in. So, yes, in some ways it makes it more fun to play on when you\u2019re crashing into water. But for me personally on this course, I was very dedicated to not going in the water because I felt it was a little bit \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t say on my shoulders, but one person had to get to the end of the course. I\u2019m not competitive in a sort of competition sense, but I kind of did feel a little bit of pressure to make the whole project work, because somebody basically needed to get to the far bank.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

And especially the last 20m. I felt that my only chance of getting that last 20m was having completely dry tires and for the scaffolding pole to be completely dry. So, yeah, it ended up being really fun to ride though. <\/p>\n

You stayed out of the water, but it looked like maybe your tires did get a little wet on one of the attempts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think the final 10 meters I got across the last sort of logs and then by that point was so out of breath you\u2019re really trying to remember to breathe the whole way. Because a lot of the course, it\u2019s actually harder than it looked to ride. Or maybe it was just the way I was tackling the course. Kriss Kyle made some sections look much easier than I did, but I managed to sort of do some other parts. But by the time you\u2019re on those last sort of skinnies, the log and the scaffold pole, I had a pretty high heart rate, higher than I\u2019m used to on the trials bike, that\u2019s for sure. I was on the Nomad, so it kind of made it a little bit harder to kind of do the sort of fine moves.<\/p>\n

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Yeah, it was pretty clear in the video that you were tired there at the end. So, how do you prepare for something like that? Is it strength training? Is it more cardio? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean, I was just hitting that gym every day.<\/p>\n

Haha yeah.<\/strong><\/p>\n

All I was thinking about was getting across the edge, to be honest. I didn\u2019t do a great deal of preparation. I mean, I\u2019m riding every day and although I am doing a lot more flying down trails on the e-bike, and I\u2019ve not been doing quite as much trials just because there\u2019s less good trials and loads of good e-biking where I live these days. But other than that, didn\u2019t really do too much prep.<\/p>\n

I felt that if I couldn\u2019t do it with my current skill set, I probably won\u2019t be able to do it. At least we had time on our side, we managed to have a few goes at it. We were kind of testing out the course a little bit before the other riders turned up as well.<\/p>\n

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So, I say it wasn\u2019t meant to be a competition. It was meant to be just a bit of fun.<\/p>\n

You say it wasn\u2019t a competition, but also it was kind of a competition. So, I\u2019m curious, how is approaching a video like this different from what you would do for Imaginate or Danny Daycare where you get lots of takes? Of course we see the outtakes eventually, but the end product is just like Danny doing it perfectly. But it takes you months, and then this one you just got one go at it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, it was kind of what I would normally do. I was there just with the mindset of getting to the end and you just sort of do everything in your power to get there. So aside from having a little bit more time pressure than usual and more riders on the course, if other riders had made it to the end I\u2019d have been stoked. I just sort of felt that my job there was to really just try to get to the end. If no one did, all this hard work would have left a bit of a cliffhanger. Not even a cliffhanger, but a little bit anticlimactic if nobody got to the end. So I sort of felt a wee bit of pressure to get there. <\/p>\n

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Spoiler alert: you did get to the end. And in the video, it looked like it was right at the end of the day.<\/strong> It was almost sunset and it was your last attempt. Did that help you, being in that situation where you\u2019re like, \u2018I\u2019ve got to do it. This is it. Last chance.\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, got to the end of the day with all the riders and it was just kind of like, we need somebody else to get to the end of this. So we just sort of kept on going. I did have a wetsuit on the whole time\u2026<\/p>\n

Wow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What you don\u2019t see is a wetsuit under my clothes. It was absolutely \u2014 it\u2019s not a very nice thing to say \u2014 but it was actually soaking wet from all the sweat.<\/p>\n

Jeez.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was absolutely so\u2026<\/p>\n

You\u2019re like, \u201cLet\u2019s get this over with.\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah. Because I started really just trying to take attempts, but it was because you\u2019re doing it for two minutes at a time and you knew you only had a certain amount of good attempts in you before you started getting tired out. The sun was going down and that always spurs me on to pull something out of the bag.<\/p>\n

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It was a lot of fun. I\u2019d love to do something like that with a bit more height above the water, but you\u2019ve got to start somewhere. And even that build is a crazy build to do. It\u2019s a lot of time and effort that goes into building something like that. But having something maybe like 15-20 feet above the water next time.<\/p>\n

That sounds fun. I would think the course would move a lot more too when it\u2019s that high.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. I think you maybe have to fasten it into the bottom a little bit more. But yeah, for our sort of first concept of that project, I think it went really well. <\/p>\n

What happened to the course after? Was it one day and done, and it\u2019s gone forever? Did Kriss or anybody else go back after seeing you do it and be like, \u2018Give me one more shot\u2019?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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No, it was all built on top of pontoons that were kind of modular. It\u2019s quite a cool setup. I had seen them before. This was down near where the Malverns takes place, the Malverns Classic Bicycle Festival, and they\u2019ve been doing something like this for years. And it wasn\u2019t even planned. This was actually very loose that we end up doing something at Eastnor Castle, which is just over the hill from me.<\/p>\n

We ended up doing it there just because Red Bull had a connection to the castle and it was a cool spot. We used these modular blocks and, I think you could probably go bigger and better next time, though.<\/p>\n

I know a lot of mountain bikers aren\u2019t really fans of riding skinnies, and I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s because they\u2019re scared of them or maybe they just think they\u2019re boring. You\u2019re obviously very good at them. Do you enjoy riding skinnies?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I grew up as a trials rider. I\u2019m here in the Isle of Skye at my parents\u2019 house, and I used to have wooden pallets in the garden and have some fence posts or 2x4s or whatever you want to call them went between all the posts.<\/p>\n

So that riding along thin things was always part of trials. I also grew up, very much looking at, the early freeride videos of the North Shore as well. I wish that the North Shore still existed in the same style with all amazing high ladder builds and all sorts of stuff.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t see that as much anymore<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

No, I don\u2019t think so. I think it\u2019s maybe people don\u2019t want that on their land. When you start building such elaborate things, I think it gets a little bit more difficult. But that was always a big thing in trials and as a bonus, if it\u2019s low level you\u2019re not going to rip your rear derailer off. They\u2019re quite low impact. You can practice along like a scaffold bar right on the floor and really kind of get your level up. <\/p>\n

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Compared with the guys that really do competition trials, my abilities to ride along these things are not nearly as good as what they can do. I just ride quite relatable things for the videos, like tennis nets and chains and whatnot, inspired by my predecessors like Ryan Leech and Martyn Ashton and Jeff Lenoski. They were the guys that inspired me.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s cool. What tips do you have for people who are trying to get better at riding skinnies? Do you have any secrets to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would say the best thing you could do is to just set some really low-level stuff on the ground. It can be like a scaffolding bar, it could be a fence post, it can be, 2\u00d74. It\u2019s best, depending on what bike you\u2019re on, to build something that\u2019s lower than the clearance of your rear mech if you want to not rip your bike to bits.<\/p>\n

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And honestly, one session with Kriss Kyle, who\u2019s an amazing BMXer and has done some of the most amazing things on BMX ever been done, his tire riding on bars wasn\u2019t the best. So, we had a scaffold bar while we were waiting for the course to get finished. We\u2019d be somewhere else and we were practicing a little bit, and it was amazing watching the progression. <\/p>\n

And even the other riders that were there, you\u2019d see, in the beginning people not getting very far and then you can basically just work away at it. It\u2019s low impact on your body on the bike, and it\u2019s just about trial and error and persistence. I think you can build up a lot there, and then of course you can take it onto the higher things that you find at bike parks and wherever else. Logs that are on the trails, whatever.<\/p>\n

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Yeah. It seems like figuring out how to bail safely too is probably part of it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, of course. And I do a light amount of front brake drag, which helps a lot if you are trying to balance because it keeps the bike\u2026 This would probably be one of my secret tips \u2014 a little bit of front brake. Not too much, but it keeps the bike in tension against me so I\u2019ve got something to balance against. But that\u2019s maybe my inner trials rider. As a BMXer, you might want to just be there free flowing, just letting it run wild.<\/p>\n

Yeah. And you might not even have a front brake if you\u2019re on a BMX<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Exactly. Even a little bit of braking does help, but front brake more, than back brake, the tires like to slip off. But front brake, it allows you to kind of feel the obstacle a little bit and not bog down in the details. Of course, you can also take the legs off a little bit but I quite like to try to do it with my feet on the pedals.<\/p>\n

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For me, I feel like when I keep my feet on the pedals, it\u2019s done to the best of my abilities, whereas you can kind of get some extra balance if you put your front foot down to the very bottom. And then you can take your other back foot off or however you want to do it and you can use that to balance as well. So that\u2019s a good way of doing it and making it more accessible. But the sort of level up from that is trying to keep your feet on while doing it. That\u2019s what I try to do in my videos if I can. Although, if I\u2019ve tried 300 goes, and I\u2019ve not been able to keep feet on, then I\u2019ll maybe take the one where I\u2019ve had to have a leg out.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen that many times. And it\u2019s like, every time you do, it\u2019s like \u2018Oh, he\u2019s about to fall.\u2019 But you make it work which is crazy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Yeah, it sometimes adds to the video. I can get bogged down too much in making things look as perfect as possible. It\u2019s not like I\u2019ve got great style, I\u2019m not like table topping. I\u2019m no Semenuk. But from my trials point of view, I like to take out as many hops as I can. I didn\u2019t do that on this course because you\u2019ll see me hopping on the corners. If it was for a video, I wouldn\u2019t have been doing that if I had multiple days in the course. This was more like comp trial style where I was just trying to do it in one take. I do like that.<\/p>\n

I think that\u2019s what people like today. I feel in videos it\u2019s just more authentic, more real. Let\u2019s see the whole thing.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

You mentioned that you\u2019ve been riding e-bike lately. How does that work with trials? Do you do much trials-like riding on your e-bike, and does that help or make it harder?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Yeah. I feel like the trials riding definitely helps my e-bike riding, especially when it comes to technical climbing. One of the things I love about the e-bike is the way it kind of expands your horizons of what\u2019s a ride. I can go out in the mountains and there\u2019s hills and mountains around Isle of Sky that I would never have bothered going up on my mountain bike because I would have been walking across the bogs for six miles, hiking to the top, and the climbs are so technical. The descents are almost so technical that they\u2019re borderline fun as well. Whereas on my Santa Cruz Vala, I can go and I\u2019m riding up these climbs and I\u2019m using all the sort of trials skills. It\u2019s all about your feet timing and power turns where you\u2019re kind of cranking, wheelie-ing, and turning at the same time, stepping up things. And that\u2019s more like your classic trail riding. And I\u2019m sure you\u2019re asking about more like pure trials. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

I\u2019d say the Bosch motor is quite intuitive. I like to ride on eMTB Plus with the settings kind of default, though I sometimes play with the extended boost. And now you can adjust this. So if it\u2019s really technical and high, then I\u2019ll maybe take the extended boost down to a meter of overrun. Sometimes it\u2019s easier to control the back wheel with one meter.<\/p>\n

But yeah, I like the challenge. I mean it\u2019s kind of similar to doing it on the mountain bike as the bike\u2019s a bit bigger. So I would say the size of the bike is more the limiting factor than the weight of the bike. I can jump up the same. I think I can even jump up higher on my Vala than I can on the Bronson.<\/p>\n

Interesting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because you can use the extended boost to drive the front wheel into something and the bike pops kind of almost like moto trials. It\u2019s similar technique. but the bike sort of drives through that a little bit. It\u2019s something I love to play with.<\/p>\n

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I\u2019m literally living my dream. I love trials, but honestly, the e-biking over the last 5 years is like I\u2019m out every single day. I feel like I\u2019ve taken up wingsuit flying or rally driving or something like that. It\u2019s like I\u2019m so addicted to the downhills and also the exploration around my home in Scotland that it\u2019s like I\u2019ve kind of gotten into bikes all over again, So, I love it.<\/p>\n

All that speed. That\u2019s awesome.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you think you could have done the Impossible Bike Obstacle Course on an e-bike?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, for sure. I definitely think I could have done it on my Vala. The last part, to be honest, it kind of might have helped because you had to come to a standstill on that last part, but we were kind of debating about it.<\/p>\n

You probably didn\u2019t want to get that bike wet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean, the way I ride mine at home, in the bogs and in the rain, it may as well be a submarine at times. But I was tempted to do it on the trials bike, that would have been a little bit more agile. But I felt like riding on the mountain bike and I chose the Nomad basically because it was the brightest, poppiest color and a little bit big for a course like that, but it was just a nice looking bike to do on. <\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!–<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t–><\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n
Community<\/a><\/div>\n
Danny MacAskill and Kriss Kyle – “This and That” [Video]<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n
Community<\/a><\/div>\n
Video: Danny MacAskill’s “Imaginate”<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/a><\/p>\n
MTB Tips<\/a><\/div>\n
If I Never Saw a Skinny Again, That\u2019d be Okay<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Wooden<\/a><\/p>\n
British Columbia<\/a><\/div>\n
Skinnies aren’t dead yet: New ‘Zen Garden’ filled with narrow wooden features opens in British Columbia<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n
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Red Bull has come up with some crazy ideas for bike stunts over the years, but none have been like the Impossible Bike Obstacle Course Race, which features Danny MacAskill, Kriss Kyle, and countless other riders attempting to navigate a floating trails-style course. It\u2019s like a mashup between Red Bull Flugtag and MacAskill\u2019s Imaginate, or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,274],"class_list":["post-2071602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-singletracks-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2071602"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2071602\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2071602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2071602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2071602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}