{"id":2099474,"date":"2026-08-18T18:15:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2099474"},"modified":"2026-08-18T18:15:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T15:15:00","slug":"trials-legend-martyn-ashton-is-on-a-mission-to-make-mountain-biking-accessible-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2099474","title":{"rendered":"Trials legend Martyn Ashton is on a mission to make mountain biking accessible for all"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<div id=\"wp_content_article\" class=\"st_article_class\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton is a four-time British BikeTrial Champion and World Expert BikeTrial Champion, and has been a regular on-camera presenter for the Global Mountain Bike Network, GMBN. His Road Bike Party videos have racked up tens of millions of views and just last year he established RideAble Now, a non-profit group dedicated to adaptive mountain biking.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>What drew you into motorcycle trials as a kid? How is mountain bike trials different from BMX or motorcycle trials?<\/li>\n<li>Where did the idea for Road Bike Party come from?<\/li>\n<li>Prior to your injury, what did you know about adaptive biking?<\/li>\n<li>Tell us a bit about your new Gen2 Bowhead RX.<\/li>\n<li>Adaptive bikes are very expensive, so how is RideAble Now is working to make it easier for folks to afford them?<\/li>\n<li>What\u2019s the experience like for first-time adaptive riders?<\/li>\n<li>What are some of the barriers to creating adaptive mountain bike trails?<\/li>\n<li>There\u2019s a misconception that adaptive trails will be boring. How do you counter that perception?<\/li>\n<li>What\u2019s your goal for RideAble Now video and podcast content?<\/li>\n<li>How does riding an adaptive bike on technical trail features compare to the challenge and feeling of trials riding?<\/li>\n<li>What upcoming trips or projects are you looking forward to?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rideablenow.com\/\">rideablenow.com<\/a> to learn more and keep up with the latest from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@amartynashton\">Martyn on YouTube<\/a> and Instagram <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/martynashton\/\">@martynashton<\/a>. And visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rideablenow.com\/join\">rideablenow.com\/join<\/a> to become a supporter. <\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><a href=\"https:\/\/feedbacksports.com\/?utm_source=singletracks&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=summer26\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"600\" height=\"300\" src=\"\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&apos;%20viewBox=&apos;0%200%20600%20300&apos;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.singletracks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Untitled-design-600x300-newsletter-1.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-722198 lazy\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This episode of the podcast is brought to you by Feedback Sports. <\/strong><\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-0da3407584c3f88f4464a058c793a281 singl-content\" id=\"singl-0da3407584c3f88f4464a058c793a281\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you love your bike, you know that regular maintenance is the key to a smoother, faster, and safer ride. But a good wrenching session starts with the right setup. Enter the Feedback Sports Pro Mechanic and Sprint repair stands. Trusted by World Tour mechanics and home hobbyists alike, these lightweight, anodized aluminum stands are ultra-stable, highly portable, and fold down in seconds. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whether you\u2019re chasing down a tricky drivetrain click in your garage or dialing in your shifting at the trailhead, Feedback Sports gives you shop-quality precision wherever you are. Pair their award-winning stands with their professional-grade tool kits\u2014like the Reflex Fixed Torque Ratchet Kit\u2014and you have everything you need to keep your rig running flawlessly. Stop wrestling with your bike upside down on the grass. Elevate your maintenance game and give your bike the care it deserves. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Head over to <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/feedbacksports.com\/?utm_source=singletracks&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_campaign=summer26\">feedbacksports.com<\/a><\/strong> today to check out their full lineup of repair stands and precision tools.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-6dd4260e89691e1be82f0df8bf2be995 singl-content\" id=\"singl-6dd4260e89691e1be82f0df8bf2be995\"><\/div>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Never Miss an Episode<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Listen on <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0VxNMzrUoUs7wz3FsyI83p\">Spotify<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Listen on <a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/singletracks-mountain-bike-news\/id1046094700?uo=4\">Apple Podcasts<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Listen on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2luZ2xldHJhY2tzLmNvbS9mZWVkL3BvZGNhc3Qv\">Google Podcasts<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Listen on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stitcher.com\/show\/singletracks-mtb-news\">Stitcher<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Listen on <a href=\"https:\/\/overcast.fm\/itunes1046094700\">Overcast<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Get the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/feed\/podcast\/\">RSS Feed<\/a><\/li>\n<li>View all <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/podcast\/\">Podcast Episodes<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"h-automated-transcript\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Automated transcript<\/h2>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 00:00<br \/>Hey everybody! Welcome to the Singletracks podcast. My name is Jeff, and today my guest is Martyn Ashton. Martyn is a four-time British bike trial champion and world expert bike trial champ, and has been a regular on-camera presenter for the Global Mountain Bike Network. His Road Bike Party videos have racked up tens of millions of views, and just last year he established Rideable Now, a nonprofit group dedicated to adaptive mountain biking. Thanks for joining me, Martyn.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 00:30<br \/>Thanks for having me, dude. I love it. Great stuff.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 00:33<br \/>So I read that you started out riding motorcycle trials as a kid. What drew you into that sport, and like, how young were you when you started that?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 00:42<br \/>I started riding motorcycle trials. I was about 10 years old, I think. Wow! And I was brought into it because I\u2019m the youngest of three brothers. Okay. And my two elder brothers went into my motorcycle trials mainly because my dad was a huge back in the day scrambles fan. He rode scrambles, which was early day motocross, and he, yeah, he loved motorbikes, but he didn\u2019t want us crashing round a track at 100 miles an hour, so he took us into motorcycle trials, slightly safer, slightly dude, but all about control, and it meant we could learn about motorbikes, and yeah, I always refer to myself as a failed motorcycle trials rider because that\u2019s what I wanted to be when I was young. But what I did do-I mean, I\u2019ve said this many times when people have asked me about it-but because I couldn\u2019t ride my motorbike every weekend because my mum and dad had split up when I was very young, very amicably, they were great friends. But we, I, the motorbikes were at Dad\u2019s house. Okay. In the week, I was at Mum\u2019s house. Yeah. School. So during the week, I would practice on my BMX, pretending it was a motorbike. And little did I know, I was actually becoming pretty good at mountain biking by accident.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-2a644e6ab10e0ce386d34eec9f750c2b singl-content\" id=\"singl-2a644e6ab10e0ce386d34eec9f750c2b\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 01:59<br \/>Yeah. Yeah. That\u2019s awesome. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 02:01<br \/>That\u2019s basically how I ended up doing professional mountain biking because I, when I was about 18, I hadn\u2019t even heard of bike trial competitions. I went to one because someone had shown me that it was a thing, and was instantly really good because I didn\u2019t know for the last seven years I\u2019d been practicing it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 02:20<br \/>Well, what do you think about these like the kids today that have these e-motos? You know, like the Surron, and you see the videos of them just doing wild like trials like stuff with those bikes. A lot of those rideouts, like do you think you would have been into that if that existed?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 02:38<br \/>I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t know because there\u2019s a slightly different energy to that than to motorcycle trials. Because motorcycle trials, especially in the UK, it\u2019s like very like flat cap Yorkshireman, like you know, like go out and tough it out at the weekend on a tough day on the moors or on tough rocks. It\u2019s not really about like being showy. The international competition side of it, there is X Trial, which is like the indoor competitions.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-88e9eae87a1c9e145308b9949359078e singl-content\" id=\"singl-88e9eae87a1c9e145308b9949359078e\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 03:09<br \/>Okay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 03:09<br \/>I actually commentate those for for the FIM, and I do the outdoor series as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 03:15<br \/>Oh, cool!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaker 1 03:16<br \/>So I\u2019m still connected to it in a in a weird way, but the yeah, the energy of the whole I guess the electric moto world is is slightly different. Yeah, there is a certain amount of anarchy around.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 03:31<br \/>Yeah, there\u2019s there\u2019s cops involved in a lot of these videos. The kids taking over the streets. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 03:36<br \/>I don\u2019t know if that would have necessarily been my thing back as the kid I was, but these days I think everything has been turned on its head by how technology has developed, whether it\u2019s social media, AI, or or electric motors and and battery technology. And I just think, yeah, we\u2019re just in a time of transfer, you know, or a moment of progress where we\u2019re sort of like finding our ways back into it a little bit because the bikes that are being developed and for the price that they can be developed for, how cheaply that can be done now is means there\u2019s a whole category of bikes that just didn\u2019t exist, and now it\u2019s very exciting time. But yeah, there\u2019s certainly I would I feel like I feel bad for Suron because they make lots of cool stuff, but they do get tagged with this. <\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-8a1bd5056eb6d1764178dd733a2bc87e singl-content\" id=\"singl-8a1bd5056eb6d1764178dd733a2bc87e\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 04:39<br \/>The riders of Surrons are giving them a bad rep.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 04:42<br \/>Yeah, well, yeah, and there\u2019s and there\u2019s brands that aren\u2019t Surron that look an awful lot like a Surron, and they don\u2019t actually the bikes that a lot of the kids are riding. But yeah, I don\u2019t pay too much attention to that stuff really. Um, I think the only place I\u2019m really noticing and what. Electric motorcycles is in motorcycle trials because it\u2019s very interesting how they\u2019re developing and how they\u2019re part of the development of electric motorbikes broadly. And I would say in motocross because the bikes like Stark Future are insanely capable and a very different prospect to a Surron, and and and also in Hard Enduro, you know, like you got riders like Graham Jarvis riding the Jarvie. He\u2019s he\u2019s a great rider, but somehow he\u2019s getting that bike through some of the toughest events in the world. So in that space, I would be looking at it, but in terms of the world of Surron and going out and riding the streets and frightening little old ladies and using them to steal mobile phones, yeah, I\u2019m not that into that to be honest.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-3e181aaf4579e2cc688c208bc3c46c8b singl-content\" id=\"singl-3e181aaf4579e2cc688c208bc3c46c8b\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 05:52<br \/>Well, so you mentioned that you know you started out doing motorcycles, you did BMX, you did mountain bike trials, and then there\u2019s this video that you made, Road Bike Party, where you\u2019re doing trials on a road bike. So, like, where did that idea come from? Why, why make that video?<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 06:10<br \/>Desperation. I tell you what, it was in all honesty. Right, is that at that time I was already quite late in my career. I was really lucky before I had my accident, I had a very long professional career where I was, you know, trials is a a sport you can do very well in competitions, but you can\u2019t get paid for winning competitions. But because it\u2019s so dynamic and it\u2019s so a spectator friendly, it\u2019s a really great way for sponsors of mountain biking to take mountain biking in a minute version and put it somewhere else, like MotoGP or at a golf event, and it\u2019s a way of showing like Volvo sponsor something else outside all the golf stuff when you\u2019re in front of that audience. So, had a really amazing career as a as a sponsored trials rider, you know, I was on one of the biggest race teams in the world with Volvo Cannondale. Then I went to Animal, which was a UK brand that really got behind my show. It was a stunt show essentially, and I toured that for like 12 years, and it was amazing. You know, we took it to some incredible places, incredible events, and just had a lot of success with it. So I\u2019d already been really lucky in my career, but it was in that time of sort of 2000 beginning of YouTube essentially started to change how we all like got into the sports and our windows into sports because obviously you know it wasn\u2019t just live; it was like VHS videos or DVDs and magazines. And then Danny Mack\u2019s moment happened, where he released this video and not only like stopped the cycling world, but for a few weeks stopped the world. Everyone was like, \u201cHave you seen that Scottish kid?<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-04de6eee70e37de9799cabee865a7758 singl-content\" id=\"singl-04de6eee70e37de9799cabee865a7758\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 08:03<br \/>Did you know Danny before? Like before the video came out?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 08:06<br \/>A little bit, not much, not much. And I just made-he just produced. And I think it\u2019s a perfect lesson for anyone who\u2019s making content. Danny Mac didn\u2019t make that video to do that. He just wanted to make a really banger video. All that\u2019s all he wanted to do, and he just he spent time on it, and boy, did he deliver a brilliant video! You can go back and watch it now. It\u2019s 2009, I think. It come out. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 08:37<br \/>Yeah, it\u2019s still amazing. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 08:38<br \/>It will be good today. If someone released it today, you go, God! It would have a much more competition today because there\u2019s so much more content, but it\u2019s still good. And it just was a moment where I woke up and was like, right, the moment of me spending my time on the live shows, great. That can continue, but I can\u2019t. I\u2019ve got to come up with a way to be relevant in that space, and I just thought road bike party was funny. I thought it was like a funny idea. Like, what if I did all the stuff I can do on bikes, but on the wrong bike?<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-2e286e1c56b9c82403106b48a8ed3844 singl-content\" id=\"singl-2e286e1c56b9c82403106b48a8ed3844\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 09:18<br \/>Right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 09:18<br \/>But take it seriously. Like not like as if this guy is how he rides his road bike, and yeah, just really had a great time doing it. I didn\u2019t really. I thought this has got a chance at being interesting. It keeps me able to be in that space because, in all honesty, I was I couldn\u2019t make that video that Danny had made. He was, you know, he was a step changing sort of level of riding that everyone was going to have to like get to. You know, you\u2019re going to have to keep up, and it certainly helped me make my riding better, which is great at that time in my career. It was late. But yeah, it was so. I needed some way different of doing it. So road bike party was it, and it went way better than I imagined. I didn\u2019t. I had. I think we. I. I can\u2019t really remember. But back in the day, I made it with a guy called Robin Kitchen, who was my manager on the road on the animal bike tour. But he was also a fantastic and is still a fantastic photographer and videographer. So he directed the films and really we really went to town on it. And we, I think, we were hoping like in our wildest dreams, we\u2019re like, imagine if we got 100,000 views or something like that.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-a3232bd63c45abfc846a793f4978235e singl-content\" id=\"singl-a3232bd63c45abfc846a793f4978235e\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We got it in. I mean, the experience of Road Bike Party changed my life because it was just going through the experience of having an actual viral hit is weird. So weird. Like my phone just because I had my I put it on my own YouTube channel. Didn\u2019t think what that meant. Didn\u2019t have any views or any subscribers, but I had the notifications on for new subscriber and new comments. And my phone just went ding ding ding ding ding ding. It couldn\u2019t. Was that?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 11:19<br \/>I mean, was that the first video you posted to your channel?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 11:22<br \/>That channel, that\u2019s video one. It\u2019s so weird. I couldn\u2019t believe it. Yeah, it was so weird.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 11:30<br \/>But it\u2019s the same thing. I mean, it kind of sounds like like you\u2019re saying the position that Danny was in at that time, where it\u2019s like you just wanted to make a really good video. Like it didn\u2019t sound like you were thinking it was going to be this super huge thing.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-3a1df8a9646c79720eeb2ae8053ae6ea singl-content\" id=\"singl-3a1df8a9646c79720eeb2ae8053ae6ea\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 11:43<br \/>I very I was very much inspired by Danny. You know, Danny his video made me go, ah, okay, this is this is a change. Like now I\u2019d be done. Yeah, because I\u2019d used to I used to focus on magazines, and I\u2019d be like, right, I need to get great photos, and trials is great for. Sometimes you can do a photo with a trials move somewhere, and then the and the moment will be one thing. You could have videoed it, whatever. But but the photo, if you take it in the right moment, that photo then hits other people in a way that you isn\u2019t about what actually happened. It\u2019s what they imagined happened and what they feel from it. So it might be danger of like where you are, and they they get of I do a thing where like oh that was close, right? Pitch taken, yeah. But the impact of the photo is that someone stares at it for a while and goes, \u201cOh my god! You know, it\u2019s a they get a feeling from it. Yeah. So you have to really think about your photos and the opportunity when you find a spot for like, \u201cOh, I could get the bike there, and if you take it from here, it will look like this. That moment can be so impactful. So I used to take that very seriously, and I because I really loved seeing the photo myself, and be like, and you do it and go, did you get it? Did you get it? And then like, oh yeah, we\u2019ve got it, and it\u2019d be like, oh my god, you know, so sick, and then that would translate into great magazine features and things like that, but yeah, Danny\u2019s video just was like, yeah, it\u2019s a horrible, rude awakening for magazines a little bit.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-2dc48e64fba2a57fd0bc067c48082dab singl-content\" id=\"singl-2dc48e64fba2a57fd0bc067c48082dab\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Which is sad, and I still think sad. And but yeah, also the sort of emergence of like, well, the world just changed, and weirdly, yet again, it was a trials rider that had to do it. First, it was Hans Ray had to show mountain biking and cycling how to do media. This is my this is my little angry little trials rider moment. We\u2019re always leading the way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 14:01<br \/>Well, yeah, I think that is interesting because, yeah, I mean, there\u2019s a lot of truth in that because you know the things that that you all are doing in these videos, nobody, no mountain bikers are doing, and very few of them are, and yet it really just connects and inspires in a way that, like, just regular, you know, even downhill. Downhill is exciting, but it\u2019s it\u2019s just something a different way.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 14:28<br \/>Yeah, you\u2019ve got to know downhill really to know what\u2019s going on, and it\u2019s fantastic at the moment. The downhill, it\u2019s incredible. But I, I think trials for some reason is a great advert for mountain biking, even though it isn\u2019t really mountain biking. It\u2019s kind of a weird thing, but it\u2019s true. Like Hans Ray dominated magazines across the world for a period because because of that photo thing I just said about, and I very much got a career off the back of being like Hans Ray. You know that\u2019s that\u2019s how I, you know, thank God for that man. And then, and then Danny was another version of that, the new version of that, and he dominated this year. And then Fabio Wibmer came across came along because he wanted to be Danny Mac, and then became even bigger. And it it\u2019ll happen again. You know, I have heard though. I have heard Fabio Wibmer has got a new video coming.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-408c6d01f5828392acf25ee79b377679 singl-content\" id=\"singl-408c6d01f5828392acf25ee79b377679\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 15:31<br \/>Ooh.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 15:31<br \/>I won\u2019t say where I\u2019ve heard it from because I\u2019m probably not allowed to because I wouldn\u2019t want to upset anyone. But I\u2019ve heard it from a couple of places, and apparently it\u2019s astonishing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 15:42<br \/>Oh man, I can\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 15:44<br \/>And the people saying it, like, well, if you\u2019re saying it, yeah, it\u2019s got to be good.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I\u2019ve not seen anything from him for ages. Have you? <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 15:54<br \/>No, I haven\u2019t. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 15:56<br \/>And there\u2019s a world rocking video coming from Fabio. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 16:00<br \/>That\u2019s awesome. Yeah, I love Fabio, and yeah, we\u2019ve had him on the podcast, and then his cousin, right, Gabriel. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 16:09<br \/>Yeah, I mean, yeah, it\u2019s incredible, isn\u2019t it? How did they? I remember watching Gabriel putting out his first videos on Instagram, like you know, like I\u2019m Fabio\u2019s little cousin, and he was awful. You\u2019re like, yeah, just like, oh, that\u2019s so cute. Yeah, right, right. And now look, yeah, just like, oh my god, the guy is insane. It\u2019s just, yeah, his his, the Wibmer family have nailed dedication, haven\u2019t they? They have, they have got some.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-98080b81295ba65b306f888af575a6ac singl-content\" id=\"singl-98080b81295ba65b306f888af575a6ac\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 16:38<br \/>Yeah, absolutely. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 16:39<br \/>They\u2019ve got some balls. Those kids. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 16:42<br \/>Yeah, for sure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 16:42<br \/>Sorry, I\u2019ve taken you off track there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 16:45<br \/>No, this is great. So, yeah, let\u2019s back to the timeline. So, in 2013, you suffered from a debilitating accident that left you paralyzed, and I know it\u2019s been a long journey. And today, you\u2019re leading a nonprofit, Writeable Now, that enables and promotes adaptive bike riding. So one thing I\u2019m curious about, like prior to your injury, what did you know about adaptive biking? <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 17:12<br \/>Ah, oh, that\u2019s a good question. What did I know before it? Probably not a whole lot. I mean, I would have known of Stacy Kohut, who is in Whistler, he rides a quad mountain bike, like a little buggy mountain bike, and I think I would have seen him because he\u2019s someone that was he\u2019d had quite a lot of, I\u2019d say, social media or magazine success. He\u2019s a very turns out when you meet him, quite intimidating character, but he\u2019s very exciting character. He\u2019s very big character, which is cool. He\u2019s like, if you\u2019re gonna, he\u2019s sort of got the air of a real old school hard nut mountain biking. Real, real vibes of like yeah, not what you would expect.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-4c21a3a4f5333a93aa26e50ca157f8d7 singl-content\" id=\"singl-4c21a3a4f5333a93aa26e50ca157f8d7\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don\u2019t know. I think I don\u2019t know when when it makes sense when you meet him because he\u2019s like, watch this. Oh, sorry, I can\u2019t probably can\u2019t swear. My language is terrible. He said, you know, it\u2019ll be like, watch me. You know, I\u2019m I\u2019m a I\u2019m a bit of a legend. He\u2019s he\u2019s pretty incredible. So yeah, I\u2019ve seen him. That\u2019s probably as much as I would have known. And then, to be honest, other than his bike, which was very is is he\u2019s still riding the same bike, is very limited. There wasn\u2019t really adaptive mountain biking of any kind. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, I mean, only 13 years ago, there wasn\u2019t really a thing that you could go, you could call a scene, or you could say had a community, or or you could say had potential. Not really, you know. It\u2019s only the dawn of you know e-bike motors and the just the sheer progress of all that that has made some adaptive bikes now just insanely capable and and wildly exciting, you know. But when I had my accident, I had to kind of make up a way to ride bikes, and it was not necessarily ideal, but it was bloody good fun.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-d56e417c6589ca8619b66a8fb75aa732 singl-content\" id=\"singl-d56e417c6589ca8619b66a8fb75aa732\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 19:22<br \/>Yeah, yeah. Well, right. Speaking of that, there\u2019s that 2015 video that you made with Danny and Chris Akrigg and Blake, where you\u2019re back on the bike, but your feet are like literally taped to the pedals, and you have this like bucket seat, and yeah, you know the thing looks. I mean, it looks prehistoric compared to the bikes that you\u2019re riding now. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 19:45<br \/>So I did do it again recently, actually, with GMBN. Just before I left GMBN last year, They ended up being called bucket bikes. You know that idea. A few people took the idea up and had a go themselves. But I did that first video, back on track is what it\u2019s called, and yeah, it\u2019s literally like the idea was put me on the bike and let gravity do the rest. Yeah, like let\u2019s just, and then they follow you down the trail.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-132e835df71f0af915cb2099b44b8715 singl-content\" id=\"singl-132e835df71f0af915cb2099b44b8715\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 20:17<br \/>Well, was it as scary for you as it was for like for everybody else watching, I mean, it looked it looked terrifying.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 20:24<br \/>No, on the bike, it\u2019s funny. It\u2019s funny more than anything because it\u2019s it\u2019s a really weird situation because when when you ride on a bucket bike like that, and I think this is one of the brilliant things about it, is you can\u2019t do it alone. You do need a little crew, and then once that little crew have put you on the bike and they\u2019ve thrown you off the top, they\u2019re kind of half responsible for the problem, so they\u2019ve got to chase down and be ready and got to be at the bottom to catch you, and and it becomes like a team event. It\u2019s really and you\u2019re kind of heading down this trail, just having a really great time all together, and yeah, it\u2019s it\u2019s really cool. And I I did it again before I left GMBN on a oh what bike was cool bike propane propane spin drift. Okay, and we took off the chain, the derailleur, everything. Just made it just a literally a rolling chassis bucket. Taped my feet on, and God, it was incredible because the bikes have got so much better since then.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-b96720f1097300c2f28173851c584069 singl-content\" id=\"singl-b96720f1097300c2f28173851c584069\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 21:28<br \/>Right, that\u2019s true. Yeah, 12, 11, years ago.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 21:31<br \/>Yeah, and it was just like I had big, like you know, cool riser bars on it, and looked like Nico Malali, and it was it was so sick, and I could I\u2019d taken all the chain and trailer off. It was just silent, so it felt amazing. And yeah, even though I\u2019m an absolute, you know, advocate and you know promoter of adaptive bikes in the bowhead sense, so like the you know quad with with the ability to lean into corner sorry trike with the ability to lean into corners and articulation and independence as much as I\u2019m all about that I would still say the bucket bike is an experience that I would do again tomorrow if I can get the people around me to do it. It\u2019s so funny and yeah, just a blast. At the end of the day, what\u2019s the what\u2019s the worst thing happen? You\u2019re going to topple over. It\u2019s not that bad. It\u2019s really not that bad. You know, like just come to a steady stop and fall over. <\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-510edb78d534b3f01da3a364b5c28586 singl-content\" id=\"singl-510edb78d534b3f01da3a364b5c28586\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 22:39<br \/>Have you done that? Have you had to do that? Come to a stop. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 22:43<br \/>Oh yeah, God, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and and laughed my head off. You know, got elbow pads on. You just hold on to the bars, take it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 22:51<br \/>Yeah, it sounds a bit like you know going on a fat bike or a you know hardtail just to be silly with your friends and you know just kind of like\u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 23:00<br \/>I don\u2019t know what fat bike enthusiasts would say about that. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 23:03<br \/>I don\u2019t know. Well, dry trails. There\u2019s no point, really. You\u2019re just messing around, I guess.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 23:08<br \/>Well, fat bikes. Yeah. I mean, they\u2019re useful for 11 people in the world. You know, it\u2019s like stop making them. I don\u2019t know anything about fat bikes. I should be quiet. I make it up as I go along,<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-5810ac4c63a0ec799eecd7c6086c8080 singl-content\" id=\"singl-5810ac4c63a0ec799eecd7c6086c8080\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 23:21<br \/>Tell us about your new Gen Two Bowhead RX bike that you\u2019re riding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 23:27<br \/>Ah, the new the new Gen Two Bowhead is yeah, it\u2019s oh, it\u2019s crazy, right? Because it looks so similar, but they\u2019ve made some just such smart changes that make something that was already incredible, right? Bowhead RX, in my opinion, is the best adapted bike in the world. A lot of people prefer the Reach, the Bowhead Reach, which is the throttle-actuated bike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s more like a moto. You know, it\u2019s got really powerful motor, and you just power down the trails, and it\u2019s wild fun. It is world fun. But the RX is where e-bike, actual e-bike technology meets adaptive bikes, and I think that\u2019s that\u2019s where rideable now started for me. It\u2019s like wow, now I\u2019m getting to use the absolute pinnacle of technology and mountain biking in a bike that I can now use my arms to do something that is very similar, very similar to mountain biking, and I can get to places that don\u2019t seem real when you\u2019re doing it because you\u2019re like, how am I getting up here, this is insane, you know. So the going up becomes incredible. Where you get to becomes transformational because just the you know the epicness of it, and then then the getting down is just like this, you know, adrenaline rush. That\u2019s just you know makes you want to do it all again you know and it\u2019s they\u2019re just an incredible bike and I\u2019ve been saying that before this generation two bike come out but the new one is so the changes they\u2019ve made is they\u2019ve made an actual working front suspension on the bike so you\u2019ve got two front wheels the original Bowhead RX did have suspension, but it suffered from a lot of brake jack. So you could be coming down fast into a corner, hit the front brake, and the suspension would open up. The springs would be stretched out, and basically you lose all your suspension, but you\u2019ve got braking. So it would it would be very it would be very hard to have the control into corners you would want in the way that you would on a mountain bike.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-875dc51755f46701e3827726cd2bd293 singl-content\" id=\"singl-875dc51755f46701e3827726cd2bd293\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 25:47<br \/>I see.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 25:48<br \/>They they spent a long time, two years developing this front end that, which is called MoFlow, and it\u2019s yeah, it\u2019s a real suspension. This thing now monster trucks in the corners. Your braking is so much better. The grip is better.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s just so different. It gives you a little bit of pop out of jumps, which means it doesn\u2019t buck as much which was really noticeable when I was in Whistler because the jumps at Whistler would would normally have been very scary.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whereas this was giving me confidence to go crack and get some real nice feeling out of the jumps, and the jumps feel nice. So the suspension is wildly different, transformational for how good the bike is. And one of the things I think\u2019s most brilliant about it is it\u2019s you can retrofit it, so it\u2019ll work on the Gen One bike. So everyone\u2019s got a Gen One bike. <\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-f694249941f294f47f774ef4fa861d3e singl-content\" id=\"singl-f694249941f294f47f774ef4fa861d3e\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 26:44<br \/>Oh, that\u2019s nice.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 26:45<br \/>You could just put that MoFlow suspension on it, and your bike will be way better, like way better. The next thing is it\u2019s got the Gen Five Bosch motor in it, so it\u2019s got the smart system and the extra newton meters of torque, and you know that 400% assist, rather than you know the lower level. It does use the speed line motor, so it\u2019s not the. It can\u2019t have the 120 newton meters of torque and the 600% assist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But it is still much much better than the the Gen Four motor that was on there before. Of course, you\u2019ve got all the app you can play with and tune it to how you want it to be, and and it is just you\u2019ve just got that extra, what is it, 15 newton meters of torque makes a huge difference, and you you are much stronger on it.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-d3df1cadf0d034a9e802b8c2ee9293b5 singl-content\" id=\"singl-d3df1cadf0d034a9e802b8c2ee9293b5\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 27:45<br \/>Yeah, and so it\u2019s still only assisting the amount of like power that you\u2019re putting into it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 27:52<br \/>Yeah,<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 27:53<br \/>Wow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 27:54<br \/>It\u2019s just an e-bike essentially. It\u2019s just a normal e-bike, but the the power\u2019s from your arms, and it it\u2019s got adjustable cranks because now the bike has got can run 24 inch wheels at the front. Used to have 20 inch wheels. Now you can run 24 inch wheels at the front. That would normally create a lot of hand strike on the wheels when you\u2019re in big banking dorms and stuff. But you can shorten the cranks down to 135, and then you don\u2019t get the the strikes, which is means you\u2019ve got 24 scales. So you\u2019re trucking through braking bumps and stuff like you wouldn\u2019t have done before, plus the great suspension that\u2019s helping you do that. But because it\u2019s got the more powerful motor, you still feel even with a 135 crank, you\u2019ve still got way more power than the previous RX had.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-3452c1f0662ebf68dd8e1acab27cc1b0 singl-content\" id=\"singl-3452c1f0662ebf68dd8e1acab27cc1b0\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So it just feels incredible, and I\u2019m you know I\u2019ve got like SRAM XX on it, and it\u2019s got a brand new harness which really holds you in the bike, and there\u2019s a lot more adjustable. It\u2019s just subtle changes that that collectively, you know, all add up to a much much better experience. So everyone who\u2019s buying RXs from this point is going to get a really incredible bike. I don\u2019t think there\u2019s a, you know, I\u2019m not I\u2019m I\u2019m not saying it because Bowhead, I\u2019m friends with Bowhead or anything like that. I genuinely think that is the best adapted bike in the world, and hopefully, what will happen is other companies will try and catch up, and that would be fantastic for adaptive riding. So, I\u2019d love there to be competition for Bowhead. I\u2019m not like saying Bowhead, Bowhead, Bowhead. They just they just are leading the way. That\u2019s just a fact.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-15d438ae5d92e31a98191d16ff817f70 singl-content\" id=\"singl-15d438ae5d92e31a98191d16ff817f70\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 29:45<br \/>From what I understand, the bikes, a lot of the adaptive bikes are pretty custom, right? Because everybody\u2019s got like slightly different needs, or it\u2019s bowhead. You just you just order one up and everybody kind of gets the same bike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 29:57<br \/>No, I mean bowhead will work with. Every customer, I think, to to make sure they\u2019re getting the right adaptions on their bike. But there is there is a standard bike that will certainly suit a lot of people. But then there is lots of little ways to make the bike work for people with slightly more of an injury or a slightly different type of injury, like someone like myself, for instance, they\u2019ve got riders who have got like a brain injury, so their balance is very difficult to handle. So they\u2019re riding a bowhead not because they can\u2019t walk or something like that; it\u2019s because they\u2019ve got difficulty of balance. And what they do is they kind of turn off the articulation with these little adaptions, so it\u2019s not as capable, but it\u2019s still there. Which means someone with that injury could go down a trail and have, you know, a degree of control in the corners like the other bowhead riders. But it\u2019s easier to it\u2019s easier to sort of get back to a stable position, so they\u2019ve worked with lots and lots of different types of people with different types of injuries, and they\u2019re learning along the way as well. I mean, if if someone came to Bowhead, this is true of all the adaptive bike brands, not Bowhead. If someone comes to them with a need that they can\u2019t help, I bet you 100% they\u2019ll try and work out a way to help them.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-d31197ac443653b08691f1a419dbff31 singl-content\" id=\"singl-d31197ac443653b08691f1a419dbff31\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because that\u2019s just good for them too to learn. And so I, I feel if they\u2019re in that scene, they\u2019re probably in it to do good work. It isn\u2019t the scene you get into like to make millions of pounds. It\u2019s you know they\u2019re doing it because they\u2019re passionate about it. They think they\u2019ve got a great idea. There\u2019s a few different ways that adaptive bikes can work. There\u2019s a brand in Germany called Reset Arms, and that is that is got a very different approach to the bowhead. That\u2019s quite new, so I don\u2019t know how that\u2019s going to develop. But you know, there are there\u2019s another brand as well called Exotech, who are in Norway, and they make a quad bike that\u2019s a bike, but it\u2019s very very capable at climbing, more of an adventure vehicle. So there\u2019s there\u2019s brands out there, but it\u2019s it\u2019s you know the the the Gen Two RX is the is where it\u2019s at in my opinion at the moment and yeah but I got mine in Whistler just a couple of weeks ago and it\u2019s had a wow.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-0e50cf3c9f6cee564fbf4d15dc137083 singl-content\" id=\"singl-0e50cf3c9f6cee564fbf4d15dc137083\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 32:32<br \/>It looks amazing and obviously you know one of the things maybe I mean maybe people don\u2019t realize this but adapted bikes are very expensive and part of that has to do with just the components. I\u2019m guessing. I mean, in a lot of cases, you have like two shocks and a front suspension setup. You\u2019ve got more wheels than a regular bike, and so I\u2019m curious: how is Rideable Now working to make it easier for folks to afford these adaptive bikes?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 33:04<br \/>Well, we\u2019re in our first year. We start launched in January. The way we build money to help people is we\u2019ve got a thing called the Access Fund. So our members, which are the wider mountain biking community, not just adaptive riders, they donate five pound a month to Rideville now. That builds the access fund, and then basically the idea is that we will give grants to applicants who are trying to buy adaptive bikes. Okay, are already giving out grants, but they\u2019re quite small in this first year. They\u2019re they\u2019re a nudge to help people buy bikes, but they\u2019re not buying complete bikes. We have delivered one complete bike in year one, but that was because that a bike was available and we had access to it, rather than that we had actually the money to buy that bike. Yeah, but we have put one rider in a bike in year one. We\u2019ve given out, I think, as of today. I did one this morning, so I think 11 grants already towards adaptive bikes.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-8cb619196e5e6c53480f9b3233bdca9f singl-content\" id=\"singl-8cb619196e5e6c53480f9b3233bdca9f\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 34:11<br \/>For a lot of these people, is this their first adaptive bike, and were they bikers before? Like, what\u2019s kind of their mission?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 34:18<br \/>Yeah, there\u2019s quite a variation between people: some young, some old, some that are well, obviously riders before. I know that one of them is someone who\u2019s never ridden a bike in their life and they want to try it. So it\u2019s really amazing. They\u2019re just someone with a disability. One of the riders is someone who\u2019s had an adaptive bike but wants to update their bike. Yeah, I mean, each case you just got to take it, you know, as a conversation with an individual and see what we can do. It\u2019s quite important that the applicant sort of knows what bike they want and why, because I have previously, before rideable, now you know, helped someone buy a bike, which. Ended up being not quite the right one. And that that was a bit of a you know a bit of a like oh damn we could have done that better.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-5fa4aa6f1441a2099e382775bd0e30a5 singl-content\" id=\"singl-5fa4aa6f1441a2099e382775bd0e30a5\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So I did have a sort of like slightly sore experience before starting rideable now that\u2019s taught me a lot, and yeah it\u2019s really great to be helping some people already, but I\u2019m not helping people anywhere near as much as I\u2019d like to. And I\u2019m determined to make it so I can. I what I really believe is that because I can\u2019t ask, we\u2019ve got sponsors for Rideable now, but the sponsors essentially pay our running costs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To excite the world about adaptive riding, we\u2019ve got to go out and do it. We\u2019ve got to make videos about it and make podcasts about it. And ta-da! You know, like when we were in Whistler, we had a little clip go viral and got millions of views.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DcG439pIPna\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\" style=\"background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;margin: 1px;max-width:540px;min-width:326px;padding:0;width:99.375%;width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px);width:calc(100% - 2px)\">\n<div style=\"padding:16px\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DcG439pIPna\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\"background:#FFFFFF;line-height:0;padding:0 0;text-align:center;text-decoration:none;width:100%\" target=\"_blank\"> <\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: row;align-items: center\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 40px;margin-right: 14px;width: 40px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 100px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 60px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display:block;height:50px;margin:0 auto 12px;width:50px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px\">\n<div style=\"color:#3897f0;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:550;line-height:18px\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: row;margin-bottom: 14px;align-items: center\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px;flex-grow: 0;margin-right: 14px;margin-left: 2px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;height: 12.5px;width: 12.5px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 50%;flex-grow: 0;height: 20px;width: 20px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 2px solid transparent;border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4;border-bottom: 2px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-right: 8px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;flex-grow: 0;height: 12px;width: 16px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0;height: 0;border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4;border-left: 8px solid transparent\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex;flex-direction: column;flex-grow: 1;justify-content: center;margin-bottom: 24px\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;margin-bottom: 6px;width: 224px\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #F4F4F4;border-radius: 4px;flex-grow: 0;height: 14px;width: 144px\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;white-space:nowrap\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/reel\/DcG439pIPna\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" style=\"color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none\" target=\"_blank\">A post shared by Martyn Ashton (@martynashton)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 35:54<br \/>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 35:54<br \/>So millions of people saw, oh, that\u2019s a weird bike going off a cliff thing.  But it took us going to Whistler to get it, you know. And it\u2019s like that costs a lot of money. We did have some support, but you know, we also had to spend some. So that\u2019s what the sponsors do, and that is amazing. It\u2019s only possible because of them.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-9ded4b2bdc354dae8cd5df7839a523cb singl-content\" id=\"singl-9ded4b2bdc354dae8cd5df7839a523cb\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But what what the access fund is about, the the money that we\u2019re getting from the members, that is the mountain bike community, and they\u2019re they\u2019re the people. If if we\u2019re going to make a really solid base of support for people who\u2019ve had an injury or need an adaptive bike, if we\u2019re going to make a really solid base at Rideable now to help them, I need the money from the mountain bike community. I\u2019m never going to be able to get brands to pay for it because what we\u2019re asking the brands to pay for is other bikes from another brand. You know, it\u2019s like the the sponsors can help us make the engine, but but the fuel for the idea is going to come from the community itself, and we\u2019re we\u2019re in an we\u2019ve had an amazing year one. It\u2019s you know it\u2019s fantastic. We\u2019ve already got 1000 members, and that\u2019s incredible. But it isn\u2019t enough for me to achieve the model I\u2019ve got in my head. I\u2019ve always been struck by little backstory on on why I started rideable now is that when I had my injury, there was a guy in the the ward with me who was a rugby player.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-1a196b3d2f42aa254a7a32b7c2207057 singl-content\" id=\"singl-1a196b3d2f42aa254a7a32b7c2207057\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And yeah, he had a neck injury from playing rugby, and just rugby itself turned up for him in that bed in his first week. Like someone from the Rugby Association was at his bed, like not someone he knew,<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just someone from rugby, right? He had loads of friends turn up as well, but someone from rugby turned up and was like, \u201cRight, how are we going to help you in life? Because this is what rugby can do to people, but we all know it. We all understand it, and we are going to make sure that rugby didn\u2019t ruin your life. We\u2019re going to make sure rugby helped you through this and created a great life. And that\u2019s powerful.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And I want that. I want. I want to be an organization that when someone has an accident, and unfortunately, it happened yesterday. Because I get told this stuff, so people are going to have terrible injuries riding mountain biking. We all know what bike riding does.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-5c53dac57b465a1a4e750a3de0d65e96 singl-content\" id=\"singl-5c53dac57b465a1a4e750a3de0d65e96\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We love it, despite the fact that we all know what can happen.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 38:38<br \/>Yeah, there\u2019s always a risk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 38:40<br \/>It can happen to any of us. Unfortunately, it will happen to someone this week, and I want Rideable Now to be the thing that goes in that has allowed the community to come together and go right. This is mountain biking. What\u2019s happened to you? We know it, or this is cycling. We know it because these injuries happen across the board. What can we do to make sure you\u2019re excited about your life going forward? And mountain biking is still part of it. The mountain bike community is still part of it, and that you remain within it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That\u2019s what I want Rider One out to do, and I I just got to keep banging on about it until I can get to that. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 39:22<br \/>That\u2019s an amazing vision.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-5b3e3a7f418a2aa5aae117fe5b555e3a singl-content\" id=\"singl-5b3e3a7f418a2aa5aae117fe5b555e3a\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 39:23<br \/>Yeah, and I, I think I can do it. I think not. Well, I say I, I think Rideable now can do it. We\u2019re at 1000 members. It\u2019s 10. 1000 members means we\u2019re already helping people, and we\u2019ll continue to. But 5000 members means we can do it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 39:46<br \/>Yeah, like it\u2019s it\u2019s not that far, right? You know, and there\u2019s a lot of us that ride mountain bikes. There\u2019s millions. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 39:55<br \/>Yeah, honest to God, 5000 members creates a fund with a projected. You know, future because these are these are memberships that are monthly.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It creates a it creates a potential that means you can not just be helping people with a bit of cost towards their bikes. For the right rider, you could be buying a bike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For lots of applicants where it fits, you could be giving them really considerable grants. You know, like things that really will make the thing happen. You could be working with trail organizations to help them give access. You know, you can do all the things that mean that you could go to someone\u2019s bedside and say, \u201cLook, this is how exciting a future can be. Because that\u2019s what you need to hear when you\u2019ve had an injury: is what is my future? And it might not be mountain biking, but that doesn\u2019t mean mountain biking can\u2019t help that person with that new future, they\u2019re going to have to create, right? And that\u2019s what I want it to be. And that\u2019s what\u2019s all about. That\u2019s the roots of it, you know.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-2e8d317231af91227cc9500da3f89693 singl-content\" id=\"singl-2e8d317231af91227cc9500da3f89693\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 41:07<br \/>Yeah, it\u2019s about that community support. And I mean, yeah, you\u2019ve convinced me. Sign me up. After this, I\u2019m I\u2019m signing up. [The sign-up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rideablenow.com\/join\">link is here<\/a>.]<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 41:16<br \/>Yeah that\u2019s another one. That\u2019s that\u2019s. I mean, that\u2019s the game I\u2019m playing is that if I can if I can collect 5000 members and beyond, we\u2019ve got mountain biking has made something really special that I think would be a model that other sports could could really go okay because the idea is a member signs up, their reward is they\u2019re helping the community, but we\u2019ve gamified it in the fact that also by doing that you are in a prize draw every month. That means you could win something incredible. Okay, and and that\u2019s the game of it. That\u2019s the fun of it because you know that\u2019s. I feel like that\u2019s a fair deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 41:55<br \/>Yeah, just being able to see what your donations do, though. I mean, yeah, just hearing these stories and the incredible like life change that happens with this. I mean, it\u2019s it\u2019s powerful.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-24eb1068136d4e993d47b28edc2ee1d9 singl-content\" id=\"singl-24eb1068136d4e993d47b28edc2ee1d9\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 42:07<br \/>Yeah, I think that\u2019s the real reason people join. But I think there needs to be that carrot to make it to make it sustainable and to to keep the monthliness of it going. Is that we\u2019ve got brands that have supported us. That means every other month we give away a 10 grand bike. Wow! Well, actually, most of the bikes been more than 10 grand so far. We give a 1010 grand bike to one of our members, and it\u2019s just a prize draw. You\u2019re automatically entered in it, and then every month there\u2019s a bundle of kit that someone wins, which is also another prize draw. You\u2019re automatically entered into it, and that really makes it fun because you can put that five pound in, and it can feel like I\u2019m donating towards doing great things. Ah, you never know; might win a crazy cool bike too. <\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-12b5c97ad2eda53afb3fde66d9d9c7d2 singl-content\" id=\"singl-12b5c97ad2eda53afb3fde66d9d9c7d2\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 42:59<br \/>And we get to keep seeing videos of you doing what you do, and yeah, well, we put that\u2019s a reward too.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 43:04<br \/>Yeah, we\u2019re putting it out there, and I\u2019m really enjoying it. I really am enjoying it. It\u2019s it\u2019s a great opportunity for myself as well. You know, I love I love. I mean, giving the bikes to the winners has been really fun already.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Giving that you know, actually get awarding that adaptive bike to Mark Holland, who was the person who received the first rideable now bike. That was pretty special, and I know it was really special for Mark. And it\u2019s, you know, means now he\u2019s a he\u2019s a dad of three, and that\u2019s actually his handle on Instagram: disabled dad of three. Dad of three. Okay. He he he now has an adaptive bike. He go riding with kids. He goes picks them up from school on it. He\u2019s got plans to go on big rides with it. That\u2019s what these bikes do. It\u2019s so hard. No, is it hard to imagine? What you have to do is imagine what would it be like if I took bike riding away from you, and what would that feel like? It\u2019s painful, and giving it back to someone feels great. But but you know it\u2019s it really is a transformational piece of equipment. They are so capable. I mean, I could. I\u2019ve just been to Whistler and rode rode Whistler. I rode some crazy trails. Rode a double black diamond. I did these bikes are so capable, but it\u2019s not so much. You don\u2019t have to ride Whistler. What you can do is go for for a walk with your partner and the dog on this bike onto terrain you could never have gone on on in a wheelchair, it suddenly gives you the world back, and and they\u2019re truly amazing. And it\u2019s it really is the combination of the absolute pinnacle of mountain bike technology and. Adaptive bikes that, even though they existed when I had my accident, they were not capable of much. They were kind of like trolleys that you could push along. But if you got to a climb, good luck. But now you\u2019ve got e-bike power and and this dynamic articulated movement that\u2019s in the bowhead, and you you\u2019ve got an experience that is not only a great adaptive experience. I know from doing it, you can put an able-bodied rider in it, and they will have one of the best days of their life riding bikes. They\u2019re that good.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-c839d6507e529375be0d4f39017b865f singl-content\" id=\"singl-c839d6507e529375be0d4f39017b865f\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">They\u2019re incredible for anyone to ride. I\u2019m not suggesting able-bodied riders should ride it. Although, if you get a go, you should. Yeah. But what I\u2019m saying is, it isn\u2019t like a watered down version of mountain biking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 45:48<br \/>Yeah. It is mountain biking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 45:49<br \/>Yeah. It is as good as it gets. Yeah. And it\u2019s it\u2019s it\u2019s. I just want more people to be able to do it. They are expensive. They\u2019re always going to be expensive because they\u2019re going to. We want them to be in low numbers, right? We don\u2019t want lots of we don\u2019t want lots of injured people, but they\u2019re always going to be expensive bikes to build. But we, what we don\u2019t, this is a personal view. I don\u2019t know what others would say to this. Be interested what you think, but I don\u2019t want adaptive brands to have to make their bikes cheaper. They need to make money, because they need to succeed. And if they succeed, it\u2019s because lots of people were buying their expensive bikes. That\u2019s what I\u2019d like. Yeah, I feel like that means that they can keep developing, they can keep making great bikes, and we\u2019re on that trajectory of like, wow, what is possible? The answer is not making cheap adaptive bikes. It\u2019s it\u2019s it\u2019s the community coming together to help people buy these bikes.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-e087c8b4318cedaea176e9dce02c23f1 singl-content\" id=\"singl-e087c8b4318cedaea176e9dce02c23f1\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 46:51<br \/>Yeah, that\u2019s great. Well, yeah, I mean, you kind of touched on this, but there is this kind of misconception among able-bodied riders that adaptive trails are going to be boring, and so through your videos, like you\u2019re definitely able to counter that a bit. But like, what would you say to people who are maybe like, \u201cOh no, we don\u2019t want adaptive trails, you know, in my town because then that\u2019s just going to make the trails boring. Like, how do you approach that topic with folks?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 47:20<br \/>Well, my first question would be: Are there? Is there anyone saying that?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 47:25<br \/>Yeah, I mean, unfortunately, there are. You know, we on Singletracks we do a lot of coverage of like new trail projects, and I mean, fortunately, we\u2019re seeing a ton of them in the U.S. where there are actually grants available to make trails adaptive, and yeah, there\u2019s. I guess. I mean, maybe these are the the snarky commenters that nobody should pay attention to anyway. But yeah, you do hear it, and so and my own experience riding some of these trails is that they\u2019re amazing. I mean, they\u2019re as good or better than any flow trail that you would you would ride, and a lot of them too, you\u2019ll ride it and say that was a great trail, and then later you find out oh it also happens to be adaptive.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-25258c4191c8058fa3601087bbe6cfd1 singl-content\" id=\"singl-25258c4191c8058fa3601087bbe6cfd1\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 48:11<br \/>Yeah, I think there are. I think there\u2019s two ways to look at it. I mean, I guess if a trail is being made from scratch to be four adaptive bikes, and there I know of a couple of those in the UK. I guess there\u2019s a few around. That\u2019s that\u2019s great, but I I think slight adjustments to greens and blues in general means that they they most greens and blues can be adaptive ready.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 48:45<br \/>Okay. Yeah. And yeah, it doesn\u2019t take a lot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 48:48<br \/>Not really. It doesn\u2019t take much. I think beyond greens and blues, an adaptive rider has to do what any mountain bike rider has to do if they\u2019re looking at like blacks, for instance, they\u2019ve got to make a bit of a decision for themselves. Like, can I ride this trail? The trail\u2019s telling you what it is like. So, can I do it? A red on a a red on an adaptive bike can can definitely be done but you sort of need to have had a scouting ride from one of your mates, seen it on video, understood, you know, as some support rider with you.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-e83c4b964145074a6db0fa539f7fa8d0 singl-content\" id=\"singl-e83c4b964145074a6db0fa539f7fa8d0\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But greens and blues could. You don\u2019t need to change much about the great greens and blues of the world to make them adaptive. Yeah, they could all be adaptive. Yeah, but no one needs to have a slightly crapper trail because of it. It would be unnoticeable to, or could. Yeah, that\u2019s my experience. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 49:50<br \/>It\u2019s not noticeable until you tell people, and then they\u2019re like, \u201cHuh.\u201d And you think about like, what did you do to the trail?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 49:55<br \/>Yeah, it\u2019s such subtle things, and and each trail would. Be different, but you could make ridable now\u2019s colors are green and blue for for for a reason that I like. Yeah, greens and blues. We could we could the world is rideable now in terms of green greens and blues is the story. Yeah, so that\u2019s that\u2019s kind of how I see it. And I I\u2019m actually working. It\u2019s very early stages, but I\u2019m working with a center in the UK to actually rejuvenate the whole center, but with adaptive riding at the heart of it. But to make great mountain bike trails, not adaptive trails.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-cfcc8d2f569897ba797da16556b298ce singl-content\" id=\"singl-cfcc8d2f569897ba797da16556b298ce\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The reason we\u2019ll have the funding to make it better is thanks to adaptive riding. The trails will be made great for riding, and they will be adapted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 50:53<br \/>So it\u2019s like it\u2019s a great hack. I think same thing that if you can access that funding in that way too, it\u2019s it\u2019s a win win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 51:01<br \/>Yeah, I mean, you know what? It would be really great, and this is kind of the idea is that this this region will be better mountain biking thanks to adaptive bikes. You know, so that\u2019s it\u2019s kind of turning it on its head. But I think that\u2019s the way to approach this particular situation, and yeah, I\u2019m sort of working on that in the background, and hopefully that\u2019s something that\u2019s going to start happening next year. But it\u2019s like I said, it\u2019s in its early stages of like, yeah, the ambition is there. We know where the money is. We\u2019re just getting everybody like teed up in in line, and then we\u2019re going to hopefully go for that, and that will be incredible because my my take on the world is rideable now is that you know I feel like without much you you should be able to roll into a green or a blue on an adaptive bike and think I\u2019ve got a fair chance of this. That said, I would always suggest on an adaptive bike if you haven\u2019t ridden a trail, don\u2019t do it alone. Ride, go down it with someone else, go down it with a mate, ask someone to come down it with you.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-96773fd425c4caa55bdd5bde16b622b2 singl-content\" id=\"singl-96773fd425c4caa55bdd5bde16b622b2\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mountain bikers are always ready to help. So even if you don\u2019t know a single person, I am 100% sure. If you\u2019re at a trail center and you said to someone in the cafe, \u201cI\u2019m about to go up and do a run. Would you come down with me?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For your next run, they\u2019d say yes. They would probably go, \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll do that. Sounds hilarious. Watching your bike going down the trail. I\u2019ve never seen that before. Just because you you know if you topple over something silly, they can put you up the right way, and once you know a trail, you can start to be like, \u201cI\u2019m going to go alone, and whatever. But you know, as long as you first time phones with you and things that you need, but yeah, I mean, having a support rider makes a big difference. I was just, I was when I was in Whistler. Actually, we went and rode a place called Grouse Mountain, and they were sort of saying, \u201cOh, we\u2019re we\u2019re adaptive ready.\u201d And I went and rode it, and I was like, \u201cYou are not adaptive ready.\u201d  Based on how they were describing it on their website, I was like, \u201cWhat you should say is, we are adaptive ready, but we strongly suggest you bring a support rider.\u201d <\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-bd773d76281017d4129835ba685a48d8 singl-content\" id=\"singl-bd773d76281017d4129835ba685a48d8\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then you\u2019re nearly adaptive ready, but with but those trails are not ones someone on adaptive bike should come up on your beautiful gondola and just roll off the top.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Because I\u2019ve ridden a lot of trails, and I know I think I know what I\u2019m doing, and I was like, wow, you can get in trouble here. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 53:41<br \/>Oh wow, yeah. Well, you you you mentioned that a lot of these trails, these are like the green and blue trails, but you\u2019ve shown videos of yourself riding these black diamond, double black diamond trails, and it\u2019s it\u2019s amazing, super inspiring. I\u2019m curious, how does riding a trail like that on an adapted bike compared to your experience with trials riding, is it does it kind of scratch the same itch for you, or is it like a totally different different note?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 54:10<br \/> I mean, what I would say is that if I\u2019m I\u2019m only riding down those the hardest trails, probably to do some video and and document it.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-c1bab9244be3901991a58a67e9084195 singl-content\" id=\"singl-c1bab9244be3901991a58a67e9084195\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 54:21<br \/>You\u2019re not just doing it for fun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 54:23<br \/>I, I mean, some of those really hard ones. There, I mean, there\u2019s. I\u2019m 52 year old mountain biking. I mean, I\u2019m. I am not one of the best adaptive riders in the world. There is some truly brilliant riders out there. I was in when I was in Whistler. I was riding a kid called Jaden Glentworth, guy used amazing. I was riding with him, and it was just terrifying. It was taking me down trails he does ride every day for fun, and I was not happy. I was not comfortable, and then I did another whole day with Cole Bernier and a. Adaptive riders would know that coal is about as good as it gets on an adaptive bike. Lovely, lovely guy, and he took me down some trails. But I think he was trying to teach me a bit of a lesson. Like, okay, you know, media man, try this out because it was spicy, man. Yeah, he\u2019s just so good, and he\u2019s riding so much, and that he\u2019s just yeah, his talent really is coming through on the bike. And I, I can\u2019t ride some of the trails like they can. I\u2019m quite willing. I\u2019m a you know, I\u2019ll be, I\u2019ll have a go, quite a lot of things. I think, but yeah, there\u2019s some stuff you know. I\u2019ve got a limit that where I\u2019m like, I don\u2019t know what to do. But the thing is, on an adaptive bike, when you\u2019re sort of into a trail, you\u2019re kind of like, oh, you\u2019re in now. So I\u2019ve been down some things that I didn\u2019t really want to do, but the only way out was to do it.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-24204337b552dca99fc264cb949a85c2 singl-content\" id=\"singl-24204337b552dca99fc264cb949a85c2\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 56:03<br \/>And you kind of like okay, have to figure it out. I feel like with trials and a lot of and technical riding, it\u2019s a bit of a mental puzzle too. Where you\u2019re like, okay, how am I going to do this?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 56:10<br \/>Yeah, a lot of the time with an adaptive bike is how you\u2019re going to do it is just do it. Just you\u2019ve just got to commit to it because a lot of the time, a little bit of momentum and a bit of bravery is what will get you through it. But that can also get you in a lot of trouble. Actually, I on the last day at Whistler, I was trying to get. It was kind of going back to that old school stuff. I was trying to get a really great photo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rideable Now\u2019s photographer is a guy called Rob Perry, who is who\u2019s based out in Squamish. He is fantastic, and it was actually a lot of his images that he took of me from a shoot, a GMBN shoot, a few years back, of riding in in Squamish, that really inspired the kind of rideable now energy, and a lot of the images on my website, rideable now website, and the presentation I used to approach all my sponsors was Rob Perry\u2019s photos. He kind of created the heart of it from that. The images he creates these images that are just like, like, like a wonder, you know. Like you can see, you\u2019re riding in the space. Even when he\u2019s in the woods of Whistler, you\u2019re you can feel the space outside the moment. Like, wow, to be in there, you know. Just got a great style that I love, and I was trying to get this shot this year of him. Of that, I was like, \u201cGuy, Rob gets this, and it was basically I was coming down a slope right at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/mtb-trails\/ride-top-of-the-world-in-whistler-bike-park-choose-your-own-epic\/\">Top of the World in Whistler<\/a>, doing like an endo. <\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-d2a8097280a3f1aee053f106c5c01455 singl-content\" id=\"singl-d2a8097280a3f1aee053f106c5c01455\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 57:53<br \/>Oh wow!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 57:54<br \/>And I was like, \u201cOh, you know, I\u2019m going to be like vertical, and the mountains behind. I thought, oh, so cool! And I just got a bit greedy, and it just went. I went straight over the bars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 58:05<br \/>Oh wow!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 58:06<br \/>I broke some bones in my foot and my shin, which sucked. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 58:13<br \/>But did you get the shot though?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 58:15<br \/>Oh, we got the shot. Yeah, oh yeah, the shot. The shot\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 58:19<br \/>Yeah. Okay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 58:20<br \/>Mike\u2019s vertical. It looks so crazy. It\u2019s slightly, it\u2019s slightly not as good because you know I go that way. Not that way. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 58:28<br \/>Can you see the fear in your eyes, though? Like at that moment, do you know that it\u2019s? <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 58:34<br \/>I look calm as you look. It looks good. Yeah, it was worth it, and it was all right. It wasn\u2019t. It was a bit. It was one of those crashes, though I haven\u2019t had many where it was a bit of a reminder. Because on the bowhead, I went right over. I kind of hit the ground with my head, yeah. And then, of course, you got 45 kilo bike comes and hits you a moment later, and does it again. And it was not. It was not that nice. So it was a bit of a bit of a check for me. Like, yeah, careful, you know. But yeah, it was good. I got a good photo, and you know, I guess I\u2019d got away with a lot the whole week while I was there. So maybe I needed one. You know, sometimes you need one, don\u2019t you? To like, you have like a corner that reminds you. <\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-67fdc67c176a25af94729159748ba593 singl-content\" id=\"singl-67fdc67c176a25af94729159748ba593\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 59:30<br \/>Yeah. I think we can all relate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 59:33<br \/>Yeah, we\u2019ve all we have to, right? We\u2019ve all had that moment, like, oh my god, that was that was nearly, you know, day-ending riding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 59:47<br \/>Well, so tell us, what do you have any upcoming trips or content projects that you\u2019re excited about?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 59:54<br \/>I\u2019ve got a well, I\u2019ve got a few events coming up. We\u2019ve got lots going on. Now, in terms of we\u2019ve got a bike that has just been won, a Trek Rail, which was won by a guy called Charlie, and Tracy Mosley handed it over from Trek. So went out for a ride for a day with Tracy Mosley, which was pretty cool. There\u2019s a video of that up on YouTube, and that\u2019s on my YouTube channel, Martyn Ashton\u2019s channel.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I may as well change it to Rideable Now\u2019s channel because all I put on there now is it\u2019s got a road bike party and now Rideable Now things. Just all that\u2019s on there, right? But there\u2019s that, and then we\u2019ve got a new bike we\u2019re about to announce that can be won for our members, which is a Santa Cruz Bullit.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-9d1bda66d6c251c765a1be9a508a06ff singl-content\" id=\"singl-9d1bda66d6c251c765a1be9a508a06ff\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:00:41<br \/>Oh, cool!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:00:41<br \/>We\u2019ve just done the build of that video, the video build of that bike, and it\u2019s nice. People are going to want to win that one. I think.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:00:52<br \/>When\u2019s the drawing? What\u2019s like the cutoff you got to be signed up for?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:00:56<br \/>It would usually be the end of August, but because of Whistler, I\u2019m a bit behind. So we\u2019re going to make it a week into September. We\u2019ll do the draw, but so there\u2019s just a bit more time for the bike to exist online, if you like, because yeah, it hasn\u2019t had the normal month run it would normally have. Okay. So yeah, we\u2019re going to do it in just into September. So that\u2019s the Santa Cruz Bullet. There\u2019s a MTV kit bundle to win at the same time as well. So we\u2019ll have two winners in September. I\u2019ve got a couple of Malverns, which is a very classic event in the UK. It\u2019s called the Malvern\u2019s Classic. Got that coming up. I\u2019m going to go along to that and hopefully talk some talk some people into membership.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-0e561891e4eeb9d91afb6ba50d981758 singl-content\" id=\"singl-0e561891e4eeb9d91afb6ba50d981758\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:01:41<br \/>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:01:41<br \/>Then in October, it\u2019s not. I haven\u2019t really told anyone about this yet, so this is the first time I mentioned it. So the idea is not fully formed, but I\u2019m doing a ride in October that is designed to gain me memberships for Rideable Now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:01:57<br \/>Okay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:01:58<br \/>Memberships will be the fuel to the ride.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:02:01<br \/>Okay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:02:02<br \/>So unless I get the members per mile, I won\u2019t make the ride.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:02:09<br \/>Oh, okay. That\u2019s fun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:02:10<br \/>So that\u2019s the idea. It\u2019s forming.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:02:13<br \/>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:02:13<br \/>And yeah, it\u2019s it\u2019s a way of just like creating the. It\u2019ll be the fuel for my ride, but obviously the members are the fuel for the access fund that allows us to buy bikes for people. So that\u2019s that\u2019s the big picture. So that is forming, as we say, but that\u2019s going to be in October. It\u2019s probably going to be wet and windy in the UK, so it\u2019s going to be extra tough, and it\u2019s quite a long way.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-4dc0935ce568866d9a204130ace8ea80 singl-content\" id=\"singl-4dc0935ce568866d9a204130ace8ea80\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It\u2019s a long, it\u2019s a lot, lot further than I\u2019ve ever been, ever, ever, ever in my life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:02:46<br \/>Yeah, that sounds exciting.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:02:48<br \/>We\u2019ll we\u2019ll see how it develops. I\u2019ll, yeah, be hopefully announce it pretty soon. But cool. The first, yeah, the first to hear. When will this go out? <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:02:58<br \/>Tuesday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:03:03<br \/>Tuesday. Okay. Well, yeah, right. Yeah, five days, perfect. So I won\u2019t say anything else about it online or anything until then, and then the first place it ever gets mentioned is here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:03:11<br \/>Awesome.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:03:12<br \/>I\u2019ve got an exclusive name, so unfortunately, it\u2019s not really got a name yet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:03:16<br \/>Yeah,<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:03:17<br \/>I know where it\u2019s going from and where it\u2019s going to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I can tell you where it\u2019s going from. Basically, I\u2019m going to start at my house, and the goal is to get to Fort William. I can actually tell you. Do you mind if I sort of tell you the sketched out idea? Yeah. No. I\u2019m saying this. Some bits of it could change because of logistics.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-8b3c2e0d29381deee50946c54045098a singl-content\" id=\"singl-8b3c2e0d29381deee50946c54045098a\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:03:37<br \/>Right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:03:38<br \/>Because there\u2019ll be some people I need to. I\u2019m going to need some people to help me do it. So the idea is, I will start at my house in Margam in South Wales, and I will ride to Fort William in Scotland, which is obviously an iconic mountain biking location because of its World Cup and World Champs history, and I\u2019ve ridden there many times. I also did the back on track video. The Down Not Out video. Sorry, back on track was in Antistiniog, which will be included in this. But Down Not Out was a video we made as if I won the Fort William World Cup. I think it\u2019s one of our best videos. It\u2019s really funny because obviously I don\u2019t win the Fort William World Cup, but you would think I did if you watch this video. It\u2019s got everything, including Rob Warner\u2019s commentary.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-6b927f095ecca19072ec72ad51f3662f singl-content\" id=\"singl-6b927f095ecca19072ec72ad51f3662f\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:04:37<br \/>Wow, star-studded video. Yeah, pretty fantastic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:04:40<br \/>So the so the idea is the challenge is I\u2019ll ride from my house to Fort William. The stops will be at really relevant bike parks of the UK up through the country. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:04:56<br \/>How far is that? <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:04:59<br \/>It\u2019s about 450, 500 miles. But we\u2019ll obviously have some detours, so it might be a bit longer. Like I said, the logistics are being worked out. the The stops on the route will be bike parks, and we\u2019ll spend a day riding that bike park to show adapted mountain biking. Yeah, I\u2019ll be joined by famous riders and ambassadors at those each location. Then there\u2019ll be a rest day, and we\u2019ll continue on, but only if we\u2019re getting the members. So, as we reach each bike park, I\u2019ll announce how many members we got in that section, and obviously we need to get at least as many miles as that is because we need at least one member per mile. That\u2019s the idea. And if we don\u2019t get the members, the route will end.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-3cbd0d3595703a916d6154e293b75503 singl-content\" id=\"singl-3cbd0d3595703a916d6154e293b75503\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:05:57<br \/>Oh man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:05:58<br \/>And now it\u2019s up because I want to show you all of the adaptive bike parks on the UK route. So, yeah, that\u2019s my idea. And then, if I can make it work, I want to then do it in US and Canada next year. So, a similar idea. So, that\u2019s the because Rideable Now is very UK-centric because I\u2019m probably more known in the UK than anywhere else because of my bike riding history. I\u2019m I\u2019m not a. I don\u2019t know. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:06:29<br \/>You\u2019re you\u2019re pretty big in the US for sure. I think everybody here knows you.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:06:33<br \/>We\u2019ve got members from the US, and we\u2019ve got members from the US, Canada, Australia, and if they win, the bike goes there. It\u2019s not like only UK only, but but what I you know what I do want to do is I want Rideable now to be a mountain bike community platform. It\u2019s not a UK centric thing. It it will always have slightly more of a heart of UK because that\u2019s where my most of my followers are, but I don\u2019t like calling them followers. Friends. The thing that\u2019s what I love about mountain biking is that you can meet someone at a bike park, and they\u2019re almost instantly one of your mates. They\u2019re not. You don\u2019t really have to get through much.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-4572b0aed42eba5e5dcb3731d4e02b04 singl-content\" id=\"singl-4572b0aed42eba5e5dcb3731d4e02b04\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Like you don\u2019t get have to get through much blur to realize your connection. You know all the politics, religion, all that\u2019s gone out the window at a bike park. It\u2019s just like, have you done that red, or have you? Oh, that\u2019s a nice bike, or that. You know, you just it\u2019s all gone, right? And you get back to, oh, we\u2019re not all so different immediately. You know, we found you\u2019re there because of the connection. You know, and I love that about I love that about mountain biking in its in its reality, but also in its digital sense. That your followers, you\u2019re pretty sure you can have a good conversation with them, no matter what, you know. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:07:53<br \/>So, yeah, can\u2019t wait to see you in the US. That that would be awesome. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:07:56<br \/>I\u2019m looking forward to that as well. I\u2019ve got to make it work in the UK. Yeah. <\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-722d182502e1dee2fe78ce5b43615b2f singl-content\" id=\"singl-722d182502e1dee2fe78ce5b43615b2f\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:07:59<br \/>Oh, it\u2019ll work. We\u2019ll make sure it works. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:08:01<br \/>I really want it to. I really think it\u2019s a fun idea. I think it\u2019s it\u2019ll be tough, but it\u2019s a great. I think it really proves the potential of the bike because it\u2019s got to make the distance, then do something once it gets to the places. But it also shows that the places can be used by these bikes, and you. yeah, I think that\u2019ll be hopefully inspiring and also quite exciting because we get to ride the great locations as well. Like I said, hopefully logistics working out right, some great riders will join us along the way, and at the end of it, we\u2019ll have a bigger pot of members. That means we can do a better job for rideable now. So fingers, fingers crossed. I\u2019m very nervous about it. That\u2019s all I can tell.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-e18d04bd0c4234be20653dcd475bf6b0 singl-content\" id=\"singl-e18d04bd0c4234be20653dcd475bf6b0\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:08:49<br \/>It sounds like an awesome plan to me. So yeah, I\u2019m really looking forward to it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:08:53<br \/>Let\u2019s let\u2019s hope so. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:08:55<br \/>So what is the best way for folks to keep up with your mission and your latest content online?<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:09:01<br \/>Really great follows to keep up with Rideable Now on Instagram would be Rideable Now itself. My own platform, Martin Ashton on Instagram at Martin Ashton. Blake Sampson\u2019s a really great follow because he is a director at Rideable Now as well. Oh, great! He\u2019s obviously a really well-followed and respected rider, but Blake has been with me from day one of my accident and has been, oh, just unbelievable support. I probably can\u2019t talk about Blake. I start crying. He has he has been there at every single moment, including the moment where I had my accident. So, yeah, a lot of what I\u2019ve done that has inspired anyone else has been because Blake helped me do it. That\u2019s just true. Another great follow for it is Black Vane Media, which is Matt has actually. Matt Davies, who is our videographer on Rideable Now, and it\u2019s and it\u2019s very much a brain behind it. He\u2019s he\u2019s always got good ideas, or he tells me how bad my idea is. So I have a meeting with him later on about the challenge I\u2019ve just told you. So one of the ways it might change is that Matt says, don\u2019t be an idiot. That\u2019s ridiculous.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-e5fd25ca198eee7cef70eeff4df1a0b9 singl-content\" id=\"singl-e5fd25ca198eee7cef70eeff4df1a0b9\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:10:26<br \/>Fingers crossed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:10:27<br \/>Yeah, but he\u2019s, um, yeah, he\u2019s a guiding light within it. I would say Peaty\u2019s is really great follow. They have been an incredible support. Peaty\u2019s products, Renthal have been great. SRAM have been great. Bosch have been great. These are people I\u2019m just mentioning. Not great follows for rideable now necessarily, but Hope Technology, Endura, Bowhead, of course. Bowhead are a great follow because they talk about all sorts of adaptive riding, and none of it is boring. That\u2019s one thing that\u2019s really great about adaptive riding is if you\u2019re not an adaptive rider and you follow a little bit of it, it will not be boring. It either ends in crazy disaster or wow, how did they do that, man? So it\u2019s it\u2019s really great, and everyone, of course who is in an adaptive bike by default has got an incredible story to tell. They\u2019re they\u2019re never there because of anything that isn\u2019t like a very engrossing and probably very inspiring video. That\u2019s one thing I have learned is that you\u2019ll never tire of hearing how and being marveled by how and what people have come through to ride, you always we always paint. I\u2019ll say it of myself, but it\u2019s probably true of most of us. I paint a story for myself of like, oh, I\u2019ve triumphed over this and that, and I\u2019ve done so well. And then the next day, I\u2019ll meet someone and go, wow! I have not done a thing. It just happens all the time. I\u2019m never. I actually, I was. I did a race in Whistler. The it was the adaptive Air DH in the Whistler event.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-ebb072f3b1803f334777f96379dfb27e singl-content\" id=\"singl-ebb072f3b1803f334777f96379dfb27e\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I actually won my category. I got a gold medal in ADH, but I was the only person in my category. So, but you can\u2019t get the medal back. That\u2019s mine now.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So I won a medal. But on the start line, all the adaptive riders were lining up, and a guy lined up. So I\u2019m there, Mister. I\u2019m like I\u2019m about to. I\u2019m an adaptive rider. I\u2019m about to ride an adaptive race at Crankworks. I\u2019m a hero.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And then the guy next to me pulled up on a normal e-bike, and he had no arms or legs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:12:51<br \/>Oh wow!<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:12:54<br \/>Think about it. His arms-it basically ended here, and they plugged into like little pots, little like prosthetics. That if he twisted them like that, it it there was a connection that pulled the brake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So he\u2019s plugging his his forearm stumps into prosthetics on the bike that are attached to the bike, and then he\u2019s got below the knee amputation prosthetics that clip in to the bike, and it\u2019s an e-bike. And I was just like, okay.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-5a87975cac6388086590aea1c079f2ea singl-content\" id=\"singl-5a87975cac6388086590aea1c079f2ea\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:13:39<br \/>You feel like you\u2019re cheating when you see that. <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:13:42<br \/>I\u2019m probably not the hero I thought I was because this guy just took the biscuit, and then he and he actually went down the hill quicker than I did on my bike by. I\u2019m not even going to say how many seconds. Too many. It was embarrassing. He was really, really quick. Wow! It just blew my mind, and I was like, and the reason that was working again is that you can think about adaptive bikes as, as bowheads, but an e-bike is an adaptive bike. Like e-bikes are adaptive bikes for most people who buy them. They buy them because they\u2019re making it they\u2019re capable, making them capable of doing something they couldn\u2019t do on normal bikes. That\u2019s an adaptive bike, and that guy was probably the ultimate version. Well, actually, he\u2019s not because I saw another guy on Instagram the other day that I had one arm and one leg on either side.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-d52b1d7232a349ea5421ec9549934033 singl-content\" id=\"singl-d52b1d7232a349ea5421ec9549934033\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was riding along on a on like a Bosch-powered e-bike with loads of newton meters of torque, and was just hammering down this trail with one arm and one leg on the other side. So yeah, sort of opposing sides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So e-bikes themselves are adaptive bikes, and you know, yeah, that\u2019s a that\u2019s a great perspective. Yeah, it\u2019s it\u2019s really incredible. But yeah, the adaptive community-you will never end. You\u2019ll never get to the end of amazing stories there.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:15:07<br \/>Yeah, that\u2019s awesome. Well, Martyn, thank you so much for talking with me today, and and more importantly, thank you for being such an inspiration and a supporter for so many riders around the world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martyn Ashton 1:15:20<br \/>Oh, thank you, man! Thank you for the time, and thanks for letting me blabber on about my stuff. But yeah, if you if you\u2019re interested, get involved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jeff Barber 1:15:28<br \/>Yeah, thanks. Well, you can keep up with the Singletracks podcast at Singletracks DotCom slash podcast. That\u2019s all we have this time. Thanks for riding with us today.<\/p>\n<div style=\"min-height: 250px;padding: auto;margin-bottom: 20px\" class=\"singl-3a281ae9316b113966c643f92e866316 singl-content\" id=\"singl-3a281ae9316b113966c643f92e866316\"><\/div>\n<p><em>The news stinks. Why not <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqLAgKIiZDQklTRmdnTWFoSUtFSE5wYm1kc1pYUnlZV05yY3k1amIyMG9BQVAB?ceid=US:en&amp;oc=3\" rel=\"nofollow\">follow Singletracks on Google News<\/a> to bring some joy to your day?<\/em><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t&lt;!&#8211;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h4>Related articles<\/h4>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t&#8211;&gt;<\/p>\n<div style=\"height: 30px\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\tjQuery(function() {<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tpostpayloads._f952cad500e1cd3c4ea16226934f96ec = {&#8220;ids&#8221;:&#8221;63784,636838,685113,711393&#8243;,&#8221;posts_per_page&#8221;:null,&#8221;offset&#8221;:0,&#8221;style&#8221;:&#8221;4up&#8221;};<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\tpostcounter._f952cad500e1cd3c4ea16226934f96ec = {start: 0, step: 0, end: 0};<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t});<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\" style=\"background: #fff\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-6 col-md-3 st_archive_4up\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/video-martyn-ashtons-original-road-bike-party\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&apos;%20viewBox=&apos;0%200%201%201&apos;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.singletracks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Screen-Shot-2015-06-17-at-4.42.53-PM-750x500.png\" alt=\"A cyclist performing a trick on top of a vintage airplane, surrounded by green grass and a cloudy sky. The aircraft is partially covered in graffiti and is positioned in an open field, with some vehicles visible in the background.\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"st_archive_tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/\">Community<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"st_archive_title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/video-martyn-ashtons-original-road-bike-party\/\">Video: Martyn Ashton&#8217;s Original Road Bike Party<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-xs-6 col-md-3 st_archive_4up\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/breaking-barriers-the-rise-of-adaptive-mountain-biking\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&apos;%20viewBox=&apos;0%200%201%201&apos;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.singletracks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Jeremy_2-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"A person in a handcycle navigates over rocky terrain in a wooded area, demonstrating skill and balance while approaching a steep stone step. The background features tall trees and rugged rock formations.\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"st_archive_tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/\">Community<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"st_archive_title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/breaking-barriers-the-rise-of-adaptive-mountain-biking\/\">Breaking Barriers: The Rise of Adaptive Mountain Biking<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix visible-xs\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-xs-6 col-md-3 st_archive_4up\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/for-the-first-time-ever-adaptive-mtbers-competed-on-the-pro-downhill-course-at-the-us-open\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&apos;%20viewBox=&apos;0%200%201%201&apos;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.singletracks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/G-3-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"A mountain biker navigating a rocky trail during a race, with spectators in the background. The scene is set in a forested area with autumn foliage. The cyclist, in a blue and orange jersey, rides a specialized bike designed for off-road terrain. Nearby, a group of onlookers watches the event, with a race banner visible in the background.\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"st_archive_tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/bike-trails\/region\/vermont\/\">Vermont<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"st_archive_title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/for-the-first-time-ever-adaptive-mtbers-competed-on-the-pro-downhill-course-at-the-us-open\/\">For the first time ever, adaptive MTBers competed on the pro downhill course at the US Open<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-xs-6 col-md-3 st_archive_4up\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/how-23-year-old-gabriel-wibmer-nails-impossible-tricks-on-his-mountain-bike\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&apos;%20viewBox=&apos;0%200%201%201&apos;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images.singletracks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC9167-750x500.jpg\" alt=\"A young male cyclist sits on the steps wearing a white long-sleeve shirt and a bike helmet, with a mountain bike resting beside him. He is looking off to the side, displaying a relaxed demeanor, while his bike features a distinct design with purple accents. The background shows a blurred staircase with graffiti, suggesting an urban setting.\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"st_archive_tag\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/\">Community<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"st_archive_title\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.singletracks.com\/community\/how-23-year-old-gabriel-wibmer-nails-impossible-tricks-on-his-mountain-bike\/\">How 23-year-old Gabriel Wibmer nails &#8220;Impossible&#8221; tricks on his mountain bike<\/a><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix visible-xs\"><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Martyn Ashton is a four-time British BikeTrial Champion and World Expert BikeTrial Champion, and has been a regular on-camera presenter for the Global Mountain Bike Network, GMBN. His Road Bike Party videos have racked up tens of millions of views and just last year he established RideAble Now, a non-profit group dedicated to adaptive mountain [&hellip;]<\/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-2099474","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\/2099474","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=2099474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2099474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2099474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2099474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}