Preston Williams is a former British motocross champion turned downhill racer. On this episode Preston talks about his illustrious but strict motocross career and why he made the switch to racing downhill. Preston talks about winning his first ever National race, almost beating Jackson Goldstone and breaks down his first couple of years in the elite category.
Preston is currently living the full privateer life and we hope the companionship will be rooting for him in 2024!
Follow Preston https://www.instagram.com/prestonwilliams377/
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Time stamps
00:00:00 Intro
00:03:53 How Davi discovered Preston
00:05:30 Motocross background
00:12:33 When motocross got SERIOUS
00:16:00 Studying riders like Loic Bruni
00:19:14 Signing for Team Green Kawasaki
00:23:47 AG1
00:27:15 Puzzling over bike setup
00:36:00 From fun MTB rides to world cups?!
00:45:00 Enough is enough it’s MOTO or MTB
00:49:00 PEAK SUPPS!
00:53:36 Downhill gets serious
00:59:00 First full junior season
01:05:10 Stepping up to elite
01:12:53 Breaking the top 30
01:14:24 Preston’s 2024 goals
01:23:36 LIKE & SUBSCRIBE
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Edited By: Doug Tucker, onlyflightdispatch.com
#TheRideCompanion #mountainbiking #mtb
I don’t want to throw under the bus here but if you had to choose now yeah this this is a pivotal point in your career at this moment you can be a professional mer cross Rider yeah or you can be a professional downhall Rider where do you [Applause] go okay welcome to the ride companion we have got bright UK World Cup Downhill Talent a privateer on the cusp of breaking the top 30 in the world from the back of his van downhill champ downhill national champ 20 years of age Tik Tok influencer two time MX national
Champ and a and a lifetime Behind Bars welcome Preston Williams Oh that was a good one wasn’t that a good one that wasn’t bad really thank for the kind words that’s all right we could even do more I like the fact as well that this is in Preston’s lunch break yeah this is
How Privateer this story is and it’s 5:30 yeah can you give a run what’s happened Davey and what of today right just right now for Preston turning up what where where’s he just been and what what’s he well I mean he’s probably better to explain I’ll try I don’t want
To speak for you Preston but I’ll give it a shot yeah Okay so we’ve just had one guest leave who this episode May May or not already have been out Joel will Joel Anderson keep getting him mixed up yeah then we’ve gone outside we’ve said goodbye to Joel and then boom our next
Guest has rolled up after a full day full day of work so he’s done a full day of work doing Co cleaning coaches right he’s come back he’s come in we’ve gone upstairs for a cup of tea in the Green Room yeah and then he’s like oh I’ve got
To go back to work after this to which me and you were like what what do you and he’s got his uniform on dude it’s like the most Privateer Privateer I’ve ever seen yeah I just had to come straight here from work didn’t I no I know it’s it’s it’s actually real as
Well it’s good I like it and then straight into work is this a normal thing do in like two is it two shifts or we talking one day not really it’s just cuz um since I’m getting my license soon uh doing my test soon I just want to get
Some experience going around doing some actual driving okay otherwise I’ll probably get to my test and crash so so that’s so that’s a coach test to drive a coach yeah for my driving license to drive those big old coaches amazing so when you run a factory team you’re going
To be able to just rock up straight to a World Cup yeah I’ll be looking fact would I borrow a coach if you don’t get that far you could just borrow one true load it with bikes and kit and off you go sign written yeah driving a coach around some of
Those roads though oh my God I feel bad for some of the World Cup drivers like yeah some of the roads are gnarly aren’t they to get to like mountain towns they always have the the gravel runoffs yeah not a fan of those gravel runoffs they’re scary have you those where I’m
From you don’t have them down herea we don’t have any Hills that’s true we have them which is remarkable that you really fast at Downhill Racing is it yeah it is Bernard told a story about those gravel things he drove off to test one once yeah like no breaks into the gravel
After a mountain R CU you know they for like cooked Lorry breaks right and he actually did it and it worked but don’t you get you can’t get back out no he got stuck yeah oh great well done bar and I think it did damage I think it did
Damage as well but I appreciate that he actually went for it and tried yeah it is like one of those things you want to know like what actually happened it’s like of those things you got to do once in your life right I feel like I feel
Like you could YouTube it rather than just drive the side of a Motorway at 70 M hour in a Lori but equally some people are visual Learners some are actual experiential Learners different you never really know do you no I’m hyped for this episode I’m really excited to
Talk I think it’s going to be super fun uh how I first heard about you it’s quite this is a random one your mom oh really yeah so your your mom goes pretty hard on the LinkedIn yeah she’s like one of of my biggest fans she is isn’t she
And honestly dude this is I’m going back years now but she must have followed me or whatever vice versa and I started seeing your mom posting clips of you and just genuinely talking really highly of you and if I’m been brutally honest I was like a [ __ ] school boy Mom oh no
Because there’s a lot of that right let’s just be honest there’s a lot of that a lot of like you know parents that are like massive fans which is lovely but I was just like oh my God okay and then I actually started watching them and I’m like okay it’s legit to
Something she might she she might be on to something yeah exactly so that’s kind of how I first um yeah I guess came across you and I think it might have still been in the Moto days if I’m honest with you as well it probably was
She’s been on like LinkedIn for a while fishing it yeah she just chose that Avenue just Linked In she just went for it she’s like this is my platform it’s funny because she’s like knew that would probably be the one that I wouldn’t do I’m I’m still not on there that’s true
Yeah yeah everything that comes on so shout out Karen she’s out there hustling for you it’s really cool it’s like management behind the scenes it it seems like hustling deals maybe and stuff it’s sick really cool so yeah that’s how I first came across oh nice you um so yeah
Shout out Karen yeah she’ll be actually stoked to hear that I messed last night I messed last night I was like we got Preston coming on you got any inside knowledge for us so we’ll get into that after oh nice I didn’t even know that she said well I was like don’t tell
Him she’s like okay so yeah that’s how I first came across you so let’s go back to the beginning dude like talk about um obviously you’re a you’re a 125 National British champion mer cross guy which obviously falls into my remit of being a merito fan and stuff but yeah let’s go
All the way back to the start if that’s all right and talk about how you first got into Merit cross yeah and then how it became well how you became a British champion yeah so the whole bike side of stuff comes from my dad used to race
Like road bikes okay um used to race like called shaky burn and that he always tells me about that um yeah you know how it is he was obviously the quickest man on one he reckon so um so he rode at a pretty high level your dad
Yeah I think so oh from the stories that he tells me how much truth behind sounds like he did yeah so um yeah apparently he used to like go out with all the thousands on his 600 and he’ll smoke all of them yeah course I love these stories
Dude that’s what the stories say so so um I’ve actually been on a bike a road bike like that once I got invited to I think it’s called British talent cup or something at Silverstone it was just loads of people it’s like 100 people that all got selected from different
Sports um to come race these like Honda 300s around the small Silverstone track and like I was like got invited and I was like well I might as well done loads of um practice on those mini motos I don’t know if you’ve ever been on them
But they’re so funny you just have like a knee on the ground all way around the track and then went to Silverstone I think I got into like top 50 or whatever it was my first time on like a fulls siiz Road W all I wanted was like my
Knee on the floor at least once and in my room I’ve still got a photo of my knee on the floor and I’m I’m all in like my dad’s old LS and stuff as well well funny um what other sports did they take from were there any volleyball
Players or anything no I think there was all like there was all biking sports like most of them was road racing I think you had like a few Tri Riders there and stuff as well W interesting yeah I bet it’s insanely hard to get your knee down on a bike the trust in
The tires and in every about the whole thing right yeah well it’s just like you’re like oh I must almost be there now and then you like see a foot and you’re like still that far away and you’re like I thought I was on the
Ground so a lot of moto guys go that way transition into road do they I’m yeah there’s a few I think one that sticks out to my mind that I knew when I was younger was I think his name is Gino Gino Ria Rea he’s like Professional Road
Racer now but he was a super good school boy Motocross rider yeah and then I I felt I feel like the trajectory was always road because he was almost like just using the Merit as like a training ground as when when he was younger and
Stuff yeah he was legit on a merit cross bike yeah and then seemingly from what I’ve seen online he’s still killing it on a super sport or whatever he’s on yeah that’s sick yeah so when did you first start riding so I was like probably 5 years old and my um older
Brother had a little CRF50 and I was just like begging my dad just to give me a go like just give me a go and then he said when you’re six you can ride it so when I turned six I just started riding it and then I don’t think
I stopped riding bikes like since and then done the whole motorcross thing started club race on Autos when I started I used to be terrified of um the starts really yeah like so I’d just let everyone go and then I’d go after cuz I was so scared of getting like a pile up
And then yeah just ended up like getting into 65s and then go into Nationals at 65s and then I’ve just been in the Nationals since then and done a few World Champs races actually as well and one emx I done an emx at um mat Basin okay cuz that’s like a bucket
List one almost yeah to take off cuz that track’s just insane yeah I bet so yeah those jumps are like there’s not jumps like them around just float at what point do you feel like you’re good in terms of like Cc or bike like cuz obviously on a 50 you’re just sort of
Bumbling around aren’t you and then you get on a 65 is quite a big jump up isn’t it it’s like an actual motorcross bike but smaller yeah cuz like you’ve got clutch you’ve got Gears where the auto is just twist and go do you remember it all getting more difficult or learning
More or feeling like you’re actually good uh no not really my memory is pretty quick to be fair I think I’ve had a few head hits or something so I actually don’t remember much really it’s just that’s just your memory it’s just I just get on a bike
Again and I just like oh comes back to me then I can ride again so yeah I actually don’t I don’t remember really remember much from motor crossing do you not no like but score like you don’t remember much of that or n like if I try obviously I remember
Some results I remember where my first ever race win was on a 65 yeah like first ever it was just a club race a track called Roxton but that’s one that will never leave the memory cuz that was the first ever win yeah and like back
Then at clubs they used to do a Victory lap as well if you win so you do like a yeah and you just just like think you’re the you’re the boy waving to everyone like yeah I just won that’s cool that’s a proper memory that is that’s cool I I don’t have
Anything like that growing up do you no no definitely no wins me yeah Victory laps were like you know if you got to do a Victory lap you were you were the man so was that at National level at that that no that was just a club race that
Was still just in Club racing it was just me and my Dad we just didn’t on I thing literally just riding for fun racing for fun that before I started taking anything seriously yeah your brothers ride as well or did he out from Motors my older brother he’s um he’s
Super smart right he’s like he went to Oxford University and done engineer like he’s super smart you got to think about me I like obviously me being younger than him he’s gone through school he’s got like uh a stars and all his a levels in GCS
And I’m like I dropped out a year before gcss and then went back and then I was like well I got to at least get my gcss and then that’s a vict lap dude don’t worry about it you just did a Victory lap then didn’t get didn’t bother do an
Anya level so like my parents have gone from the smartest child ever to not so smart I suppose smart different ways well this is what I’m coming to yeah street smart not being mean to him but he’s clumsy is he’s so clumsy and I think with Motocross I
Remember you used to have like a kawazaki 85 and the old kawazaki used to be terrible for like the Power Band okay they used to be really either you’re on or it’s just bogging everywhere and it’s off yeah and like he can get on like I’d H I’d hop on like
I’m not even tall enough to touch the floor but I’ll get on it and I’ll go quicker than but um so he did ride a little bit but he wasn’t like crazy for for anything okay um he’s got really into mountain biking pretty recently though like same time that I was getting into
It where he like helped me get into it really but yeah not as not so much into the Motocross when did you get serious riding Motocross um when on the 65s and my later later days I signed for um Team Green kazaki yeah development is it like
They’re like yeah it’s just like that like UK Factory team I suppose oh is it yeah yeah so I was I looked trick like my dad actually sent me a photo from it not too long ago from racing Arena cross which is on now um and like I was
Sponsored by like monster and everything I still have a BMX on My Wo that I got given for being on that team no way yeah yeah um but I trick had all like the Monster logos that was 65s Arena cross yeah yeah I think it’s still crazy that
They do that yeah I was about to sayos on so crazy I know did you have a monster at that age no I don’t think so I was I was very strict I wouldn’t even drink a fizzy drink I don’t think really yeah yeah like I was strict were you
What way like I well especially with like drinks like I would not drink a fizzy drink okay which one which one was allowed and which one wasn’t allowed what do you mean what drinks were allowed were like water and juice and Lucas’s a but like not not the okay lcas
A spot right right right like I wouldn’t touch the F outside of the rules yeah but like now I do love the fizzy so would like and there were your own things that you set for yourself cuz you were like at that age do you remember knowing that this could be a thing
Further down line yeah I think so watch all the pros and you’re like well I just want to be one of them yeah why would I not just want to race my bike for a living yeah so true yeah and and at that point what you’re watching superr you’re watching probably me so
I’ve always been like I’ve never really enjoyed watching live races that much okay like I know it’s good thing to watch and whatnot I love watching the crash reils or it’s like super super cross takeout reals no way love that really so you’re not like a race fan at all you’re
Not like frothing for like Anaheim when it comes around this year anything really wait till the highlights come of all the takeouts and stuff and I be like that’s funny but like my dad used to be like oh come sit down watch like mxgp and I’m like oh it’s just 40 minutes
Yeah I’d rather just go like ride or do something else that’s good man yeah you study it though don’t you yeah I think of you as someone who just through mountain biking and riding with you think about technique and think about what you’re doing oh 100% was that the
Same in Moto 100% but I wouldn’t study like a whole race so much I’d go find whoever’s fastest find a clip of them slow it down watch where their feet are you know what see if you can see how much they’re breaking what their arm position is whatnot there’s great
Analysis now of of um particularly with jet I think there’s really cool analysis of like exactly what you said foot position through the whoops was super interesting yeah and like um how they fatigue later in the later in the race and stuff like that I I love all that
[ __ ] I could talk about that stuff even in mountain biking like bike parts and stuff less so but I really love like technique I think it’s interesting what’s cool about mountain bike over motorcross with that Motocross is more of this one technique works this one that’s that’s right most other stuff’s
Wrong whereas I find with mountain bike it really depends on your style a lot but like so many different techniques work which is really cool you can look at like five different people all go through one section at the same time like same speed but all their techniques
Are different and you’re like how is that even possible that you can be thousands within each other but all doing something different yeah whereas Motocross it’s much more like balls on the feet attack position whereas like mountain bike and if you’re tall you might have like a slightly different
Technique and then you got people who are smooth who are aggressive I think it’s just more noticeable with mountain biking the M across yeah is interesting yeah I guess you studi you obviously do do you have like an aim and I know we skipping ahead a bit here but
Do you have like an aim when you see someone ride like are there riders that you like the way they ride and you want to take something from for sure for sure I mean like Everyone likes someone who just looks stey and comfortable on a bike right yeah so I do like watching
Them guys a lot and just seeing like what they do like um I say like J Penton all his old inst bang Eclipse to be insane you just like watch what he does and he’s just so smooth I think that’s what really made his videos good was
Just how smooth and effortless he made stuff look yeah and then same thing with like watching him in person is like nuts CU you can hear when he breaks and like you watch him come in he’s broke really hard you’re like oh he’s cooking but like he’s broke so early but then he
Just lets off and like you’re stood in the main part where everyone else is still breaking he’s just like let off and he’s gone past you’re like has he got a motor in that bike where has he just picked up all that speed from so you mean he’s breaking way early than
Everyone but almost setting up and then just then he’s gone he just lets off The Brak so early compared to everyone else that he just carries so much speed it’s actually ridiculous so so with that information do you then as a rider then try and put that into practice Yeah so
It’s a really good thing in like winter loads of people do it we just go practice they breaking and like see how early you can break almost cu the earlier you let off your brakes the more speed you’re going to carry in if you simplify it I I love that it’s like instantly
That’s something that I I try and break as late as possible yeah everywhere because I I’m not really trying to go quick I’m just trying to yeah so there’s definitely a balance um and it depends what’s after that section of track CU if it’s like a really tight turn you don’t
Need to carry speed go for it break late slam on cuz you you don’t need to carry the speed anyway it’s like a speed around the next bit but if it’s like a fast open section you want to be carrying as much speed as possible for
You need to get off those brakes as early as possible I tell you what I love this stuff I love this chat I like when we go for rides we always end up getting stuck on it I I absolutely love it for some reason it’s sort of yeah I like it
Sort of proves you do actually love biking a if you can get that much out of a straight and a corner and you can really dissect it all anything so many riders that I sort of admire way they ride I like it as well just pick up on
Tiny little things and you’ll just be like oh you notice as well I I can’t put them into practice like probably you can but I can definitely notice things and yeah I think that’s rad yeah right so can we go back to Team Green now please
Yeah that’s like the one in it though when you’re a kid like you want to be on Team Green that’s that’s the one you want to be on like you said it’s development it’s like access to bikes and support and stuff like that obviously I’m a lot older than you but
That was my goal when I was a young kid I was like want to be on Team Green yeah all the cool kids run it man Tommy s all those kids that came through like Team Green so yeah how long are you on Team
Green for I don’t think I was on it I’m trying to remember now I obviously remember the 65s I was probably on it for a couple years or so and then I think I might have been on it for one year on small 85 as well okay and then
After that I went on like a bit of a smaller kazaki team with someone called um Mark woodage okay he actually does um tuning for like Moto G or motor 3 teams or something right so he always like tuned my engines I’ve never gone crazy of engine tuning actually like a lot of
People I always just preferred a smoother engine and Mark was really good for that like he knew exactly what I wanted cool so he actually supported me for ages and I was on that for a while like obviously Moto’s known for being really expensive yeah so did it start
Helping out a little bit like when you got on a team and then you start getting maybe a bike I don’t know if free or cheap or whatever but like did it do you notice that stuff start helping especially with the family I don’t know I think even like sponsorship in
Motocross yeah was so poor when I was doing it like you there was no way you’re getting a free bike okay like you’d be paying for bikes still but obviously everything helps it all adds up um I wouldn’t know as much because my dad would have been paying I was very
Lucky that he would have been paying for everything back then yeah so um but I know in Motocross like the amount of money that people have that do M across is ridiculous not say it is ridiculous yeah it is and I think to sustain it is
Like the thing is it if you want to keep going through those ranks an 85 let’s say you’re a quick 85 Rider you’re probably going to need three bikes a year yeah minimum probably I don’t know but then then it jumps up to 125 then
They go up in price and it’s like then you get a 250f etc so yeah what was that like coming through the ranks you did you even notice that happening like I feel like you got supportive parents it sounds like sounds like they’re pretty good my dad’s been so supportive like
He’s he’s always funded everything we’ve always done well I think 125s again we was just like with Mark we was just having fun at Club races and stuff and then was racing Nationals at the same time and then that’s when I got picked up by uh Jud KTM which is like a factory
Backed KTM team so that’s like Factory KTM and that’s that like was like a switch almost cuz like it was just me and my dad dad was going around I was doing well like I was getting um like on the podium now and then fifths and whatnot at what like
Nationals British youth Nationals um which is then why I got picked up by Jud um which had a lot better support probably the best support that I had um and then as soon as I got on that it was like it was like a switch it was like um
Since you’re on a team you’re like way more serious about it sort of thing okay and it just clicked to me and then I was like I just I just didn’t lose after that I just yeah it was like insane and I don’t know if that’s support from a
Team or if it’s just the whole mental side of you’re in like the biggest pit there your factory KTM you know you’ve got all the support you’re expected to win almost and it’s like that just believes makes you believe that you can win right yeah definitely so you start taking training
A bit more serious as well or I’ve always taken that serious as you can get like same even now when I go I don’t want to sound like cocky or anything if I go to a well cup um and people start saying they get tired and stuff I always
Think to myself like there’s no way anyone here trains harder than me because of how many hours I put in like I don’t know what anyone else does I have no clue but me myself I’m like it’s not possible to put more hours in than I
Put in so I’m like it’s actually not possible like exactly crazy it’s quite a nice mental Edge I think I think that’s like yeah quite a nice thing to just have ticked off yeah not even to really you don’t really have to think much about it it’s like you
Don’t have to think about it yeah speaking about not thinking of things let’s go to an ad break and it’ll be an ag1 Dave I got a question for you dude please I’ve broken my hand I’ve broken my arm I don’t want to make this about
Me but I do want to be back on my bike as soon as possible okay so what’s the question you got any tips I want to be back amongst it dude yeah okay I got a couple of tips for you now obviously you want to be giving your body the ultimate
Opportunity okay to heal okay how would how would you do that though okay you want to be putting good stuff into it okay what you eat okay is what you are that’s what they say in it you yeah yeah they do say that yeah so you want to put
In optimal nutrition okay thank you for the teaser there optimal nutrition Whole Food Source ingredients vitamins minerals this all sounds like it makes sense hey ma’am we have an opportunity right here with the little green tub what you said all those different things like that sounds like like what what is
It like pills capsules loads of like things that you mix together and you it sounds like quite a long job in the morning I don’t know if I’m up for that some people do it like that and those some people live in the Dark Ages B but
We don’t do it like that right we do it with ag1 a simple Whole Food sourced scoop of goodness okay you get it you put your little scoop in the a little green tub that’s what that green tub is thought that was a Bluetooth speaker no it’s not
Actually no no better than Bluetooth no way way better than Bluetooth yeah so you you basically man it’s simple all you have to do is have a scoop in the morning best taking on an empty stomach all right going give SC into straight into your mouth well you can scoop it
Straight into your mouth if you want to do it like that if you want to Raw Dog it or you can just put it into some water okay swirl it around right that makes more sense now yeah okay I’ve been known to do it like that a few times
Though just scoop and then flush it yeah just don’t breathe out um but mate it’s super easy I love it it’s part of my daily routine now right and it has been for ages and I I don’t think I’d be the same person without it well I literally wouldn’t I’d be a different
Person I wouldn’t be as optimal dude believe it or not the ads would be boring believe it or not I was joking earlier when I said said I thought that was a Bluetooth speaker I knew exactly what it was cuz I also take it twice a day every day twice at the minute
Because I just think why not because I’ve got broken bones and I feel both double dabbing at the moment double dabbing I’ve been double dabbing for a minute with with all of the sickness and stuff going around viruses a lot of people are ill at the moment I’ve been
Doing morning and evening ag1 hits there you go and I hey I seem to be avoiding everything so and you seem to be healing up yeah I mean I’m not looking great at the minute but fingers crossed we’re going to sort of move on quickly so if you want to be as optimal
As me and you yeah all you have to do is go to drink a1.com the companion that’s drink a1.com the companion of course it’s going to be a little deal for you there okay they’re going to throw in five free travel packs they can’t they can and they’re going to give you a
Bottle of vitamin D3 they cannot do that as well they can do that as well we will do that as well because that’s the sort of people that we are wow what is there a code Yeah the code is the ride companion no there’s not there’s not a
Code there isn’t a code you just go to the URL drink a1.com the ride companion it’s right here on screen no code necessary so that’s what it is just do it all for you optimal nutrition companion yeah optimal nutrition optimal ways of getting the deal you don’t have
To go around you don’t have to put codes in you have to mess around it’s just right there delivered and they deliver it to your door you don’t have to walk to somewhere and get it can I do can I just clip on optimal for the finish of
This ad yeah please you wrap this thing up for us optimal thanks ag1 thanks ag1 right we’re back that was a good ad break I enjoyed it best um I want to ask you cuz I’ve noticed you’re quite The Puzzler on your mountain bike back when
You on a Factory team Factory KTM team yeah what level of puzzling would go on what were you aware of what cuz this it is interesting like engine suspension yeah like how much do you affect I can tell when something’s not running right like I can tell if the suspension needs
To be changed a bit or if you need to change the jetting cuz it’s not quite rev right it’s not as crisp as it should be but like I wouldn’t actually know how it needs to be changed I just know that it needs to be changed and luckily my
Dad was just like clued in on that stuff obviously being around it for so long I just go this isn’t right they go try that sweet perfect so I didn’t have to actually have like any mechanical knowledge I was just like this doesn’t work I mean should that’s the dream
Scenario right what a team would want as well I don’t he don’t know how a Car Works a clue but he can tell you it’s wrong yeah you know what I mean I love that I love I I love the thought just being like yeah the like front left going can we do
Something you know what I mean or just anything yeah yeah but also been able to feel it’s like so important like being able to know because a lot of people probably wouldn’t yeah you know what I mean I’ve personally always really guilty of that like on a mountain bike
Anything I can like I don’t really know what’s going on right I’m always very impressed by people who can be like the suspension is off the front is off whatever I always find that really impressive I never used to be able to when I was a kid I would like ride
Whatever you could give me a bike and like the bars could be on backwards or something and I just be like it’s so good I just rag it to be fair I can still do that now but I can actually feel I can feel every little what’s
Going on a little bit I was impressed what like hearing you talk about suspension setup when we you know when we’re in Germany and you’re like yeah like I I’ve never been able to do that yeah i’ never I’ve never been able to be like a my front keeps pushing or like I
Can’t I I can imagine that’s like pretty probably helped a lot coming from Moto yeah so the main like thing is I had to teach myself like obviously not being on a team on a mountain bike I didn’t have someone to like just make the changes
For me I kind of need to know myself what I need to change and like the way I done that was just kept going out and changing stuff even if it wasn’t good just so I know what it feels like so now I just know what like every single thing
Feels like it’s just ingrained in there so now if I fill something off I’m like oh yeah that was that so I just need to change this like I already know because I’ve already done it it’s a good way of doing it actually it is isn’t it can can
We do an example this is probably annoying to you but I find it really interesting so you you were having trouble at the EXs you were saying like oh I keep losing my front so what was your cuz I know you’re like quite like uh you you have it lined up how you’re
Going to you like troubleshoot yeah what were your steps that you took for instance with the front pushing yeah in turns when you’re pushing hard so that track at the I EXs it wasn’t very steep was it it was quite flat um and so I’ve you know I’ve played with how far I’ve
Dropped my Forks through the crown I’ve probably got I’ve probably played with like 10 mil and I’ve done every single M um cuz depending how steep it is you want to raise or lower that and it was the same with Motocross actually in sand You’ drop the forks right through just
To so you kind of know I like the front’s pushing like is a bit far away from me I’ll just bring you’re trying to get a bit more weight on the front is that what you’re saying yeah and then so you can kind of push in a bit harder and
Then with that if you add more weight then you have to adjust MH accordingly what are you adjusting so you’re not it depends how much you do it all by it could literally just be a click of compression I appreciate these are annoying questions I just I I quite like
That I like your like No Nonsense approach like when you talk about it there’s it’s quite like it’s actually scientific you know what I mean so like you’ve thought about it and I it’s not there’s no [ __ ] really you are actually saying what you felt and yeah I
Just find it interesting it’s literally just putting like all of my past experience no matter what sport together just memorizing how every single thing feels on the bike and then it just speeds up the process basically because you could you know have a problem and there could be like five different ways
That you could fix it but if you know what works for you already because you’ve tried it instead of having to go do five different runs and being like Oh yeah that’s finally good you can pretty much get like done in one run yeah yeah
Yeah and it just saves you so much time and you can start focusing waiting focus on other stuff yeah a bit more so then you have your bike just at its base setting and you can adjust it per track based on your memory of the things that
You’ve mhm and like you don’t really get like one base setting though like throughout the year I think a lot of people have this your bike actually ends up getting stiffer throughout the year cuz you’re getting faster throughout the year which is pretty nuts and you don’t
Really you don’t really go back unless the track conditions change like it could be slippery or something you’ll soften it back up I’d be interested to hear what a fast bike feels like for you when you know your bike’s dialed yeah what what does it feel like does it it
Just gives you confidence it’s like the confidence that you can go into this term of outbreaking and just push it’s just going to grip and then that’s that’s the main thing I’ve always said this actually because um you obviously can like use uh technology to set your bike up and stuff
But in my opinion it’s good it’s very very good to get you progress fast but it’s definitely not always right in my opinion it’s more rer feel cuz I think you’ll get more out of a bike that’s statist uh more out of a bike that feels correct to you and gives you more
Confidence than more out of a bike that’s like statistically correct interesting how long would it usually take you to get it let’s say you go to a World Cup yeah how many runs are you talking to get a bite like dialed so it feels like that and do you sometimes
Miss at some weekends and you because obviously you hear people say that like I just didn’t have the bite dialed in there been times where you just miss it you just can’t find a setup 100% to be fair my bikes been we’ve got such a good
BAS setting that I never really have to change too much it’s always really minor stuff here and there we did have one when the track was super quick I had put new Tunes in my shock and forks which is quite a big change yeah and it’s a lot
To get done in a weekend yeah so it actually depends quite a lot on the track I’d say okay cuz some tracks I could turn off my bike would be sweet other tracks I could be like right like I’m blowing out let me try a few different things and I’m still just
Blowing through it m right new tune we got to go stiffer on the tune so when you’re saying new tune are you saying are you are you trying to make things just harder or ramp up more or both so I’m running the odens on my downhill
Bike so with the ramp you’ve got a top air chamber and a bottom air chamber so you can adjust it pretty well with that by you put more in the bottom chamber it’s going to ramp up a bit quicker um what these Tunes do it’s like a
Compression tune so if you’re sat at the top of the compression and like you can’t make it any stiffer on that then you put a bigger tune in and then the middle of those clicks will be like the top of the tune before so it just gives you more adjustment basically yeah yeah
Okay um so that sort of thing you’ve learned all this yourself yeah so yeah me and my brother kind of just spent like oh the smart one yeah all right he comes in handy when you get you start racing World Cups He’s My World
Cup mechanic or he was no way so um like last winter we just kept driving places and I was like I’m just going to change something every lap we change loads of stuff and then we just talk about it we kind of discuss each other’s ideas and
Then just try it and see how it goes sort of thing so it’s literally all just trial and error like hours and hours of trial and error that’s right we’ve um we hopped forward quite quickly to racing World Cups what was the point where you decided to stop the Moto side racing
Dirk bikes um so I just started mountain biking for fun yeah and I decided I’d go do a so this was when I was racing I think it my first season on J KTM 2018 what were we thinking I think it might have been 2019 okay 2018 no it might
Have been 2018 actually yeah um so I just decided I’d go I started mountain biking and then I was like done a little tid work for and I got third I was like it’s all right I’ll go try National Went to went to uh I I hav been riding very long went
To riola was where it was at what bike you on at this point so I had I had a specialized I’ve always had a specialized right which is kind of kind of cool actually I quite like that it was a specialized demo8 and I didn’t know anything about Mt viiking at this
Point like I didn’t know you could even cut the bars down so I was just running like 800 mil bars like I had had Motocross kit on had a big motocross helmet you couldn’t really breathe through um had I only brought one set of motocross kit with me and I crashed in
Practice and it ripped like all the bum of it apart okay so I was just riding all weekend with like my boxes hanging out basically um yeah I I actually put a lot of pressure on myself for this one I think I want I wanted to do really well
Why I don’t know was there a glimpse of like this could be a thing for the future at that point like I could actually do this I think it was cool that like no one knew who I was yeah yeah um okay so I just really wanted to like make a
Statement I reckon by the time you’d got to that age of moto it’s like the same people isn’t it I guess yeah it’s like you know everyone everyone knows you turn up at a race people be like ah he’s turned up sort of thing cuz like no one
Knew who I was here so went in for my race run and I think I ended up winning by 4 seconds or something and I almost couldn’t turn up up to the podium cuz where I’d put like so much pressure on myself my uh like stomach had gone
Really really sore and I couldn’t move and I think it was like cuz I was like tensed up all day and I was like to my dad I was like laying down in the van and I was like I can’t go up I can’t move what the hell and I was in the
Whole drive home after I was in agony really pure pain like literally got the podium done and got out there and I was like we need to go I’m hurting dude you think to win that race yeah I was like yeah exactly where does that come from then yeah that’s true good
Point where does it come from where’s that drive from yeah you know like you just pick this thing up and noral you know it’s not normal right to be like that head up to win something I don’t know like why would you not want to win
Though that’s fair like I don’t know I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to win something so bad I’ve given myself angina attack yeah like the pressure wouldn’t be there like I think the fact that it’s like your second race I would never put pressure on myself and like my
Second race I was like lucky if I made the top I you know what I mean top 100 I was like I think I just didn’t want to lose yeah it’s pretty cool that cuz that is like whilst I was racing British and I’m winning every single race motor
Crossing so yeah spose I’m just used to it that season actually um I almost won both championships really B but I had to skip the last two mountain bike ones because I had to go to the Motocross ones right um so I still ended up like fourth in the championship or something
But so what did they feel like both of them what what was like a moto weekend what did it mean to you were you hyped for the race mountain bike weekend were you hype for the race what was like the difference so Moto was like serious it’s
Like right we’re here to win just business like race back like just tight schedule you know no hanging out with any anyone I straight back to like where I’m staying after um whereas mountain bike and I was just there to have fun you know when you
Like growing up and you see all that stuff like you say you at the race it’s all business you kind of like Aspire for that cuz you’re like that looks so cool like I want to be whoever I want to be bar I want to come off the track go
Straight in the truck talk to my team you kind of like desire that 100% but what when you’re actually living it what’s it like like did it suck the fun out of it a little bit no I think I I was loving it you enjoyed I think it was
Cuz I was winning every I imagine if you’re struggling and you’re not winning it probably sucks a bit but if you’re winning everything it feels pretty good pretty good yeah so I think since I was doing well I was like I was feeling good okay good about it
Yeah and that’s how Motocross has always been for me really anyway like so you’ve not like I’ve never really left it on a downer no okay like I’ve never really um motorcross isn’t the same as mountain biking is where everyone’s friend I think you get a bit close on track and
Whatnot so I never really had too many friends at Motocross anyway just just because I never went out and spoke to people really yeah just because I just keep to myself and then I’m there to race sort of thing yeah so I’m interested to think that like towards
The end of the Motocross career was there like a a path for you maybe to to race like British Champs do you know what I mean or were you like did you set your sights even higher than that were you thinking like okay I get mxgp I going for sure mxgp
Was always the goal but the issue with Merit cross was it gets like more and more expensive every year and the sponsorship gets worse and worse yeah like I won those two British championships back to back and then there was like nothing for me still after that yeah and I was getting better
Offers at mountain biking really yeah I feel like that you know the Merit across industry as a whole it’s probably changed since I’ve like been more involved in it but a lot of young people come through and they’re super talented yeah but what what happens is they just
Run out of money like you just can’t go any further because there’s this wall of having to buy onto a team which could be 100 Grand plus I don’t know and it it is an expensive harbe well job whatever however you want to look at it and I
Don’t know like are the top British guys making good money now do you know like is it I think you can get the odd one like Conrad or Tommy s yeah but they’ve obviously raced emx for a long time too like but like you get a few that are
Doing okay but I don’t think probably struggling still most people I imagine yeah what was the next team that would have been like you know what what would you have been looking at at that point you’ve got two titles why is they not the next team I think most teams do
Quite like taking on people that bite their way on and right across so what does that mean why it means that there’s not as much space in the team for talent I’ve seen so many people who like I was grew up racing against some really really talented people who could like
Set the world on fire just have to give up because there’s no spots on the teams they’re like where we can’t afford it so yeah I just have to quit yeah May it’s the harsh reality of it I think it genuinely is there’s going to be people
On teams that have just got the money to be there which is gnarly I think it’s the same in every sport though yeah probably it’s probably really bad in um I I would have no clue but I imagine it’s really bad in F1 yeah I feel like
People must it’s got to be the worst by ways on to teams in that yeah I know there’s been I can’t I mean I’m not a huge F1 fan but I know there’s been a few where it’s you know the sun is the heir of a massive fortune and it’s like
You know it must be it must suck so much though because like I think it’s Lance strolls like the one that comes to mind he’s obviously very talented and it’s like your talent can never stand on its own then you’re always just I don’t know I’m not F1 expert but
I would imagine you’d always feel like a bit like the prince wouldn’t you yeah I think so you know even when you pull out a result no one’s giving it to you everyone’s like yeah but he’s Rich yeah yeah I agree unfortunately it’s tough isn’t it it’s tough it is tough it is
Really tough how much would uh how much are we talking for like that next like a GP spot did you hear stories you must have heard things around the pit about what people bought to teams yeah I think a GP spot for like just 125 so this is
Just the emx1 125 not even uh like the two big ones I think You’ probably be talking around the 150,000 range for sure yeah which is not money that we have yeah so much money Karen’s got a hustle on Linn to get the 150k in yeah that’s such a ridiculous amount
Of money so was there a point when you just went right we might as well not carry on with this and there’s an opportunity with mountain biking did that happen well is like we basically got forced out really cuz he was like where do we go now I’ve won two British
Championships but I can’t do anything else because there’s no other spots yeah but like we was when I won those two British championships like we were still paying for stuff um but like I was getting a better deal than I was getting on Motocross at Mountain bikeing already and I was
Literally all I was doing was just riding for fun really I was like well I might as well just keep riding for fun then like not ride at all so I don’t want to throw you under the bus here but if you had to choose now yeah this this is a pivotal
Point in your career at this moment you can be a professional merac cross Rider yeah or you can be a professional downall Rider where do you go right so I’ve I’ve thought about this a lot right yeah so I would go mountain biking mainly because of the community sick
Like Motocross I think is such a sick spot but like the community does kind of suck um so I do like mountain bike how like even all the top top dogs they’re literally just having fun with their mates at the end of the day like you see
Them they’re all having a laugh like and it’s I don’t know it’s just cool yeah same thing with when you go if you go to national motorcross race like the cheapest motor home there you’ll see is like 300 Grand you go to um a national mountain bike race
Everyone’s intense yeah it’s like so much more down to earth which I really liked so that’s a good answer I like it yeah yeah it’s mad to think that it’s that much money to get on a team as well like oh man it’s so so [ __ ] really that
There’s so much lost talent in that sport 100% I know so many people just like who I was racing against so I can’t imagine yeah how many people are missing out yeah shame man and there’s like it’s it’s quite a lot of hours on a bike to
Get to a point where you’re that good on a Moto eh yeah so I was always one of the people that would ride a lot less but I’d get a lot more like value out of my rides um I wouldn’t just ride aimlessly I’d have intentions with every
Ride but I’d only be able to ride like I say only I’d only be able to ride like three times a week yeah whereas everyone else is riding like five five six you’re like you can’t yeah back when I was doing it and I was not like British or anything but
There was kids that were like homeschool at this and you can’t keep with it if you to do that it’s yeah is kind of a shame tell you what piston rings [ __ ] finish my motorcross 3 just one one honestly that seemed like a mountain I was not willing to climb did one never
Again never again I’ve been lucky my dad’s just been all over that so otherwise I think it would have been a struggle for me true hey I’m in interested in like in mountain biking it’s like Mo being able to ride Moto is like the cool thing
Right like you can tell it’s like people get to their offseasons they can’t wait to put on their Moto gear and just sort of like emulate their superheroes what’s that like for you to see knowing CU you don’t really like put a lot out with you riding a motorcross
Bike yeah that’s mainly cuz I don’t get to ride one that much I wish I could ride one more but um no I think it’s quite funny actually yeah I think it’s quite funny for what reason I I don’t know they’re just all like I I don’t even know how to explain
It I just find it funny is you’ve got quite like a uh your approach to moto is quite about going as fast as you can around the track right yeah so it’s like that’s how their approach is in downhill but now they’re going on a motor and
They’re trying to do like Scrubs I guess like is that what it is is it like yeah I just I just think it’s like watching a lot of like of the fastest guys in the world just look like average on a May bike I I think it’s just kind of
Funny but no I would love to actually do like just a world cut Riders like mot race I think that that be fun I’d love to do that they used to do like a Dono meat oh really I swear there was like in between spots there used to be like one
Round one round and another round and like doo is sort of in between oh if so I have no clue but that sounds good let’s do it Rental bike as well go rental goes for some reason those rental bikes are just quicker aren’t they I don’t know I don’t know
What it is about them hey what you what are you looking at there it looks browsing you know if people are probably listening to this episode I mean I was sat in the episode and it left me with some questions about nutrition yeah I’m wanting to make sure that if you’re
Going to be doing maybe some of these exercises Johnny’s been talking about that you’re recovering properly yeah and that you’re supplementing efficiently but also getting a bit of a bargain yeah so that’s what I was doing mate I was just looking at our sponsor Peak UPS and
They’ve got this deal right uh it’s called The Ride companion bundle you can go on there right and it’s going to give you everything you need to improve riding recovery and make sure that you’re making the most out of all your workouts wow amazing should I tell you
What’s in it I’d love to know what’s what’s in it yeah so you head over right first of all go on to Peak ups.co UK what was it is it peaks. co.uk yeah you go there and then you go on the bundles and then you can find the ride companion
Bundle hey I can see the sticker sheet from here dude look at that thing sheet in there yeah so then you’re going to choose a pre-ride drink okay so this is a pre-ride this is what you take before you go out it’s hyping the game up
Typing the game up yeah it’s going to make uh sort of like soundtracks play in your head yes you know what I mean it’s going to give you those those pre-ride vibes then you’ve got your intra drink okay so this is one you put in your
Water bottle you take it out with you and then you’re just going to keep sipping on this it’s like electrolytes vitamins all that sort is there a tri card one in there mate there is a you been talking about the tri card one in
There TR carb is so good so you get a TR carb you get 20 servings they only do it in a fruit punch flavor hey that’s the flavor I wanted the best flavor so that’s why so you get your fruit punch Tri carb and you get some electrolytes
In there as well which is a tube of 20 nice and then you got your post ride drink okay this is where your gains come in all right Ah that’s what I’ve been doing wrong yeah man so what do you what do you take post ride then so you get
Yourself a whey protein and you can choose your flavor there’s tons of different flavors on there personally chocolate or butterscotch that’s that’s my deal right what other flavors are there uh there it’s a great question dude actually yeah I think butterscotch is the one that I go for let’s go with
That one for now then we’d have to mess absolutely and then you also we’re going to throw in a few freebies if you get the bundle so you but you get hold on you get more yeah you get more in it’s nuts dude more but we worked out an
Amazing deal with these guys so you’re going to get a protein Shaker it’s BPA free oh nice so that’s that is really good and that’s the shake it to mix all your drinks and then you’re also going to get the exclusive ride companion sticker sheet designed by yeah that’s
Right you did it dude so the all of this must come on like a lorri or something like this is a lot of stuff yeah you’d think so no it doesn’t come in allari it’s going to get delivered to your house okay so how much is it like is it
Would you say there’s a deal on at the moment 3,000 no it’s close okay I keep can I keep guessing 1,000 that be but I mean that is what it should be but we’re going to go even less than that what are we talking talking £59 98p plus an extra
Bit of discount if you use the ride companion code which is the ride companion the ride companion yeah that’s going to knock you an extra 10% off so that’s the ride companion for 10% off an already crazy deal already crazy deal but obviously not just that Peaks UPS
Have got loads of different stuff on here look dude I was just looking before these are the top products at the moment something that I’m loving Vitamin C powder big deal love that stuff you can get yourself all sorts of stuff dude they got um what else they got bone
Muscle and Recovery stuff sleep complexes neut Tropics the list is endless I tell you what we’re fast appro approaching Christmas if you don’t know what to get your partner and they ride this is a solid this is a solid Christmas present isn’t it yeah really solid yeah I’d be stoked with this yeah
I might get you one yeah do it you should all right so yeah pups. co.uk enter the promo code the ride companion that’s going to not you 10% off anything and everything on site and uh that’s it and that’s that thank you Peak subs for helping the boys out and looking after
The companionship thanks Peak Subs so when did the down side start getting more serious for you like when did you start leaning more into it probably well see that like First National SE series i’ done when I just like won loads of stuff and I was like well I might as well just go to the next
Level then so I might as well go race world and then ever since then it’s been serious I suppose okay yeah how did you start putting a package together to actually make it to a world you self fund yeah so it did start off because obviously my dad wasn’t having to fund Motocross
Anymore so it started off with a lot of support from him Y and specialized pretty much you be like Dad this is so cheap guys let’s have a look well to be fair compared to Motocross it was a lot cheaper yeah they’re going to save you a
Fortune every year the m home can go back we just need a tent we fit right one chain it will do the whole season I’m telling you no there’s no air filter you literally can’t put anywhere like bags of how much really are engine rebuilds none of that yeah none of that over
Here but yeah them and then specialized have literally always supported me they’ve always given me like good products so I’ve actually if I get stuck at a race I’ve always had like their parts that I’ve had everything yeah so I’ve not had to worry about oh I haven’t got like this
Is broke I haven’t got anything so what was that first sorry what was that first World Cup like dude so cuz this this trajectory to get to a World Cup is fast yeah it’s like what a season of Nationals and then you’re at a world can I talk about what the the trajectory
Starts is swinley Forest yeah it’s quite a big jump it is quite a big jump like we’re not we’re not mentioning the jump swinley is like it’s one of the smaller Sur Hills are yeah I don’t think it really counts as a s Hills it’s got like
A it’s got a water treatment thing that’s that’s nice Sor Hills water reservoir thing like what did it look like if you you’re trying to take down hill serious where are you taking a downhill bike in swindley yeah everywhere everywhere yeah yeah literally red Trails blue Trails downhill bike I was on
Them that’s really it yeah yeah literally fire roads I’d pedal on my downhill bike all the way there all the way along fire roads does that seem mad to you now that you got so quick from I think what seems mad to me is how far
I’d pedal on a downhill bike like after getting a trail bike I’m like oh my God I didn’t know mountain bikes pedal this easy so cuz I would literally pedal like five miles to swimley and then like a few miles into swimly to like all the
Better stuff on a downhill on a downhill bike and I was like this is easy this is so easy and like now I have a trail bike I’m like how did you ever even do that it’s so interesting so you’re already you’re already super fit for Moto yeah
You’re already good on a bike and good at high speeds yeah a little little sprinkle a little bit of swindley in there and then you’re off to the races you’re off to the World Cups yeah well if anyone’s that like feels like they’re missing something it’s probably swinley
Like if you’re ever if you need to find some little bits sley swiy is where you find them clearly dude you can tell him this we work it out yeah yeah it’s favorite place for sure first World Cup straight off straight out of swinley first World Cup what we talking where
Was it what was it like was it an eye opener just before like like this season I think it was a a CO season maybe yeah in 2020 yeah so it was only like World Champs in Portugal or something I think world Champs at uh Leo gang and Portugal
I was actually in morine not too long before World Champs and I was riding with uh Jon O Jones and chubby Hammond which is a good Crew That’s a good crew it is a amazing crew but it’s a recipe for disaster at the same time I think I
Had so I was I was obviously still young everyone was still my idol so to be right with John it was cool and its own then we then we hooked up with Danny Hart on plent black and uh now we’re talking yeah this is it now e yeah this is this is pretty
Much as stupid as you can go so we’re dropping into plenty black Mainline so I’ve decided to go to the front and um there’s a there’s quite a big like Gap it was like I think it was one that Bernie done um from like a fire
Road bit down onto this tiny set of routes I just cased that and like mashed my wrist up never even done it before I was just on I was on a world cut winning run I think at the time um and like yeah uh I did end up
Breaking my wrist but I only thought it was a spraining so I just rode down then just spent a week in moring with a very swollen wrist and then got home and was like I should probably go to the hospital and it turns out was completely
Snapped in half and twisted around so I actually was just coming back uh from an injury at my first World Cup so it was like no pressure and stuff yeah cuz I was I bet to go do the first one you just recovered from the wrist injury
Exactly so actually almost made it a bit easier for me well it did get a bit sore I mean the stomach oh no not the stomach no like I said no pressure because I literally had only just started riding like a few weeks before I think again so
I was like I wasn’t even sure if I was going to go out and do it but I was like I might as well um booked yeah and I think I ended up getting like seventh and a ninth maybe I think in juniors okay which isn’t bad get top
10 first World Cup [ __ ] yeah and then I was like right that’s from an injury let’s see what we can do next year then when we’re fully fit right so so have you done two years in junior yeah so well if you count that as a year it was
Like One race yeah so 2020 2021 yeah that’s your full first that’s like my first proper go at World Cup okay okay so how did that go it went pretty good actually I think my best result was a fifth um but I had some really really
Good splits I was a bit aggressive on the bike like being young so I was you know causing a lot of Mechanicals and whatnot but I had like places at like World Champs was V to sold that year and um on my world Champs race run I got red
Flagged so I had had to go back up for a rerun which Val all you never want to do a rerun that’s one track that you don’t want to do a rerun at so everyone had already finished I think Jackson had won Okay and like got to the third split and
I was actually up I was in the green and then I got a puncture so and I had the same thing at the last round at Snowshoe as well in uh the qualifying round but at this point 2021 yeah like you’re competing against obviously Jackson amazing Juniors and
It’s just you and your brother me my brother and my dad out of yeah literally literally it really so yeah just traveling around like we’re still pretty new to it so I wasn’t included into like I don’t think we changed the bike once that year really yeah just yeah that’s a
Good point man like you are so new to all that stuff exactly so you’re rocking up like obviously looking at what other people are doing trying to replicate it how they put together race runs how you practice all that sort of stuff one takeaway you think you got in 2021 that
Made you a better racer um I think watching a lot of people and you know they’re actually quite clever with their lines they go around things that will break your bikes whereas I was trying to go through them right and it wasn’t happening okay so I
Think that was quite a big one cuz I was bad bad for you know it’s like oh my luck’s terrible but it’s it’s not you can ride around it sort of thing like a lot of the right Racers have quite smart heads on like what Dan wol talked about
Loads right about yeah just looking at the ground and figuring out a way to go around stuff rather than just Mash through it so you you’ve like de you feel like you’ve developed that during that year yeah in what way was that like watching people in practice or like
Changing the way you look at a track a lot of like just changing the way you look at a track like now I can look at a track it’s going to be completely fresh I’ve never seen this track before I can see exactly where each line will form
And stuff and then I’ll come around to practice and every single line that I’ve en visioned in my head is there like I from all that experience you can now picture how everyone’s going to ride the track where the braking bumps are going to form yeah you see like a rough
Section like ah that bit is going to get cut out but this line will end up running good right but it will take like a little while got yeah so you can kind of just see all that stuff now and almost predict how to ride yeah which is
Pretty gnarly actually so 2021 finishes up yeah and where do you finish overall I think think I finished just outside the top 10 I think I finished 11th okay yeah but 11th fastest Junior in the world yeah quite gnarly and going quite I think that last
Race was my best result too that was the one where I got Fifth and you go to every round too I did that yeah yeah wow okay do you think like having a lack of sort of buildup in terms of like other races helped in that you weren’t doing
Like years on a national circuit you just came straight and stormed in one a loadad right let’s get me to World Cups because to me a World Cup’s always been a little bit like unattainable do you know what I mean like when I was a kid I
Couldn’t get to Nationals yeah so the Nationals felt unattainable World Cup’s like two steps on it’s like i’ I’d normally go in my head I was like well I have to race Nationals do well at Nationals then do some Euro rounds and then do a World Cup and I’ll be ready
Yeah so it always felt so far away whereas it’s like you’ve literally just steamed in got the fast track so yeah and so cool it’s a really healthy way of doing it because you don’t build up all of those like you don’t you probably don’t put certain Riders on as much of a
Pedestal as like that’s true yeah I guess there not everyone can do it either right I guess totally there’s that as well yeah I think what helped the most of that was just the Motocross the fact that I done Nationals and then you go straight to emx which is like
Worlds yeah so if I you compare it to Motocross it’s just the same thing yeah you got Nationals and you got worlds like never raced any other European stuff on M cross really just done Nationals and Wells yeah yeah see quite unique I think a lot of it is like you end up
Blocking paths because you put Barrett like definitely for me I thought well I’m just not one of those guys whereas you’ve already been one of those guys yeah just in a slightly different sport I don’t know true yeah yeah I suppose so like well it’s just I I assume from
Motocross I just was like getting the same results at mountain bike Nationals as motorcross Nationals yeah and I know I can race Worlds at motorcross and qualified at Worlds so why can’t I do that mountain bike if I’m getting the same results at Nationals so I suppose it just gives you that
Confidence just to go and send itame that is Mega cool though I think and I think that’s probably a lot something that like a lot of people don’t have yeah like that’s that’s probably one of the from the outside that would be one of the things that the biggest takeaways from you like
Doing all of these years like none of it’s come free you’ve done all of these [ __ ] years of like all of these races all of these like different things yeah that’s pretty cool yeah really cool 2022 first year Elite yeah okay oh God what’s that oh God a lot of me memor
Memorizing I can’t even remember this really okay I’d remember Racing Elite World Cups but that dude that’s just me it’s so red I love it it’s so good I’m trying to think I feel like it’s cuz I’ve got last year fresh in my head it
Feel like a step up or not you’re on the same track the same people are racing it’s a lot harder Elite is a lot harder than it’s a whole I feel like you could be the top Junior but a leite could make or break you for sure so it’s just um a
Lot more people times are a lot tighter just the is just harder in 2022 you did the a year then without the semis and the yeah so you did that last you did the last one obviously didn’t yeah okay so what was it then was it top 60 finals
Was it remember yeah top 60 okay yeah so I’m trying to think where the first race was that year it’s top 80 qual top 60 finals is that correct no that year I’ve never raced when it’s been top 80 okay there you go it was 60 yeah 60 so
Instead of having like the semis we had this year or last year sorry it was just um you do your qualifying run if you’re in the top 60 that’s it you’re in for the finals yeah which was still at the time it was tight I think like there would be 150 odd people
You know and like 100 of them are quick enough to qualify yeah so is still quite intense but but yeah that year I think that year was easier than the year just gone 23 had your deal changed at all going into it like with spash or
Anything like that did you get have you got did you get more support for 2022 yeah speci have just seem to keep supporting me every year I mean I really enjoy working with brands that I like yeah like if I got an offer with a brand
That I don’t like I wouldn’t take it cuz I find I can’t promote something if I don’t even like it myself yeah cuz I I will only use stuff that I believe in mhm um so I do quite like making long time relations with sponsors yeah cuz
You know it just shows that yeah definitely I’m not going to change we literally just had the same conversation before didn’t we about long-term Partnerships are like the one for if you can obviously because you know just loyalty and it shows that you know I do think their products are good products
Yeah so they seem to be almost giving me the same in return and just giv me more support okay which is really good they’ve been honestly amazing really really helpful yeah so it’s good cool so a little bit better support coming into 2022 yeah season on a whole if we could
Summarize it it was actually pretty good for I know you struggling to remember it yeah no I remember one standout race for that year for me was at Andora I got 35th and I was stoked with that wow super super stoked that yeah I mean that’s unreal isn’t it that’s just
Outside TV time and like nowadays fighting for TV time yeah like top 30 is no joke he no well that’s I was stoked on that 35th and now if I got like 35th you’re not even in the final you’re like oh that’s rubbish you’re 35th in the world you’re like that’s rubbish yes
It’s kind of changed it huh yeah yeah it’s changed it a lot I think yeah so what was okay let’s fast forward then like especially with that season just gone so 2023 rule Changers come in are are you like aware of like okay this could change a bit it does change something
For you as a privateer because you’re trying to get TV time so yeah I think the hardest thing is you got to make your bike last that time and it’s very quick turnarounds in between the races yeah um especially if you get like near the back you have to like go straight
Back up to your next run pretty much okay um but I was quite looking forward to it CU um going back to the whole Fitness thing I was like oh everyone’s going to be bonking out and I’m going to be fresh so I was quite looking forward
To it actually okay yeah but um yeah I was pretty clued in on like all the changes and stuff I knew it was was happening that offseason as well that’s when I done all the testing so I knew I could change all my bike and stuff M um
You know I went to the EXs at the start of the season for which is where you guys went yeah for a little preseason race test and stuff so I took that season pretty pretty seriously actually I done quite a lot yeah so ended up getting some decent results yeah some
Right ones I can’t remember what my best one was so not very good with remembering all this little little detail stuff remember thing that matter though is fine yeah I’m trying to think I I don’t even think I could say a number I think I’m already like so
Focused on what’s next yeah that I just forget what’s moving forward dude it’s moving forward it’s behind now like I’ve got so much in the pipeline I like can’t even think about what’s happened I’m just looking forward to what’s coming up next okay all right what are the things
You reckon that you get from Moto that you bring to Downhill Racing that helps you the most do you think about that or not really just think about going quick not too much um I do think being comfortable at high speeds I find I’m really like
Doesn’t phase me at all where some other people like will touch the brakes here and there and I’m like not even quick it’s fine yeah I would be touching my breaks I think bit I think high speed yeah for me definitely is like do you think a certain track favors you more
Than others um cuz I think you know we have like bite Park he tracks now yeah I guess from the outside looking in you’d be better on a technical roty track or yeah so I find um fast tracks obviously pretty good on them and very rough tracks just
Cuz the whole strength thing I just like don’t really get tired so I just I just keep going super a yeah well I think it’s the whole Motocross thing like Motocross is such a physical sport that if you can do a 30 minute Mo motor you’re like five minutes downhills like
Walk in the park after that it’s it’s a different kind of Fitness like motor cross all your muscles will go tense up and stuff you’re not as breathing as heavy whereas mountain biking you get to the bottom of that run you’ve just sprinted to the finish and you like cannot breathe yeah
Because you just used all your oxygen for that last last little Sprint so so 2023 good year would you say it was an okay year I would have liked to be in the top 30 for sure did you make a top 30 no I didn’t I made a lot of um I’m
Sorry should have known that but no I made a lot of semis but I would have liked to make a final which is still what was your you were 30 something yeah I think so I can’t remember what no I we should really have done the research
Also you should probably know yeah B but he’s on to the next thing I I I respect that but I think you got a top 30 you you you were in the top 30s weren’t you yeah I think I might have had like another similar like 36 so yeah
Yeah which is right there yeah it is well like the difference like if I took a second off my time I’d probably be in the top 20s like it’s not much where do you see the difference now I’m hyped for you coming to this season yeah what is
The difference what would you s say visibly because I know you look at this stuff what is the difference between you and someone who’s consistently top 30 oh that’s a tricky one actually I think because there’s not much in it I find one big thing I find with the
People who are especially consistent they know they’re very good at knowing how fast you can hit a section like with the whole going back to the whole breaking thing they know exactly where to break and where to get off and where you can push and where you need to be a
Bit more safer cuz I find I still sometimes try to push in places you shouldn’t push right and it it will it will bite me I’ll make a mistake or have a crash or something whereas a lot of the people who consistently up there know like every
Single inch of track where they can push a bit harder and where is better to maybe like just be a bit smoother you actually end up being quicker where the ceiling is kind of thing I find that I learned that quite a bit last year actually have any Riders been like super
Helpful to you kind of helping you through this process a little bit um trying to think kade’s been really nice actually Kade Edwards yeah spoke to him quite a lot he’s a super cool guy um because it must be weird like you say coming from Moto where everyone keeps
Themselves to themselves and then you could probably on track walk go talk to yeah pretty much go talk to bur like what you doing down here yeah I have been seeing to burn at a lot of World Cups actually as well he’s been super helpful too yeah pretty much anyone you
Can talk to any of them they were super nice guys M so yeah yeah it’s pretty good actually so we’re coming into 2024 mhm what’s the season look like that was that that that had atmosphere then didn’t like had a bit more base to my voice on that
Like a drama yeah so mate we got a horse in the race I’m like Stokes I’m really am I’m looking forward to see am yeah like we got a few horses in the race but we got a real one like a legit R race horse as well dude yeah a
Race horse so what’s 2024 looking like like what can you can you talk about anything that you’ve got in place I’ve got loads of videos in place video shoots a lot of that oh right yeah a lot of them but um I think with this year with World Cups and
Stuff I’m just going to go like have the most fun riding my bike on the best tracks in the world yeah cuz I find when I’m having fun riding my bike that is when I’m quickest like cuz you’re just always into it yeah like you always pushing I find myself when I’m having
Fun I just keep pushing harder and harder so I’m just going to think I’m just going to go have some fun with it go go push the limits whil do you sort of like enjoy the underdog bit of mentality like you I kind of love it a little bit like I
Think obviously I think being on a team and stuff would be sick I think it’ be an environment that would push you to that next step but to experience it as a privateer as well is like it’s a whole different thing almost um so I do really like it it’s
Cool yeah what do you what’s like the hardest thing about being a privateer probably actually the admin really oh my God so much planning and I hate it no way I absolutely hate it so you you obviously you got supportive parents yeah we get that your mom’s out
There hustling she’s trying to put deals together yeah management teams in full effect but you you booking everything like flights you’re going through and doing all especially this year this year is all me is it like yeah okay like last year as well I funded most of it yeah so
That and that’s through working through the offseason and or what yeah so I always get people always make fun of me cuz I always do they always like why you on like a side quest every single offseason cuz I’ve worked so many different weird jobs like I think side
Quest well so I was at like um cuz this offseason as well I got my um training coaching qualification for mountain bike Co coach oh right I was different coach yeah yeah so I’m qualified mountain bike coach now as well okay yeah I should got just do everything do I everything drive
A coach yeah everything coach just coach stuff yeah so I had I had a friend there and he was like why are you always on just the maddest side quest every winter cuz like the winters before I was at like working at Domino’s doing delivery driving and stuff yeah fastest delivery
Driver in BR no doubt mate I do not doubt that at all they on the downhill bike as well they absolutely love me though they love me so much I bet we like a C90 no I was in a car oh you’re in a car oh okay right funny drift car
No it was my mom’s car she I did have a a car and then I done one day in it and I was like oh this is awful for the car let’s take my Mom’s so yeah she was not happy cuz I car always smoke with pizza and burnt rubber and clutch no only only safe driving so that so usually then you say you’ll raise the season and then come back and then get a job to fund the next season is that pretty much how we’re
Rolling at the moment yeah that’s pretty much pretty much it and we’re even coming back between races and hustling in between right yeah for sure do this do this job you’re at now the coach coach company not coaching coach driving coach cleaning are they aware that it’s like you’re off racing they’re
Supportive like they’re super super supportive they’re being like super flexible for me nice which is the issue when I come uh to offseason and need to find a job trying to find something that Flex is nearly impossible yeah so I’m very lucky really I think yeah yeah so
Yeah working all season or offseason saving money and then going that’s the real Privateer life isn’t it it’s the it’s the story yeah it’s the private life yeah it is you’re right well we’re rooting for you I’m sure everyone listening is rooting for you where can
Everyone find you big time find me we need to get the comp one more aspirations for next year 2024 what are you aiming for what makes it a home run standout season for we’re not going to say it pre- dog say it um so results wise yeah I want to
Break into that top 20 for sure yeah yeah yeah top 20 okay the top 20 result will be nuts I’ll be sted I just want to like get across that Finish Line turn around see that result and just be like buzzing but um I’m also planning on
Hopefully being able to pay for my girlfriend to come to all the races with me nice and we’re just literally just going to go like have the funnest year racing like why not if I can afford to bring everyone out with me yeah you know I we literally just go have like the
Best times racing and hopefully the results will come along with it so yeah you think that make it I just give you that extra bit of fun someone else there rooting for you yeah Now’s the Time as well get it done that’d be Wicked yeah man rooting for you big time
Honestly legit so but yeah just having fun all year I think this year is just going to be a fun year all around racing video projects you’re on the same obviously same bike yeah smash yeah y y any other sponsors joining you that you
Can do you want to do a shout out for so I’ve got uncraft UK kit sponsor he’s actually been super supportive as well some of the World Cups and films um some videos and whatnot um and always sorts me out of like custom kits and stuff
Yeah so might have some stuff in the pipeline um custom kits yeah custom kits are sick custom kits are so sick is there anything okay is there anything that you like would help you at this point is there anything that you’re like okay I just need someone to help me with this
Thing that’s a tough one I know I don’t want you to sound like you’re yeah cheddar yeah always HSBC is it yeah always short on that that is a struggle I tell you what would like save you half your funds would be like a fuel card the
Amount of money I must spend on fuel yeah is ridiculous I think like you know my I’d spend like my whole monthly paycheck on fuel yeah for sure yeah pretty cycling’s on shell isn’t it I believe it is wear the Jersey imagine that fuel card BC nice yeah I I could
Had like the amount of money you would save if you had fuel C so a big one for you is help with uh travel basically travel yeah that’s that’s the killer travel everything about traveling is just so expensive yeah are you normally staying at the tracks you a BNB in um
Usually just a hotel Tred get near the near the track um cuz it’s always nice to go back and have a shower and whatnot yeah I actually ended up last year booking a hotel and not being able to like sleep in it like I paid for my
Brother and my dad to come out as well so I was like booking all the hotels and paying for all of that and I was like I paid a lot for this hotel way too much it was really bad actually and um I hated it in there really yeah like I
Paid ridiculous money cuz it was near the track and I was like look you two just have it I sleep in the van yeah I was I was like I cannot stay in there why did you hate it I don’t know I just I love this it was just like
Such a small room and like it was sleeping close to someone like the bed was uncomforting I was like I just need I just need my van I just want my bed like it’s like you two have it you know all right so there’s definitely a
Few things there that you need help with which we’ll see hopefully people are listening you never know yeah no it should be a fun year I think yeah man hyped for you big time it’s going to be good yeah dude um where people follow you um on Instagram or Tik Tok is @
Preston Willams yeah I love Tik Tok and then YouTube is Preston Williams TV oh yeah you got some YouTube stuff happening yeah yeah I got um I got a video actually now that I’m waiting to post okay waiting for a new sponsor reveal before I post it
Okay what could it be yeah um but yeah we I don’t know when this video is going on I don’t know might already happened yeah it might have already happened if so it’ll be on your YouTube channel it will be so that’ll be cool thanks for
Coming in you’ve got to get back to work dude yeah I know clock’s diing it’s going to it’s going to be a late one tonight as well I think it’s like it’s like a 2 a.m. finish is it oh man what people doing 2 a.m. man rail replacement oh yeah back in
Tomorrow no luckily I have Tuesday off backing on Wednesday backing on Wednesday intervals tomorrow yeah the life the life of a privateer it’s been fun to learn more dude honestly root in fear it’s been great being full support um yeah check him out like And subscribe peace and
Love what an episode you did really well though oh thanks dude do you know what to finish it off what if you could put some sort of Link over my face yeah I can do that I could put a video up on ol’s face of an episode we think you’ll
Love is it on now there is a subscribe button here on this chair and on my face another video we think you’ll love thank you we appreciate you there’s nothing in the chair now subscribe
2 Comments
Yes Preston!!
my favourite coach driver🥰