Welcome back mountain bikers! Gromcast is back on the rails, and back with one of the most popular episode guests so far- Scott Fitzgerald of Southern Enduro. (And a discount code!)

Please excuse the background noise as this was recorded literally sat in the pub, but bar a few minor technical hiccups it was great to be back in the saddle with Gromcast and Scott again.

For the first 30 listeners who use the code GROMCAST5 mentioned in this episode, when buying your race entries for Southern Enduro, you will get a 5% discount.

See you on the trails!

I'm super excited to bring you this episode where I chat to Nick from Head Impact Trauma ltd. HIT company founder Euan and Nick are right at the cutting edge of concussion research with their Impact sensor. A growing number of World Cup downhill riders are going to be using this device on their helmets this season, the potential for what this device can help with and what it may lead to in the future is really interesting and a hugely positive move in the sport of downhill. We cover a lot in this one on a fascinating subject that can potentially affect all of us as riders. If you are interested in their product and want to know more, info can be found on the links Nick mentions during this episode below, along with the link to the Gromcast GoFundMe page if you would like to support this podcast. Any help you can give is massively appreciated as my budget is basically zero, and I want to give you guys the best podcast I can.

Gromcast is back! After what was a much extended hiatus thanks to life, work and a million other reasons I have finally got another episode in the bag.

This time I chat to previous guest and 2022 British Elite Men's Overall Downhill series winner Luke Williamson. We are joined by the lesser known part of the Williamson racing operation, Francis Williamson. Francis is Luke's dad and a huge integral part of the support in his racing. He is no stranger to racing on two wheels and no slouch on the bike with a strong background in motorcycle racing. He will often be found at World Cups with Luke as part of the mechanical support with the 555 Gravity team, providing a lot of the parts of everything Luke needs so he can focus on his racing. We have a brief recap on Luke's '22 season, which by his own account was bit of a rollercoaster with a belter of a run at Fort William that saw him finish in 23rd after a top 20 qualifier, followed some injury issues and a concussion, and then wrapped up the year by taking the British overall. 2023 sees a whole raft of changes to the Downhill World Cup and we discuss how they foresee those changes affecting Luke, the sport as a whole and where it all is heading. Francis has some really interesting insight into this, and there is some really good stuff on the direction of the sport and what the future may look like.

The time off from recording an episode clearly didn't do me many favours, as since recording this episode it has been a technical nightmare full of broken laptop, lost recordings, missing files and all sorts of nonsense. As a result the final chunk of this episode has disappeared into the digital netherworld never to be seen again. Oh well, you live and you learn. Huge thanks to Graeme Bean for bringing the laptop back to life.

You can support Gromcast at GoFundMe. I know times are tough for everyone right now, but anything you can give is hugely appreciated and all of it goes back into the podcast. https://gofund.me/b090775a

Tickets for this weekends Canyon Demo at Rogate can be found here - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/b1keltd/884981?

Welcome to episode 5 of Gromcast with Davi Birks of the Ride Companion podcast. 

One of the first to the game with mtb podcasts in the UK, Davi along with Olly Wilkins has grown his podcast into part of the fabric of the UK mtb scene. We talk about absolutely all sorts, from why and how he started to where he wants it to go and what the future holds. We manage to cover the number 5, losing the plot in Buddhist temples, forest bathing, component prices, the future of World Cup coverage, meditation and lesser-known remedies for reaching the finish too soon. 

This episode is brought to you by HKT Products. Go check them out at https://www.hktproducts.co.uk/ 

If you would like to donate to help me make this podcast as good as I want it to be then you can help Make Gromcast Great with GoFundMe - https://gofund.me/594a99b6

Episode 4 brings the one and only Ben Deakin, AKA The Deakinator onto Gromcast for the first time. Oi oi indeed!

We have a post Freedom Ride catch up, get all rose tinted with throwbacks to early racing days, get excited about old-school toys and how his recent trip to the Megavalanche went, retro bike stockpiles and more.

Links for this shows content

Find Deaks on Instagram @deakinator1 and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/BenDeakinMTB

For all things Freedom Ride go check out fantastic Ride Companion Podcast online at theridecompanion.co.uk

If you would like to donate to help me make this podcast as good as I want it to be then you can help Make Gromcast Great with GoFundMe - https://gofund.me/594a99b6

 Welcome to episode three of Gromcast, where my planned catch-up with Luke after the Leogang World Cup became a chat about concussions. Luke suffered a concussion shortly before the WC while riding in Champery, and missed the race so he could recover. Concussions and how athletes deal with them in MTB are a big topic right now, so we dig into that a little. Hope you enjoy it, let me know what you think. Find Gromcast on Instagram @_grom_cast and find all the links here https://linktr.ee/grom_cast

I catch up with one of the biggest race organisers in the south of the UK, Scott Fitzgerald of Southern Enduro. Scott is the main man behind what has become one of the best-attended race series and a staple of the race calendar. Recorded outdoors on a beautiful summer's evening at Rogate (apologies for the slight difference in sound quality compared to episode 1) this chat went on into the night and covered so many topics. Why and how Scott started with bikes, how Southern Enduro came into being, World Cup coverage changes, trail issues and rider etiquette, back in the day at Rogate, Gravity Project Pumptrack reminiscing and so much more.

Links for topics in this show 

The HKT Podcast #106 - Are YOU A Responsible Mountain Biker? with Sam Bowell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PsAt4Bb060

@southernenduro to follow Scott on Instagram, southernenduro.co.uk to get involved with the races