MTB TRIBE - Your Trail Map to the World of Mountain Biking

On episode number Forty Eight it is my pleasure to have Tim Taylor on the show, the man behind the better tasting and better performing sports nutrition company Chia Charge. I was asked to get Tim on the show by Nigel Morris, the man behind the very popular Manx 100 Endurance Race held in the Isle Of Man. Nigel uses Tim's product and simply wanted to know more about the Chia Charge story. When I reached out to Tim about coming on the show he was super keen to get on and share the story of Chia Charge, what they do and why their product is that little bit different.

After doing research into Chia Charge and the different products they offer I was very happy to see quite a few vegan options (if you didn't know, I am vegan so this sold it for me!). Chia Charge has a great range of products, fun website and really seem to enjoy what they are doing. I chat with Tim about how it all started and why he wanted to enter a very competitive sports nutrition industry. We also talk about what is involved in building a sports nutrition company, what ingredients they use, how Chia Charge helps you perform better and what products best suits your needs, plus loads more.

Also, Tim has very kindly given MTB TRIBE listeners a 20% OFF Discount on Chia Charge products (not including the discounted sample packs) by using the following link. Click on the following link and the discount will be added automatically: MTBTRIBE20 Enjoy!

On episode number Forty Seven we are welcoming back Trent and Allie from their YouTube channel Trent & Allie, Aka TNT MTB. I first had Trent and Allie on the show way back on episode 4! (Listen Here) We were talking about their YouTube channel and mountain biking, among other great stuff. Well since that time a lot has changed including the name of their channel, which is now simply Trent & Allie.  We chat about why they changed the name of their YouTube channel and the direction and focus it is moving into the future.

When I first had Trent and Allie on the show they had just finished their first van conversion, but since then they have sold that and just completed their second build with no expense spared. So I thought it was a good time to get them back on the show and take us through the process of converting a van into a full-time liveable space. We chat about the reasons behind this new build, where the ideas came from, what they were doing differently from the first build, cost, time and why Trent was lying below the van in the snow installing a portable toilet. It gets messy!

On episode number Forty Six I am chatting with Colleen Lowry, owner of the popular year round destination for not only mountain biking but a host of other activates: Blessingbourne Estate.

Colleen and her husband Nick are the proud owners of a beautiful family run estate at the edge of FiveMileTown, which just also happens to have 13 Kilometres of mountain bike trails. A simple coincidence? Not so. Colleen and Nick were the main driving force behind getting the trails built. When Colleen and Nick were looking at diversifying the land around the estate they (with the help and advice of others) decided that mountain bike trails would be the way to go. They visited trial centre's in Scotland and had a look at what other estates were doing besides mountain biking, but in the end and with Colleen being a keen mountain biker when she was in London decided that mountain biking would be a great fit for what they were looking to achieve. It would bring in a different clientele, would be something the whole family could use and it would attract people from all corners of the country and beyond.

We chat about where the idea came from, as it is unusual to have mountain bike trails situated on a picturesque country estate. We chat about how the first few days went when the trails first opened, we chat about the past MountainBikeNI awards the estate has won, plus a tone of other interesting and useful information including, what a bunch of good people we mountain bikers really are!

It is my pleasure to have Nigel Morris on the podcast for episode number Forty Five. Nigel joined me from his phone in the airport waiting to catch a flight home to the Isle Of Man where the Manx 100 is held. If you want to challenge yourself to the fullest and push your limits this is the race for you. I chat to Nigel about how the race was first envisioned, where the idea came from and how he has built it over the years to because a top class event.

If you listened to last weeks episode with Tom Bell who won the race last year, you will know how challenging the Manx 100 really is. But Nigel and his crew didn't set the race up to be easy, that was not the point. It is purposely difficult. We chat about why they made the race 100 Miles in distance and why over the years they have introduced different categories. We chat about why the Isle Of Man is the perfect setting for such an event, how they use the same grandstand as the TT and why the trails in the Isle Of Man are so good. Plus much more.

It's episode number Forty Four and we are chatting to Professional XC Racer Tom Bell. Tom is well known in the XC circuit for constantly being on the top podium. Tom is a super cool guy and I am super stoked to get him on the podcast.

Tom chats to us about his racing career, being the current MTB Marathon National Champion, his coaching business, racing and representing Great Britain at the UCI MTB Marathon World Championships. Plus much more about how you can best race XC.

On episode Forty Three we are chatting with Alex Holowko about everything enduro race related, from how to register to how to keep mental focus. Alex has been racing on the down hill scene since a young age but has now set his focus on the enduro scene. Alex is currently travelling around Europe in his motorhome with his girlfriend, Amanda Dexter aka WolfGirlMtb (check out episode 41 here) filming for their YouTube channel, Wolfpack Adventures, racing and chasing the Enduro World Series. We caught up and got Alex's insights into everything you need to know about entering an enduro, how to be best prepared, compete and much more.

I was asked by a number of our listeners about how to best go about preparing yourself for racing in an enduro, mainly of the back of a few of our other interviews regarding racing (see below). So when I had Amanda on the show it dawned on me that Alex would be the perfect person to ask. So a few days later Alex was kind enough to take time out of their travelling schedule and share his thoughts and experience about what we should be thinking about when taking that jump into the exciting world of enduro racing.

On episode Forty Two we are chatting to Owen Franssen about his Irish based blog called, Emerald MTB, riding bikes, the state of mountain biking in Ireland and how he won a free entry to the Davagh Enduro!

Its funny how things work out at times. I knew of Emerald MTB, I used their great race calendar resource, read their blog and watched their video's, but I never really knew of the guy behind it all. That was until he won a competition I was running on the podcast to win a free entry to the Davagh Enduro being held at the end of June. After Owen won the competition we got chatting via email and it dawned on me who he was. Boom! what a stroke of luck. One thing lead to another and he agreed to come on the show.

I was stoked to get Owen on the show because I not only wanted to find out more about his Emerald MTB blog but also, I knew he would be a great guy to chat to regarding mountain biking in Ireland as that is what the content of his blog relates too. I wanted to find out a little more about the scene in Ireland and how healthy he felt mountain biking was and how it is looking for the future. I also chat to Owen about how he got interested in mountain biking, what his local trails are like, why he started the blog, products he has reviewed for the blog, his awesome race events calendar and much much more.

For episode Forty One it is great to get Amanda Dexter, the face behind the super popular Instagram page Wolf.Girl.Mtb. I hooked up with Amanda while she was on her European trip chasing the EWS. Amanda and her boyfriend Alex have totally changed their life's to chase the dream of mountain biking and van life. This was not an easy move from full time work and a steady income, to taking the leap to working remotely and traveling in a motorhome around Europe. We chat about the highs and lows of such a massive lifestyle change, how Amanda struggled at first, how she feels about it now and how it has been going so far.

Amanda has lived a pretty mobile life since being a kid. From being born in America to moving and living in Africa, so living on the road seems to be second nature for Amanda but it still comes with its challenges. Amanda has also stepped into the YouTube world with her new channel Wolfpack Adventure, filming her adventures on the road around Europe with Alex and her wolf, Kia. He's not actually a wolf but he looks like one! We chat about why Amanda and Alex started a YouTube channel and what they feel is the end goal for the channel. We chat about riding bikes, racing enduro, living on the road, sponsorship and parking in the wrong places.

On episode Forty it is great to get Hannah, Founder and Owner of Flare Clothing on the show. Hannah started Flare Clothing in 2013 and the brand has went from strength to strength, even winning the Total Women's Cycling Award for 'Best Mountain Bike Clothing 2016'. This was no mean feet taking on the big players such as Fox etc.. Hannah introduced a Men's range in 2014 and used a Kick Starter Campaign to help fund this. We chat about how Hannah started Flare with the help of her Masters Degree to how Flare has grown to a full time lifestyle business.

Hannah has thrown her heart and soul into the creation of Flare Clothing and it shows. Flare's product range is great, has depth and has everything you need to get on the trails. Hannah is a one man band and has the responsibility of designing the products to working with the manufacturers to designing the website to posting product to customers and everything in between. This has grown into Hannah's full time gig, we chat about the time it takes, the motivation it requires and how Hannah still doesn't see herself as an entrepreneur, plus loads more.

I am really pleased to welcome our first magazine on the show for episode #39. Today we are chatting with Seb Rogers, Founder, Owner and Editor of Cranked Magazine. If you have never got your hands on a copy of Cranked you are missing out. It is a bumper mountain bike magazine, almost a coffee table book and as Seb likes to put it, 'It's intentionally different'. We chat about how Cranked came to life, why it is different and why it has been such a success, plus find out how to get a Free Cranked Tee Shirt.

If you like great stories, awesome images, articles to get you on your bike, quality paper and a magazine that you will want to keep, this is the one for you. Cranked is not full of adverts or product reviews and this is intentional. Seb did not want Cranked to be just another mountain bike magazine full of adverts so he put a percentage limit on ads throughout the content of the mag. Seb also decided not to do product reviews as he believes this causes a conflict of interest in all types of areas and to be honest it is a breath of fresh air not getting blasted by review after review. We chat about how Seb funded the magazine and basically had the magazine validated in four and a half hours.