Jack Rice wraps up the 2024 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup with interviews from racers, mechanics and MTB filmers and photographers to see how their season went, to find out what the future looks like and to continue the question, "why downhill?"

Thanks to Jack, John Lawlor and Rick Schubert for all the hustle this year at the World Cups. And thank you listeners for helping us keep the stoke for DH alive.

Interviews
0:00 - Intro
1:11 - Greg Minnaar
4:44 - Marine Cabirou
6:06 - Sven Martin
11:59 - Tahnee Seagrave
13:17 - Vali Holl
16:11 - Aaron Gwin
18:41 - Finn Iles
22:31 - Abigail Hogie
29:52 - Brad Blackwell
33:21 - Alex Presant
37:41 - Swen Heil
39:32 - Tyler Ervin
40:47 - Kale Cushman
43:06 - Nick Robertson
49:11 - Ross Bell
55:59 - Roman Tunbridge
59:55 - Tommy Krause
1:03:44 - Andy Vathis
1:11:20 - Carson Fletcher
1:13:31 - Jack Tennyson
1:14:54 - Jorge Gomes
1:17:23 - Rachel Pageau
1:21:25 - Steve Estabrook
1:22:56 - Zack Harper

Did you believe the hype? Coming into the 2024 World Cup season, Asa Vermette was an obvious favorite in the Junior Men's category. He'd been fast domestically for a few years, and with the support of Frameworks and guidance from Neko Mulally and Angel Suarez, he seemed poised to have a successful debut on the international stage. Then, at the first round in Fort William, Asa waxed everyone by 6 seconds. You tack on the fact that he won after sitting on the couch for weeks prior healing a broken hip, and the hype became simple facts. The next generation is always faster than the last, and Asa is leading the latest charge. 

Fast forward to now, and we've been lucky to watch Asa and Max Alran exchange blows all year. Each has three wins, and Mont Sainte Anne was teeing up to be an epic final round between the two. Unfortunately, Asa's crash in Loudenvielle left him more battered and bruised than initially suspected, putting an end to his first World Cup season. A bittersweet conclusion to an otherwise successful year, we wanted to know how Asa felt about his season—the highs, the lows, the lessons learned, and the goals for 2025. We talked about a whole lot more, so enjoy getting to know more about the calm kid from Durango who's damn fast on a bike.

0:00 - Intro
1:37 - Why Asa isn't racing MSA
4:24 - Injuries collected throughout the season
5:19 - The balance of pushing and crashing
8:06 - Did he feel the pressure going into the season?
12:00 - Key takeaways from his first World Cup season 
13:38 - Why keeping racing fun is key
14:51 - Asa's pump-up music of choice 
15:51 - Advice from Neko and Angel
17:05 - How Asa gets up to speed and breaks down tracks
21:10 - Favorite country he visited this year 
22:50 - Favorite track of the year
23:33 - Getting used to riding in the mud
25:32 - Injury updates going into the offseason
28:05 - How Asa passes the time when he's hurt 
29:46 - Favorite Elite racer
30:55 - Asa explains his nasty whips
31:56 - Doing a flip in a race run??
36:17 - Who's got the best whips?
38:29 - Things to improve on this offseason
40:22 - Training program chit-chat 
 42:21 - What Asa rides day-to-day
42:04 - Asa's perfect riding day
43:36 - Freestyle Asa
44:52 - Winter riding plans
45:48 - 2025 Goals
46:49 - 5 Years from now, where will Asa be… 

This is a special episode of The Inside Line as we had Jack Rice at the 2024 U.S. Open of Mountain Biking in Killington, Vermont.
See photos from the event - https://www.vitalmtb.com/features/why-ride-downhill-u-s-open-mountain-biking

Thanks to FOX, Maxxis Tires and Jenson USA for supporting The Inside Line

It was the season ender to the Pro Downhill Series and with the final World Cup DH in Mont-Sainte-Anne next week, the field was stacked with Elite level pros from around the globe. Instead of the usual questions with only the top riders, we had commissioned Jack to search the pits and ask amateur riders a simple question - Why Downhill?

While plenty of answers resonate with the excitement and action of what DH is, an overwhelming response praised the community as a reason for coming back to ride. It's the people that make our sport so great and it's our hope that the comradery of the #USDH community continues to grow.

Interview contents
0:00 - Intro
1:09 - Meredith Burnette
2:25 - Jamie Tate
3:18 - Dusty Mason
4:10 - Kerry Marshall
5:02 - "Scott and the fam"
6:33 - Jacob Dyke
8:57 - Bailey Gunter
11:04 - Cole Bernier
13:40 - Jack Burnette
21:54 - Tyson Henrie
23:55 - Tabias Spencer
24:59 - Lachie Stevens-Mcnab (Race Winner)
25:47 - Nina Hoffmann (Race Winner)
29:23 - Max Beaupre and Why NOT Downhill
31:51 - Tegan Heap
33:00 - Dylan Conte
36:20 - Lucas Dedora
36:57 - Anna Newkirk
38:37 - Chris Grice
39:50 - Clay Harper

Would it even be a World Cup without a natural event playing a major role in the outcome? Loudenvielle, the sixth World Cup of the season, was the third race to be heavily affected by rain on race day. We saw ideal conditions for the Juniors and 98% of the Elite Women's field before Deja vu struck and the skies opened up for fastest qualifier, Tahnée Seagrave. And oh boy, did it get spicy as the rain continued to fall throughout the Elite Men's final. Gnarly conditions always foster spectacular displays of bike handling, and some racers put on a clinic this weekend. 

We also got to witness Vali and Bruni each wrap up another Elite title, a bunch of young Kiwis filling the podiums in the junior fields, and a ton of feel-good results, like Benoit taking the win after crashing here last year, Reece Wilson landing on the podium after so many setbacks, Aaron Gwin back racing after two years, and Myriam Nicole taking her first win after missing all of last season to a concussion. We chat about all of this, plus get the inside scoop on why our dude Dak was off the pace last weekend, points battles leading into MSA, RockShox Kashima knock-off, Asa Vermette's bike size, mass dampers (obviously), and a bunch of other nonsense. Enjoy!

The unpredictable Loudenvielle World Cup Downhill venue proved to keep everyone on their toes again in 2024. As conditions changed on an hourly basis, it was a crapshoot for some riders and a calcuated risk for others. Jack Rice gets some perspective from the racers in France.

Contents
0:00 - Disclaimer and Benoit Coulanges
1:54 - Myriam Nicole
4:01 - Loic Bruni
6:47 - Reece Wilson
9:12 - Phoebe Gale
10:07 - Amaury Pierron
11:36 - Andreas Kolb
12:40 - Aaron Gwin
17:41 - Dakotah Norton
20:28 - Finn Iles
28:39 - Luca Shaw
31:53 - Ronan Dunne
33:34 - Valentina Roa Sanchez
35:17 - Wyn Masters

What could have been…our grassroots podcast almost came home with a World title in Andorra. We won't say we are disappointed in our co-host superstar Stack-Attack-Dak for throwing it away in the second to last turn, but dang, did that one sting. This week, Jason Schroeder chats with Dak about his week in Andorra, what happened in his race run, the tuned mass dampers strapped to his bike, and how he's dealing with the highs and lows of almost winning World Champs. Then, Tanner Stephens and John Hall jump on to discuss what stands out from Worlds, and who's looking poised to have a strong result this weekend in Loudenveille. Enjoy!

Play Vital Downhill Fantasy - https://www.vitalmtb.com/fantasy
More mountain bike news and reviews - vitalmtb.com

• 3:06 - Dak's wild week at Worlds
• 4:56 - Race day game plan
• 7:52 - Where it all went wrong (pull out could end at 12:15) (or 14:01)
• 15:08 - Dealing with the heartbreak of crashing at Worlds
• 23:29 - Bike setup for Andorra
• 23:48 - Loudenveille setup and approach
• 26:22 - Tire choice in Andorra 
• 27:31 - Dak's "stock" tire pressure
• 30:39 - Unintentional Maxxis sponsor plug - DH casing convo
• 33:47 - Tuned mass damper hearsay 
• 42:36 - New (Shimano) brakes
• 46:27 - Dak's current bar height, stem length, stack height
• 57:06 - Industry Buzz Report: John's thoughts on tuned mass dampers
• 1:03:42 - pranks in the pits
• 1:06:27 - Fav Worlds Kit
• 1:09:06 - MTB TMZ
• 1:11:29 - Why Bruni isn't fast just because of his bike
• 1:25:58 - Importance of team environment 
• 1:34:17 - Junior results, race highlights, Loudenveille predictions
• 1:38:46 - Loic going top 3 in the last split after crashing…
• 1:40:35 - Back to Junior discussion
• 1:49:30 - Elite results, race highlights, Loudenveille predictions
• 2:05:52 - Burgtec Labour of Love

Jack Rice checks in from Andorra and the 2024 UCI Downhill Mountain Bike World Championships with interviews from the podium riders and Greg Minnaar, who continues to troll us about possible retirement.

0:00 - Loris Vergier
2:33 - Vali Holl
3:15 - Greg Minnaar
7:55 - Myriam Nicole
9:09 - Finn Iles
12:48 - Tahnee Seagrave
13:41 - Benoit Coulanges

After almost a two-month break since the last World Cup, elite downhill racing returns to the Pyrenees Mountains of Andorra for World Champs this week. Rejoice! Tag along with Jason Schroeder, Tanner Stephens, and John Hall as they refresh your memory of who’s been fast this year, what happened during the long summer break, and discuss who will be in contention for the elusive rainbow stripes. 

0:00 - The crew catches up
3:30 - Monster Energy Downhill - Snow Summit / US National DH scene
8:30 - The growth of national series in the coming years
11:19 - Why no Aaron Gwin on the US Worlds team? + Aaron’s return to racing
18:09 - Richie Rude the DH racer
19:20 - Do racers share more info with each other at World Champs amongst fellow countrymen?
21:24 - How country federations play a part in World Champs
27:16 - 2024 season thus far…
37:40 - Races that happened during the summer break
50:24 - Fantasy info for World Champs
54:36 - Andorra track notes
1:02:35 - Fantasy Picks - Junior Women 
1:04:55 - Fantasy Picks - Junior Men
1:09:45 - Fantasy Picks - Elite Women
1:12:55 - Fantasy Picks - Elite Women

There's a new national-level downhill mountain bike race series in the U.S. — Clay Harper has ushered in the Monster Energy Pro Downhill and is in its inaugural year, landing in Big Bear this weekend. Clay, our guest on The Inside Line this week, is no stranger to downhill finding his love for the sport back in 1996 with the likes of Kyle Ebbett, Lars Tribus, Todd Bosch, Ken Avery, Aaron Chase and more. The farm-raised New Jersey native is also responsible for creating one of America's most legendary bike parks by building the first trails at Mountain Creek. He was behind the founding of the U.S. Open of Mountain Biking and continues to run the event today. Let's not forget he even puts on the X Games Real MTB contest. If it involves downhill in the USA, there aren't many things Clayton hasn't done and his push to grow the sport in our country through the Pro Downhill Series is a testament to his dedication to the community. Enjoy this interview with an instrumental figure in #USDH...it's just the tip of the iceberg.

Learn more about Clay, the Pro Downhill Series and the U.S. Open

• @clayharper1
• @prodownhillseries
• @usopenmtb

Thanks to  Maxxis Tires, FOX and Jenson USA  for supporting The Inside Line MTB podcast!

While visiting Mountain Creek Bike Park in New Jersey, for a Vital Enduro Fork Test Session project, I caught up with local legend, George Ryan. I met George in person about 20 years ago, but knew of him before that because of his online persona in old-timey forums and his presence in videos like the Chain Reaction series. Over the years we'd see each other at events or on photo shoots, so it was a massive pleasure to sit down with him and hear his full story. To my surprise, he's a big-time MTB keepsake collector and he showed up with old jerseys, DVDs, magazines and even a Shaun Palmer baseball card. We discuss his journey into mountain biking, turning pro and eventually becoming the main man in charge of trails at Mountain Creek. Enjoy the episode and hit up Vital MTB to soak up some of his old relics he has stashed away. I've put some of my photos from 2005 decline work down below too. Thanks so much, Muffin!

(If you want to see epic late 90s early 2000s downhill race TV broadcasts that he recorded as a kid, hassle him on Instagram so he'll get them uploaded : )