The idea behind our new development squad is to encourage incredibly talented young riders. We want to support them in keeping their (awesome) bike running, helping them out with kit if we can, and spending time with our team riders can be valuable in learning and gaining experience. Give back to grass roots and help where we can. It obviously doesn't hurt that these guys look great on a bike! However, the key thing is that - just like with our 0.5% of sales trail fund donations - we are making sure we are giving back to the sport and supporting it so it's better for everyone.
So to properly launch our Development Squad we decided to organise a day at Revolution Bike Park in Wales, this would give everyone a chance to meet and allow Will Easey and Wes Fife (Development Squad riders) a chance to ride with our team riders (Chay and Swinny). Here's how the day went, with words from Will Easey...
'Wow' is all I can say, what an incredible day at one of the most impeccable riding spots ever! I woke up the morning after and had the urge to just want to be back on my bike again. Definitely a well spent day and an unforgettable one! It was a pleasure to meet everyone for the first time, everyone had open arms and were wicked the entire day. I could have ridden 2 weeks straight with the same dudes and I don't think I would have got bored at all.
The main concept was to learn from team riders Chay and Swinny, and take away what there outlook is on riding. I can proudly say I have taken a lot away just from one days riding with them, they are incredibly chilled and have real character. On top of this, they are mightily fast which was a real eye opener to try and keep up! The one thing that really changed my mindset on everything within riding and was awesome to hear, is there view on riding. "Just have fun and ride your bike" - "Don't get all stressed out, or what's the point?". Because at the end of the day, you're riding your bike because you want to ride, not because you want to win all the time and get all worked up about it, you should be able to constantly be stoked to ride with or without your mates!
I am over the moon to be part of the Development Squad. I am extremely privileged to be a part of such an awesome group of people. Everyone has such a wicked mindset about everything and are constantly smiling. Partnered up with me is a dude that I first met through Instagram. Cotic first made us two start talking when they realised we both loved the company and ride our Cotic Rockets on a day-to-day basis. From then on, me and Wes were in contact. A few months passed and that is when the whole Development Squad idea launched. I was hooked instantly and so was Wes, we were both stoked and just wanted to be able to ride together. The only problem was, we live halfway across the country from each other!!
I woke up at 4:30am, left at 5, and arrived at Revolution Bike Park for around 9am to be greeted straight away by this curly haired dude! From then on we just wanted to get on our bikes and ride this insane place. After a couple of runs it was near enough impossible to take the smiles off our faces. Finally riding together was so good, our speed and style seemed to match and it was almost like the Brendog and Bryceland scene from the Deathgrip film. Although we live a long way away from each other, I definitely think you'll see us riding together a lot more now especially with the development team underway. We both have a massive passion for riding bikes and are stoked to be part of the family.
Revs. Oh my days. Wow. What a place it is! Revs has definitely rocketed (pardon the pun!) up through my list of favourite riding places! To start of the morning to get into it we all did a train on the Free Ride line. It was fast and flowy including the expected and dreaded braking bumps. Within 30 seconds I was already smiling under my helmet and couldn't wait to see what the next section would hold. One of the main talks was about the famous new "50to01" line. Going up in the uplift you can see it through the window to your left, all of us were pretty much jaw dropping looking at each other. Even the dog couldn't believe it!
After 10 minutes of looking at it and trying to understand how it works, Wes dropped in and hit the first jump perfectly, this got me and the boys amped to give it a go. I took it jump by jump getting the speed checks right and the flow. I managed to get to the third, then we decided to go hit some other trails and return back later. We returned later, more pumped then ever to tackle the enormous jumps. Wes and Swinny were hauling through them leading each other in making it through them more and more each run, it was wicked to watch the progression. Me? I took it a slight bit more chilled. I still managed to get near enough halfway through without getting to the major 25/30ft ones! Time was running out as we had caught the last uplift up, but I was stoked to get as far as I did and looking forward to going back and hitting them again!
Until next time Revolution! It was a pleasure getting to meet everyone and for once the weather was on our side, that great big ball of fire was out the entire day and yet, we were obviously still moaning that it was too hot! Thank you to Baybutt for keeping us all on track and planning this incredible ride. Also a thank you to Will for coming along and not only being a mobile mechanic for the day, but sending it massive! Can't wait to ride with everyone again.
Stay safe, ride safe & have fun! - Will