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Everyone has their own unique story behind the beginning of their mountain bike journey, here’s some local legends letting us know theirs, with some old school photos to boot!
Colin Ross
“For me it all started at the age of 12 yrs old. I lived a 5min cycle from Mary Peters which became a place where me and my friends went on our BMX's to have some fun on small jumps and hang out. This is where I started seeing local Mountain bikers come and ride some features which always caught my eye.
Not long after that Barnetts Demesne hosted an XC mtb race and I thought why not give it a go! This was my first race! I got hooked and started racing other XC events and by the following year I raced my first DH race (see pic).
For me mountain biking was about becoming part of a small community in the area. We had fun at weekends and had regular night rides. I then started to compete in races all over the country. I was so fortunate to have somewhere right on my doorstep where mountain biking really kicked off in NI and its so cool to see it still happening there.”
Glyn O’Brien
“In our family we could ride bikes before we could walk! Weekends and family holidays were spent at BMX races and our back garden was packed with the raddest dirt jumps any kid could ask for. When BMX fizzled out in the 90's I turned to moto x to get my kicks. My passion for cycling was just too strong though. So with some encouragement from a friend my moto x bike was sold and my first mountainbike was purchased in 1995. Since then, I have travelled the world riding bikes and made lifelong friends along the way. I participate and love all Cycling disciplines, but anything gravity fed gets me fired up the most!