Gatecrashing … the Crankbrothers/Clif Bar ‘Ride With Peaty’ day.
Words and photos by Ryan Goff
It’s a crisp Thursday morning in November and for most folk it’s time for a coffee, a quick look at the emails and a bit of a day dream about the weekend. For Rob, Harry and Becky though – its something way better. It’s a lucky chance for a day out riding bikes with one of the greatest mountain bikers of all time, Steve Peat.
I was invited along as the token journo to see how it all went down – better than emails and coffee, right?
(above) the lucky ‘Ride with Peaty’ winners that were picked to meet Steve and ride his local woods. Rob, Harry and Becky. Oh – and Steve!
The day was organised by Clif Bar and Crankbrothers‘ UK Distributor Extra who had put out a competition to win a day with Steve in the woods that made him the legend he is today. Hundreds responded – 3 were picked – this was their big day out!
We met at 10AM sharp and the winning troops gathered in a cold, wintry Grenoside car park, just outside Sheffield and next door to Steve’s house. Steve arrived quickly grinning to ride despite the wet, he’s clearly a man of all weathers! He was greeted with a warm Yorkshire tea (supplied by Becky’s dad) to warm the bones and we all got to know each other.
With the morning sun making an appearance through the autumn trees, the crew decide to warm up with a few laps at Grenoside, a familiar training ground for Peaty.
Starting with the ‘Pub Run’ Steve lead the pack and cruised the trail – leading the way with his pack of winners in tow. Reaching the bottom of the trail it was clearly pretty surreal for some and a life long dream come true. Becky, hitting the bottom of the trail told me “It’s a dream, a complete dream come true! I’m in full fan girl mode right now. It’s wicked.”
With the first lap out the way it was on to Peaty’s Steel City track for a better insight into each of the rider’s ability. Steve handed out a few Clif Bars to keep everyone fueled up and helped each of the riders with some advice. He isn’t just a world class mountain biker, he’s also a great coach and is great for giving tips, tricks and techniques too.
“It’s good fun, you learn a lot and he helps with your technique and how you’re riding. There was a few occasions he would take a minute to watch us on the trials to give feedback.
It’s good fun to follow him down and watch how he rides too, you really learn a lot from riding with guys like Peaty.”
Harry
“Yeah I started racing this year for the first time as a bit of fun and I came 2nd in the Welsh Gravity Enduro Series, and first in another one and have a load more lined up next year.
Getting the chance to ride with Steve and learning from his advice is really going to help me with my racing in the future.”
Becky.
The day ends as every ride should with a trip to the pub for good food and a “cheers!” from Peaty. We’re all muddy and wet but happy and there are smiles all round.
Huge thanks to Steve Peat for his time and to Crankbrothers and their UK Distributor Extra for making the day possible.
Cheers!
