Wise Words is our new interview series talking to some of mountain biking’s most switched on people.
We’ll ask our short list of questions to a heap of influential, inspiring and outspoken people that we feel are driving the direct of mountain biking today. Some will make you think, some will make you laugh, some will be plain dumb, some will inspire you to better yourself and your riding. We hope!
James Richards is a man of many talents. Handy enough on a bike in his own right, while also being a guide, coach and raptor expert.
While not out helping people ride or showing people some amazing trails on their bikes, he’s spent the last few years keeping one Tracey Moseley’s race whip in full fettle, as well as all the other things a World Champion needs to focus on the task at hand.
Photo by Matt Delorme.
How would your closest riding buddies describe you to someone who has never met you?
A little excitable, likes to ride up and down everything, knows a lots of fun rides, and is a decent guy to be out on the hill with, “I hope anyway”. Oh and a couple of guys just call me “James Holiday”.
What thing or things have you bought in the last year that had the biggest effect on your life as a mountain biker / cyclist / person that works in the bike industry?
I’d have to say an e-bike, I’ve had a lot of fun on it in the winter when I would normally be just slogging, grinding, and slowly moving around in typical UK winter conditions. Its just kept me motivated to ride, I mix it up a lot in the winter on bikes anyway, road, XC, trail bike and now with the e-bike its great for quick blasts and I love climbing on it, especially in technical tight terrain.
What unusual habits do you have as a bike rider?
I keep squirreling food away, I’m always leaving half eaten food in my riding bag, you know a piece of cake in some crusty tin foil, flapjack with some good bits of dirt stuck in it, or a banana I find dried up and like a dead man’s finger in the bottom of my bag. I like to think I’m storing food for when I might need it.
What piece of advice do you think every mountain bike rider should hear? And what piece should they ignore?
Advice would be look after those knees, my left one’s a bit grumpy and arthritic and I’m sure if I’d always had pads on when I just nipped out for a spin or arrived at a race or went to ride a track in casual clothes and ended up smacking my knee into the ground again it might not be so bad now.
Ignore any one who tells you don’t need a back pack, bum bag, saddle bag etc. Bags are great, you put stuff in them, and its there when you need it, clean, dry, and useful, mountain biking is a sport where you need to be prepared, and its not right to rely on other people, plus you look a dick pushing your bike back to the car.
If you could go back and re-ride one day from your life so far, where/what/when/who would it be? Would you change anything?
That’s some question. Errrrr, Ok
One year we set off with a about 19 riders to go searching for EWS stages on the Sproat Mtn side of the Whistler Valley, looking for a trail called Howler. We rode a load of other tracks but we kept losing people. Finally we found and rode Howler but by then we were down to 5 then 3, Tracy Moseley, Rene Wildhaber and I. We did some more old skool stuff around west side of Green Lake, then Tracy said ‘I’m done’ so Rene and I took all her spare water and hit the Sea to Sky Highyway for a few k’s to find the start of Comfortably Numb. This is a Whistler classic and not for everyone as it says 3 to 6 hours to complete, all 17km of singletrack, and Whistler loam, roots, and rock rollers with huge tree bridges and amazing descents, but no water.
It was a hot day and we already had 40kms in the legs but Rene and I felt like little kids, talking about Pink Floyd and all the trail names in the valley with associated music names. We were rapidly running out of water and food, but were able to drain the tube and last bit of our backpack bladders to get almost a third of a water bottle, this was a life-saver, the last couple of kms were hard and we were done big style.
The last part of the trail gets awkward and technical with a few ups and downs that leads you into the Lost Lake Trail network and on to the lost Lake. Eventually we rolled out of the woods and down to the Lake covered in dust and broken, the water fountain was a life-saver and then we went for a swim in the Lake, it was a proper day of riding, we were exhausted but what would I change, nothing only I’d take more water so I could enjoy the trail more, just need to go back there and ride it again.
What have you wasted the most time on in your life as a rider or bike industry career that you wished you’d given up years ago?
Internal cable routing, it’s the work of the devil and has no place on a bike designed to ride in the woods.
Photo by Dan Milner.
How do you motivate yourself when you’re struggling or lacking inspiration?
Just plan a group ride, its always easier if you’re with a group of mates.
What single and specific thing about riding bicycles do you gain the most happiness from?
Just letting gravity take over, when you point it down hill and the freehub clicks faster, you can move so effortlessly but cover the ground at speed, it just makes me smile.
Photo by Sam Needham.
What single thing would you like to erase from cycling history from the last year?
Gravel Bikes, they are all going to realise that they just want to be mountain bikers and if you want to enjoy the downhills you need fatter tyres and wide bars.
What single thing would you like to make happen in the cycling world in the next year?
I’d love to see a New Zealand-style, Accident Compensation Board, where the government looks out for people following an injury or accident, the hope would be to stop this blame and sue culture we have that effects events, trails, tutoring young riders and make landowners panic about people playing on bikes.
Who else should we ask these questions to?
Brook Macdonald, Phil from Bike Verbier, Cesar Rojo, Chris Porter.
