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Downtime - The Mountain Bike Podcast

Behind the Scenes at Bike Park Wales – 10 Years In

Downtime - The Mountain Bike Podcast

Downtime MTB

Health & Fitness, Fitness, Hobbies, Leisure, Wilderness, Sports

4.9628 Ratings

🗓️ 29 August 2023

⏱️ 66 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

As Bike Park Wales turns 10 years old, I got the chance to sit down with two of the founders, Martin Astley and Rowan Sorrell. We chat about where the idea came from and what it took to bring it to reality on a hillside in South Wales. Hear about the highs and lows of running the UK’s biggest bike park, as well as finding out what they have planned for the next 10 years. These guys show what is possible when you believe in your idea and never give up, so, it’s time to sit back, hit play and listen to this episode with Bike Park Wales founders, Martin and Rowan.

You can check out all that Bike Park Wales has to offer at bikeparkwales.com and follow them on Instagram @bikepark_wales.

Supporting Partners

Bike Park Wales

Head to the UK’s biggest bike park where you’ll have 46 trails to checkout, as well as great food and a place to relax after your ride and share stories with your friends and family. You can find out all you need to know at bikeparkwales.com.

Trek Bicycles

Trek Bicycles have supported Bike Park Wales from the start and when you visit the park, you can hire either a Trek Slash, Session or Rail to hit the trails on.

Podcast Stuff

Patreon

I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the price of a take away coffee. Every little counts and these donations will really help me keep the podcast going and hopefully take it to the next level. To help out, head here.

Merch

If you want to support the podcast, and represent, then my webstore is the place to head. All products are 100% organic, shipped without plastics, and made with a supply chain that’s using renewable energy. So check it out now over at downtimepodcast.com/shop.

Newsletter

If you want a bit more Downtime in your life, then you can join my newsletter where I’ll provide you with a bit of behind the scenes info on the podcast, interesting bits and pieces from around the mountain bike world, some mini-reviews of products that I’ve been using and like, partner offers and more. You can do that over at downtimepodcast.com/newsletter.

Downtime EP

Downtime EP issue 3 is now available here. EP takes inspiration from the guests and topics of the podcast. It expands on them, and takes them into a stunning print-only format. EP is the perfect companion for some quiet time away from the distractions of modern life. Beautiful to have and hold, and a timeless piece of mountain bike history. Just head over to downtimepodcast.com/ep to save yourself £5 off of the cover price with an annual subscription for just £25 plus postage or you can purchase EP1, EP2 or EP3 on their own too.

Follow Us

Give us a follow on Instagram @downtimepodcast or Facebook @downtimepodcast to keep up to date and chat in the comments.

For everything video, including riding videos, bike checks and more, subscribe over at youtube.com/downtimemountainbikepodcast.

Are you enjoying the podcast? If so, then don’t forget to follow it. Episodes will get delivered to your device as soon as it’s available and it’s totally free. You’ll find all the links you need at downtimepodcast.com/follow. You can find us on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google and most of the podcast apps out there.

Our back catalogue of amazing episodes is available at downtimepodcast.com/episodes

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hey everyone, I'm Chris Hall and this is the downtime podcast where we're going to be taking

0:07.2

you deeper than ever into the gravity-based side of mountain biking. Just a few quick things

0:11.6

before we get stuck into this week's episode. If you've been getting something out of the podcast,

0:15.9

then it would be awesome if you consider giving a little something to help the podcast keep going

0:19.9

and growing. That could be as simple as recommending it to your riding buddies, sharing episodes on your social media,

0:25.3

or setting up a small regular donation via my Patreon, which you'll find at patreon.com

0:30.1

4 slash downtime podcast. That's Patreon, spelled P-A-T-R-E-O-N.

0:35.6

Thanks to Stefan who joined this week and to everyone who supports via Patreon already. You've helped me upgrade my travel recording equipment that I take to races and events, as well as making some audio upgrades to my home studio set up too. Also, if you want to represent the podcast, then there's downtime t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies available over at downtimepodcast.com, force for slash shop. If you'd like a little more downtime in your life, then you can join my newsletter where I'll provide you with a bit of behind-the-scenes info on the podcast, interesting bits and pieces from around the mountain bike world, some mini reviews of products that I've been using and like, partner offers and more. You can do that over at downtimepodcast.com for slash newsletter. Otherwise, don't forget to follow the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode. You can do that by hitting the button in your podcast app now or there's buttons for all the major platforms to help you over at downtimepodcast.com for slash follow. You can either listen to today's episode right here, or if you prefer to watch it,

1:28.0

you can now do that over on my YouTube channel, which is YouTube.com for slash at

1:32.6

downtime podcast. I'll also stick a link to the video in the show notes over on my website

1:36.9

downtimepodcast.com. In fact, all the links for everything that I've mentioned here are in the

1:41.7

show notes for this episode on downtimepodcast.com. This episode is supported by Bike Park Wales and we're going to

1:47.7

be going behind the scenes as they turn 10 years old. The episode is also supported by Trek

1:52.6

Bicycles who've been supporting Bight Park Wales since the very beginning and if you're

1:56.4

visiting the park then you can hire yourself a slash, a session or a rail and experience what they

2:01.1

have to offer on Bike Park Wales's awesome trail network. So as Bike Park Wales turns 10 years old,

2:07.0

I got the chance to sit down with two of the founders, Martin Astley and Rowan Sorrell. We chat about

2:12.0

where the idea came from and what it took to bring it to reality on a hillside in South Wales.

2:17.0

Hear about the highs and lows of running the UK's biggest bike park,

2:20.2

as well as finding out what they have planned for the next 10 years.

2:23.5

These guys show what is possible when you believe in your idea and you never give up.

2:27.9

So, without further ado, here's Martin and Rowan.

...

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