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The Ride Companion

Ben Plenge Opens Up About War, MTB Training and Mental Resilience

The Ride Companion

TRC Media House

Sports, Wilderness

4.9533 Ratings

🗓️ 12 February 2025

⏱️ 135 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ben Plenge is in studio for a hard hitting banger of a podcast!

On this episode of The Ride Companion Ben Plenge opens up about his past in the British Army, sharing intense war stories from his time in Iraq and Afghanistan, including the Battle of Danny Boy, one of the most brutal British military engagements in recent history and the war crimes inquiry that followed years later.

Beyond his military past, Ben breaks down the biggest myths in MTB training, explaining why most riders are training wrong and how certain high-intensity workouts could be doing more harm than good. He shares practical advice on recovery, cold plunges, and why focusing on the "other 23 hours" of your day matters more than you think. If you're preparing for a multi-day MTB event, Ben reveals the most common mistake that wrecks riders before they even start, outlines the three essential pieces of equipment for building the perfect MTB gym and much more...

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Edited By: Doug Tucker, onlyflightdispatch.com & TRC Media House

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

No one from the army's told me anything on my regiment.

0:02.8

No one's given me a heads up.

0:03.8

Why does it get his letter?

0:05.4

Okay, so I phone them up.

0:07.2

Like, what's this all about?

0:10.3

And basically there's this thing kicking off called the Al-Sweedy Public Inquiry

0:14.3

where effectively we're all being accused of war crimes.

0:21.7

How many podcast guests have been accused of war crimes?

0:24.7

Not me.

0:25.2

I don't think, man.

0:25.8

You might be the first one.

0:31.4

Welcome back, everybody, Rye Companion.

0:38.2

We have a guest in studio, Mr Ben Plenger.

0:41.7

Yes, mate.

0:43.8

We're going to get into it.

0:46.5

Yay!

0:48.5

Filmed in front of a live studio audience.

0:50.3

Yeah, something like that.

0:51.5

No Ollie as well, mate.

0:52.7

No, Ollie.

0:53.5

I know.

0:54.0

He's in Turkey. Oh, happy days. Good, Ollie. I know. He's in Turkey.

...

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