Josh Bryceland on Why He Really Came Back to Racing, MTB Philosophy & the State of Downhill
The Ride Companion
TRC Media House
4.9 • 533 Ratings
🗓️ 6 August 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Josh "Ratboy" Bryceland joins us at the Red Bull studio at Hardline!
In this episode, Josh opens up about his unique approach to racing and fatherhood, freeriding, organising events, and his not so serious attempt at farming (despite owning all the gear and growing nothing). We dive into what it's really like to ride Hardline, how he manages his mindset to avoid the dreaded "red zone," and why he never took a serious approach to racing even at the top level. He reflects on his time with the Santa Cruz Syndicate, how racing has changed over the years, and why he stepped away just as the sport was getting more clinical.
Josh also shares how he helped create Bolly Skyline Enduro, a grassroots mountain bike event that brought his local community together in the best possible way.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Would you class yourself as a farmer? |
| 0:02.0 | No, I'm not a farmer. |
| 0:04.0 | No? |
| 0:05.0 | I mean, I admire farmers. |
| 0:07.0 | I'm a bit of a one of me, but we don't have... |
| 0:10.0 | Yeah, big farmer, me, bro. |
| 0:13.0 | Big farmer. |
| 0:14.0 | No, I've got all the kit, just don't have any animals or grow any crops. |
| 0:19.0 | Oh, no. any animals or growing your crops. There we are. Right, welcome to Hardline and today we've got a guest who we wanted to have on for the longest time. |
| 0:34.6 | Yeah, another bucket list. |
| 0:36.6 | Big time. Sorry that, I've been a bit, I've been slack, I know, but here we are. It's hard. We've found a time. We've squeezed it in between runs. Josh Bryson. Thanks for joining us. I think that's a great liftoff point in a way. Like, you said, I've been, I've been, what have you been doing? |
| 0:54.7 | What does Josh Brysland do these days, man? |
| 1:12.3 | Loads. Loads. Yeah? Yeah, well, I don't even know where to start. I wear a lot of different hats. Like, I'm, you know, yeah, I don't even know where to start. My weeks always look completely different depending on what time you hear is and what's going on. |
| 1:12.7 | Okay. |
| 1:12.3 | But that's... I don't even know where to start. My weeks always look completely different depending on what time of year is and what's going on. |
| 1:12.7 | Okay. |
| 1:18.1 | But last week was amazing because Brooke came to stay. |
| 1:19.7 | So I've been a mountain biker. |
| 1:21.7 | So that's been a really fun week. |
| 1:22.5 | Yeah. |
| 1:25.7 | The week prior to that, I was a race organizer. |
| 1:27.3 | So I've been doing my race stuff. |
... |
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