Yeah, the more I like sort of hang out with people and talk to them about their school experiences, I just realized more and more how very different my upbringing was. Well, for me, I'm doing a lot of maths when I'm there. Like, I'm not very good at maths. But when I'm like, I'm doing a lot of like, have you seen that meme of the lady who's got all the equations like above her head? Yeah, that's what I'm like the whole time at Darkfest. I'm like watching everyone, seeing how much speed they're using, like seeing how they're running into lips, everything they're doing like to try and work out what I need to do. So, you know, at the time of year where you hit sponsors up, I would like smash the emails out, get like a new CV going, get everything going,

send it off to like a million sponos, and no one would ever be keen.

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

deeper than ever into the gravity-based side of mountain biking. This week we've got an awesome offer on the must-have 23 yearbooks from Misspent Summers and our WeL-1 discount code is still active too. My Misspent Summers Yearbooks for Downhill and Enduro arrived this week and I've already spent a couple of lovely hours reading them. The yearbooks are the perfect Christmas present for you or a friend or partner who rides. As a downtime listener, you can get 10% off the year and everything else misspent summers until the end of the year using the code downtime at misspent summers.com. So whether you want yearbooks, downtime EP, or some awesome, awesome clothing, and you can get 10% off your Christmas shopping right now over at misspent summers.com. Also, until the end of the year, you can get 20% off We are One's convergence rims and wheel sets. If you listen to the podcast regularly, you'll know that I love Weir One's wheels. For many years now, I've been using them and benefiting from their incredible robustness and great ride feel that strikes a balance between compliance and stiffness to give you a ride that's direct

but not harsh. Downtime listeners get an extra special 20% off for the month of November by using

the code downtime November 23 at the checkout over on we are one composites.com. That's downtime

with the capital D, November with the capital N and the number 23 with no spaces over at we are

one composites.com. It's the time of the year where people are asking you what you want for Christmas or you need to buy presents for your friends and loved ones. Well, you may have spoiled there's a new downtime logo and the web store is now updated with tons of new merch, including updates to t-shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts, plus the addition of mugs, stickers and big tote bags to pack your riding gear into. I've also added some bundles which enable you to save money when you buy a few bits together. Also, while in the past, it's all been printed in the UK, we now have a decent chunk of the products also available from a US-based facility. So if you're based in the US and you've previously been put off by the shipping prices, head back over to downtimepodcast.com, force slash shop, and you should be able to get them delivered for much less. So if it's t-shirts, sweatshirts and hoodies or mug, sticks and totes, we've got them at downtimepodcast.com, forthslash shop. Merch is great, but if you really want to support the podcast financially and help

it keep going through what's going to be a challenging year for 2024, then Patreon is the best

way to do it. You can head over to patreon.com for slash downtime podcast and set up a regular

donation. Also, I've recently added access to the downtime EP subscriber area to all the £5

and £10 Patreon members.

So that means you'll get digital copies of the magazines and some extra things to download too.

If Patreon isn't right for you, then sharing the podcast with your friends is also an awesome

way to help out and spread the word.

Don't forget to follow the podcast to make sure you never miss an episode.

You can do that by hitting that 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, you can now do that over on my YouTube channel, which is YouTube.com for slash at downtime podcast. I've been working hard to try and improve my video production and I think

it's starting to look pretty decent now. I'll also pop a link to the video and everything else I've

mentioned in this intro in the show notes over on my website, downtimepodcast.com. All right, today I'm

joined by Verro Sandler. Verro has had an interesting five years since she last appeared on the podcast,

moving from downhill

...