MoreDirt talks to 2009 Scottish Cross Country Champion Andy Barlow about life as a full time mountain bike coach.
MD. What's your earliest bike related memory?
Probably racing round a patch of grass behind my house in Forrester Park Loan, Edinburgh. All the older kids were faster than me round the corners 'cause I still had my stabilisers on. So, I'd bend them out of the way to corner faster. I was scared that I'd get in to trouble when I got home though, so I'd bend them back before I went in. I only confessed this to my Mum a few years ago. She told me that they'd eventually snapped! She'd taken them back to the shop and shouted at the poor bloke for selling them to us! Little did she know that I'd been bending them back and forth for a month or so. I was probably about four or five. True story.
Were you quite a competitive child even at that young age? What age did you start racing?
I never really thought of myself as a competitive kid. I was always forced to play football or rugby and I didn't enjoy either of them so, I always thought of myself as someone that wasn't that into sport. I just rode my bike to go places with my pals. We were riding off-road before we even knew what mountain biking was! Jumps and drops, BMX tracks, rides into the woods or hills...
I started Racing XC when I was about thirteen or fourteen. I wasn't really that competitive though. I just did it because it was fun. I spent all my time in Corstorphine Woods by that time. People were always shouting at us to slow down, but when I went to a race people were shouting at us to speed up! It was such a rush seeing how fast you could go and just what your body was capable of when pushed.
You raced BMX as a youngster didn't you? Does B M X have a meaning behind the letters like XC or DH? I often wondered about that.
BMX stands for Bicycle Motor X (cross). My head is full of useless nonsense like that. I never raced BMX till I was in my late teens though.
You seem like a really laid back person. You must have some serious drive though to become Scottish Cross Country Champion at elite level?
I just wanted to see what I could do. I had a realisation a few years ago that if I didn't do it now then I would eventually be too old, or have too many responsibilities to give it everything I could. I stopped smoking, didn't drink from January till September, reduced my intake of chocolate, biscuits, processed food etc. I just wanted to see what would happen. There's no better feeling in competition than asking something of your body and it being able to deliver.
What else is on your list to do before you're too old?
I really want to go to Egypt, Peru and Africa. Maybe India as well. Just see more of the world really. I've always been involved with bikes, so it's nice to just get away from it all sometimes. Although every time I do I always find myself looking at things and thinking, 'If only I had my bike, I could ride that.'
You were Scottish XC Mountain bike Champion in 2009. What have you been up to in 2010?
Learning how to Whip! Haha! Nah, just having fun. Matthew Broderick's character, Ferris Bueller quoted John Lennon in the Film saying, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." That's what 2010's been about for me; having fun. Last year was really hard for me mentally. To stay focussed and keep one goal in mind for so long. I didn't really think anything of it at the time, I was just going for it, but it was such a relief when I finally did it. I'll be back on the racing scene soon though, but probably not short course XC racing again. Maybe more Enduro DH events? We'll see.
Enduro Downhill? Are we talking Avalanche Trophy style; riding up to the start points for timed runs on various descents or Fort William style using some kind of uplift with the winner getting in the most complete runs in a set time?
I fancy giving the DH Stage Race format a go. For years people have been coming back from things like the Avalanche Cup and the Kona Mash Up and saying, "You should give this a go. You'd kill it." We'll see about that, but I definitely want to give it a go. The best part of XC is the Downhill, so I guess it makes sense to race XC where the DH is timed.
What about the Megavalanche? Or the Scottish version; the Macavalanche?
I don't know about the mass-start thing. You have to be such an ass hole to get through the pack. The last thing I want to do is smash my way to the front and put people off coming to Dirt School because I made them crash in a race. Not cool.
How did you progress from XC to BMX to DH and what was your motivation?
To quote Jonathan Livingston Seagull in Richard Bach's novel, "I just like to fly". I love seeing how far I can push things; jumps, whips, manuals, fitness, mental endurance. Maybe that's why I didn't get on well at school? I was always seeing what I could get away with.
Seems like you've come full circle now and returned to the riding you started with all those years ago. Would you say the time spent in the other disciplines has made you a better XC rider?
Absolutely. I've always thought of myself as a cyclist rather than a roadie, or an XC rider, or a Downhiller. The thing is though, every time I step in to a new arena, the people I meet always teach me new things. The techniques I learned riding street or dirt in BMX taught me more about attitudes toward life than anything else. Determination to succeed, practice, patience, more practice... If you think you're going to crash in BMX, you do.
What's with all the quotes? More examples of your ability to retain useless information? What else have you got in there? I'm quite liking: "Hi, Buddy the Elf. What's your favourite colour?"
I don't know. When I hear or read something enough times it just sticks. Film quotes, passages from books, lines from TV shows, song lyrics... The funny thing is though, when I was at school I became convinced I was stupid, so I just stopped trying academically. I didn't start reading till I was in my twenties! It was only then that I realised that I'd been reading the wrong books.
I worded a few questions in such a way that you'd be able to plug dirt school and any current or future projects. Don't be shy Andy.
I worked in retail selling things for so long that I just can't bring myself to do it now. If a person is smart enough to realise that one day of tuition would make a difference, hopefully they'll also be smart enough to go to someone who actually knows what they're talking about. Chris and I are definitely not in it for the money. We both had a huge helping hand from National Coaching programs, and wanted to offer the same experience to regular enthusiasts. For the most part I look at what we do as allowing people to enjoy their escapism to the best of their ability. The folk that come to us already enjoy riding their bikes. We just give them the skills to do it with a bigger smile on their faces.
You can quote me on all that as well. haha
So, what do you want to plug then?
Trek Bikes have been a huge support for us. There's no way we could afford to roll around on the Remedys we currently coach on if it wasn't for them. Their trust and foresight in what we're doing is a huge encouragement. They're also an absolute dream to ride! No hard sell here - anyone that knows me will know that's my honest opinion.
Hope Technology as well. Their brakes and hubs are the best in the business. After spending years as a mechanic I always go for things you can work on yourself, and Hope is a no-brainer. It's so refreshing to call them up and get someone who really knows their product. They don't make things because they think they're going to sell, they make them because they know they can do it better.
I regularly see you and the dirt school van at Glentress Bike Park and find myself imagining you have this amazing life which revolves around all things mountain biking. The kind of life myself and plenty of other people might wish for. You've not been doing the Dirt School thing all that long and it sounds as though you've done your fair share of soul sucking jobs, so what is day to day life like for you and are you happy with where you're at right now?
I couldn't be happier in what I'm doing now. I think I've become pretty unemployable to be honest. I can't see myself ever going back to a 'normal' job again. My time in retail was a means to an end, but I always wanted to do my own thing. Chris and I don't run Dirt School because we think it'll make us rich. We do it out of a love for Mountain biking and a genuine enjoyment of watching people improve. I love it when people come up to us and say thanks for making a difference. To know that we've changed people's confidence or technique for the better makes it all worth while.
Whenever I decide to go for something I really go for it. Chris is the same. Making sure Dirt School is the best choice for Mountain Bike Coaching in the UK was a conscious decision that we took. This is my full time job and I put a lot of effort in to evaluating how I taught a class and taking any feedback on board. I honestly believe that we provide the most experienced, up to date, accurate coaching that's out there. And we'll continue to improve the longer we run. We're not just doing it in our spare time, or jumping on the band wagon because we think it's an easy way to make money. This is what we do, and I hope that we can continue to make a positive difference in the world of Mountain Biking for years to come.
Many thanks to Andy for his time and a great day.
www.dirtschool.co.uk
Article by: John Dunn
Thanks to
Richard Easton for the photos
www.photo-moto.co.uk
