RIDERS READY: Martyn Brookes

NICKNAME DIBLEY
HOMETOWN STOKE
AGE TWENTY TWO
CAT ELITE
BIKE ASR CARBON

Martyn is the teams top Elite rider and is officially the UK's fastest night rider, crowned King of the Night at 24/12, SiTS, Mountain Mahyem, Bristol Bikefest and the Cheddar Challenge. 2009 will see another busy year as Brookside balances studies with racing and promoting a round of the Midlands XC Series.

This year, Hanchurch hosts the Midlands Championships which will be a big aim. It also helps that most of the course is now complete, so race prep won't involove seven days of hauling hardcore!

We caught up with Martyn to find out about his aspirations for 2009...

SO, WHAT'S THE MASTERPLAN FOR 2009?
Well, first on the list is to clean the climb up Snowdon, adding to Jacob's Ladder and Helvellyn which are already in the bag. Oh, clear the triple at Crewe and to pull a backflip in an XC race, that would be cool.

AND ON THE RACETRACK - STU TOLD ME YOU WERE FLYING!?
Ha! Total bull! I went spinning the other day and chundered...

I HOPE THERE WEREN'T ANY HOTTIES THERE...
No, it was in Stoke.

HA! I CAN ALMOST READ THE COMPLAINTS ALREADY.
When I went for the final sprint I gave it full gas. I errupted out of the saddle, gave it the full on BMX style and held it for eight seconds. Then I hit a dead end at 1350 watts...never done that before. After, the wheel was so hot sweat was evaporating on impact!

SO WHAT OTHER STUFF ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 09?
Getting a Seven and taking on the MegaAvalanche. That will be fun.

WITH ALL THESE OTHER CHALLENGES SOME WOULD THINK YOU'RE NOT AN XC RACER, OR AT LEAST IT ISN'T YOUR PRIORITY?
Ha, never have been. Just happen to like racing, that and being as technically perfect as possible. I take real pride in riding a course rather than a path that tape surrounds.

I GUESS THIS REALLY INSPIRED YOUR HANCHURCH RACE COURSE?
No, orriginally Dan Wells and I started to build the single track to promote better skills. When it was first built we could not ride it without dabbing, so new ways of delivering static skills to the trails had to be learned. Over time we kept extending and extending the singletrack, and only a portion is used in the race track. The rest was deemed to dificult and dangerous, which really sucks.

SO WHAT DOES A COURSE NEED THEN, AND DOES ANY UK TRACK COME CLOSE?
Well, no track has to be 100% singletrack - it needs to be a unique challenge. The best tracks so far have been Twentyfour12, Cheddar and Bristol. That track at the Ashton Court Bikefest is super taxing, on some bits you might as well take your seat off! To maintain momentum without stalling on the bends and bumps is super hard. You know it is a challenge when you gauge your limit by the sound your foot makes as it brushes against the fenceline!

SO HOW DOES YOUR RACE AT HANCHURCH FIT ALONGSIDE THIS?
I am just trying to show that XC races aren't all about fitness training, there is more to racing than that! I'd say the greatest skill you can have is the ability to race, you have to have that trained instinct to do well.

Thanks Mart, we'll be looking out for that at the races!