EDITOR’S LETTER

we caught up with an old friend of MBUK recently. Back in the early 2000s Marc ‘Slugger’ Beaumont was just starting to make a name for himself on the downhill scene, which is why we thought it would be a good idea to get him signed up to our MBUK race team. Marc joined us in 2005 and enjoyed a good three years on the team, recording his first ever World Cup win at Vigo in 2007 and taking part in loads of great features for us from around the world. He had a bit of a break from riding recently to be a presenter on some YouTube channel or other, but now he’s back in full flow and, as we discovered, still as hungry for success on the World Cup circuit as ever. He took us riding round his local stomping ground in Shropshire as part of our Origins series – where we try and find out more about the landscapes that have shaped some of the best riders in the world. What’s great about this series is, sure, we get to watch and ride with class acts like Slugger again, but we really get a sense of how his passion for riding got started. And how it involved loads of riding, sculpting trails and basically having fun on a bike. It’s great inspiration for any young riders out there – you can find out more on page 62.

As you read this our testing crew are in the middle of hammering 20 long-travel/enduro bikes for our Bike of the Year issue next month. Make sure you don’t miss that issue when we reveal the winner!

“Sure, we get to watch and ride with class acts like Slugger again, but we also really get a sense of how his passion for riding got started"