ED’S TOP SHREDS

We’re saying goodbye to our features editor Ed Thomsett after four years with the mag. Unable to give him a proper send-off down the pub, we asked him to take a look back at his top moments on MBUK instead

1. Meeting Chris Akrigg

“If you’d told me when I was 12 that I’d end up working for the magazine I spent each month devouring from cover to cover, I don’t think I’d have believed you – and I certainly wouldn’t have if you’d told me that one day it’d be me on the front page! I remember my first MBUK – it was September 2000 and Chris Akrigg was on the cover doing a no-footed endo. Since that day, I’ve always marvelled at Chris’s creativity, especially the way he interprets the same Yorkshire landscapes we both grew up riding. Sitting in his kitchen while he made me a cup of tea was a pretty surreal experience, followed by the real treat of getting to watch his bicycle mastery at first-hand.”

2. Sailing in the Arctic

“Travel has undoubtedly been one of the best things about working for MBUK. I’m grateful that those in charge nearly always gave me free rein to go wherever and do whatever – provided I came up with some half-decent words at the end of it. Since reading Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights, it had always been a bit of a dream to go to the Arctic Circle, and when I heard about people ski-touring by boat in the Norwegian Alps it sparked an idea. Riding natural, scarcelytouched singletrack from mountaintop to sea level and then sailing on to the next spot under a sun that barely set, it was a week to remember, both for the trails and the sleep deprivation.”

3. Racing the Strathpuffer

“A 24-hour race is something I’d recommend everyone to do once in their lifetime. Whether I’d rush to do one again in the middle of the Scottish winter is another matter, but the Strathpuffer is far more than just a gruelling sufferfest. The camaraderie, banter and incredible atmosphere make it one of the best races I’ve done. Defrosting your SPD shoes over a campfire at 3am is as unpleasant as it sounds, but the lows pale into insignificance when the sun finally comes up and you cross the finish line for the last time. Hanging on to the back of round-the-world record holder Mark Beaumont to take third place was the icing on the cake of an already very icy weekend.”

4.The Great British Hardtail

“During my time at the mag, a topic that came up numerous times was how cool it’d be to make our own bike. One day I decided to stop faffing and take action, so I called up Andrew Denham from Frome-based frame-building school The Bicycle Academy and asked, “how about it?” Amazingly Andrew bought into our idea and I ended up being the lucky one who got to make the bike, decide what kit went on it and take it for its first test ride. It’s a pretty rad feeling ripping around a corner on a bike you’ve built from the ground up with your own hands. With any luck, I’ll be long gone by the time the others realise it’s missing from the workshop!”