BACK IN THE RACE
AFTER A 10-YEAR HIATUS FROM RACING, AL BOND HAS TAKEN MBUK STRAIGHT INTO THE TOP 10!
Team MBUK used to reign supreme at UK events and enjoyed success on the international stage too, with Marc Beaumont even winning a World Cup for us. So, after a 10-year break, we figured it was about time we got back into racing. Enter Al Bond, a former national series winner who’s raced all over the world for some big-name teams. This year it’s us he’s going to be representing, and he’s got off to a flying start, placing ninth in Elite at the first round of the British Downhill Series (BDS). We caught up with Al at one of his local riding spots in North Wales to find out more about him.
Skills to pay the bills
“I got into riding at a young age when I got my first BMX,” Al tells us as we sit in his pickup, making our way up to the top of the mountain. “We rode jumps we built out of wood and would ride around the local town. Then I got my first mountain bike and started to ride tracks in the woods.”
He soon got into downhill racing – but didn’t get off to a great start. “At my first national, at Ae Forest in 2004, I got disqualified because I crashed and couldn’t climb back up to where I came off the track. I wasted 30 seconds trying, but would have still won the [Novice] race by a big margin if they hadn’t disqualified me!”
Arriving at the top, there are cracking vistas all around – it’s no wonder Al chooses to live just around the corner. “I used to read the mag when I was getting into the sport,” he tells us as he slips on his helmet. “Seeing Steve Peat and the Athertons
on the pages was my inspiration – I always wanted to be like them. And now it feels great to be a part of it. I feel really privileged to ride for the magazine I used to take motivation and inspiration from when I was learning to ride.”
The racing edge
Al’s riding style is impressive and he has great conviction when on his bike. “I’m ragged and sketchy but can also be smooth and controlled,” he says. “I can be one or the other.” Only people with serious amounts of skill can make riding look easy, and Al is one of those lucky few. “I enjoy every day I go biking, regardless of what bike I’m on. But I guess that buzz or that sense of riding on the edge is my true passion, and I get that from downhill. For 2017 I’d love to get back on a podium at the BDS. That’s my main goal for racing.”
While Al still has a day job, he’s managed to make it work with bike riding. “I’m a personal trainer, mostly working with people to improve their health, which crosses over into my bike coaching. Most weekends I’m coaching all abilities of people – from kids who are just getting into it, to 50-year-olds who want to learn to jump, through to guys who go to World Cups. It’s a great job to have!”
We’re assigned shuttle driver duties while Al heads down the mountain for a run, and he beats us to the bottom with ease. He may not quite be back on the podium yet, but he’s definitely got the skills and speed to reach his goal.
“I FEEL REALLY PRIVILEGED TO RIDE FOR THE MAGAZINE I USED TO TAKE INSPIRATION FROM”