RACHEL ATHERTON
Rach reflects on getting back on her downhill bike after having a baby
Last week, I had the best day for such a long time on my downhill bike. Riding again after having a baby has been awesome! I missed doing big jumps so much while
I was pregnant. I started off doing small tabletops and getting that confidence back, then one day I focused solely on jumps and by the end I was hitting some of the big ones at Dyfi Bike Park.
There’s nothing quite like a DH bike, and ours (check out our Atherton Bikes feature on p54) is so grounded and smooth it just begs you to ride faster. There’s a tabletop at the bottom of ‘50 Hits’, out of a berm, where you have to clear the jumps before it, absolutely rail the corner and commit to the jump, then squash up to it and really pop the lip. It’s quite a steep lip too, as [brother] Dan always builds them! I reckon it’s the most fun of all the jumps in the park, and when
I cleared it, I felt so good.
Our baby, Arna, chills at the bike park cafe with whoever is around – often my mum or [fiancé] Olly – and we do laps. It’s so cool! I feel really unfit and don’t have much strength, but it’s a good challenge to try and get back up to World Cup speed. I’ve also just been inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in California, which is so rad, and I feel very humbled and stoked.