downhill mountain bike tours

Gee Atherton

If you’re in control, you aren’t going fast enough.

© Sven Martin

Hi, my name is Gee Atherton. My discipline is Downhill Mountain Biking. My friends call me Geeman. I was born on 26 March 1985 in the UK. My favourite music is anything with big beats.

Known across the world of mountain biking as Gee, the middle Atherton sibling has been a sensation in the sport since the age of 15. 

In 2004, at the age of 19, Gee won his first Downhill World Cup on the technically challenging track in the Austrian resort of Schladming. A win at this level may have seemed inevitable after his results in the junior categories, including two World Championship medals, but to gain it at such a young age was outstanding. That year he also won the National Championships at his first attempt and has gone on to top podiums the world over, finishing in the top five of the World Cup series every year since, most notably taking gold at the 2008 World Championship alongside sister Rachel, and securing the 2010 Mountain Bike World Cup crown.

With second at the inaugural Red Bull Rampage, the toughest of events to be judged on creativity rather than speed, he demonstrated his all-round talent.

Having made a sterling start to the UCI MTB World Cup season with fourth in Pietermaritzburg, poor Gee broke his tibia in training, putting him temporarily out of action.

Gee recovered to finish 3rd at Val Di Sole, Fort William and Windham and 2nd at Val d'Isere, with 3rd place overall for the 2012 World Cup season and also 2nd at the World Champs. Already in 2013, Gee took first place at the iXS German Downhill Cup in Winterberg, Germany.

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trail riding dirt bikes

Trail user frustrated by damage

Eric McCarthy, Published on June 13, 2013

O’LEARY -- John MacWilliams cut short a recent morning bike ride.

The O’Leary resident went back home and started calling and emailing anyone he could think of to express his frustration with the destruction he has been encountering along the Confederation Trail.

He has seen the ruts in the past where all-terrain vehicles enter the trail from ditches or around gates and then gun their engines, tearing up the trail surface in the process.

But this outing was different. A trails maintenance crew had just completed some upgrade and rolling work the previous week, and MacWilliams was expecting a smooth ride.

“It’s all tore to pieces out here,” he said, the frustration dripping from his voice.

He estimates he encounters four-wheelers and dirt bikes on the trail on about one-half of his biking and walking outings.

As he and two companions were finishing up a lunch hour walk recently, MacWilliams said they were standing along the trail near the Main Street crossing. “A young fellow came onto the trail as we were standing there,” he related. “We stepped out of the way and he came onto the trail and he just gunned the 4-wheeler.”

MacWilliams routinely takes photos of the motorized vehicles he encounters on the trail, but the operators have helmets and their machines don’t have registration plates, so he admits identifying them is difficult. Still, he persists. “They all know I do it,” he said.

“They’re breaking the law,” he said but added, “My main issue, as I watch them leave here, it’s a safety thing. If anybody stepped out between cars at Guardian (Drug) and stepped onto the trail, they’d be gone.” The Guardian Drug parking lot is right beside the trail where the 4-wheeler had zoomed past.

MacWilliams pointed out it’s easy to see how extensive ATV traffic is on the trail, just from the paths around the gates and the paths up out of ditches.  The trail surface gets torn up where the machines accelerate upon entering the trail.

ride mountain bike video

Video: Mountain Biking Down A Volcano

Looking for a new place to ride your mountain bike? Perhaps  you should consider heading to the Spanish island of Gran Canaria. That's what pro riders Di Litta and Kilian Bron did recently and they found some surprisingly great terrain. The video below shows off their ride as they bomb down the side of a volcano. This is so good, you'll almost certainly be considering a ride of your own afterwards.