Rowan Sorrell is the founder, director, and head of trails at Bike Park Wales.

In this episode, we sit down with UK mountain biking legend Rowan Sorrell to discuss everything from the evolution of mountain bike trail centres to becoming a World Champion downhill racer. Rowan shares stories from his early years, racing downhill in the sport's early days, and how modern bikes have dramatically improved the riding experience.

We explore the founding and development of Bike Park Wales, drawing inspiration from the iconic Whistler Bike Park. Rowan provides insights into the intricate process of building and planning trails, addressing the early challenges of creating flow in trail design, and emphasising the importance of sustainable trail building. We also delve into the "no dig, no ride" ethos, the future of trail design, accommodating ebikes at trail centres, trail advocacy, and more.

Rowan shares his experience of becoming a Masters Downhill World Champion and unveils some exciting secret plans for Bike Park Wales.

This episode's sponsors & News

NEW MERCH! Get a limited edition TRC x TLD Long Sleeve here https://theridecompanion.co.uk/collec...

Health is wealth folks so why not get optimised, cover your nutritional bases and probably ride better with AG1. Get a FREE 1year supply of Vitamin D + 5 FREE travel packs at https://drinkag1.com/RIDECOMPANION

Pre Ride Roast is BACK + You could WIN a Rocket Appartamento coffee machine, Rocket Gianinno grinder and 12 months coffee supply plus more worth of £2500! Simply head to https://dreamcoffeecompetition.avln.m... to grab a bag of Pre Ride Roast and enter the competition!


Support our long term partners

Nissan Vans: https://www.nissan.co.uk/vehicles/new...
Get 10% off Troy Lee Designs with code 'theridecompanion' at https://saddleback.avln.me/c/OzduCWvj...
AG1: Get a FREE 1year supply of Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs at https://athleticgreens.com/RIDECOMPANION
Compex: Get 20% off with code ‘THERIDECOMPANION’ at https://www.compex.com/uk/
Peak Supps: Get 10% off the TRC bundle and everything on site with code ‘theridecompanion’ at https://peaksupps.co.uk/
Worx: Get 15% off with code ‘THERIDECOMPANION’ at https://uk.worx.com/
LAKA: Get 30 days free insurance with code ‘RIDECOMPANION30’ at https://laka.co/gb/
HKT Products: Use code ‘PODCAST’ for 10% off the entire site.


Follow

Olly Wilkins
Instagram   / odub_23  
YouTube https://www.youtube.com/user/owilkins...

The Ride Companion
Instagram   / theridecompanion  
YouTube http://www.youtube.com/c/TheRideCompa...

Listen To Every Episode of The Ride Companion:

• Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast...
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/66evYll...

Chapters

00:00:00 Introduction to Rowan Sorrell
00:06:48 First mountain bike specific trail centres
00:14:30 There were NO BERMS!?
00:23:30 How do you plot trail locations?
00:29:45 AG1
00:32:10 Racing early downhill world cup races
00:36:38 The Whistler bike park inspiration
00:43:40 Is 'No Dig No Ride' valid?
00:55:34 How the Bikepark Wales founders met
01:05:06 DREAM COFFEE COMP
01:07:50 The first trails at Bikepark Wales
01:12:45 Do people respect bikeparks?
01:20:19 The future of MTB trail design
01:29:29 Rowan's dream yard
01:34:37 UK Trail advocacy situation
01:42:24 Becoming Masters World Champion
01:52:50 Bikepark Wale HUGE announcement!
01:58:17 LIKE & SUBSCRIBE!

Get official Ride Companion merch, previous episodes and more
https://theridecompanion.co.uk

Contact Us & Business: https://theridecompanion.co.uk/pages/...
Edited By: Doug Tucker, onlyflightdispatch.com

#TheRideCompanion #mountainbiking #mtb