Just Ride

In this engaging discussion, Eliot Jackson, a celebrated bike racer and founder of the Grow Cycling Foundation, delves into his mission of making mountain biking accessible in Los Angeles. He shares the inspiring success of the newly opened pump track in Inglewood, designed to empower local youth. Eliot and Rob reminisce about their early biking experiences and explore the transformative power of cycling in fostering community connections. They also share bold predictions for the upcoming cycling season, making the conversation lively and insightful.

Mani Lettenbichler is one of the greatest Hard Enduro riders of all time – and, remarkably, he’s only 26. In 2023 he completed a feat that sportspeople from all disciplines dream of: a perfect season, the first-ever in the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship. Also a three-time Red Bull Erzbergrodeo winner, Mani is a phenomenon. Racing at the very top level since he turned pro – in fact, at just 16 he competed in and finished Erzbergrodeo – the German has done it all in his discipline. Rob and Eliot are huge fans of Mani, having started their respective cycling journeys on motorbikes, and have been keen to welcome Mani to Just Ride since episode one. So, as you can imagine, this episode was a lot of fun!Mani is also an incredible cyclist, so there’s a whole host of bike chat too. In fact, if he’d taken a different path in life, Mani could well have been a pro downhiller… Lots of our Just Ride listeners emailed in to suggest Mani as a guest, so if there’s someone you’d love Rob and Eliot to chat to, let us know: podcast@redbull.com.Just Ride will be back in two weeks.

In 2014, Christian Meier got the call from his road cycling team he’d always dreamed of: “You’re racing the Tour de France.” It was the culmination of the years of riding, sacrifices and dreams that so many young cyclists have, yet so few achieve. He’d made it to the summit of his sport. Ten years later, having hung up his competitive wheels at the end of 2016 to pursue other interests, Christian stands at the top of another sport. Having stumbled upon his love for trail running during the Covid lockdown, the Canadian became good. Very, very good. So good that in 2023 he won the legendary TDS race around the foothills of Mont Blanc: 145km, with over 9,000m of elevation. He won the race in a staggering 19 hours. Rob and Eliot couldn’t quite believe what they were hearing. This week’s chat with Christian is a fascinating exploration of what it takes to peak in two elite endurance sports, and how sporting journeys can be so changeable. Christian even started out as a downhiller! Are you a cyclist and a runner? Let us know by emailing podcast@redbull.com, or hit Rob and Eliot up on their socials and encourage them to get out there for a jog! It’s not currently their favourite pastime, as you’ll hear. We’ll be back in two weeks.

Gee Atherton is one of the most decorated, all-round downhill riders the sport of mountain biking has ever seen. He’s also one of the most committed, hardest bike riders that cycling has ever seen. Full stop. His list of achievements goes on, and on, and on: two-time world champion, eight-time UCI World Cup winner, Red Bull Hardline winner, six-tie national champion… but his list of difficult moments and brutal crashes is also a long one. Sadly, it goes with the territory of pushing the boundaries. Here on Just Ride, for the first time, Gee speaks in detail to Rob and Eliot about his awful crash while filming his Ridgeline series in North Wales in 2021. Gee was airlifted to hospital and had to fight for his life. Yet he returned to the saddle, as he has done numerous times before. His love of the bike shines through and for more than an hour the guys recapped a magical career while discussing that fateful day shooting Ridgeline, his subsequent return and crash at Red Bull Rampage in 2023, and what’s next for one of the greatest of all time. Filmed in front of a live studio audience in Salzburg, Austria, this is a fascinating chat with a mountain bike icon. Did you catch Red Bull Hardline in early June? You can watch a replay on Red Bull TV.We want to hear from you, so drop us a line! Hit us up at podcast@redbull.com. Rob and Eliot will be back soon.

Rob and Eliot caught up in Salzburg last week for some very exciting Just Ride records that we’ll bring to you very soon – including a fascinating chat with Mr Red Bull Hardline himself, Gee Atherton. That will be live next week as we build up to Red Bull Hardline but before then, Eliot and Rob chatted through some brilliant listener emails, discussed Red Bull’s upcoming mountain bike film ANYTIME, previewed Hardline and much, much more. See you next week for the guys’ incredible chat with Gee.

Bernard Kerr doesn’t get many days off. The three-time Red Bull Hardline winner is one of the best downhill mountain bike riders in the world – while also running Pivot Factory Racing, one of the world’s premier downhill teams. Where does he find the time? Over a fascinating hour with Rob and Eliot at the recent Sea Otter Classic MTB festival, Bernard joined Just Ride to reflect on his lifestyle, future ambitions, and how he came to be one of the youngest team managers the sport – or any sport – has ever seen. The 33-year-old Brit has had a remarkable career to date, and something tells us that Bernard has still got a lot of new chapters to write.Now you know the drill by now – here at Just Ride we absolutely love hearing from our listeners, so hit Eliot or Rob up on their socials or email podcast@redbull.com to get a shout out on the show.

Lael Wilcox is an ultra-endurance cyclist who, after a late start at 20, has conquered numerous prestigious races, including the Trans Am Bike Race. In this engaging discussion, she shares her ambitious plan to break the women's round-the-world record in just 110 days, revealing the emotional and physical challenges she anticipates. The conversation dives into her experiences with extreme conditions, the thrill of long-distance biking, and personal anecdotes of perseverance, capturing the unpredictable and exhilarating nature of endurance cycling.

We have a little treat for our Just Ride listeners this week! While Rob and Eliot come from the world of mountain biking, our listeners know that Just Ride is all about every type of cycling discipline imaginable. But today we’ve got a little clip of a show that lives and breathes mountain biking, week in, week out: The Downtime Podcast Downtime is the most in-depth mountain bike podcast out there and delves deep into the world of downhill and enduro. Host Chris Hall chats to world champions, future stars, the teams who helped the riders perform, the brands who design the products we ride, and so, so much more. There’s a new episode every week, as well as pre-and-post-race shows for every Downhill World Cup. There’s over 400 episodes just waiting for you to get stuck into - and new ones drop every Tuesday. Rob and Eliot have a little clip from a recent Downtime episode with the incredible Louise Ferguson, talking about her incredible run at Red Bull Hardline Tasmania in February. To check out the full episode with Louise, search for The Downtime Podcast. Enjoy!

When Covid hit and a global lockdown saw the whole world forced to adapt to a new normal, Matt Jones headed into his back garden and started building. A year later he’d crafted some incredible jumps in his yard and turned his YouTube account into one of the most must-watch mountain bike channels on the platform.Matt’s career has been fascinating. One of the world’s best slopestyle riders from a young age, the lure of content creation and the success of his YouTube channel took him down a path perpendicular to competing – yet the lure of competition is never far away for Matt.He joined Rob and Eliot to reflect on his varied career, educate the listeners on the intricacies of slopestyle, open up on his future competitive ambitions and chat all things content creation. Like everything with Matt, this Just Ride chat is a lot of fun. Enjoy. If you’re a long-time Just Ride listener then you’ll know that Rob and Eliot absolutely love hearing from you, so hit them up on their socials or email podcast@redbull.com to get a shout out on the show.

Rob and Eliot were on-site this weekend for round two of Red Bull Cerro Abajo – this time in Guanajuato, Mexico. Straight from the commentary booth the guys hopped on to record a bonus Just Ride reflecting on the action, talking through the wild runs through the streets of Guanajuato, Juanfer Velez's incredible win, the raw emotion of the event and much more!We’ll be back next week for episode five of Just Ride season two!