If you’re looking for an awesome way to make the daily work commute more interesting, we recommend checking out the Downtime Podcast, presented by Chris Hall. Chris transports us deep into the world of elite MTB racing, capturing the mindset of the racers, mechanics, and trainers that make it happen. Since Episode 1, the Downtime podcast has been a regular fixture on the ENDURO teams iPhones – check out the heartfelt Katy Winton interview, it had us floored.

Over the last few months we have been following the intriguing stories brought to us by Chris, and asked him to send us a brief paragraph about himself and his podcast:

Downtime is presented by me, Chris Hall, your average mountain biker! I’ve been riding mountain bikes for over 25 years, and have always loved it. Despite that love, I’ve never been great at it, generally ending up towards the back of the pack on most rides.

The Downtime podcast was born through Chris’ desire to understand the world of elite MTB racing.

My day job as an Engineer involves understanding the detail of how components and systems work, in order to optimise them to deliver the best possible performance. I wondered what would happen if I applied that approach to myself, so three years ago I got some training programmes from a qualified strength and conditioning coach, and took some mountain bike skills coaching. These two relatively small changes have transformed my riding. Not only am I faster, but I am enjoying my riding even more, something that I didn’t think was possible.

Episode 8 with Katy Winton has become the most popular of Chris’ podcasts, and for good reason.

This podcast was born out of the wish to make that sort of information available to as many people as possible, so we can all improve, and get even more enjoyment from riding our bikes in the woods! The Downtime Podcast delves into the detail of the sport, and aims to give an insight into how people at the top level do what they do. I will be speaking to athletes, trainers, mechanics, and many others from the global mountain bike community, in 30-45 minute episodes. We will be finding out about how they approach their riding, training, nutrition, bike set-up etc, in order to give you some things you can take away and try, in order to help improve your own riding.

The Downtime Podcast is not short of world class guests.
Bike setup advice from some of the best mechanics on the circuit.
Our first eleven episodes are available right now, either from our website downtimepodcast.com, or by searching for us on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, TuneIn Radio or your favourite podcast app. Our latest guest is Nigel Reeve, the head mechanic for Canyon Factory Racing. We talk to Nigel about how he got into the job, what it takes to be a good mechanic, some tips and tricks that you can try, and much much more.

All our previous episodes are still available for you to listen to. So far we have featured Fox Suspension guru Jordi Cortes, multiple time world champion Tracy Moseley, YT Mob mechanic John Hall, EWS privateer Bex Baraona, Canyon Factory Racing star Justin Leov, the YT Mob’s latest signing Neko Mulally, and trainer to the stars, Chris Kilmurray, as well as EWS star Katy Winton, and DH World Cup winner Tahnee Seagrave and many more.

The Downtime Podcast has valuable info from pros and privateers alike.

I really hope you enjoy listening to these episodes as much as I’ve enjoyed recording them. Please let us know what you think by commenting on our social media, giving us an iTunes review, or emailing us on info@downtimepodcast.com. We’ve got some great guests coming up, so subscribe on iTunes and follow us on social media to be the first to find out when new episodes are released.

downtimepodcast.com
Instagram @downtimepodcast
Facebook @thedowntimepodcast
Twitter @downtimetweets


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Words: Finlay Anderson, Chris Hall Photos: Downtime Podcast