#14 - Les Gets Downhill World Champs recap

This week we're joined by Mr World Wide himself, Eddie Masters! We've known Eddie since the early days of him racing downhill in New Zealand and this was a fun episode to record, we go back to where it began and hear about how taking some time off bikes to go to Uni helped make racing a career for him. There's no shortage of laughs and good stories when it comes to Eddie! For 2023 we have partnered with Smith & Troy Lee Designs to bring you the show! Smith options bring you advance protection with Koroyd technology in their helmets and perfect vision thanks to Chromapop! Use the code "otbpodcast" at Troyleedesigns.co.nz to save 15% store wide!

KB and Red Dog are joined by Chris Vanderkolk and Lester Perry to wrap up what happened over the Summer in NZ. National Champs, Crankworx, wake surfing, we cover it all!

We're finally back! Cam Cole joins us this episode to talk about his role with GT Factory Racing, what he's been up to over the off season, changes to the UCI World Cup DH series and more! Note: We've just changed to a new recording platform and have some audio kinks to work out, so bare with us!

Brook MacDonald joins KB and Red Dog In The Hot Seat this week to discuss just about everything! From where mountain biking and racing started for him, travelling the world as a teenager with Wyn Masters, winning a Junior World Downhill Championship, joining the Red Bull family, winning a World Cup, his years riding for Martin Whitely on the powerhouse Trek World Racing Team and his incredible return to racing in 2020 after his near career-ending crash at the 2019 World Championships. Brook has had an incredible career on the World Cup Downhill circuit and tells us some amazing tales of his years on the scene, but his story isn't over yet as he heads into the 2023 season back with the MS Mondraker team, still hungry and ready to chase down more wins!

Sam Blenkinsop needs no introduction when it comes to downhill racing, he has been racing the World Cup Series for 17+ years and has done it all from being a NZ National Champ to having the most elite DH wins in the NZ National Series history to being a World Cup winner, its hard to find something Sam hasn't won! For 2023 Sam has set up his own privateer deal with Crestline Bikes so he joins KB and Red Dog to discuss his plans for this season along side taking a trip down memory lane with some epic stories from over the years. We barely scratched the surface so I'm sure there will need to be a part 2!

With the 26" National Champs rapidly approaching we decided to do a fantasy draft of the best 26" DH bikes from four different eras. If you're a fan of downhill racing in the golden age, aka everything pre 27.5" then you will surely enjoy this trip down memory lane! Don't forget to subscribe, give us a 5 star rating and share the podcast with your friends!

In the hot seat this week we have one the best freeride mountain bikers to ever come out of New Zealand, Conor MacFarlane. Conor is quite possibly one of the only people in the world that has competed at both a XC World Championships and Red Bull Rampage and has some very interesting stories. Don't forget to like, subscribe and share with your friends!

In the hot seat this week we have the Kiwi who has very rapidly climbed the Enduro World Series Ranks, Charlie Murray. We talk about where he came from, his very eventful first EWS rounds and now to the point of winning stages. Charlie is one of the friendliest guys you'll ever meet at the races and has some epic stories! (Apologies for some dodgy audio!) If you enjoy this one, check out our episodes in our feed!

In our new Rider Chats series we catch up with the current NZ National Downhill Champion, George Brannigan. George had a fairly up and down 2022 season and it was great to get some insights into what happened and how he felt moving on to the United Ride NS team. Rider Chats is going to be a semi-regular series over the NZ Summer where we will catch up with New Zealand's top racers, legends of the past and industry insiders!

Red Dog is back, KB is always here and were joined again by none other than Chris Vanderkolk to wrap up the amazing World Cup Downhill Finals from Val Di Sole. Cam Cole leaves us on seen once again, Chris talks downhill ski racing and we have a game changing announcement that you won't want to miss!