No Ordinary Life, A Podcast By DHaRCO

To be ready for a World Cup race, it takes an insane amount of preparation. Fitness must be at peak levels, nutrition optimised, mental game stronger than ever. Sounds pretty tough, right? Now, imagine you're taking on that challenge, whilst also taking on the challenge of removing cancer from your body. To describe that as tough would be the understatement of the century.
Magnus Manson is only 24 years old, but he has a wisdom and profound outlook on life well beyond his years. In this discussion, we learn more about his life as an athlete, how he's navigating this new challenge, and how he's using his situation to inspire and empower others.

What does it take to go from 0 to 100, real quick? How easily can you adjust to the high intensity and fast pace around you? Better yet, can you adjust, and stand out as one of the best? It’s not an easy objective, but Pinkbike Racing has taken this idea and made it their mission. 2022 saw the establishment of Pinkbike Racing, a World Cup downhill team that’s all about bringing up young and emerging riders and giving them a real chance at making a mark on the scene, whilst being fully supported.

Pinkbike Racing has undoubtedly been one of the most engaging and interesting things to happen in the gravity-riding scene this year. The video series, directed by Harry Jenkinson, and produced by Max Rendall and Glen Thomson, AKA Sleeper Co, has had people hooked completely. Viewers resonate with the personalities they see in the team, and that invisible barrier between mere mortal and elite world cup athlete, is broken down. The people’s champion Ben Cathro took the reins as team captain, and it was definitely no small task in addition to working with the film crew, working with Pinkbike, racing and making time for family. Aimi Kenyon, the team’s youngest rider, was thrust into the spotlight, being the main focus for the first and (arguably) the second episode. However, Aimi handled the transition from local Scottish racer to well known personality as well as a young rider could.

Just before the World Championships, Ben and Aimi had time to sit down with Josh and explore the year so far. The struggles, the unexpected challenges, and the incredible experiences when living out a first World Cup Season in new ways and perspectives.

This is No Ordinary Life, a Podcast by DHaRCO. Enjoy!

[Some strong language used during this episode]
When someone develops a passion for mountain biking, their life inherently changes. The lifestyle associated with this sport is one that puts emphasis on community, mindset, experience and maybe a bit of escapism if we include getting away from the daily grind to do what we love.

Joanna Yates is a mountain bike coach based in Sedona, Arizona, and her passion for the sport, as well as her approach to people within it, is exactly why people are flocking to her to not only improve themselves on the bike, but also within their own heads.

In this conversation, we talk about how riding and improving our skills is connected to the way we move through life in general, building up our resilience, our self confidence, and our overall mental health.

We talk about community, and what it means to be actively involved in your local group. We touch on gatekeeping and accessibility to the sport, and we also focus on womens experiences in the mountain biking world. Women are feeling more comfortable and included in the sport nowadays, but we have a long way to go still.

This episode is special for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s the last episode of the year! With that, we wanted to thank you for taking the time to listen to this podcast. This podcast was created to give everyone more insight into the lives of some of the most interesting people in the bike world, and to see that we have people listening in and enjoying the shows means a whole lot.

The second reason this podcast is special, is because of the guest. Caleb Holonko is a name you might have heard bouncing around the bike world this year. His latest edit ‘Lights Out’ sees him gapping the infamous rock lily gap in Canada and backflipping the world-renowned whistler train gap.

He is more than just a stunt man, though. He is heavily involved in building trails, so much so that it’s taken him all the way to Red Bull Rampage as a builder. Social media is a tool for him, just like any other athlete nowadays, but it’s just that, a tool, and it’s easy to see that at any moment he’d be more than happy to swap that tool for a shovel.
I hope you enjoy this episode of No Ordinary Life, a podcast by DHARCO. Caleb is someone who definitely deserves your attention.

This is the final episode for 2022. It’s been a huge year for us, and once again, we’re stoked to keep seeing so many riders out there who are getting outside, making new friends, enjoying nature and making a positive impact on the world around them. If you’re doing all that while wearing leopard print pants or tie dye jerseys, then that’s a huge bonus for us.

We’ll see you next time, and we hope you have a great holiday period.

Thibaut Ruffin is a veteran in the downhill world. He's been racing at the top level since the late 90's, and as a result he’s seen the sport evolve into the dynamic and global phenomenon that it has become.
Over time his mission has moved from focusing on his own racing career, to managing race teams. Currently, he’s managing arguably the fastest downhill team in the world, the Commencal Muc-Off Downhill Team.
Their domination over the last couple of years has been a spectacle to observe. The team seriously refuses to be anywhere other than on the top step.
In this episode, Thibaut opens up about life as the manager of the team, as well as racing at the top level whilst carrying out this role. We learn about how he deals with not only his emotions and mindset throughout the season, but also the mindsets of the whole team and crew.