Tweedlove Collective

Name? Sandy Mackay

Age? 12 years old

Instagram Handle? mackay_sandy1

What bike are you riding this year? NS Snab (enduro) and a Commencal Furious (downhill).

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Make or break caus I like being in the air & going rapidly fast!

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? Definitely becoming British Champ for the under 12s.

What got you into biking in the first place? My older brother Ewan.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? Reece Wilson! He has worked really, really hard and all of it has paid off – he got 5th at the Fort William World Cup!

What do you get up to away from the bike? I’m quite sporty so playing rugby or football and spending time with the family.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? I’ll be doing TweedLove Enjoyro, the SDAs and some of the Mini DH series.

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Don’t be upset if you don’t win, make friends, enjoy the ride plus remember – have fun!

Sandy out ?

Name: Billy Birks

Age: 13

Instagram Handle? billymtb22

What bike are you riding this year? Mondraker Foxy.

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Cresta Lower.

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? When I won the Mini DH at Inners!

What got you into biking in the first place? My Dad.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? Don’t have one maybe some biking YouTubers…

What do you get up to away from the bike? Playing football for Edinburgh City.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? The TweedLove Triple Crown and some of the Mini DHs!

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Name: Cammy Brown

Age: 17

Instagram Handle? cammybrown130

What bike are you riding this year? Trek Slash.

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Hmmmm, IXS

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? Getting on the podium at Transcenduro last year.

What got you into biking in the first place? I got into mountain biking through my older brother as he enjoyed to ride and as I got older I slowly began to love it as much as him

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? Yoann Barelli

What do you get up to away from the bike? When i’m not riding I enjoy taking photos of MTB.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? The TweedLove Triple Crown and the Scottish Enduro Series.

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Just enjoy it!!

Name: Ben Allan

Age: 13

Instagram Handle? benallan_2006

What bike are you riding this year? Giant Trance for enduro/DH and Scott Scale for the XC

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Hush Hush

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? Winning Enjoyro 2019 and coming 2nd at Scottish XC champs.

What got you into biking in the first place? My Dad.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? Aaron Gwin or Matthieu Van der Poel

What do you get up to away from the bike? Trail running and football.

What events can we catch you at in 2020?Vallelujah and the rest of the Triple Crown, Scottish XC series and some Borders Mini DH.

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Just have fun and try your best!

Name: Zoe Blyth

Age: Almost 12

Instagram Handle? @zoeblythcycle

What bike are you riding this year? Boardman FS

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Angry Sheep

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? Other than being asked to join TweedLove Collective it would have to be getting two solid runs at the Glencoe Champs las year, in only my second DH race.

What got you into biking in the first place? My parents towing me around Glentress in a trailer, then a tag-along, then I started to pedal around all by myself.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? Rachel Atherton and Tahnee Seagrave, gravity is for girls!

What do you get up to away from the bike? Dancing.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? The TweedLove Enjoyro, a couple of Mini DH’s and both the Scottish and British XC series.

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Be yourself and don’t give up. Keep practicing until you get it right.

Name: Ally Birks

Age: 13

Instagram Handle? allymtb

What bike are you riding this year? Mondraker Foxy

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? IXS to Cresta

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? Winning the mini DH juveniles in 2019.

What got you into biking in the first place? Definitely my Dad taking me out on rides.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? I don’t have a specific rider but generally YouTube creators e.g. Danny macaskill.

What do you get up to away from the bike? I play football for Edinburgh City and enjoy a bit of running.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? The Mini DHs and the TweedLove Enduros.

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Just relax and take it like a normal bike ride.

Name: David Cathcart

Age: 14

Instagram Handle? david_cathcart15

What bike are you riding this year? Nukeproof Mega 290 Factory

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Hammer Time!

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? Winning King and Queen of the Hill in 2019 and when I was Scottish XC Champ in XXXX

What got you into biking in the first place? All my friends.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? Josh Brycland

What do you get up to away from the bike? Rugby, athletics, anything sporty.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? Most of the TweedLove stuff.

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Give it a shot and have fun.

Name: Thomas Richardson

Age: 16

Instagram Handle? _thomas_richardson

What bike are you riding this year? Trek Slash 8

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Cresta Run into IXS

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? Getting round the Fort William Scottish Enduro in one piece with some good times.

What got you into biking in the first place? My Dad.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? Steve Peat.

What do you get up to away from the bike? Walking my dogs and trying some different types of exercise like running.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? I’ll be racing the TweedLove Triple Crown, the Scottish Enduros at Innerleithen and Fort William, and the Glentress 7.

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Don’t worry about the results too much and enjoy yourself.

Name: Danny Lancaster

Age: 13

Instagram Handle? _dannyl06

What bike are you riding this year? Canyon Spectral CF 7.0

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Hush Hush at Glentress and a close contender is Penfold at Cademuir.

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? 2nd in the Tweedlove Transcend Enjoyro last year.

What got you into biking in the first place? Growing up around older Valley riders.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? The local heroes!

What do you get up to away from the bike? Hiking and a wee bit of football.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? Tweedlove Triple Crown, Scottish Borders Mini downhill. Enjoy it.

Name: Jess Shearer

Age: 12

Instagram Handle? @jessshearer56

What bike are you riding this year? Focus Raven 7

What’s your favourite trail in the Valley? Wormhole

What is your biggest achievement on the bike to date? Winning pairs race.

What got you into biking in the first place? TweedLove Family Day.

Who is your favourite rider and biggest inspiration? Katy Winton!

What do you get up to away from the bike? Hockey and highland dancing.

What events can we catch you at in 2020? Tweedlove Enjoyro and Solway sportive.

What tips would you give to rides looking to start racing? Have fun and enjoy everything!