MATTHEW FAIRBROTHER

This week on Life in the Peloton we have a rider who really is one of a kind - possibly the first person to combine Enduro MTB racing and bike packing; Matthew Fairbrother.

For those of you that don’t know, as an 18-year-old Matt headed over to Europe to race in the Enduro World Series (now EDR), and ended up on an unplanned bike-packing adventure, riding between rounds as far apart as Scotland and Slovenia.

Like a lot of people, I can remember hearing about Matt at the time - this crazy kid who was riding a massive Enduro MTB between races - and then still competing for results in a competition as difficult as Enduro, which (as I’ve learned) requires some amazing technical skills on the MTB. His adventures really caught on, and since then he has managed to travel the world with the support of the MTB community, making his a really incredible and unique journey with the bike.

As I’ve gotten to know Matt, I thought it was the perfect time to dive into his story and to understand how this concept of mixing bike-packing and Enduro MTB came to be, and, interestingly for me, what it was like to be totally alone with just a bike and a few dollars in Europe. For many of us roadies who think that travelling to Europe to race for a team is a lonely experience - you really have to check this pod out and hear how tough things can really be!

Above all else Matt has a really cool outlook on life, and I’ve had such a great time learning from him, and of course, having the chance to make this pod!