MANON CARPENTER, DH RACER & GEOLOGIST

Racing success came early to Manon — she won the World Cup overall and the Worlds all before her 20th birthday, then retired from the sport aged just 24. Manon now rides for Radon, feeds the ’gram and studies geology

Through my teenage years there was a period when Wednesdays after school involved an evening group ride around ‘The Superloop’. It was generally a summer thing, and almost all the trails involved weave through incredibly green, deciduous woods over the kind of orangey hard-baked clay that turns to icy slickness after any rain. The loop involves a number of short, sharp and not very sweet climbs to get to the top of the descents that aren’t groundbreaking in terms of length but make up a nice circuit around the local hills, all within riding distance from the house. The descents aren’t that difficult but they are technical, pretty rooty in places and involve some thought to ride them well — which is how I like it.