THE RIDER OFF YEAR' 23

THE BIG REVEAL! You voted in your thousands - now meet our winners...

- Rachel Bennet & James Costley-White

THE BIG REVEAL!

CASEY GEMMA

Winning the popular vote by a landslide, Cornwall-based Casey has shown incredible courage and determination since she crashed while downhill riding and broke her spine

We've arranged to meet Casey at her home in Cornwall on a classic October day of mixed rain and sun. She opens the door with the classic smile we've seen so many times on Instagram, and her dog Roxy excitedly greets us like old friends. We haven't told Casey she's our first ever Rider of the Year, yet - she thinks we're meeting up with all the finalists. But we're here to get to know her and find out more about her journey to becoming one of the most inspirational people in mountain biking community - although her reach goes far beyond our sport.

Casey is warm and welcoming. and instantly makes us feel at ease. We've seen her around online a fair bit but never actually met her, so it's a pleasure to finally do so. The walls of her home are scattered with pictures of happy times, with Jay her partner featuring heavily. One picture that catches our eye is of Jay and Casey riding together, with Casey in the lead on her adaptive bike. She tells us it was her first race on the machine. In fact, it was the first adaptive downhill race in the country (to her knowledge) - at the very location where she had her accident.

Everything changes