What's your name, how old are you and where are you from?Jack Reading, 27, from Saddleworth near Manchester.
What do you do from day to day?I have two jobs to keep me busy. I run One Vision Global Racing with my old man, Phil, and also work as an Optometrist when I have time. I do a load of strength and conditioning training with my teammate James Hurst, in the gym at my place. On the bike training involves trail rides throughout the week and I ride DH every Sunday when we're not away racing. My remaining hours are spent chilling with my beautiful fiancé Sarah.
What was your favourite moment of 2015?I have a number of great memories from the 2015 race season. If I had to pick a favourite it would probably be qualifying 18th at the Fort William world cup. After the puncture in my qualifying run in Lourdes at round one, that result was such a big moment and set my season back on track. Now I’m using Schwalbe Procore, punctures seem like a distant memory!
So it's your second year running the team now. What have you taken from last year and what has changed?We couldn’t be happier with the team’s first season. It went so well we’re in a really strong position in 2016. We’ve made a few changes, but most of the things we do will operate in the same way. We will have our team mechanic, Alex Bennett of Ticky Bikes at the BDS rounds and European world cup races. We’ve expanded and now have four riders instead of three. We’re also working hard on promo stuff with TJ of FilmSmith Media. Our main objectives remain the same – race hard and have fun!
What new sponsors have you bought onto the team this year?Our setup is super exciting this year. Over the winter we joined forces with Nicolai bikes and Chris Porter of Mojo Suspension. After a load of testing we now have a DH prototype version of the Nicolai Mojo Geometron trail bike. We’ve had our race frames since the start of February and all of the riders are getting on so well with their new bikes! Personally, I’ve never felt this comfortable and confident on a bike, so can’t wait to get to that first world cup! Our other new sponsors this year are Hope, who are providing our brakes, cranks, hubs and components, and Clif Bar who are meeting our nutritional needs with their fantastic and tasty products! Most of our great sponsors who helped me start this project remain with us for 2016 which is great!
Any new additions to the team rider wise?George Gannicott is our first new signing. He’s 21, from Scotland and pinned! I’ve been riding with George on and off at races for the last few years and the boy has real pace. He was 36th at Windham world cup last year! Having him alongside me at world cups to help in practice will only be beneficial for both of us. Mr Will Jones, what can I say about my best mate? I have everything crossed hoping he will have the season he so desperately wants. He gives racing and training 100%, so bringing him onto the team is very exciting for me personally, and I hope I can help him achieve his goals. He’s also the king of banter, so there will never be a dull moment in our race pit this year that’s for sure. James Hurst, or ‘Chep’ or ‘Prooocoor’ (he has many nicknames in the pits) is staying with us for 2016. I’ve been coaching him for the last few years. He has talent coming out of his ears and commitment in abundance (sometimes too much!), so I have no doubt he’ll be joining us in elite and world cup racing for 2017 after this year in expert!
So what events will the team be at this year?We’ll be racing all of the BDS and World Cup events, so watch out for our team pit and come and say hey, we have stickers! We’ll also be racing Crankworx in Whistler this summer which I’m really excited about, having not been back for a few years!
You've just been out to Ride Portugal to do a bit of pre season training and testing, how did you get on?Awesome! The dynamic in the team this year is amazing with everyone being good friends from the outset. The banter is strong and as a result the atmosphere is electric in our pits, which makes for good riding and racing! The week we had with Ride Portugal was incredible. The trails were unreal – perfect for preseason race training and general fun-run smashing, so we had a great week! Big thanks to them for looking after us so well, we’ll definitely be back out there!
Have you set yourself any personal goals for the year?My goals remain the same as ever: have fun, race as hard as I dare and enjoy life! With the new set up I’m anticipating a big improvement in my race results this year, so I can’t wait to get at it!
Anything you'd like to add?I’d just like to finish by saying a massive thank you to all of the team’s sponsors for their amazing and valued support!! Without them we wouldn't have such a great team and racing program! Nicolai, Mojo Suspension, ONeal, Schwalbe, Pacenti Cycle Design, Clif Bar, Hope Technology, MRP, Works Components, Fusion, Ticky Bikes, Dirt Factory, Stoneswood Construction, East Coast Air Brush, DNA Sports Performance, Rock Guardz, Mark Davies and Adey Bennett.
Cheers Jack, good luck this year.Thanks, it's going to be a good one!
Go check out One Vision Global Racing on
Facebook.Photos and Film by
Taylor Smith
MENTIONS: @jackreadingDH /
@FilmSmith /
@hopetech /
@Dirt-Factory /
@schwalbe
Awesome riding, good luck for the upcoming season and kill that slow mo fairy!
oh ,where in Portugal was this filmed ?
Geoff Cuttell
( his old sports teacher)