L-R - Ali Clarkson, Duncan Shaw, John Langlois & Thom TriboulatIn mid-November, I got the opportunity to head to Malaga, Spain, with some of Inspired's team riders to showcase their upcoming 2020 range. I'm a big fan of their team, so getting to head to a city I'd always wanted to check out with some of my favourite riders was a no-brainer...
I knew Ali and Duncan fairly well from past trips, but had only met John once before and had only spoken to Thom via e-mail in the run-up to the trip. Luckily, they're all super easy to get along with so from the moment John and Thom first came down from our apartment to help me carry my luggage in we all got on well.
Inspired's team has a wide mix of styles within it, and it was great getting to see the different riders feed off each other at spots. As you can see from the crashes, the guys were definitely pushing themselves! Crashes and injuries are always a worry when the bar is being raised like that. Unfortunately, Ali took a hard crash riding the sea defence blocks (not on camera, sadly!) which took him out of the game for half the trip, but aside from that everyone else got away with just a few scrapes and bruises.
A few of the riders had been to Malaga in the past so we had a reasonable idea of where certain spots were, but spent a good portion of our time in the city exploring for new spots. For a street rider, this is about as good as it gets! Thanks to the topography of the area Malaga is built on, and the development of the city itself, there are plenty of spots to go at for all types of riders. It felt very much like around every corner was another dream spot. The most iconic spot is definitely the long storm drain/ditch that runs through the centre of Malaga, and features at the start of the video. This was the first spot we came to and was a great introduction to Malaga!
We did have to be fairly strict with our timekeeping thanks to the early sunsets, but we all felt lucky to only get a small amount of rain on one day of the trip. Even when it was cold and wet the guys still found a dry, covered spot to have a session on. Dedication!
Here are the bikes that the team rode for the trip:
A huge thanks to
Inspired Bicycles for making the trip possible, and to all the riders for being so great to work with. Where are we going to be "Inspired in..." next?
Inspired Arcade Team: $3000
Pretty crazy disparity for being the same damn thing.
Yours
The Crankflip Police
(Anyone found doing them on a trail bike gets a kick in the bollix)