Photo Story: Leslie Bike Shop Gravity Team

On its day, Scotland produces dry trails and fantastic lighting conditions for photographs. It also has a rapidly growing support level for younger riders, as well as those looking to break into the top ranks. Few programmes epitomise this better than the Leslie Bike Shop/Biker’s Boutique Gravity Team. I headed along to a dusty Cambusbarron with a few of their riders to get some shots and find out a bit more about them. Team rider Euan Rossi kindly agreed to answer a few questions for this post.



Who are you?
My name’s Euan Rossi. I’m 26 years old from Glasgow, and I race 4X Protour and Elite British 4X.

Who do you ride for?
I’m on The Team Leslie Bike Shop/Biker’s Boutique programme, as well as getting some help from Spartan Protein, JBEyecare/Oakley and Roost Mountain Bike Holidays.





Tell me a bit about the team. How did you get involved with them?
The team is awesome. It’s very much a labour of love for Mark Wilson our manager. He saw folk at SDAs standing under their car boot lids nailing a sandwich between runs whilst trying to fix muddy broken bikes and reckoned talented amateurs will achieve far more with some key input, hopefully getting them to the next level with their riding. He’s worked hard to pull in some great sponsors and we are developing some promising young racing talent. Having pits, a mechanic, some food waiting and supportive company names behind you really makes a huge difference. You just focus on getting your bike down the hill as quick as you can.
We have our young riders Téa Jensen, Ryan Brannen and Finlay Watt who are coming up through the juvenile and junior DH ranks just now. Jamie Todd races enduro for the team, as well as Kris Gemmell in Expert and Scottish Champ Debs Primrose in Elite at BDS races. It’s a great mix of experience and youth that everyone benefits from. I’ve ridden with Gemmell and Debs for a few years and saw what the team was up to. It was something I was keen to be a part of. I had started taking 4X more seriously and when I moved into racing Protour rounds, having a team like that on my side was a brilliant addition to my racing.




How did you get into 4X?
It had always been there really. I started riding bikes at 16 in my local park trails and by the time I was 19, I had a downhill bike and was stoked on racing. I suddenly had access to so much amazing bike media like Roam, Seasons, NWD and it hooked me. I went to my first few world cups at Fort William and saw 4X racing, as well as when Dan Atherton was riding it alongside DH and I was eating up Atherton Project videos. After a few seasons of trying to race downhill I made the switch and it’s been a very positive one. The race format is so exciting and the group of folk that do it are amazing fun to be around. It’s made me want to share it with as many people as I can, so I set up #4XWednesdays and it’s definitely on the rise again.







Who are your favourite riders to watch?
Jared Graves is mind blowing. It takes an unparalleled skill set and training ethos to make an Olympic BMX final, lock down 4X the way he did, podium at DH World Champs and win an Enduro overall. I would hold him up as an example to kids as a reason to keep an open mind when it comes to sport, as a broad skill set helps you with everything you want to do. I love watching Greg Minaar too. You can tell he is very switched on and measures his riding so well. It’s like seeing a fighter pilot performing efficiently and he makes it look effortless.

Just as we were wrapping things up the guys noticed some kids were setting light to the gorse down the hill and it was rapidly turning into a towering inferno. Quick phone snap before we go, a call to the local fire brigade and we were done. It was great to spend the day with the guys and I wish the whole team the best of luck for the season ahead - Stu May.