Winter Dust in Málaga with Rob Williams - Video

If you race or ride Enduro in the UK, there is a good chance you will have seen Rob ride - probably past you. A pinner from the Valleys of South Wales, Rob has for the last few years has been riding for Marin. The company has also come on as sponsor of RoostDH for 2016/17, so with this in mind, Rob headed out for a week of winter dust and sun to get up to pace for the 2017 season. If all goes to plan he will have a bit better luck than his 2016 season...

Aspect Media: Who are you , Where are you from, who do you ride for ?

Rob Williams 26 born and live in south Wales. This year I have been riding for Marin bikes, Mojo suspension, Foxhead Europe and Maxxis UK.

Aspect Media: How did your 2016 race season go ?

I've had some awesome trips this season and ridden some of the best tracks to date, but the racing has been a bit of a nightmare. I’ve had 4 mechanicals ending my race, and a couple of nasty injuries.


Aspect Media: Talk to us about your hill climb and what happened at it?

Yeah in May I fancied doing something a bit different, it was a hill climb knock out race on a 25% gradient over about 1 minute. I thought I could do well and there was a good bit of prize money. The event was going well there was a great atmosphere and I was getting though the rounds quite easily. Then in the semi-final I raced a former national hill climb champ so I gave it everything and won the round but didn’t feel right. I was sick struggling to recover. It was then straight into the final. It was pretty stupid the way I felt but had to give a go. So gave it everything and possibly a bit more, ended up second and in a bad way, was taken to hospital were things got worse as I was suffering from acute kidney failure.


Aspect Media: Was it scary pushing it so hard that you truly hit the limit ?

No, it wasn’t. If you're racing I think you're always going to push as hard as your body and fitness level will let you. I think I was so high on adrenaline and all the shouting from the crowd I just went a bit past what my body was happy with. The scary part was the following days in hospital with my blood tests getting worse each day and the doctors not knowing what was happening.


Aspect Media: Have you recovered fully now ?

Yes, it took a few months and a big step back in fitness which is frustrating, but I am fully recovered from it.

Aspect Media: What's RoostDH and Malaga like for riding and getting back up to pace?

Roost and Malaga is a great place for winter riding. It's warm, it hardly rains there, the tracks they use are a good mix, there are some pretty loose sandy ones which are my favourite, and great for sharpening up your skills. The ranch is in a great spot for doing some road and XC/Enduro as well.


Aspect Media: What are your goals for 2017 ?

Not 100% sure yet loads of events I'm keen to do. Definitely some Enduro World Series. I guess the main aim for next year is to try and be fully fit for each race I do. Maybe another hill climb or two...


Big thanks to www.roostdh.com and Aspect Media

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