Martyn Ashton
 Animal Bike Tour, Aberystwyth, June 2007 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Martyn Ashton |
| Born | 2 December 1974 |
| Team information | |
| Discipline | MTB (mountain biking) |
| Role | Rider |
| Rider type | Trials |
| Professional teams | |
| 1997 | Volvo–Cannondale |
| 2005 | Animal MBUK |
| 2008–2010 | Team Ashton Diamondback |
| 2014–present | Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN) |
| Major wins | |
| 39 world championships | |
Martyn Ashton (born 2 December 1974)[1] is a former British and World Champion mountain bike trials rider, stunt rider and team manager.[2] He had been riding professional trials since 1993,[3] and has been described as a mountain biking legend,[4][5] and credited with turning trials riding into one of the fast-growing areas of the sport of mountain biking.[6] Ashton was paralysed in an accident in 2013, during a bike trials demo at the British Moto GP.[7]
Biography
[edit]Martyn Ashton is a retired trials and stunt cyclist who started-out as a child motorcycle trials rider but took-up mountain bike trials in the early 1990s. He is a four-time British Biketrial Champion and former World Expert Biketrial Champion, and the Guinness World Record Holder for the Mountain Bike High Jump.[8] In 2008 he entered the Mountain Biking UK 'Hall of Fame'.[3]
Besides riding trials, Ashton has also designed exhibition stages[9] and products for his own Ashton Bikes range.[4] He has had extensive media coverage, and published his own Hop Idol column in the MBUK mountain biking magazine.[4]
In Ashton's 2012 viral YouTube video “Road Bike Party”,[10] he rode a road bicycle in stunts typical of trials.[11] A sequel video entitled "Road Bike Party 2" was released the following year and proved even more successful.[12]
Ashton first broke his back in 2003, when he compressed a vertebra and fractured it during a fall after misjudging a landing. He soon recovered and returned to riding.[13] Ashton again broke his back on 1 September 2013 when he fell from a 3-metre high bar during a demo at Moto GP, causing serious injuries to his spinal cord which left him paralysed.[14]
Since his accident, Ashton has continued his pursuit of the outdoors with customized all-terrain wheelchairs.[15] He returned to mountain bike riding with a heavily customised bike, and in 2017 took part in the Crankworx Air DH in Whistler, British Columbia.[16]
Ashton currently lives in Port Talbot, Wales.
References
[edit]- ^ "Martyn Ashton". Cycling Website. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
- ^ "Martyn Ashton - Animal". Animal. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ a b "Martyn Ashton". Ashton Bikes.
- ^ a b c "Team Ashton Diamondback Is Launched". Diamondback. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008.
- ^ "Martyn Ashton : Mountain bike legend". ADS Projects.
- ^ "Martyn Ashton". Mud in the Blood. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
- ^ "Feature: Story behind Martyn Ashton's Road Bike Party 2 Film - velouk.net". Retrieved 28 March 2017.
- ^ "Getting back on track: The Story of Martyn Ashton". 1 February 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
- ^ "Animal Mountain Bike Champions, Martyn Ashton and Grant 'Chopper' Fielder, at the Sportsboat and Rib Show 2005". Southampton Sports Boat and RIB Show. Archived from the original on 8 January 2006.
- ^ Martyn Ashton - Road Bike Party, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 30 August 2019
- ^ js (23 December 2014). "Road Bike Party 3 gets dirty with jaw-dropping tricks". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
- ^ Martyn Ashton - Road Bike Party 2, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 29 July 2020
- ^ "UK Trials ace Ashton recovering from broken back". February 2003.
- ^ "Legend Martyn Ashton is set for a new trial". DIRT. Archived from the original on 19 December 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
- ^ "Personalised all terrain Mountain Trike wheelchair for global trials rider, Martyn Ashton". Mountain Trike.
- ^ "Martyn Ashton rides Whistler Bike Park 2017". Red Bull.
External links
[edit]| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
