LITTLE RIPPERS

THE LATEST GENERATION OF LITTLE RIPPERS ARE IN A WHOLE NEW LEAGUE. WE SPEND A DAY WITH FOUR TALENTED YOUNGSTERS WHOSE RIDING IS SERIOUSLY OFF THE SCALE

Words Will Soffe Pics Steve Behr

Photographer Steve Behr has watched many of the UK’s top riders go from promising groms to global superstars during his four decades on the scene. So, when he says that the current level of young talent on display at bike parks and riding spots throughout the country is staggering, you know there’s something special going on. “Everywhere I go, I see these tiny kids just shredding!” Steve enthuses. And he’s right – roll up to any local spot and it can be embarrassing to see pint-sized riders going higher, faster and more stylish than you, yet it’s something that’s almost guaranteed in 2022. How is it that these kids manage to ride better than most adults? We decided to meet up with some of them and their parents to find out. A few phone calls later and we’re on our way to 417 Bike Park in Gloucestershire to meet four riders who seem way too talented for their tender years.

Generation Alpha

Rolling into 417, we can see some very small riders hopping around on bikes and being strapped into helmets and gear. An assortment of parents mill around bleary-eyed and comparing notes on their progeny’s latest endeavours. The youngest is Harry Pullin, a six-year-old MTBer and BMXer from Wales who just can’t get enough of riding, but also shares his dad Tom’s passion for rugby, attending practice for Tondu RFC and games for their under-sevens junior team.

We first met Harry at RampWorld Cardiff skate park three years ago, where he was sending a tiny BMX over every jump in sight, sometimes even landing with his feet on the pedals! So, since the tender age of three, Harry has been taking his biking beyond what most kids (or adults) ever do. Mountain biking was a revelation for him as soon as he got old enough – suddenly he could get outside and ride at the same spots as his dad!

Henry Ruskin is a little older, at 11, and his riding speaks for itself. Dad Simon owns 417 Bike Park, giving Henry unparalleled access to its uplift-accessed tracks, and he’s really made the most of it. Henry got into MTBing aged five and began spending three hours a day on the pump track. Now he can usually be found taking his 24in-wheeled dirt jump bike over 417’s jumps or out riding the park’s MTB trails on a Marin Rift Zone Jr full-sus. Henry is a hardcore freerider and dirt jumper, and rode most of the Vision Line at Revolution Bike Park (except the last road gap, because it was too windy) at just 10 years old. He’s also hit nearly all of the double-black-graded Oakley Icon Way at Dyfi Bike Park and most of the intimidating Full Moto line at Black Mountains Cycle Centre (up to the bridge) – remarkable for someone so young, and on 24in wheels!

Next up is Olivia Taylor, better known by her Instagram name, Liv Shreds. A DH racer with a taste for speed, the gutsy 11-year-old also loves riding big gaps and sending things most riders wouldn’t dream of. She’s the youngest girl to have ridden the Vision Line at Revs and has hit features on the Icon Way at Dyfi, too. Liv is quietly spoken but makes a serious statement when she rides, and her race results are impressive. As well as racking up wins in her age range, she often races in the ‘open’ field, with riders up to 19 years old. This year British Cycling have granted her permission to ‘race up’ in Juvenile (13-14) at National Downhill Series events, because there’s no 10-12 Rippers category at national-level races.

Harry Schofield is the oldest rider in attendance today, aged all of 12, and is well-known on Instagram. It’s difficult to know where to start with describing him. A polite and considerate chap off the bike, Harry is able to unleash both impressive speed and incredible aerial and freestyle abilities on one. In BMX, he’s racking up some solid results while upsetting the establishment, Travis Pastranastyle, by sending backflips on the track. Away from racing, Harry is busy posting on YouTube and Instagram, usually from the Surrey Hills. For the 2022 season, he too is ‘racing up’ in Juvenile for DH racing, with special dispensation from British Cycling. But it’s freeride and BMX where his talents are the most shocking; not yet a teenager, Harry has an eye-watering array of tricks, including flat-spins, truck drivers, barspin backflips – and probably more by the time you read this. His confidence to drop in and hit the biggest jumps on his first try is uncanny. A third-place finish at his first race in Juvenile at round one of the National Dowhill Series in Rheola this April shows he’s seriously quick as well as stylish.

OLIVIA TAYLOR

Age: 11

Handle: @livshreds

Hometown: Gloucester

Sponsors: Muc-Off, Green Snow Collective, 100%, Ride Concepts, Michelin

Type of riding: Downhill and freeride

Goals for 2022: To complete the Oakley Icon Way at Dyfi, Vision Line at Revs and Full Moto at BMCC

Dreams for the future? To race DH professionally

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HENRY RUSKIN

Age: 11

Handle: @flyuphenry

Hometown: Gloucester

Sponsors: Marin, DD Airbags, Ride Concepts, Silverfish, Saddleback, TLD, Hello Blue

Types of riding: Freeride and dirt jumping

Goals for 2022: To complete full runs of the Oakley Icon Way at Dyfi, Vision Line at Revs and Full Moto at BMCC

Dreams for the future? Ride Audi Nine Knights by age 14!

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HARRY SCHOFIELD

Age: 12

Handle: @harry_2010_beast

Hometown: Near Gatwick

Sponsors: Specialized Gravity

Type of riding: BMX racing, DH racing, BMX park and dirt jumping

Goals for 2022: Ride as much as possible!

Dreams for the future?: To be able to ride all my bikes for a living

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HARRY PULLIN

Age: 6

Handle: @hazzpullin

Hometown: Bridgend, South Wales

Sponsors: None yet!

Type of riding: BMX and MTB

Goals for 2022: Learn a new trick – a no-footer!

Dreams for the future? Follow my dad down our own trail that we build

TOP TIPS FOR TOP TOTS

1 It’s really important to be childled and not force your kids into doing things. The desire to race or tackle a feature, for example, needs to come from them.

2 Make sure their bike is the right size and not too heavy – riding a bike that doesn’t fit is miserable or even dangerous, and some kids’ bikes are way overbuilt, needing an inordinate amount of energy to lug around. Keep it simple and light.

3 Don’t try to do too much – let them dictate time and/or distance on rides. It’s better to leave them wanting more than feeling exhausted or grumpy.

4 Encourageotherinterests. Functionalfitnessthroughavariety of sports is important, as are non-sport hobbies, and you don’t want them to get bored!

5 “It’ll still be here next week.” If they’re stressing out about progressing to the next trail/ obstacle, remind them that they can always come back to it later.

6 Manage social media usage. It can be an awesome tool, but can also create pressure and encourage unrealistic goals. Posting relentlessly isn’t a recipe for happiness.

7 Always remember, it’s all about having fun!

Fearless foursome

Both Henry and Liv are passionate about sending big gaps, and say they’re aiming to complete the ‘UK bike park triple’ – riding the whole of the Vision Line, Oakley Icon Way and Full Moto – before their 12th birthdays. It’s pretty incredible stuff, considering that the runs in question include jumps that are up to 40ft long and 15ft tall. There’s certainly nothing at 417 that fazes Henry. Effortlessly stylish, he looks composed even on the biggest jumps – an impressive level of confidence for someone so young and running 24in wheels! He’s assertive with the bike, pumping and generating speed before throwing whips without really thinking about it.

Henry tells us he plans to keep riding big bike-park lines and dirt jumping, and see where it takes him. A bright future beckons, wherever he focuses his talents.

Liv, on the other hand, is ramping up the racing in 2022, now she has the green light from British Cycling. She’s entering her first National Downhill Series round at Llangollen in the summer, but isn’t forgetting freeride and wants to keep jumping big gaps and attending jam sessions, too. Devastatingly fast and in control, she throws around her adult-sized DH bike with ease, looking comfortable on the big bike, and spotting lines and calculating grip levels as she goes. It’s clear she spends a lot of time practising on this bike and on full-bore DH runs. Her speed is shocking considering her tender age and calm, polite demeanour–once the pink full-face goes on, she’s all business!

Harry Schofield has an action-packed year ahead, too,busywithBMXnationals, filming and DH. His dad Paul is in no rush for Harry to settle down and pick a discipline, rightly name-checking riders such as Kade Edwards, who manage a bit of everything very successfully. Harry’s motivation comes from within. He doesn’t wait to be told what to do; as soon as he’s landed a truck driver, it’s time to try a double-truck. Arriving at a new spot like 417’s indoor pump track, he’s straight onto a weirdly-angled wall ride, which looks huge and technical.

It soon becomes clear that Harry Pullin is a big fan of the older Harry, whom he follows on social media. To most of us, Harry S is a young gun, but he’s more than twice HarryP’s age, and to him seems much longer in the tooth. We guess you’re never too young to be someone’s hero! It’s lovely to see HarryS’s awareness and helpfulness as he helps the younger boy with his gear and encourages him to follow him around the pump track. Harry P just wants to carry on riding and improving, keep up with the rugby and enjoy being a kid –a healthy approach in a world of lofty goals and prescriptive targets. Dad Tom knows Harry’s progression will come naturally and he doesn’t need any pushing. He tells us: “Harry was buzzing at the end of the day, I haven’t seen him so stoked on riding since before lockdown! It could be that he was riding somewhere fresh, but I think it was more Harry Schofield’s influence.” Perhaps you should meet your heroes, after all!

Keys to success

Just how did these kids get to be so good when they’re still so young? We sit down with their attendant parents to find out more. Naturally, strong parental support has been crucial to their progress. Standing around at muddy bike parks while your offspring risks serious injury is only for the bravest mums and dads. Access to a properly-fitting bike with decent-quality tyres and brakes is clearly critical too – and expensive to keep up with. “You’ll know when they get to the next level of bike they need” is the general consensus; there’s no need to buy a full-sus or a bigger wheel size until they’ve outgrown the potential of the bike they’re already riding. Access to trails is the next part of the puzzle, with suitable tracks, near enough to where you live that you can ride them regularly, being a must, too. Time on the bike is essential, as well – no one can improve without practice, and all these parents make time for their brood to ride as often as they can. Then there’s the X factor. That motivation for kids to start sending themselves down hills and off jumps, and, just as importantly, keep getting back on after crashing. Inspiration can come in the form of a family member or friend, seeing a video or spotting trails in the local woods. The rise of social media means there are now plenty of role models to choose from, and it’s easy to get feedback on your riding, too.

Opportunity knocks

Liv had some skills coaching at a young age, which helped her learn the basics. Dad James says a good group of riding buddies is important, too, both to bring the stoke in a session and to look out for each other on the trails: “Age and gender don’t matter – it’s about riding with people of a similar ability.” He adds that Go-Ride Racing (British Cycling’s gateway competition programme) was really helpful for Liv. “It wasn’t only pushing her riding, but was also training her for the format/ schedule during race weekends. It makes it easier to graduate up to regular races.”

Tom Pullin says that starting Harry on a balance bike (rather than one with stabilisers) was the right move, teaching him coordination on two wheels at the tender age of three. From there, he was taken to the skate park and just couldn’t wait to ride larger and larger obstacles. Tom says Harry found BMX easy to take to, because the bike fitted properly and wasn’t too big. Paul Schofield, meanwhile, reminds us that you don’t need the best bike when starting out; his son came third in the world and second in Europe on a £250 BMX race bike. The parents’ final collective tips boil down to this: listen to your kid, not the experts, as they’ll know when they’re ready for the next challenge. Also, don’t be afraid to ask for stuff – the worst that a company can do is say no.

At the end of the day, whatever their motivations and inspirations, all these kids are into riding bikes because it’s fun – just like we were when we started. Riding with them really reminded us what ‘the stoke’ is all about, and that it’s always important to get back to your roots and remember to ride purely for the grin factor as much as possible.