As long time Ryan fans we are over the moon to announce we are supporting Ryan Middleton.

 "Ryan saying YES to support from Airdrop was the proposal we all wanted. He's your favourite riders favourite rider, a true individual doing things for the right reasons. His dedication to the core MTB scene and cultural contribution to the fabric of the sport we all know and love speaks volumes about the man. Couldn't be more stoked to have Ryan riding our bikes, dream come true!"

 

Ryan Middleton Q&A

In the interest of getting to know Ryan a little better our very own Jonathan Ross AKA Craig Evans sat down with Ryan to find out a little bit more about the mysterious Scottish snakey tamer.

Age?

27

Hometown?

Dundee Scotland 

Current Day Job?

Full time Electrical technician for Scottish Water. 

Haggis or Irn Bru?

Haggis. Mad that such an animal exists.

How did you get into riding?

I really don’t know to be honest. I’ve always lived out in the country side and tried a few different sports but there was something about launching myself off a pallet propped up on some breeze blocks that would always draw me back to anything with 2 wheels. 

You have done some racing back in the day, does racing still have any influence on how you ride?

Yeh definitely I’ll always try ride a section as fast as I can when filming. Racing has taught me many things from line choice, technique and riding in all sorts of conditions and on different terrains. 

Ever had any big injuries?

Touch wood I have been pretty lucky however I have done my ACL and had that repaired which did take some time. 

How much thought goes into your setup, have you slowly dialled in what you like?

A fair bit of thought goes into it, I’ll examine frame geo charts and have numbers I want a bike to be within. I’m also very picky with cockpit set up and pedal/ shoe combo. I’ve still to learn a lot with suspension set up, the less dials the less chance I’ll go in wrong direction.

Do you change your setup between spots?

I never used to at all but have recently been adjusting my tyre pressures to better suit what I’m riding. Discovered not having your tires fold on jump face actually feels quite good haha. 

Do you have favourite riders?

When I was younger racing I would try emulate riding like Brendan. His loose style & speed on the bike in some sloppy track conditions definitely left a mark. Recently though I can’t not say Brandon Semenuk, he continues time & time again to drop another mind melting edit that somehow tops the last. 

Have you been influenced by any riders, or people in other sports?

Yeh there’s so many riders that I take influence from. A few that stand out are Lukas Schäfer, Simon Johansson, Mike Aitken and Josh Dove. All have amazing style and flow on a bike in their own way. I’m also a fan of everything Craig Evans does. Some of the manuals and gaps he does are mad. I remember trying to nose tap the A line rock drop off the furthest away pre hop gap after watching him do it the week before. I instantly got humbled as I completely missed it and just about wrote off my trip haha. 

Do you have a clear vision when you work on a project, or do you let it develop as you go?

Not really I’ll have a few ideas in my head of things I want try on certain features but most of the time will just let it develop. I have found a lot of the riding I’m most happy with hasn’t been planned.  

Do you ever get frustrated/angry when trying something new and it isn’t going your way?

I will get annoyed at myself if something isn’t working out but I’ll usually just move onto something else and come back to it. If I don’t I end up breaking down what I am trying too much and overthinking it. 

What inspired you when were young, we were all heavily influenced by Earthed and I have a soft spot for all things Coastal Crew, was there anything that helped push you in your current direction?

Coastal crew is definitely up there. I would watch everything they put out on Pinkbike, then go out and try carve as hard as I could off the garden 4ft fly out. Their videos also inspired me from a trail building standpoint. One of the first mountain bike DVD’s I owned was ‘Made’ filmed by Calum Swift. It followed the World Cup season and threw in a few riding segments in between. I would absolutely rinse that DVD and had memorised every song and what section it went to. I think this definitely fuelled my love for downhill and racing as it followed such a cool era of downhill. I’ve got to also drop in Stuart (Stuz) from Shredder mtb zine, he filmed the 2010 Scottish downhill series which was my first year of racing and after each round I would be sitting refreshing the web page waiting for his race recap video to drop.

Do you use music as a motivator for riding, if so how, what and why?

Yeh I spend a lot of time driving with work so Im constantly listening and looking for new music. I can’t help but envisage how each tune would sync up with some riding footage. I’ve not really got a specific genre I only listen to but I do like a good 90s hip hop track or some Alternative/ rock. It always gets me hyped up for a weekend of cycling. 

We don’t always get to choose how we look on the bike, but how we interact with the features the shapes we make and how our body reacts in different situations makes up our style, from the outside your style looks effortless, how much of how you ride is premeditated and how much just happens naturally for you? 

I appreciate the kind words, I actually don’t think I’ll ever be satisfied with my style on the bike and am constantly trying to improve my riding. I think your own style comes down to how comfortable to you are on the bike. The more you practice something the less you have to think about it, it then becomes more of a natural movement with less thought. 

Somewhere you would like to ride but haven’t had the chance yet?

Kamloops & Coast gravity park. Both look incredible. 

How come you didn’t have a bike sponsor before?

I have never really been out looking for one to be honest. I work full time and riding for me is a hobby that I’m very passionate about and do in any free time I have. I’d way rather buy a bike or products I actually like over using something I wouldn’t buy myself just to gain a deal or sponsorship. 

What made you want to ride with us?

Airdrop ticks every box in what I look for in a bike and to be honest had I not been offered the opportunity to ride for you guys the chance of me owning one of your bikes anyway was high haha. It being a small company also, operated by a good crew that aren’t afraid to go against the latest industry trend to make fun bikes also was a stand out highlight I couldn’t say no to. 

If you could change one thing about the MTB scene, what would it be?

Would love to see more long format projects getting supported. I Bought Matt Begg & Hunter Paull’s ‘When Does The Trend End’ film, that comes on a USB stick and it’s one of the best things I’ve watched in years. It being something you can physically hold reminds me of putting on my favourite MTB DVD's and removes the “disposable” element we are now so used to.

What does the future hold for you?

Lots of mountain cycling and hopefully plenty more progression in my riding.