Martyn Ashton

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 is often described as a mountain biking legend within the sport.[4][5] He has been credited with turning trials from a niche form of riding into the sport it is today.[6] Ashton was paralysed in an accident in 2013, during a bike trials demo at the British Moto GP.[7]

Martyn Ashton
Animal Bike Tour, Aberystwyth, June 2007
Personal information
Full nameMartyn Ashton
Born (1974-12-02) 2 December 1974
Team information
DisciplineMTB
RoleRider
Rider typeTrials
Professional teams
1997Volvo - Cannondale
2005Animal MBUK
2008-2010Team Ashton Diamondback
2014-Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN)
Major wins
39 world championships 3 "Blue Peter" badges

Biography

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. Ashton is also the High Jump World Record Holder. In 2008 he entered the Mountain Biking UK 'Hall of Fame'.[3]

Ashton not only rode trials, but he has also designed exhibition stages[8] and has been designing products for his own Ashton Bikes range since 2002.[4] He has appeared in TV shows, magazine covers and MTB videos, and also has his own column Hop Idol in the MBUK mountain biking magazine.[4] Ashton lives in Port Talbot, Wales.

Ashton broke his back in 2003, when he compressed a vertebra and fractured it during a fall after misjudging a landing, but he soon recovered and returned to riding.[9]

He established Team Ashton Diamondback in-order to provide support for young riders, but although they are top level riders and are capable of achieving results internationally, Ashton doesn't believe that competition results are the be-all-and-end-all. The team concentrate as-much on gaining positive attention in the media as they do competition. A range of Team Ashton bikes was released in October 2008 as part of the 2009 Diamondback range.[10]

Ashton made YouTube fame with a video titled “Road Bike Party”[11], where he rode a road bicycle in stunts typical of trials.[12]

Ashton once again broke his back on 1 September 2013 during a demo at Moto GP, but this time it was more serious and left him paralysed. A fall from a 3-metre high bar caused severe damage to his spinal cord and dislocated T9 and T10 vertebrae.[13] Since his accident, Martyn has used a variety of wheelchairs, including ones adapted to allow him to continue outdoor pursuits.[14] He has also returned to mountain bike riding using heavily customised mountain bikes; even competing in the Crankworx Air DH, a world-famous race in Whistler, British Columbia.[15]

References
  1. "Martyn Ashton". Cycling Website. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012.
  2. "Martyn Ashton - Animal". Animal. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2017.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
  3. "Martyn Ashton". Ashton Bikes.
  4. "Team Ashton Diamondback Is Launched". Diamondback. Archived from the original on 12 June 2008.
  5. "Martyn Ashton : Mountain bike legend". ADS Projects.
  6. "Martyn Ashton". Mud in the Blood.
  7. "Feature: Story behind Martyn Ashton's Road Bike Party 2 Film - velouk.net". Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  8. "ANIMAL MOUNTAIN BIKE CHAMPIONS, MARTYN ASHTON AND GRANT 'CHOPPER' FIELDER, AT THE SPORTSBOAT AND RIB SHOW". Southampton Sports Boat and RIB Show. 4 May Animal Mountain Bike Champions, Martyn Ashton and Grant ‘Chopper’ Fielder, at the Sportsboat and Rib Show2005. Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. "UK Trials ace Ashton recovering from broken back". February 2003.
  10. "About Team Ashton". Ashton Bikes.
  11. Martyn Ashton - Road Bike Party, retrieved 30 August 2019
  12. js (23 December 2014). "Road Bike Party 3 gets dirty with jaw-dropping tricks". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 March 2019.
  13. "Legend Martyn Ashton is set for a new trial". DIRT.
  14. "Personalised all terrain Mountain Trike wheelchair for global trials rider, Martyn Ashton". Mountain Trike.
  15. "Martyn Ashton rides Whistler Bike Park 2017". Red Bull.
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