Late last year we welcomed Adam Blythe as our ambassador for 2020 – now very much away from the World Tour, he recently dropped by the office to say hi, talk upcoming adventures and even custom bikes. 

We’ll have more on that last bit soon, but first let’s get to know Adam a bit better…

After a decade of racing your bike around the world, how are you adapting to life outside of the pro peloton?
It’s good, but very different. I’m actually finding it all quite exciting as nobody is telling me what I’m doing any more and I’m my own boss. 

I have to get up and do stuff myself which is good because it makes me get out of the house. 

I also get to spend a lot of time with my kids and my family which is nice. But generally I can just go out on my bike when I want to, there’s no stress. If I want to go out I can, if it’s raining I will not be going out. 

You say you’re not going out in the rain any more – when you were a pro, was it a challenge to stay motivated?
A little bit. When you have a family to look after, that became my priority. The motivation was them and not the bike. 

I know maybe it should be to ride your bike hard, to give them an easier life, but it was more for me being at home and being a good dad. They’re not going to be six-months old again. 

So it’s nice that now I can have that time with them. It’s very different to what I’ve been used to… and I know how emails work now. 


What was your last memorable ride?
My first ride as a non-professional was quite memorable. I went out with Ian Stannard, he was just doing a steady day and had three hours planned. And then it started raining after about 20-minutes in, so I turned around and went home! 

I’m not doing this any more to be riding in the rain, which was great. It was memorable and quite nice in a way, but I’m now at the point of being fat Adam, so I need to start getting out on the bike more now. 

What kind of riding are you looking forward to most?
I’m loving riding any bike I want, I love to get out mountain biking which is great fun. 

It’s why I started bike riding and now I get to re-live that a little bit. 

I’ve done a lot of road around where I live and I’ve done a bit of mountain biking around the Peak District with Nick Craig but I haven’t really explored from my doorstep. I’d like to do that more off road.

Road riding is nice but there’s still an element of work involved in that. You don’t have to go far off road to do a decent ride which I like. I’m not fussed about doing 60km any more, I’d rather do six kilometres and go as fast as I can down the hill. 


Where are you most looking forward to riding next?
Bike Park Wales. Let’s see how fat flies! 

In the last year there has been a big increase in the visibility of adventure riding – what have learned from that? How do you feel about heading out for some massive multi-day rides? 
I’m not worried at all about the training aspect of it. After riding for a week I think I’ll be fit enought to get by. 

It’s not a race for me anymore, it’s just about the enjoyment of it. And if I’m unfit, so what? It doesn’t really matter anymore. I’m just looking forward to the pureness of riding your bike and enjoying it for what it is. 

Have you ever done any overnight trips on your bike?
No. I’m looking forward to it, but there’s a part of me that likes the comforts. I like the fresh white linen. And I don’t own a sleeping bag. I haven’t been camping since I was eight. 

There’s that side I’m apprehensive about – like am I really going to have to sleep in the wild? 

If you were sleeping out in the wild, what animal would you be most scared of?
Cat, dog, any house pets I’m scared of them all!

If the friendliest Labrador came up to me during me night I’d probably think it was a bear and run for my life. I’m going to have a joyful time of camping in the woods with my headtorch on, constantly on the lookout  for anything that moves. 

There has been talk about the UCI introducing a gravel calendar, and even a world championship event in the future. Where would you like to see gravel racing go next?
To the Maldives! We could do a lap of the island, it’s only about a kilometre! 

Seriously though, I think it’s important for every sport that it grows. It creates a new element for me of riding a bike. 

I think so many look at off roading as so different, when in fact a lot of the road pros love to go mountain biking because it’s so different. 

So if you can incorporate that into your daily ride – say if you commute 10 miles to work but for some reason you can incorporate three miles off road, great. It’s a lot more fun, the time will pass quicker, it’s interesting. 

There’s a bridlepath near where I live, I never thought about going down there on my road bike, but now I’ve got a Datum, I’m all over it. 


Thanks to Adam for taking five minutes out to chat and we keep an eye out for some fun adventures that will be coming soon!

You can follow Adam's exploits over on Instagram, and check out his new series on Youtube now!

Jan 29 2020
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