Tredz contributors

Contributors' preferences very wildly at TredzTalk. We have extremely talented and uber-trained athletes posting here but we also wanted the less specialist (not necessarily less talented) riders to contribute as well. This blog isn't designed for the cycling elite; its about opening the lid on Tredz as a company and seeing what it, and its people, are all about.

We're sure loads of people will scribble posts in this blog, but below are the bios of those who we thought you might be most interested in. Most work for us, others are sponsored riders and close mates who ride bikes.

EMPLOYED CYCLISTS (and forced to write)

Chris - has worked for us on and off since 1992. He's probably the most technically competent guy we've ever had in the team. Given the time, Chris will have a go at just about anything. He pedals anything on two wheels anywhere they’ll go, kayaks (mainly at sea), climbs (but NEVER indoors), snowboards and does the odd spot of caving. He lives for his holidays, getting to the Alps as often as possible for mountain biking or climbing. His album is here.

Currently Chris is taking an extended sojourn in an epic trans-American bike ride. As soon as we hear from him we'll be posting.

RIDES: Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Comp, Specialized Big Hit, Mongoose Black Diamond, Univega cro-mo tourer, DMR cro-mo 26" jump bike.

Nic - the marketer and instigator of all things web, especially this blog. He stopped cycling for a while but has been in love the Specialized Stumpjumper FSR range for a couple of years now. Two kids and running Tredz means he only manages a couple of hours mountain biking a month - preferably in Afan Argoed (the wall is his favourite out of the 4 routes).
RIDES: Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Expert and Allez.
Does he really smile this much?

Simon - is one of our long standing store managers. He's been wrecking his knees on skate, wake and snowboards since he was 12 (his excuse for being last up every mountain). Like many MTBers, he found his way to mountain biking via BMX. He still rides boards when he can, but now rides mostly mountain bikes as he's under the impression that it’s not as bad for his knees. His real photos are here.

When not trashing his knees, he’s skinning his knuckles under one of his trucks: Dodge Ram V8 or ’64 VW panel van. We don’t complain as he's got the only vehicle capable of carrying 6 riders and their bikes (and in some style!).
RIDES: Specialized Big Hit, Kona Coil Air.

 Chris 'Wow' -  one of our senior shop staff members, Chris often tops the sales charts in our stores. We're not sure if this is due to his out and out bike knowledge, or a result of our customers taking extreme measures to get him to stop talking about the advantages of one seatpost clamp over another.

Either way his sheer enthusiasm for cycling is seriously infectious.

He's raced the Merida 100km, the Relentless 24h in Fort William and in XC Nationals. He also rode 150km over the Alps on a tandem.

RIDES: Specialized Epic 2007 and a Specialized Langster Monaco (both seriously modded).

SPONSORED RIDERS (and also forced to write)

Jody Cundy - Jody started swimming at the age of 5 by being given an inflatable back pack and told to get in the water. Due to missing a leg (lower right) he was unbalanced, rolled onto his back and sunk to the bottom of the pool. His parents decided to invest in ‘proper’ club swimming lessons and he soon learnt. At the age of 10, he raced in his first gala. From there it was club, county and finally country in 1994. For 18 years he raced competitively in the pool, breaking world records, winning world championships and three Olympic gold medals.

Early in 2005 Jody was invited to an open disability day at the Newport Velodrome. He only went along as he'd done a little cycling as cross training but the cycle coaches soon realised the pedalling talent in their midst. He ended up being persuaded to hit the track again in Manchester a few months later where they twisted his arm to buy a racing licence and enter the nationals in October on a borrowed bike. He beat the British record for the flying 200 metres and missed the 1 kilometre record by a second. Since then Jody’s hung up his trunks and ridden full time breaking the World Record for the ‘kilo’ and won gold at the world cup (photos here).

In 2008 Jody won further Gold medals in the Bejing Olympics, before being made an MBE in the Queen's New Year's Honours List.

Gold medals in three Olympics, in two different sports. Yup. We're pretty happy to know him.

Jody's profile page is here.

Julian Poffley - 'Jules' is something of a local legend. Dedicated to whatever sport he chooses, be it skating (ripped), surfing (rips), BMX (rips) and now downhill MTB (rips). He is the consummate privateer racer, liked and respected by everyone he meets. Describing his riding style is difficult as he has usually vanished by the exit of the first bend. He is the kind of rider who keeps scenes going, always riding and building trails and encouraging others to do so. Tredz is proud to sponsor him (regular podiums help) in his riding and racing and we will be keeping you up to date with his results.
RIDES: Kona Stab Deluxe, DMR Rhythm, GT I-Drive 5 1.0, Giant TCR Comp Once Team.

Phil Marland - a Sergeant in the British Army. Phil has been part of our sponsored crew for a few years now and is as determined as ever when it comes to challenges. He competed in South Africa's Cape Epic in 06 as well as the Xterra triathlon.

He is currently gearing up for another go at the Cape Epic in 2010, via a coast to coast mountain bike ride and the Trans Wales event.

RIDES: Scott Scale 30, Specialized Epic, Specialized Roubaix Comp.

Tony Island - A newcomer to the Tredz fold, he will accompanying Phil Marland on the build up to, and the actual Cape Epic 2010 - 'largest full-service mountain bike stage race in the world'.

Despite claims to be only 'a fairly fit bloke', the serious miles he's already putting in on his pre dawn training and the fact he's a British Army Captain makes us think he'll do us proud.

RIDES: Specialized Epic

Ryan Evans -  Ryan wasn't always a cyclist. He was in a past life the youngest player to play in the Welsh senior Basketball league and represented Wales in both Home Nations and European championships.

 Following a nasty shoulder injury, and several sessions under the knife, he took a few years out of competition. During this time Ryan came to Tredz, more specifically Gus in 2004 looking for a mountain bike to ride around the forestry behind his house.  Not having owned or ridden a bike since he was 15, he took to it immediately and so began his dangerous affair with off road riding.

Completely unrelated, but wanting to maintain fitness through the winter in 2006 and at the age of 35, Ryan decided it would be a good time to learn to swim properly. After swimming with a local triathlon club for a few months Ryan embarked on a career in triathlon.

Since then he has competed in Welsh triathlon races consistently finishing in the top ten.

Ryan has now found his perfect sporting partner in Xterra racing. Competing in both the 2007 & 2008 UK events held on the gruelling Afan Valley course Ryan qualified twice for the prestigious Xterra World Championships in Maui, Hawaii.

This year he has joined forces with Tredz to compete in the Xterra European race series. This will see him gaining serious air miles while racing in Italy, Czech Republic, UK, France (twice), Germany and Austria. The culmination of a year’s effort, assuming he is still in one piece, will see Ryan competing at the World Championships in Maui in October again.

Rides: Epic Expert, Epic S-Works, Transition Expert