When Martyn Ashton of Road Bike Party fame was paralyzed from the waist down due to a career ending wreck, there was never any doubt in his mind that he would get on a bike again. “I’m a bike rider and I can’t do anything about it… Having an injury like this doesn’t turn it off. It just makes me want it more.” In this video, Martyn gets electrical taped into his modified Mojo Nicolai Geometron and does a downhill run with Blake Samson and Road Bike Party 2 riders Danny MacAskill and Chris Akrigg. And you can see the pure joy in his face.
Check out the Interview with Martyn plus the break down of his Pro Bike from GMBN next…
His Mojo is also worth checking out. Aside from the sit ski seat to secure his lower torso and flipping one of the crank arms 180 degrees and bolting them in an upward orientation to keep his legs up, it’s physically not particularly unique from an adaptive technologies standpoint. It has a traditional drivetrain, for example, though it wasn’t used. He uses the same flat pedals he used to race with. The suspension was tuned by Paul Shepard of Mojo on the trail to compensate for his seated position to lessen bucking on the trail.
In both his interview and description of his bike, he talks about the experience of getting back on a bike and the difference in riding experience.
Real talk, though: those of us who are able bodied cyclists of a physical and financial stature tend to take for granted that the industry almost exclusively puts out product catered to us every day. When you watch these videos, when you see Martyn blasting down the trail with a massive smile on his face, it is crystal clear how transformative the cycling experience can be to an individual.
It’s a reminder that while we’re fortunate to be in the majority, there is a massive opportunity for all of us to share this transformative experience with others by expanding what cycling is. And sometimes, as demonstrated by the videos, it doesn’t take a lot of technology or consideration to accomplish that.
Keep getting back on it, Martyn. This is amazing.
