| Rich and Craig |
|
Rich Martin Rich has had the pleasure of living and working in the Lakes for the past 19 years. As a fully qualified Outdoor Instructor he has been employed by many of the major Lakeland Outdoor Centres which has given him a wealth of knowledge about the area & all aspects of the outdoor industry. As a British Cycling and Scottish Cycling Tutor & Coach he continues to work as technical advisor to the UK's governing body in the development of the MTB skills & leadership awards. Rich became an SMBLA Tutor & SMBLA Committee member because he could see how beneficial mountain biking as an activity could & should be both in outdoor centres and commercial organisations. Along with Craig they have now qualified over 2,500 leaders and have established Cyclewise as the leading mountain bike training company in the UK. Although qualified as a Summer / Winter Mountain Leader, Climbing Instructor, BCU Canoe & Kayak Coach, Rich's main passion has always been biking. As a British Cycling Tutor & Coach, Mountain Bike Leader, Bikeability Instructor, Cytech level 2 mechanic and SMBLA Tutor he is on a mission to get more people biking, more safely and more often. Rich has specialised in all disciplines of cycling and has competed to a high level in both road and mountain bike events. After 9 years of running Cyclewise along with Craig, Sue & Amy he is immensely proud of the difference that Cyclewise is making to the biking industry with the correct standards in skills, leadership and customer care. Now with 18 staff working for Cyclewise, articles being written for magazines and the odd BBC TV appearance (Countryfile "Happy Days"!!) he still has lots of enthusiasm for the sport of mountain biking and seeks out new challenges for the business. Most of all he just loves riding his bike.....simples!
Craig has operated as a fully qualified Outdoor Instructor in and around the Lake District for many years but his first love is mountain biking and in this time he has also become one of the country's best mountain bike guides. Working for one of the UK's largest MTB holiday specialists, Craig's guiding work has not only seen him ride most of the Lakeland routes but has also given him the opportunity to lead groups all over the world to destinations such as California, Canada, Italy, Patagonia and New Zealand.
He is often found gracing either Altura adverts or the covers of most of the major mountain bike magazines and was recently regarded in MBR as a " Local Hero" which in a nut shell sums him up brilliantly. |