HOPTON WOODS, SHROPSHIRE

always forget how humbling it can be to ride bikes with the pros. Standing on the outside of a tight 180-degree berm on Hopton’s red XC route, we’ve just watched Joe Smith hammer in at lightning speed, chuck his bike into a completely sideways opposite lock, rail the apex and explode out the other end. Following that, he eyes up a sniper-straight line and, instead of skidding awkwardly around the chicane like us, gaps into the backside of a steep, rocky mound with textbook precision. We remind ourselves it’s OK to be outclassed by someone of Joe’s World Cup pedigree, and by a guy who’s been making tyre tracks in these