LACHLAN BLAIR

Edinburgh-based Lachlan Blair has been going downhill fast for as long as he can remember - first on skis, and then on a variety of mountain bikes. As well as racing Enduro and Downhill World Cups, he’s perhaps best known as one of Joe Barnes’ infamous Dudes of Hazzard.

Photo credit : James Vincent (@jamesvincent)

I’ve been able to ski since I could walk. I was into skiing growing up - my mum worked at the local ski resort at the Nevis Range in Fort William. My mum ran a little catering hut up on the ski hill in winter called the Snack Hut. That was her job in the winter, and she ran a B&B in the summer.

I got into bikes quite young. One summer - I must have been six or seven - my mum was asked to help with the catering when the Downhill World Cup came around. I got dragged up the mountain to help and thought it was brilliant: riding bikes looked amazing. And when I got a bit older I discovered that people were actually getting paid to do that - which sounded fun! So that's sort of what got me interested in riding bikes.

I started racing when I was around thirteen. I saved up for a couple years and managed to buy an ex-rental downhill bike, and then started going to races all around Scotland. I came last in every race, but it was great fun just trying to get down the hill. I’d measure my success in how few times I fell off. And I progressed every year, getting a bit faster - until suddenly I’m doing it for a living!

I lived in Ft William until I was about 24 or 25. And then, after travelling a while, I moved to Edinburgh. There’s not a huge amount of riding out of the door, but because it’s really central there’s loads of stuff just a short drive away - I can drive to Innerleithen, or there’s loads of stuff in Fife which is really fun. Dunkeld is also about an hour away. And I’m not far from the airport either.

I’ve done so many different jobs in the winter. As I got better at racing, I’d be racing in the summer and I’d have to find work during off season. For a while I worked at the Nevis Range running the ski lifts; I also did some track building there when the skiing wasn't so good. Those jobs were great but I did also have a 12-hour night shift job for four days a week, where I had to clean the containers that fish get transported in. That wasn’t great: spending all night jet washing fish out of bins!

But I had been filming with the Dudes of Hazzard for a few years, and then Joe Barnes set up Hazzard Racing, which he was keen for me to be part of. That's when cycling became my only livelihood, around 2019. We did two years of travelling, racing and making videos riding Orange Bikes. They wanted to start a Factory Racing team, so that was a natural transition from both racing and filming with Joe, to a pure racing focus.

**“I’ve ridden a lot of trails.** But I think my favourite trail would have to be a section of the Trans Madeira, when I raced it in 2021”

I started off focusing on Downhill before I switched to Enduro. I’d been doing a bit of both, but my main focus had been Downhill - until I had a huge crash at Leogang in Austria in 2017, and basically snapped my leg in half which took the rest of the year to recover from. The next year, I was still focused on downhilling, but after a few more injuries I started to realise that enduros were much less stressful, and you got to ride your bike a lot more! And after having not been able to ride my bike for so many months just getting to spend all day out riding your bike felt pretty good. So when Joe started the Hazzard Racing team in 2019, focussing purely on Enduro, that’s when I really just dived in.

I’ve ridden a *lot* of trails. But I think my favourite trail would have to be a section of the Trans Madeira, when I raced it in 2021. It's a really difficult trail to get to, and I'm not sure if you can normally ride it. The ground is soft and sandy; there are so many beautiful corners and you're right in this massive gully. The speeds are so high but the grip is insane! You’re sliding, but you never feel you’re going to wash out; you know what the bike is doing all the time. You just sort of drift in between these corners. It feels like skiing.

I’d noticed Deviate bikes around more and more. But I hadn't really cottoned on that they were based so close to me. My friend, photographer Ross Bell, knew Ben (Jones, Deviate’s co-owner), and he suggested that I contact Deviate. And we just clicked. It was so exciting, the thought of working with a company based an hour away from where I live!

The Claymore is just brilliant. I love the high pivot design - especially when climbing! Being able to pedal up choppy, rough climbs, without feeling a single bump on the trail - it’s just smooth pedalling, and traction to the back wheel. The traction is just there the whole time, that's the most noticeable thing. It's a great combination - huge fun, but also really stable and planted, with brilliant grip. The faster you go, and the more you attack, the more stable it feels.

My highlights so far? At the EWS in Madeira in 2017 I got my first top 10 Stage result and came ninth on the stage there. And a few weeks later at the Downhill World Cup in Ft William, I came 21st - the week before I broke my leg! The career highlight so far, though, is probably being able to ride bikes full time - making bike riding my job. I can’t wait to see where the Claymore takes me.

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