HENRY CREASE
Henry Crease is a South Devon based rider in the u21 category. Initially a downhiller, he’s recently set his sights on enduro - and the Enduro World Series in particular.
Photo credit : Josh Marsh photography
I’ve been racing for nearly eight years. I first jumped on a bike before I was three - my grandparents bought me a tiny one, and we’d take it to the seafront. When I was a little older my dad would attach a bungee to my bars and pull me up the hills - I never did like climbing much! So mostly I’ve been racing downhill - but recently I’ve jumped ship and I’ve started racing Enduro: I’ve got big plans for the EWS this year.
My family’s not massively into biking. They are big into all sorts of other sports, though. My dad was a nationally ranked long-boarder, and my mum used to be a Devon county tennis player. My dad still surfs, in places like Saunton Sands and Croyd. I surf too - my main three sports are mountain biking, surfing and rugby. I dabbled in skateboarding too, but that never went particularly well!
Photo credit : Josh Marsh photography
Lockdown has made me realise that I really enjoy riding with my mates. It’s not all about the competition - although I do end up racing with them! But in all the racing I’ve done, it’s all about the clock, so I try to focus on going as fast as I can, rather than just beating everyone. I'm a very competitive person though - almost every ride ends up being a race with some of my mates down here. It’s not serious, but you end up pushing each other to go faster, and it’s great come home feeling you’ve nailed a run. Adrenaline is everything.
I think I’m a bit of an all-rounder, but I prefer riding in the mud and clag. Riding in Devon, I don’t really get a lot of choice! But I do feel pretty comfortable when it’s muddy, and I think my style suits technical courses and sections quite well - I prefer them tight and twisty. I have been working on my jumping, though; I’ve been hitting the BMX track pretty hard.
I got into Enduro pretty simply. I just ended up riding to and from the practice track I use, rather than driving, and figured that it worked for me. Downhill seems very dominated by the top 5 riders, and getting into contention without factory support is really hard. Enduro doesn’t have the same barriers - it feels a bit more egalitarian, so I thought I’d give it a shot. So far, it’s been going OK! I’m in the EWS 100 in October in the Tweed Valley in Scotland. Next year I aim to be in a lot of European rounds - hopefully I’ll do well at them.
The Highlander was such an eye catching bike when I first laid eyes on it. I saw the sponsorship email, replied to that and it went from there - we had a chat, and eventually I ended up with a frame! I was totally stoked. It’s SO much better than my old bike. I’ve built it up pretty sturdily, as you’d expect from a downhiller I guess - but it’s still light enough to properly hurtle when it needs to.
It’s really confidence inspiring. Thanks to Covid, I haven’t hit the races with it yet, but I can tell it’s seriously fast. On my second ride out, I got 35 personal bests on Strava - it’s that good. The high pivot means it really does feel like it corner on rails - sometimes the cliches are true! It’s so planted.
Hands down one of the best places I’ve ridden is Pila Aosta Freeride in Italy. There’s a DH World Cup track, a free ride park and some of the best singletrack I’ve ever ridden - a half hour ride all the way down the mountain. And half way down, you can get cake! Nothing beats cake half way down a descent.
I'd like to hope I'll do fairly well in the EWS series’ coming up. I need to get enough points to go into the next meeting, and really hit the ground running. Hopefully, if I can get through all the European races, I'll be in contention top 20 overall, and top 10 overall in my category. Which is absolutely where I’m aiming - right for the top, from the start.
See more from Henry :
Photo credit : Josh Marsh photography
“On my second ride out, I got 35 personal bests on Strava - it’s that good”
