Interview: Adam Brayton on 100 World Cup DH Starts – Fort William World Cup DH 2024 – Pinkbike

There aren’t very many riders out there who have raced in 100 World Cups, and this weekend at Fort William, Adam Brayton joined that elite club. Interestingly, it was at the same place where he began his career at 18 years old. Adam’s long-term sponsor, Hope, and partner Meg Whyte, surprised him on the morning of practice with a presentation of a special helmet painted by Flat White Paintworks, along with some cake. And who doesn’t like cake? So, we stopped by to have a chat with Ad and see how he’s getting on.

Ad, 100 World Cups. How does it feel?

Weird. It’s crept up on me that one, I didn’t even really know about it and came here to celebrations, which is obviously nice. But, yeah, I’ve been with Hope for a majority of them races, which is pretty sick. My longest standing sponsor. So it’s cool to see the appreciation.

Your first World Cup was here you were just saying?

Yeah, 2006 as a second year junior. Fresh on the scene, keen as mustard. So yeah, it’s been a long road and I love it just as much now as I did then.

Do you reckon it’s getting harder or easier the more you do?

Oh, harder, mate. Harder. The level’s insane now. Yeah. It’s nuts. You literally cannot shut off or chill anywhere. You know, you’ve got to just be flat out top to bottom, but it’s good, we’re not complaining.

100 World Cups, nearly 20 years of World Cup racing. Any highlights that spring to mind?

Yeah. I mean, obviously podium here is probably the main highlight, but we’ve had a lot of good results. There’s been a lot of highs and a lot of lows and that’s part of it. But no, I wouldn’t change a thing.

What’s your favourite World Cup track (and you can’t say Fort William)?

Honestly, Cairns.

Really, why Cairns?

Yeah I love it. Just loved Australia. Loved that part of the world. The track was amazing in my opinion. Probably a standout race for me, one of my favourites.

So 100 World Cups, not an insignificant feat, I don’t reckon there’s many other people in the pits with it other than Greg Minnaar. How many more do you reckon you got in you, are you still hungry for it?

Oh, mate, honestly, I love it. Like I said, I love it more than ever. I cannot get enough. But, yeah, obviously, you know, the end is on the horizon potentially, you can’t go on forever. But we’ll go as long as we can, that is for sure.

A busy year ahead, are you going to do all the World Cups? I know it’s tough being like a pro-vateer kind of these days. So all World Cups?

Yeah I mean, I did call myself a pro-vateer, but we’re definitely a privateer now. The plans to do them all, we’re committed to the full season and hopefully do all right and we can build on that and go into 2025 with something more.

Last season, you had some issues with points and stuff, have you kind of solved all that now?

Yeah. I’m not going to say it’s a loophole, but yeah, we’ve basically bought in is a simple way of putting it. So we’ve done that. I did actually score a couple points this season already so plan is to keep chipping away. Keep scoring them points.

So effectively now you’re a UCI team?

Yeah. We’ve removed that stress of points chasing, BC Jersey applications etc. Took advantage and it wasn’t something I wanted to do, to be honest with you. It kind of went against everything I thought. But anyway, obviously, like I said, removes that stress and we can turn up and go racing.

Is it just yourself?

No, there’s a bunch of us misfits. A bunch of misfits, minus Mikaela Parton. She’s legit. She’s our golden goose.

What’s the name of the team?

BNC racing.
Reaching 100 World Cup starts is quite an achievement, something not everyone gets to experience. To commemorate this milestone, Adam was gifted a custom Bell helmet adorned with a map showcasing all the world cup locations he has ridden at. And to top it off, a touch of fish scale patterning on the peak, paying homage to the World Cup’s premier fisherman! An amazing job by Flat White Paintworks.