A lifetime as a pro rider, with Scott Beaumont.

WORDS GEOFF WAUGH

PHOTOGRAPHY GEOFF WAUGH

You’ve seen them in the magazines; we’ve seen them on our TV screens. Professional riders that is. We are bombarded by new ‘edits’ on a daily basis; they come at us via our devices and occasionally in a widescreen premiere – each one striving for added gnar. And that’s just the video part of the pro game. On any weekend, racers come out in their droves to act as fast-moving placards for their sponsors. To walk the walk and, especially, talk the talk.

Have you ever wondered what it takes to be a professional rider? To dig beneath the flash of the custom helmets, the neat branded uniforms and understand what it takes to be paid for doing what you love? Fewer riders these days seem to have aspirations to be professional athletes, but for some the notion of becoming the next Nino or Rachel is what gets them out of bed early every morning.

Luckily we have a seasoned pro in the UK ranks to ask, a man who has avoided clocking into a proper job since the 1990s, and that is 4X supremo Scott Beaumont from Worcester.

From his early years in BMX racing Scott adopted a professional attitude to the sport, no doubt aided by advice from his former speedway-racing father Mike. Beaumont Junior has been a sponsored rider since he was five years old, so he knows a thing or two about seeking and retaining backers. After he became World Champion in BMX, he turned his attention to mountain biking which was growing so fast it was hard to ignore. In fact, a slew of BMX racers took up mountain biking as a new source of income and a fresh challenge. Brian Lopes anybody? Mike King, Eric Carter, Dave Cullinan and Wade Bootes all swapped 20in wheels for 26in in the ’90s.