134 – Bikes, Racing, Injury and Sponsorship with Mud And No Makeup
Todays Guest:
Tess Brown – a.k.a. Mud And No Makeup
On episode #134 it is my pleasure to welcome Tess Brown back on the show for a chat about how she has been getting on over the last couple of years regarding racing, injury, training, sponsorship and much much more.
Tess was originally on the show back in September of 2018, episode #54 (listen here), were we chatted about how she got started in mountain biking, why she started racing, what she thought of the ladies racing scene, and how to best get started in mountain biking, plus lots more. So I asked Tess to come back on the show and fill us in on how she has been getting on over the last two years or so and if she is missing racing over these tough times.
Find Out:
- Why living beside the forest helps during a lockdown
- Why Tess is missing racing
- Why Tess started a gym workout since our last chat
- How the gym has helped Tess on her bike
- The issues and problems that can occur if you train to hard
- Why Tess decided to get a new bike
- What brands have been helping Tess over these last couple of years
- How Tess got injured and how her recovery has been going
- Why Tess decided to pull out of her first race back after injury
- Why and when you should be riding a hard tail (just another reason to get a new bike!)
- How Tess has been steadily building her Instagram following
- What Tess has planned for the future (there is a van build in there!)
- How to get in contact with Tess
- And…your questions to Tess answered!
Tess loves racing, and to be honest I think that is why she still rides mountain bikes, goes to the gym and moved home to be closer to the forest and her local (backdoor step) trails. Mountain biking plays such a huge part in her life and since starting it around six years ago, it has changed her life completely. Tess works fulltime Monday to Friday but every weekend is jam packed with mountain biking, racing and generally hitting the trails. She has also dedicated herself to a MTB specific gym workout which she truly believes has helped her get better on the bike, have a higher level of fitness and basically enjoy riding her bike and racing even more so.
However, you need to be careful in the gym and not overdo things as Tess sadly found out. When you are working fulltime, training three times per week and riding on the weekends your body can take a beating and that is when injury can happen. Now, it may seem silly that you injure yourself in the gym but you would be surprised how often this happens. People push to hard, lift to heavy or have bad form, it all adds up to putting yourself in that danger zone of doing to much and opening the door for injury. I know personally I have injured myself in the gym a couple of times by simply overdoing it, I even injured myself doing yoga one time, but that is another story and one I don’t really want to tell!
Tess has seen her mountain bike skill base improve over the last couple of years. She puts this down to not only more saddle time but also getting the odd coaching lesson here and there when she thinks she needs it. Tess recommends that everybody should have a lesson every now and then, just to brush up on bad habits or to improve an area of your riding that you are struggling with or simply think needs improvement. Such lessons have helped Tess overcome curtain sections of trail that she was struggling with, approach them with more confidence and using what she has learned, get down these sections smoother and faster than ever before. And as we chat about confidence builds confidence, but it all starts with the proper technique, body position and timing, something that a good coach will be able to help you with no worries.
So put your feet up, chill out for an hour and find out how Tess is keeping busy over the lockdown, getting ready for the upcoming race season (hopefully) and how she has gotten faster over the last couple of years!
Also, if you got in contact with Tess on Instagram and asked her a question for the podcast, you will get your answer on the show! Enjoy.
To Connect with Tess:
Instagram: mud_and_no_makeup
Tess’s Sponsors:
To Share Your Thoughts or Get In Contact:
To Help Out The Show:
- Rate and leave an honest review on iTunes/ Apple Podcasts
- Your ratings and reviews really help and I read each one.
- Subscribe and listen to on iTunes/ Apple Podcasts
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Thanks again to Tess for coming on the show, sharing her story and keeping us all stoked for riding and racing!
Thank You for tuning in and listening to the show!
Join me next week for another MTB TRIBE Podcast show.