REPORT 3 - IRISH COUNTRY FAIR

Jack Meek and Matt Barlow have just come back from Ireland where they experienced for the first time the pressures and excitement of a demo in front of a large crowd. We catch up with Matt to see what he thought of his first MAD demo and how he’s enjoying life on the team.

Since joining the team what has changed?
It’s sad but it’s been a lot easier to justify my riding to people. I read an interview recently from a rider who was basically saying that as soon as you can say to someone, “I make money out of this.” Then people begin to appreciate it a bit more because they have such a minimal and inward looking view on things. They can relate to making money. They can’t understand why you would want to waste your time away on that silly bike, unless it was for financial gain. If you can justify your hobby in that way then, in their eyes at least, it becomes viable. How pathetic is that? But I guess it’s just the way our money orientated world is moving. 

 

What did you make of the rig?
This is a new rig that Giles has put a lot of time, effort and most importantly experience into. It definitely shows too. I’ve since had the chance to ride the older rigs too and the new one is easier to ride but at the same time more impressive for the crowd to watch riders on. There are so many possibilities and variations to do that we are only limited by our personal skill levels.
Which I must say seems to limit me a lot more than the other lads (laughing).

Do you travel as a team?
Yeah, for this demo I met the lads in Holyhead and we caught the ferry together. Travelling together has proved to be a real laugh. Naturally Giles has the van specked out with an LCD screen and DVD player but the first thing I was told after getting in the van for the first time were the rules the very serious sport of 'County Racing'. This involves being the first member of the team to enter any new county. For example when Simon would spot a sign saying "welcome to Wotnot County" he would hurl himself at the front window in an effort to enter that county before anyone else. When the county signs are small it's not too bad because usually only one person would spot it but when they're big signs then oncoming traffic would see a large van coming toward them with the driver and three passengers pressed against the front window all jostling for position!

How did you get the ‘Fatty Matty’ nickname and is it justified?
The first time Giles picked up on it was in the main arena at the Bike Show 04 when he was handing out MAD t-shirts for us to ride in. He threw out mediums to everyone and I had to go back and ask for a large!! I’m pretty sure those t-shirts are wrongly sized though! (laughing).
It became an on going joke because during a warm up session for the second main demo in Ireland, Jack, Si and I were riding the rig whilst Giles chilled out in the van. We were all going up and down the ladder and doing dismount variations. When I was going up the ladder Giles lent out of the van window and shouted, “Is that you fatty? The whole van is shaking”. It made me laugh so much I nearly fell off the top of the van!

How nervous were you when your first ever demo was in front of a large crowd?
Amazingly I wasn’t affected by nerves at all. I kept things rubber side down throughout the whole thing which is always good and I made the Adidas Evil Eye and the Ladder first go.
The lack of nerves actually really surprised me because in the morning there were about 10 people watching my first attempts at riding the rig and I was very aware of their eyes on me and my riding was terrible.
I don’t want to build him up too much and give him a big head but to be fair Giles does a superb job on the mic during demos. One thing he does is keep the crowd informed who others wise would no doubt be a bit confused at all these riders leaping around but also though and more importantly for me he really encourages the riders and instils you with confidence by what he says.
Which thinking about it is obviously just for the crowd’s benefit because once he puts the mic down he’ll say something like, “Oi fatty, that was rubbish, go get me a cup of tea…..and loose some weight!!” (laughing).

Briefly describe a typical demo day
Get up at stupid o'clock, full English breaky with cup'o tea, arrive at the showground and have cup'o tea, set up the rig, drink cup'o tea, toilet, toilet, practice, toilet, 20 minute demo followed by what seems like a week of autograph signing, then repeat five times!
At the end of the day we collapse exhausted in a heap until Giles reminds us the hotel has a swimming pool, jacuzzi, steam room and more importantly for the others lads a bar!! 
 
You said you made it onto the Irish television?
Yeah, there were film crews there covering the whole event and five days later it was screened I was visiting a friend out in Dublin and so it got to watch the program. The program dedicated about 15mins to covering the Country Fair and MAD got about 7 of those.
The most hilarious thing was it only showed Jack and Simon once each and the rest was all me! Unlucky lads!

Do you get much negativity about your riding?
My family, girlfriend and close friends are great in supporting me because they can see how much it means to me but at the same time they choose not to be directly involved in it at all. When I’m at home and go out riding my local spots I often bump into old school friends and I sense a more negative vibe from them. They judge me by their values of success and because I’m not in designer name clothing, in a high paid job and spending my free time in the pub then I’m not a success. When I try and see it through their eyes I can definitely understand it as well, here I am at 21 doing the exact same things they saw me doing every evening after school when I was sixteen, riding my bike, and loving every minute. To me that’s great, to them that’s probably pathetic, but who cares (laughing).
Too many people I know have stopped doing something they loved because it wasn’t deemed as ‘cool’ by the so called ‘in crowd’. I don’t go out of my way to be a non conformist but I just don’t buy the media hype that life is all about sex, drinking, having the right job and wearing the right clothes.

Do you think you will ever get bored doing demos?
I’ve talked to riders who say demo riding is boring and monotonous but I can’t really sympathise with that point of view. I believe a demo arena is a chance to show people the very best of your riding, therefore as long as you keep pushing yourself, gaining new skills and riding smoother, then demos won’t get boring. Ryan Leech is a good example of this, in his film Manifesto he talks about trying to ride his demos with no correction hops or set up hops in order to challenge himself and fight off the monotony. If I get bored with demos then that is a signal to myself that my riding has become stale and something needs to change. Another great thing about the demos is the travelling, I love to visit new places and experience new things and been on the team this year should provide plenty of opportunity to do that.