080 – Irish MTB Racing Legend – Meave Baxter – Part 1

Todays Guest: Meave Baxter – Irish MTB Racing Legend

On episode number Eighty we are chatting with Meave Baxter about her racing career since the 90’s, her wins, her loses, how things have changed over the years, how to stay safe on the trails and what she has planned for the 2019 season. On last weeks show when I was chatting with Robert, founder of Freewheelin’ off the air (listen here), I asked him who I should get on the podcast. The first words out of his mouth was ‘Meave Baxter, what a legend’. He was right. I reached out and Meave was kind enough to say yes and come on to tell her story. And what a great story it is. Meave has been rooted in the Irish mountain biking scene since being a young kid and after a short stent out due to university responsibilities she quickly got back into the scene and immediately made her presence felt.

We chat to Meave about what the racing scene was like at that time and how things have changed since then. Meave tells us some great stories of the people she looked up to, people she raced against, how her first race was done on a full rigid bike and how she made her own body protection from old foam camping matts. Plus much more.

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Find Out: Part 1

How Meave first got interested in Mountain biking
Why she entered her first race
How Meave got on but didn’t really catch the bug
How she made her own protection from old foam matts
Why Meave didn’t race a bike when she was at university
How she got into DH racing on her return home
What the scene was like at that time
How things have changed in the Irish race scene
How sponsorship has helped Meave over the years and still helps to this day

Find Out: Part 2 (available from Thursday 4th April 2019)

How Meave has become known as the ‘Doctor Fox’ at the Red Bull Fox Hunt
How this came about
What Meave’s responsibilities are and how she helps the fallen
The kind of injuries she has to deal with at such an event
What we as riders can do to stay save on the trails
What we should all carry in our packs for emergencies
Meave’s 2018 season review and how she felt she got on
Her up and coming competitors
Meave tells us about her epic silver medal in the World Series and the crazy circumstances surrounding her run
What gym time Meave puts in
How Meave works out her race schedule
What other exciting mountain bike stuff she has planned for 2019
How to best keep up to date with Meave and her racing

It was amazing to get Meave on the show. She is such a cool girl and her passion for mountain biking is truly contagious. I love how open Meave is about everything regarding her past and present within the mountain bike scene. It is so refreshing to hear Meave’s perspective on the racing scene back then and how she keeps her passion and stoke to still be competing at a very high level to this day. We chat about this and much more in part 1 of the interview.

Meave is such a great person to have involved in the Irish mountain bike scene and personalities like her is what makes this such a great sport to be around, the community aspect is just awesome and it really does make it all worth while.

So sit back, chill out and have a listen to why Meave has been racing for over 20 years and the great times she has had along the way. Enjoy, thanks for listening and don’t forget to tune in next week for part two!

To Connect with Meave:

Instagram: meavebaxter

Facebook: meave.baxter

Resources in this Episode:

Meave’s Sponsor: www.greenbikes-store.com

Meave’s Bike Club: Cuchulainn Off Road

Shout Out To Myles McCorry & : https://galibier.cc

Meave wears The Mistral Jacket and believes it to be the best waterproof jacket on the market.

Check it out here: https://galibier.cc/?s=mistral+jacket