102 – Jacob Dickson – 3 Time Irish Elite Downhill MTB Champion
On episode #102 I am joined by the 3 time Irish Elite Downhill MTB Champion Jacob Dickson. If you want to know what it takes to be at this level on the world circuit and be a professional mountain biker, then this is the episode for you. Jacob has been racing from eleven or twelve years of age and has seen a lot happen over that time. At age fifteen Jacob broke his neck and was told to stop riding bikes by many people but as soon as Jacob had his next brace off, he was racing the following day. Jacob has always had that kind of attitude, if you tell him he can’t do something, he will push harder to make sure he proves you wrong. But I do think it takes that kind of brawn to become world class at anything and that is a strength Jacob has in bucketful’s. Jacob’s parents have always played (and still do) a large part in this attribute, they never discouraged him, always supported him and were always there to give words of advice and encouragement. As Jacob says himself, he would not be doing this today if it was not for his parents.
The road to becoming a professional racer has not always been easy riding. After placing 3rd overall in the world juniors and moving to elites, Jacob was not picked up by a team and had to race elites for his first season as a privateer. There were also times early in Jacobs racing when his family were finding it tight for money (we all remember the economic crash) and had to make some hard decisions about taking Jacob to race events. And as we have talked about on the show before, it is not a cheap game following the race circuit but it is something you have to do it if you want to be competitive. So sacrifices were made and Jacob got to race but it was not easy times. Jacobs race career started to change when he reached out and got in contact with Giant and after a few meeting, Jacob got his team and he has never looked back since. Thankfully someone saw his talent and didn’t want it to go to waste.
We chat to Jacob about those early race days, being a professional racer, riding for the Giant Off Road Team, competing in the UCI, injury, podiums and knocking Glyn O’Brien off at the Red Bull Fox Hunt (all caught on camera by the way!) plus much much more.
So sit back and enjoy the ride with Jacob Dickson.
Right click here and ‘Save as’ to download to your computer.
Find Out:
- How Jacob got interested in mountain biking via motocross
- Where he got his first downhill mountain bike
- How his first ever downhill race went with the help of Michael Cowan
- How Jacob broke his neck at age fifteen
- What team Jacob raced for when he was in juniors
- Why he didn’t get picked up by a team when turning elite
- How he felt to become 3 time Irish Elite Downhill MTB Champion
- How Jacob deals with pressure and nerves
- How Jacob looks at a race and competes against himself and not his other competitors
- Why Jacob is getting faster in the UCI & the stroke of bad luck he has had in a number of races
- How Jacob got his Giant sponsorship
- What he thinks of being a professional mountain biker
- What his goals are and have been from an early age
- How to best get in contact and keep up to date
- Plus tons more!!!
Jacob has a great personally, he’s super easy to chat with and you get that feeling that you have known him for years. It was easy to see when we chatted that Jacob is in love with what he does, he is truly passionate about racing, riding and pushing himself to be better. However, the most important thing to him is that he enjoys it and enjoying it he certainly is. Jacob has just pulled off his 3rd Irish Elite Downhill Championship win and you can tell it means a lot to him. And I think his sponsors, Giant were pretty happy too!
Jacob has also been going really well in the UCI over the last couple of races and would have been on for a great result in his last race in Val di Sole if his chain hadn’t broke on the second corner. He had a great 20th in Les Gets and a season best 13th in Andorra and by the sounds of it I think this we will see this continue. Jacob believes that he can have better results and has set his goals on a top 10 finish to start with. Jacobs beliefs and passions go much higher than that, he wants to be world champion, he always had and with the talent, family support and team around him, it seems all he needs is a little luck to take that step closer.
So put your feet up, take the weight off and tune in to hear what’s it’s like to be a professional mountain bike racer with one of our own: Jacob Dickson.
Also stick around until the end of the show as we hear a few words from Adam Whitaker from his Facebook Group ‘Trail Explorer Mountain Biking’ about how you can best get started in mountain biking.
To Connect with Jacob:
Instagram: jacob_dicksondh
Facebook: JacobDicksonDHAthlete
Jacobs Sponsors:
Facebook: giantfactoryteam
Jacob would like to thank the following:
Joe Ward
Gary and Derek – MBW
All the guys at Nukeproof
Ben Reid
Mech Monkey
Derek from Cycle Zone
Craig and Kyle Nelson for there uplifts before there were any !!
Photographer’s and people who are glad to see me doing well. The support that they gave me here at home is great …And the teacher’s that told me I would never get a job at racing a BIKE!!
Resources in this Episode:
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
- Subscribe and listen to on Stitcher
- Subscribe and listen to on Spotify
- Subscribe and listen to on Podbean
Thanks so much to Jacob for coming on the show and telling his story. Good luck bud!!
And thank you once again for tuning in!
Join me next week for another MTB TRIBE Podcast show!
Did you enjoy this episode and want to hear more? Check out more episodes below:
