A YouTube mountain biking star has taken on an eventer in a “horsepower vs bike power” race around a cross-country course.
Pro trials cyclist Danny MacAskill first became a hit on the video channel in 2009, and his most recent clip Red Bull Wee Day Out — in which he performs tricks as he rides in the countryside around Edinburgh — attracted more than 25million views.
This time, the 33-year-old’s challenge involved tackling the terrain and fences at Scotland’s Lindores Equestrian in the company of advanced eventer Louisa Milne Home.
Danny was riding his Santa Cruz 5010 mountain bike, Louisa her seven-year-old, 17hh palomino gelding Future Plans.
The obstacles around the 85-acre course include a converted old stone bothy, whisky barrels, a red cottage, green beehive and a bank, which are all between 40cm and 80cm.
The final fence was a 5m high “Danny MacAskill keyhole fence”, which was purpose-built and inspired by the Red Bull Wee Day Out filming.
“Clips like this are just entertaining and fun to create, it was a bit off the cuff having never biked over horse jumps or really been around horses but I love doing new stuff,” Danny said.
Louisa, who has previously been long-listed for the European Championships, said she is a regular at the course.
“Lindores is a fantastic place to train and I have been taking young horses to start their careers there since it opened,” she said. “This was a very different training day to the normal international riders I compete with.”
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Lindores, a diversified farm near Newburgh, opened its equestrian facilities 30 years ago.
Partner Anna Black said: “It was great to create and admirable of both Danny and Louisa for being such sports.”
The full two-minute video of the race goes live for the first time today (5 January) and can be viewed on the Lindores website.
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