Gavin Donehue - Team Director
Gavin has been involved in the business side of MTB for about 4 - 5 years now - running this team and managing riders such as Mick Hannah and Luke Strom. This also means he hasn’t slept in 4-5 years, so he will be the one often looking pretty tired and grumpy.
He got into MTB fairly late, discovering it when he was about 20 and living in Cairns as an Army Officer, but he’d played around with BMX and Road bikes most of his life. He was by his own admission an awful DH rider - speed was no problem, but he could never seem to turn quickly enough and trashed a bunch of trees.
His secret pride and joy is the world’s oldest ‘new-looking’ Crumpler bag... they just re-introduced it as a retro-design...
He is the founder and General Manager of Freesport Management, which works across a range of lifestyle sports
Alex Bastien - Team Manager/Coach
Alex should maybe be called ‘Action Man’. The founder and manager of legendary French mountain guides, Fast Riding People (www.fastridingpeople.com), he is a qualified Ski and Snowboard instructor as well as being a qualified MTB, BMX and Cycling Coach.
It is his coaching skills that assist the team most. His ability to work with each rider on their training and during races on line selection has been a huge bonus to us already.
As is obvious from the photo, Alex has a passion for DH. He took 7th in the French National Coaches race! He is specialized in freeride heli-adventures and is the best bet for a great trip in Meribel and the 3 Valleys Region in Summer or Winter.
Alex holds a sport marketing degree.
Simon Adams - Team Mechanic/Assistant Manager
Simon has been mountain biking for fifteen years and have spent the last ten years working within the industry. During that time he worked as a mechanic in two shops, run MTB holidays and raced and ridden extensively in both XC and DH. The last year has been spent working as a professional mountain bike mechanic for the SsangYong-fusion Team.
He enjoys all outdoor activities and is a keen mountain biker. In the winter he both snowboard and ski to a high level.
The riding he enjoys is mostly DH. But in the UK he is forced to ride XC as well. His favorite trail in the UK is the Cwm Carn DH track. Favorite ever is 'Les Vernettes' singletrack Les Arcs, France.
He successfully runs mountain bike holidays to Les Arcs in the French Alps every summer (www.alpine-highs.co.uk).
He runs all aspects of the company including accounting, marketing, organizing accommodation, catering, cleaning, laundry, lift passes, airport transfers and guiding. He employs a small team of loyal staff.
