Question 1: Can you introduce yourself?
Fred Horny, Alsatian, 37 years old, I have lived in the Alps, in Haute Tarentaise since 2012.
Question 2: How did you get into mountain biking?
Through competition, first in XC, then in DH!
Question 3: Can you tell us about your activity?
My goal is to cross a country, conquer a summit (and come back down on the bike!), often at high altitude or with a culture, a history, a particular atmosphere, a soul of sorts, or a myth, and if possible where as few people as possible have already put down their crampons.
Question 4: Do you have a professional structure and if so can you describe it to us?
Yes ! I am self-employed, which allows me to balance my time with off-piste ski guiding in the winter, and other sports marketing services for several brands (I'm not getting any younger, you have to think about the future, I'm too rusty to cycle all the time now!).
Question 5: What are the development prospects / how do you see the future?
Always more beautiful encounters and adventures to tell... Our new film began filming in January, still with director Jérémie Reuiller at the helm, accompanied by the excellent Luc Grégoire, in partnership with Arte TV. We will deal with a current social issue, between French and South American mountains. Ultimately, mountain biking is just an excuse we found to fully express ourselves! Other projects are on the way, such as the discovery of Cape Verde (my second home with my partner Léa Deslandes). I love the islands that gather in the fullness of the ocean. I love Africa. Cape Verde symbolizes all of this: its inhabitants have little but a hand on their heart. Our web series The Ride Next Door, where we go to discover single trails close to cities by train, continues its journey. Another main project is being written for 2024 with my favorite rider of the young generation, Yannis Pelé. As I'm old, I could also use it as a handover!!
Question 6: What machine do you ride with?
Lapierre Spicy and Zesty! I love them !
Question 7: A place to ride in France?
In Haute Tarentaise, at home. Otherwise in the Vosges. The Vosges, VTTAE or not, it's simple: it's the base, the cradle of flowtrail!
Question 8: Your best memory with your mountain bike?
I have so many….. if I had to pick just one…. Oh, it's difficult. Come on: ride from the foot of Chimborazo, in Ecuador, at around 5,400 m, via the legendary Mamarumi trail, with its banana trees at an altitude of 3,000 m, in a slide trail made of sand and blindingly green trees around we, with one of my best friends (in life but also on vacation), Richard Bord the magnificent, and my Ecuadorian brother, I named the famous Mateo Cuesta from RideEcuador. I'm going back this summer, I'm very excited about it. How lucky I am!
Question 9: Tell us an anecdote!
In 2018, during my first adventure in Kyrgyzstan, with Richard, we indulged in a relatively in-depth exploration of the East of the country. The locals told us “behind this pass (4076 m), you will find refuge with nomads in their yurt, there are them everywhere! ". Only, no nomad behind, the storm had pushed them to leave. We find shelter with a little lady, we eat a few cucumbers for the night. The next day, we choose a fairly conventional path to reach the town of Naryn, or to climb a pass without a path (at 3896 m), and see what happens there, for an extension about 3 days. Behind the pass, a shepherd calls me: it's Neighbors' Day, all the shepherds are gathered around a festive meal, kneeling on the ground in their hut. I refuse one after the other the supreme offering and its junior: biting a raw sheep's eye, then biting the raw heart, always from the same sheep of course. We find ourselves condemned to 3 shots of Vodka (it is around 2:00 p.m.), while we still have at least 40 km of trail to cycle, a storm (which required the evacuation of the valleys afterwards) to sow, and... . a river approximately 75 m wide and 1.6 m deep to cross…. “For the Love of Adventure”!
Question 10: Free expression
Never try to do something so that it pleases, but simply hope that it pleases. Adventure is everywhere, on a trail with the tent a stone's throw from the house, or at the end of the world. So let's follow our desires a little more, let's develop our instinct, it very often guides us on the right path!
Question 11: What is your vision of mountain biking in 20 years?
Loïc Bruni will have been 8 x (at least!) world champion.
A gradual but marked return of the sports bike without electric assistance, on trail bikes with around 140mm of travel and 29' wheels, as well as the advent of lightweight E-MTB engines.
Today we must work hard on the good image of our sport, on the maintenance of the trails, on the politeness required etc... otherwise we will be banned from so many magical places... This also requires monitoring closer to the organization of events and races of all kinds on our territory. Some people achieve this magnificently well, and it is often those for whom monetary interest is not the main driving force…!
More generally, the industry will also have to adapt to its change. Otherwise, the only few huge groups at the helm of dozens of brands will gradually strip away the soul and substance of brands which have sometimes taken 35 years of tortuous path to draw their history, never perfect, but so representative of the values, of the limitless passion that our sport is capable of conveying!!!!
Thanks and …. HAVE A GOOD RIDE EVERYONE!!
To stay connected
FREDHORNY.com
GI: https://www.instagram.com/fredornyexplorer/
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