The Hack Bike Derby Annual Invitational

When we were bike riding obsessed kids we had simple dreams. A patch of land to build trails, a weekend when all of our friends were around and a van to take us all there. I imagine Andrew, founder of The Bicycle Academy, had similar dreams.

A couple of decades later Andrew realised that dream. He set up the Hack Bike Derby. A secret woodland spot, a generator, a coffee van and a bunch of frame builder friends. The riders built their own bikes, each working off a simple hack bike design and with set supplied components. Day one was digging, track building and a dual slalom race in the heavy rain at night. Day two was the downhill and mass descent.

Recent work by Bristol photographer Adam Gasson. Images shot on Canon 5D III cameras with Profoto lighting.