Hans Rey; the father of freeride

The term legend is used frequently in the sport of cycling. Sometimes it's warranted, sometimes not - but one thing's certain - the development of freeriding owes a lot to mountain biking legend Hans 'no way' Rey. Cyclingnews' Steve Medcroft caught up with this German freespirit to find out a little more about his legacy in the sport and how he's using it for the future.

Hans Rey didn't start out his career planning to found the freeride branch of the mountain-biking tree. In fact, the charismatic German didn't even plan to be a mountain biker at all; he had a fully established career in the prominent amateur European sport of trials. Both on motorcycles and bicycles, Rey could balance, pivot and hop as well as anyone, pocketing a number of national championships in his early career. But when mountain biking exploded in the US and Rey learned that riders near his skill level were making a living competing in trials, he moved to southern California's beach communities and dominated the fledgling American sport.

When the popularity (and opportunities) in trials dwindled, Rey had the inspiring idea to take his mountain bike on Indiana Jones like adventures and bring a camera crew along to catch whatever happened.

The resulting DVD's and feature television documentaries have made Hans Rey synonymous with insane freeride adventures in exotic places and sparked the imagination of a thousand riders to follow in his footsteps.

Today, Rey produces one or two adventure trips a year, performs trials exhibitions around the world, and is focused on his charity; Wheels 4 Life, which buys bicycles for health workers and needy people in third-world countries.

Read the entire Hans Rey Interview here.