Mountain biking guides: a chat with Jon Barton

TURNING a sporting passion into a viable business is what so many of us dream of doing. And driven by a love of mountain biking and climbing, Jon Barton, 41, has done just that: building up a successful three-pronged business, Vertebrate Graphics, specialising in publishing outdoor titles.

Here writer Clare Cook gets the low-down on mountain-biking tips, life as an author - and stealing time to ride when his three-and-a-half-year-old son’s not watching!

DETERMINED to write a range of mountain-biking guides to rival those on offer for climbers, Jon Barton and an exclusive entourage of friends set out to help mountain bikers make the most of the trails around them. Vertebrate Graphics now has some 20 publications, books, guides and maps to its name.

If you’ve dusted off a copy of Lake District Mountain Biking this season, or maybe you’ve well thumbed White Peak Mountain Biking, well they are both from Jon’s publishing house Vertebrate Graphics - a business which also focuses on web hosting and graphic design.

Jon’s publishing career had a memorable high winning the award for outstanding contribution to mountain literature with climbing graphic novel November (or comic to the unsuspecting rest of us) at the Llandudno Mountain Literature Festival. “The idea just came from the fact that there was something that needed to be told. We had a story to tell. It’s about life in Sheffield at the end of the 80s on the dole and going climbing. It is about having something you are passionate about but at the same time at a time when there is high unemployment and you have to grow up: relationships, marriage and all that.”

passion

Now mountain biking has been a passion of Jon’s for the last decade. Surprising, really, when his first ride was somewhat challenging to say the least. “We were actually in the Alps climbing and were waiting for the weather to clear so I hired a bike and a map and set off. It was black route but I figured I was pretty tough. I was carrying this heavy bike up the worst trail ever thinking I was reasonably fit and there was still no way I would be able to ride up this. Only then noticed the lift and realised how things work out here - that its automated going up and you ride down!”

publishing

Bitten by the bug, Jon has ridden extensively across the UK and specialises in the Peak District trails. He has written, published and co-written several guide books. His early experiences of publishing were inspired by the fact that the guide books that were available four years ago were reasonably sketchy if existent at all. Dark Peak was researched in spring 2004 and published that summer followed by White Peak, researched in summer 2005 and published in January 2006.

“We were all keen mountain bikers but the fact was that you could rarely tell on a map what would translate to be a good track for mountain biking. Writing White Peak was superb. I’d had Thomas [his son] so going out climbing three and four times a week wasn’t possible. But twice a week mountain biking was - so it really suited my lifestyle at that time.

“I ended up with Ordnance Survey maps covered in highlighter pen working out a way of linking everything together.”

“I lived here but there were still so many places that I didn’t know so it was awesome. If you go out with friends you tend to do the same loops but here I was discovering every corner. I’d head out and spoke to loads of people in the area. I ended up with Ordnance Survey maps covered in highlighter pen working out a way of linking everything together.”

recommendations
“If you want to go out and see the wildlife and be on your own then I would recommend the White Peak but if you are with your mates I would recommend the Dark Peak. My all-time favourite I guess is Win Hill out of Hope just because it is on my doorstep and I can go out in an evening with my night lights and see all the wildlife and know every inch.”

favourites
Ranking all-time favourite rides is no easy feat when there are so many to choose from.
“The first time I did high street on Helvelyn was so memorable because I was up in the Lakes with work. I had a meeting at 11am but arrived at 5am so I could get a loop in before it started. I climbed in the dark and was up there in time for the sun rise with all those kilometres of trails just stretching out in front of me - it was amazing.
“I haven’t done loads in the Alps as I am usually there climbing but I will always take the time for a couple of routes on ‘rest days’.”

advice to others
Now, with years of riding under his belt - and thousands of kilometres of trails conquered - his advice to all bikers is to keep the faith. “Confidence is really the most important thing. Really, these days, most bikes will roll over a lot of stuff so it is just about having confidence. If you are looking 20 yards down the hill you will be fine; too many people don’t have the faith in their bike and end up putting a foot down.”

“I have always liked doing journeys whether it is going down caving or fell running; it’s just so rewarding”

tumble tots
That’s not to say Jon is immune from falls. The weekend’s antics tested his bike to the max - and the trails won three times. Of course, heading over the handlebars three times on one ride is never the fault of the workman, rather than his tools! “It’s my forks, honest, they were bottoming out and are definitely near the end of their life.”

starting out
He recommends new bikers should contact independent stores and take advantage of deals to try before you buy. Jon rides a Marin Rift Zone and full carbon Ibis. “If you can take out demo bikes that is the ideal option but biking is definitely worth the investment. Sadly, if you only spend £100 you really are not going to enjoy it. If you can manage it, spend as much as you can on your bike.”

high rider
And mountain biking is still giving him that all important buzz. “I still really like the fact that you can have a bad day at work and go out on your bike and you just cover so much ground that by the time you are back it is like it has totally absorbed you. I have always liked doing journeys whether it is going down caving or fell running; it’s just so rewarding.”

With thanks to Jon for his time. Copyright Clare Cook Mountain Bike Skills Magazine. With thanks to John Coefield for pictures