James got his first mountain bike at age six and never looked back. At age 12 he heard about a local event and then spent the next 15 years racing national and international downhill and enduro events with varying levels of failure. James spent many summers in the mountain bike mecca of Morzine between stints as a mountain bike guide in Spain and Italy. He has worked for numerous media outlets as a writer, editor and dogsbody, including setting up and running his own publishing company, Misspent Summers.