Canadian Richie Schley is one of a group of leading mountain bikers to have come from the small British Columbia town of Kamloops. He grew up riding trails in the local area, and got his first taste of major success in 1993 when he won the Pro Class at the Canadian BMX Championships.
Since then, he has arguably become freeriding’s most famous name, often described as one of the ‘godfathers’ of the sport, along with Wade Simmons and Brett Tippie. At the age of 38, he continues to act as an ambassador for sponsors including Adidas Eyewear, Shimano and Whistler Mountain Bike Park, and is the driving force behind Richie’s Mountain Bike Adventures, a series of bike camps for intermediate riders in the British Columbia area.
Today he rides cross country, all-mountain, Enduro, Freeride/DH and even road bikes – his busy schedule of events in 2012 included appearances at the iXS Dirt Masters Festival in Winterberg, Germany, the Sea Otter Classic in Monterey, California, Redbull Rampage in Utah, the Freeride Festival in Saalbach, Austria and Crankworx at both Whistler and Les 2 Alpes.
In 2013, he starred in the stunning Red Bull video, The Trinity, directed by Leo Zuckerman, and made in association with iXS and Rotwild. The film, which featured Richie’s thoughts on what it means to be a mountain biker (“if there’s one thing I believe in, it’s earning your descent”) won the GoPro Dirt Diaries video contest at Crankworx 2013.