Forged by Speed : The Making of a Mountain Bike World Champion

Steve Peat recounts his journey from the trails of Sheffield to becoming the downhill world champion, sharing his story with honesty, humor, and passion.

In a little over two and a half minutes on 6 September 2009 Steve Peat cemented his place in mountain biking history, becoming downhill world champion at the seventeenth time of asking and by a winning margin of just five hundredths of a second. But ‘Peaty’s’ road to the coveted rainbow stripes began almost two decades earlier on the woodland trails of Northern England. Born and raised in Sheffield, he narrowly avoided going down the wrong track and instead chose to race cross-country mountain bikes before switching to the rapidly emerging discipline of downhill where he would compete alongside other young British racers including Rob Warner and the late, great, Jason McRoy. Since then, Steve has competed against the greatest riders of all time, including Nicolas Vouilloz, Shaun Palmer and Greg Minnaar, and his name has become synonymous around the world with downhill mountain biking.

In Forged by Speed, Steve shares his incredible story, from the Steel City to the top step of the world championship podium. Honest, compelling and funny, it is the autobiography of a British sporting legend.

Table of Contents

• Introduction: Blowing It
• 1 Made in Sheffield
• 2 Trials
• 3 Fancy Riders
• 4 Red Seal Blues
• 5 Roadrunner
• 6 Coming Up Fast
• 7 Fork in the Road
• 8 Lift-off
• 9 A Wide River to Cross
• 10 Amateur Dramatics
• 11 A Heart of Gold
• 12 The Mechanic
• 13 3:55.23
• 14 Appetite for Destruction
• 15 No Cigar
• 16 The Orange Years
• 17 With or Without You
• 18 Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
• 19 Last Orders
• 20 Every Dog
• Epilogue: No Final Curtain