Self-professed mountain biking super-fan Andrew Dodd has done all sorts during his career, from TV and YouTube presenting to his current role as global brand communications manager for Mondraker Bikes.
But it all started in the pages of MBUK, back in the late 1990s.
We had a long chat with Doddy for the MBUK Podcast, during which we covered all sorts of topics – including how it all began for him.
“My dad’s friend, who he played badminton with, gave me a carrier bag of [MBUK] mags, back to #1, which I still have,” recalls Doddy.
“I was hooked and I was like, ‘I’m gonna work there at some point!’. Eventually, I got work experience, in ’99. I was building wheels and doing useful stuff, and got kind of chummy with Paul Smith. He was reviews editor at the time, and he gave me some bits to test, including a set of Stratos FR 4 forks.
“That basically ended up being the way I got my job [on MBUK], because I broke those, and broke my nose, my cheek and my eye socket, and wrote a letter about looking like Joseph Merrick [the famous ‘Elephant Man’] and they seemed to find it funny [please remember this was in the decidedly un-PC 1990s, ed].”
Doddy on the cover of MBUK. Mountain Biking UK
“They said, ‘You should apply for this job’, so I did,” adds Doddy.
Starting in the junior role of production assistant, Doddy got the chance to ride loads of bikes and began to do a bit of writing. Then he was thrown in at the deep end with his first feature trip.
“I’d been at the mag maybe a month,” he says. “Tym Manley, the editor, rang me up and said, ‘What are you doing next week? Pack lots of things for cold weather’. That’s about all he told me.
Young Doddy hanging out with Martyn Ashton, Franck Roman, Martin Hawyes and Rob Warner during his trip. Steve Behr / Our Media
“Steve Geall [pioneering UK MTB dirt jumper] came and picked me up in the massive Nissan Patrol thing we had, then we picked up Steve Behr [photographer], Martyn Ashton and Martin Hawyes [the biggest MTB trials riders of the day], and Rob Warner [Downhill World Cup star], and drove to Annecy.
“Hawsie and Martyn were basically drilling me for 17 hours, to the point where I couldn’t laugh anymore. By the end of it, they were like, ‘Yeah, he’s alright actually’.
“It was amazing. We got to Pete Tomkins’ place [of Crud Catcher and Dirt video fame], rode bikes in the snow and hung out for a few days.
“Then we drove south all the way down to Barcelona, via David Vázquez, Oscar Saiz [both famous Spanish downhill racers of the time], Ot Pi [pioneering bike-trials rider] and Jordi Tarrés [motorcycle trials legend].
“Jordi was, like, the king, and we went to his house – that’s the only time, still, I’ve seen Martyn Ashton with nothing to say.”
In a nod to his future career, not only did Doddy meet some huge names, but he recorded the whole thing for posterity.
“I made a video from it,” he says. “I don’t think it was DV cameras on those early ones – it might have been a full-size [VHS] cassette going in. It was pretty ropey. I remember just videoing everything, thinking it should be filmed.
Doddy doing a DJ set at the Malverns Classic mountain bike festival in August 2023. Steve Behr / Our Media
“Then we ended up putting it out as a cover mount. I don’t have a copy of it, and I’d like to see it again. There’s bits and pieces people have uploaded on YouTube, but someone, somewhere will have the master. It’d be pretty cool to drag it out.”
Doddy would go on to take part in plenty more trips, with carnage often ensuing – especially if Gee Atherton was involved.
“This was long before health and safety was a thing. Tym Manley would basically give me a wad of cash, travellers’ cheques, and be like, ‘Make sure everyone’s fed and watered and comes back’, and that was the brief,” he laughs.
But that two-week road trip through France and Spain was a pretty bold way to start his career with MBUK.