You may not have heard of Bailey Christie, but he should be on your radar. The 20-year-old native of Perth, Australia just won the U21 2024 UCI Enduro World Cup Series overall. It hasn’t always come easy for Christie. Back in 2022, when he first dedicated himself to enduro racing, success wasn’t as painless as his chill Aussie demeanor would suggest; he DNF'd in Vermont and finished 16th in Maine. This racing experience proved to be a bit of a turning point though. With the 2023 EDR landing in Australia at the Maydena Bike Park, Christie was leading the U21 Derby EDR when he suffered a mechanical that put him back into 6th. That only fueled the fire. In 2024, Christie put the past two season’s struggles securely in his slipstream, winning three rounds and taking home the overall.
Q: Where were you born?
A: I was born in Perth, Western Australia.
Q: Where do you call home?
A: Home for me is a suburb named Orange Grove. Orange Grove is 20 minutes inland from Perth City.
Q: How old are you?
A: I’m 20 years old!
Q: At what age did you start riding bicycles?
A: I started Mountain Biking at the age of 12. So not very long at all. I started in XC and moved to Enduro around 3 years ago. My high school, Carmel Adventist College, has a great mountain biking program and many of the teachers there ride, some at a high level. Before Covid, there was a State School boys championship held each year at The Goat Farm. The year our school won, I raced as a junior and then raced as a senior on that same day. So I did the whole race twice. It was an absolute mud fest and I still love looking back at a photo of me and Sam Hill together, I am almost unrecognisable I had so much mud on my face lol. During this time, through connections at school, I made a connection with Linga Longa bike park in Nannup. You will see me wearing their cap on the podium!
Q: Who or what inspired you to begin riding bikes?
A: A good mate from my primary school showed me the sport and told me that he was getting into it. He convinced me to save up some pocket money to buy my first mountain bike. I just fell in love with riding bikes from there on!
Q: What has been your path to professional racing?
A: I’ve been working hard, studying, and riding bikes, and slowly I’ve been getting better results. I then won the U21 national championships and started to believe that riding is something that I can excel in and hopefully, have a career in.
Over the past 3 years, I have been honing my skills both in my State, Nationally and Internationally. This year is my final year as a U21 racer so my next goal is to transition into a full-time elite rider.
Q: Have you always wanted to ride EWS?
A: Yes. I fell in love with enduro since Sam Hill won his 3rd overall title.
Q: How has your time with Theory Racing been?
A: My time with Theory Racing has been awesome. Nic Bean brought me on after I reached out to him. I felt as though I had the speed to do well I just needed help at the races, and Nic has given me great mechanical support and we have a great pit setup at the races. As an Australian competing in an international circuit, his help has been invaluable. I spent 2 weeks in the US with Nic and Julie, before travelling to Europe for the World Cup this year. I enjoyed competing in the Sea Otter Classic and TDS Enduro there. Such a great vibe at those events.
Q: What has been the biggest surprise for you this year?
A: Winning three World Cups, three bloody World Cups haha. I had the goal of trying to win just Finale as I knew I ride really well there, but getting three is mind blowing. I just didn’t know myself but now I do!
Q: How has this year’s EWS been different than you’d expected?
A: I expected the season to be a World Series, but it’s proven to be only a European Series. Which is such a shame because there’s so many awesome places all over the world to showcase. Unfortunately there was only six rounds, and there was a six week gap in between rounds five and six. We are finishing the last few races a lot later in the season than normal and it looks like we’ll be racing in snow at World Champs.
Q: What has been the biggest challenge this year?
A: The biggest challenge was getting money for this trip. I worked 2 jobs, and my family and sponsors helped out massively with the trip. Also, trying to sort out my visa was a massive issue, not being able to sort that out before I left meant a lot of unnecessary flight changes and costs. It’s very expensive for an Aussie to travel to and compete in Europe. The Aussie dollar is weak compared to the Euro, so I have to scrimp wherever I can.
It’s almost impossible as a U21 Enduro rider to get full financial support, but I have been lucky to have the support of my family and many people in the local MTB scene.
Another challenge was Leogang. I felt like I lost myself there, I got sick, I missed home and I couldn’t ride my bike how I knew I could. After getting 2 World Cup wins then getting 20th in Leogang was heartbreaking.
Q: What attribute do you think makes you a good EWS racer?
A: I feel like I’m a super all-around athlete, I’ve been working on trying to be good at everything. I have a personal trainer, Lance from Endurance Edge, and he puts me through the pain cave twice a week when I’m at home. I have a good XC background, I don’t have the same fitness as I used to but I still have that mentality to push through the pain when in the hurt locker. As I say “it’s all in the head”.
Working and training in the Perth summer heat waves is extreme, yet sets me up well for the races where other racers struggle in the hotter conditions.
Q: Tell us a little about the bike you ride in EWS?
A: I ride the Transition Spire in size large. It’s a super beefy bike and ploughs through anything you point it down. The bike is specced with all the goods such as Reserve DH Wheels, Fox Suspension, SRAM Mavens and Drivetrain. Super stoked about it.
My Reserve wheels have served me incredibly well this season. As a tall and fairly heavy rider, who throws his bike around a lot, I do tend to break wheels. My Reserve set has held up to my punishment in all races this year.
Q: Are you finicky about your bike set up? If so, what is the one thing that bothers you the most if it’s not 100% dialed?
A: No, I'm not super finicky, I’ll get a setup and not change it. I don’t notice small suspension changes. I’m a little fussy with my cockpit setup such as stem size, bar width, brake roll and bar roll. I feel like those are most important to me. If those are out of wack it messes with my head.
I am also super fussy about my bike being clean. A clean bike is a fast bike, so you will see me putting the spit and polish on it, and making sure it’s dialled, well after everyone is in the spa on practice day!
Q: What has been the highlight of your racing career so far?
A: My highlight so far has been winning the Enduro World Cup Overall in my last year of U21. That was my biggest goal for the season and something I’ll never, ever forget.
Q: What about the lowest moment?
A:. The lowest was October last year when I got Glandular Fever. The fever can really mess with your head and it leads to depression. I nearly hung the bike up, but I had a great family around me helping me through it. I got better, got back on the bike for a week and flew to National Champs. I ended up winning! It was a big low in my life but I came out stronger from it and glad I kept at it.
Q: What do you do for fun when you are not riding a bike?
A: Last summer, I got into surfing with a mate from work. After seeing Jack Moir and Remy Meier Smith getting some serious tube time over the break, it really inspired me.
Q: If you could be a professional athlete in any other sport, which sport would it be?
A: Breakdancing. If you know you know. Haha!
Q: How many weeks a year are you traveling?
A: This year I’ve traveled for about 20 weeks I’d say.
Q: What is one thing you can not live without?
A: It's more than one thing. I can’t live without bubble tea, my family and my dog Jaspa back at home. The number one thing is definitely my bike.
Q: Can you work on your own bike?
A: Yes I sure can work on my bike. I’ve learnt more being at the races and have a good mate and mechanic at home (Kaiden Godden) who helps me a lot with advice. Kalamunda Cycles and Rock and Roll Suspensions are great supporters and help me with the technical aspects when I am at home. I’m often changing wheels and tyres, bleeding brakes and doing minor repairs. Having to do your own repairs on the trail is one of the aspects of Enduro I love. When I’m competing EWS, Nic Bean helps me with the mechanical side of things and we talk about setup a lot. Mechanical support at events is crucial to success in this sport. I do go a bit wild washing my bike, so I like to do that myself. Nic will say he leaves the bike washing to me since I go crazy with it lol.
Q: Do you get nervous before the start of a race?
A: Yes I sure do haha. I just try to tell myself it’s just another local race. And I have a good plan before every stage to help relax myself.
Q: Have you ever had a nickname? If so, what is it?
A: Yes, my nickname is Snailey. My good mate Cody Morgan gave me the name when I used to be super slow haha!
Q: Where is your favorite place to ride a bike?
A: My favourite place in the whole world to ride my is where I’m typing this right now, Finale Ligure. It is literally heaven for a mountain bike rider. You ride, eat pizza then ice cream, sleep and repeat. I also won my first World Cup here, so it’ll be forever in my heart
Q: What is the hardest part about racing bicycles?
A: The hardest part is about becoming pro at the moment. I’ve got the results to become pro but lots of teams are pulling out for next year unfortunately.
Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of racing?
A: It’s one of those sports where you are always looking for the limit on how far you can push yourself and your bike, and then finding a little more. I love studying the lines and focusing on the track, where it’s just me and my bike, and nothing else. When you get that tunnel vision it’s the most freeing and insane feeling in the world, it’s addictive. I believe that if you focus on that, the results will come.
Q: What accomplishment, cycling or non-cycling, are you most proud of?
A: My biggest accomplishment has to be winning an Overall World Title! Nothing much tops achieving my dream. Non-cycling accomplishment, I was Dux of my school when I finished in Year 12, which I am very proud of, after being in support for English and Maths in my early high school years. I worked hard at school while traveling and competing during COVID-19, so to be rewarded like that was fantastic.
Q: If you could have a superpower (other than ripping down a mountain), what would it be and why?
A: I have always wanted to fly. I did dream of being in the Air Force when I was a kid.
Q: What’s one thing that nobody on the EWS scene is talking about, but everyone should be?
A: How the courses are getting shorter, and the stages are getting shorter. I believe there are too many chairlifts. It’s not traditional enduro. Bring back 60km days, with 2500 plus meters of climbing and 1000 meters of descending.
To Help Fund Bailey's Racing, see here.