Tell us about yourself!
Mark Ashcroft, desperately trying to stay cool and spectacularly good at getting concussion in the first 5 minutes of a ride.
Role
My primary role is Head of Creative. I was honoured to do the rebrand of the company with the new logo being the most obvious element but I also guide the day to day creative across all touch points from social media to photoshoots.
It’s really nice to effectively start from scratch, redefine the company and bring a new vison with us to share. There is a great group of people here with tons of industry or relevant experience and everyone’s voice is equal so the team really bounce off each other which is super rad.
One of your favourite rides?
If it’s riding with my kids then tbh it doesn’t get much better than being out in the Alps, specifically Les Gets or Samoens. I love the fact that the grading is so wildly different out there to ours here at home. You think you are okay on a red and then you do a red out there and suddenly you are not okay doing a reds.
Obviously my kids are now much better than me at biking and far more braver. There is nothing like your ego being humbled by a 13 year old, it’s good for your soul.
For me personally I’m super lucky living In Sheffield as it really is just a quick jaunt into the peaks and then the opportunities are endless. Probably one favourite is from Langsett Reservoir into Ladybower and then over to Win Hill. Every time I have done the route it’s different and challenging. It can be a hard slog but it’s so rewarding and if it’s a warm day you get to have a dip at slippery stones to cool down.
Tell us about your cycling journey
I wasn’t really into cycling until about 14 years ago where I dabbled on/off mostly based around my kids and in the constant pursuit of exhausting them enough for them to want to sleep. We are lucky that cycling is very accessible here in the Peaks so it was lots of days on the Monsal Trail, Bole Hills BMX or around Lady bower.
I was very much into road biking myself originally but I never found it truly enjoyable, something didn’t click for me. It’s akin to running on tarmac for me, it just felt very samey and repetitive which my brain doesn’t do very well at.
As the kids got older, we started doing camping holidays to the Alps and that’s when I really discovered mountain biking and cycling just clicked with me. I think it was also the ability to share the experiences with my kids that bought a really joyful element for me as well.
My kids are now in their teens and I have now discovered a different part to cycling which is going out with mates and also myself in my more available spare time. When work allows I’m out with my mates on a Monday for a 5pm ride and dinner and we do at least 1 trip a year to Bike Park Wales to do stupid things on a bike.
Big adventures coming up?
My Strava is already loaded with tons of ride plans – I just need to make time for them!! First one will hopefully be a 4 day tour of Pembrokeshire in South Wales on the Gravel Bike. I have been dying to do this for ages and am really looking forward to getting the train down (rather than driving) and bikepacking from Saundersfoot to Fishguard along the coastal roads over 4 days and camping along the route. Hopefully I will be able to get a surf session in on one of the days as well.
I have also heard the Traws Eyri cycle route through mid/north wales is pretty awesome so that is also up there too.
The biggest wish though is to cycle round Iceland in 21 days but that will take a lot of training before I can even contemplate it but having been to Iceland quite a few times now – it most definitely is on the bucket list.
Current bikes
It was only whilst answering this that I realised I may actually have a bit of a problem when it comes to bikes. My house is literally covered in them if you take the kids bikes into account too but in terms of my own, I currently run an Orbea Rise L-EMTB, Santa Cruz Nomad and a Scott Gravel Bike.
MTB
The Santa Cruz (mint condition second hand from the guys at Sussed Bicyles) is mostly for uplift days at Bike Park Wales or the alps. Short n sharp rides rather than long days out in the saddle. It’s a great bike, it’s a 2019 model so it not new but it’s so lovely. Really nicely balanced and agile and weighs in at 13kg of carbon lightness. The 170mm travel is just a nice to have in case you need it (which I rarely do).
EMTB
The Orbea Rise was a post long-covid purchase and was really helpful in getting my fitness up and being able to ride despite the fatigue that was present. I love it – it’s the perfect all-rounder trail bike and I use it a lot as with kid’s, time is pretty precious so I get a lot of mileage out of a ride in the time I have available. I also love the fact that with the Shimano motor the higher the cadence, the more power it delivers so it makes you work for it.
Gravel
The Scott gravel bike is the next purchase (second hand) and I’m really excited to do some long slow multi-day adventures on it. Barry (who you have met already) basically told me I need to get one so peer pressure took hold and this came up at a decent price so I took the plunge. I do a lot of hiking and have quite a lot of ultralight gear so looking forward to bolting all that on a bike and doing some multi-day adventures.
How does NEW Polaris differ from old Polaris?
Well firstly we have got rid of the dayglow green!
Joking aside everything is different from the product to the creative. We have purposefully been really methodical and done our research. Testing, testing, testing.
All of our gear will have been tested by all of us in various different disciplines to make sure its fit for purpose. We are really passionate about product but also the longevity of product as we are very keen to make sure our gear will last so that we lessen the impact on the planet overall.
We are also looking at extra benefits like free repair or enhanced product guarantees which could also be interesting.
We aren’t chasing volume or have desires to be some massive monolithic company. We just want to create really good product, at a really good price point that is accessible to everyone.
What about relaunching excites you the most?
For me personally I’m really excited to tell stories. Ours and yours. Polaris has some really fantastic people behind it and I think we all have unique personal experiences that we can bring to the table.
I think there is a lot of noise in the industry that is questionable in its claims so I think it will be great to cut through the jargon and be honest.
Mostly though I am really looking forward to hearing about other peoples stories, be it the people who buy our product and use it every day, our development team or the people of Polaris. Whether its good or bad all stories are relevant and important.
What new Polaris product are you currently testing?
I have been testing out MTB shorts for quite a while now. I wear baggies constantly, even when I eventually get on the gravel bike although Barry swears I will change and get into lycra but I am most definitely a short guy.
The shorts are super comfortable, not too long, or too short. They have been out in some pretty horrendous conditions and long days out in the hills and they have washed really well. They are so comfy that I just wear them out hiking in the hills as well as they don’t look or feel bulky at all. My perfect kind of short.
