With nearly a decade spent at Jet Plant Hire, Gary is an experienced Planer Operator during the week. His weekends, however, are more adrenaline-pumping than you would expect…
By day, Gary spends his time planing roads up and down the country, helping to ensure road users have safe conditions travel wherever they go. On the weekends, he competes in adrenaline-fuelled, extreme off-road bike racing competitions across the UK known as enduro-racing.
“The main two events are a three-hour race, which is a cross-country race usually about a 10-mile lap, then you have the extreme races, which are really difficult terrain where you can end up nearly pushing your bike as far as you can.”
Entering the sport at the age of 40, Gary has been involved in the enduro-racing community for nearly 20 years. It all began after he purchased his first motorbike off a friend.
“My friend said ‘Oh, I’m entering a race next week. Why don’t you come and do that?’. […] I did the lowest level of the class, the Sportsman Class, and I won that category, that race. He never raced again, and I’ve probably gone every weekend since.”
Gary went on to note the travel involved in attending these competitions. Through Jet’s nationwide coverage, Gary can travel from the south coast to West Yorkshire, all the way to North Wales happily picking up jobs wherever he may be headed to. Gary even chases his daredevil sport around the globe.
“There’s an event called Romaniacs, in Romania, which is known to be the hardest off-road motor race in the world. I did that in 2018 and I actually finished it, not many people have. I got to the end of the course, went under the arch, and I had promised my family that if I finished that, then I would be done. I’d pack it in. But eight years later, I’m still going!”
His favourite race is known as The Tough One, in Nantmawr Quarry in Oswestry; a gruelling challenge of multiple laps over rocky, unpredictable terrain. In 2018, despite recovering from a broken ankle, he managed to take home silver. He recently competed in the British Championships, coming away with second place in his race, and is set to take part in one of the biggest races in the country, the Weston Beach Race.
“There’s like 1000 people in one three-hour race on the beach. I’ve done that probably 12 times, and I’ve never been outside of the top 100,” he reveals. “That’s what everyone goes for, the top 100 at the beach race.”
Gary has been a full-time employee at Jet since 2017. The flexibility and understanding of Jet have enabled him to continue his hobby and work out a successful work-life balance. Due to Jet’s nationwide reach, he will often pick up jobs on his way to races, with his training taking place around his shifts.
“I get so much support from them. My manager understands what I do every weekend, and he’s more than willing to work with it all the time. The number of times he’ll ask where I’m racing on Sunday because Jet’s national. I’d normally just work in Devon all week, but he might say, ‘Any chance you could do this job on your way?’. […] That really helps pay for my racing.”