mark turner-smith
RIDING STYLE: MTB CRoss country (XCO, XCC)
BIO
I do not come from a cycling family (from a racing or serious involvement point of view) but as many, I learnt to cycle when I was young and active. I was definitely attracted to the serious side of cycling and racing by the emergence of MTB XC racing. In 1988/89/90 it became the new “out there/Cool sport” and gave me a passion for MTB XC racing that I don’t think will ever leave me! I started XC racing myself in 1991. I had always followed the TDF at the time and I joined the Bournemouth Arrows cycling club and dabbled with a bit of road racing to aid fitness for the MTB XC but was just never very good on the skinny tyres compared to XC racing and barely made it out of the 4th cat on road. It was great seeing the progress of the youngsters of the time though, such as a certain Dan Lloyd (of GCN fame) who came up fast through the ranks to become a Pro who was and is still a Bournemouth/New Forest resident.
As mentioned, I was based in Bournemouth 1991-2020, so my XC racing was based in a different region. I raced pretty consistently for a while but had a long period away (2003 – 2015) from competition due to family/kids and a road race crash mid 2003 when I broke my pelvis and it was not a straightforward recovery.
I moved to Yeovil in 2020 due to personal reasons and marriage breakdown, which brought me into the lovely XC racing region that is the Southwest. Covid of course got in the way of the 2020 season. 2021 season was successful and I surprised myself with a top 60 UK ranking in Vets (now “Masters 40”). A crash at the beginning of 2022 wrote my bike off and put me out of 2022 sadly. 2023 was wrecked by needing a Hernia operation. I got back to rebuilding myself on the bike after this which was the point I joined War Vena Racing Team, a good bunch of racers who have been my team until now. It was lovely to bounce back with a 43rd place UK ranking in the Masters 50 (what was “Grand Vets”) 2025.
So many years of quite up and down seasons, largely forced periods away from racing with stuff out of my control, but I keep going.
2026 I start a new chapter that is Saint Piran Service Course and hopefully many years of XC racing still to come.
