Trial Biking

Find out more about Danny MacAskill’s Wee Day Out

The Scottish trials legend gives us an exclusive inside track on his amazing new riding edit.

Written by Rachel Verity

7 min readPublished on 06.12.2016 · 5:57 UTC

YouTube sensation Danny MacAskill has once again proved why his riding edits are so quick to rack up the views. His brand new film, Wee Day Out, sees Danny return to his mountain bike to tackle rugged Scottish terrain and lay down some of the most innovative tricks ever to be seen in the sport.

Watch Danny MacAskill's brand new edit Wee Day Out here.

We caught up with the Scottish trials legend to find out how this rural edit came about, why he ditched the trials bike, and how he came up with those incredibly quirky features. Find out what he had to say about it all below.

Flipping out deep in the undergrowth
© Dave Mackison

What did you set out to achieve with Wee Day Out?

Rather than keep pushing and progressing my riding, the first thing I think about these days is a concept for the film that allows me to have a bit more creative freedom with my riding. I set out to make a video that hopefully relates to the normal rider. It's meant to be a fun day out on the bike, taking in different obstacles along the way.

I came up with the idea that I wanted to do a video on my mountain bike again. The last film that I did on the mountain bike was up in Skye [ The Ridge]. That was definitely more a lone ranger kind of style. Although I'm on my mountain bike again, I wanted it to have a different feel. I wanted it to be quite light-hearted and to be able to give tricks a go that I wouldn't have got away with in The Ridge. It's meant to be fun, especially with the Divine Comedysoundtrack.

Did you play a part in choosing National Express as the soundtrack?

I found the music, and then we decided on it together. It definitely had the rolling green hills feel to it and I just really liked that. It's catchy, it's fun, it kind of bounces along. It fitted perfectly with what we wanted to make. I like the idea of people getting it stuck in their head, whether they like it or not.

The only way to keep up with Danny
© Dave Mackison

How intense has the filming of this project been?

This whole film's been a real big challenge. Not only has it been hard to find the locations for the tricks that I've wanted to land, but building dirt take-offs, working with natural terrain and the Scottish weather has been very challenging. Although it all looks very easy, there's been a lot of work that's gone into the back of this.

Were there any features that you had to scrap along the way?

There were a few locations that we tried to film, but I hadn't actually landed the tricks or some didn't really fit the feel of the film. The original plan was that it would be mainly in the woods, but we didn't find that many good locations, so it ended up being rolling hills and green countryside, with animals. You can't make a viral without animals.

Pretty much every trick that I've done in the film has been a massive challenge and a little bit out of my comfort zone.

Did you have the tricks for the film in mind already?

Pretty much every trick that I've done in the film has been a massive challenge and a little bit out of my comfort zone. It was my first time being on my mountain bike again, which has positives and negatives.

If you can hop up a four-foot wall on a mountain bike, it's almost unbelievable, whereas on a trials bike people expect it.

When you do tricks on the mountain bike, it lowers people's expectations. If you can hop up a four-foot wall on a mountain bike, it's almost unbelievable, whereas on a trials bike people expect it. But it's a bigger bike and harder to do this stuff on. I really enjoyed working with the bike and trying to come up with some new and interesting things.

The backwards roll sequence in the woods
© Dave Mackison

What made you go back to filming on a mountain bike?

Last year I did Cascadia, so I felt that if I went back and did another one on the trials bike then it would get compared. I had this fun mountain bike video on my list of ideas and I felt that we could do a good job of it.

You can't really beat the feeling of riding down a muddy, sliding trail.

Do you have a preference over riding a mountain bike or a trials bike?

I'd say I like riding them equally. On my mountain bike I'm usually riding more in the winter and I'm often riding with friends in a group. You can't really beat the feeling of riding down a muddy, sliding trail and everyone getting to the bottom with some kind of near-death experience. Even if it's pouring with rain it's a lot of fun.

But I also love my trials bike, it's more my own thing. I tend to ride it by myself when I'm in Glasgow. It's kind of like going out and playing a game – I pick a few walls and rails and try to link them up in different ways. Both are equally good fun.

On the bigger tricks, it can take a lot of going round in circles, getting the guts to actually try it for the first time. It's definitely very mentally challenging.

You mentioned that the tricks in this film were challenging. Were there also mental challenges?

I'm always setting the bar very high for my own riding. I’ll turn up on location for the day and it will often take me hundreds of attempts to get the riding right. I could get through the lines with lots of extra hops, but the main objective with the film was to do the riding as smooth and cleanly as possible without any corrections. On the bigger tricks, it can take a lot of going round in circles, getting the guts to actually try it for the first time. It's definitely very mentally challenging.

Does it make it harder that you’re the only one riding?

It's very tricky with this kind of filming. You’re in a location where you're not able to warm up on anything. I'm usually the only one riding, so even if I'm having an off day, or feeling sore or tired from the days before, it's all still waiting on me to land the tricks – it can definitely be frustrating. That's why I work with a team of friends who understand me and all my diva ways. It just makes the whole process a lot more bearable.

I can just keep riding and riding, sometimes for five or six hours non-stop until I land the trick.

How physically exhausting do you find filming days?

When I'm filming, it's pretty much the most tired I can get. I can go to places when I'm filming that I couldn't push myself to normally. I suppose it's like an athlete competing, being able to go that extra mile to get it done. Things like the hay bale – I tried that for two days, probably about 400 goes, and by the end of the day you've used everything you've got and more. You're almost just throwing yourself at it. I can just keep riding and riding, sometimes for five or six hours non-stop until I land the trick.

Discussing the finer points of trial biking
© Dave Mackison

There was nothing funny about this project, it was all serious business.

Are there any funny or unusual stories from the project?

There was nothing funny about this project, it was all serious business. Oh, the Vaseline... I decided that I wanted to do a log slide in the film and we managed to find this log in the middle of nowhere. In the beginning it was covered in algae, so when it was wet it was very slippy, but after a while my bike wore away the algae and we had to start using artificial lubricant. I think we went through 14 tubs of Vaseline. There was all sorts of other lubes used on this thing as well, but we'll not get into that. Every time I would land on the tree, half the Vaseline would end up getting scraped off – my shoes and gloves were full of it!

#WeeDayOut

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