Modelling For Goodyear Tyres Tan Wall Launch

When I received a message from my team manager, Craig, asking me if I would like to be in a photo shoot for Goodyear tyres, I was super hyped. They were asking local teams for young or rugged looking riders to give a cool image for the sport... I'm not sure how well I fitted into this category, but photoshop is pretty good these days!

I arrived in Shere car park on a clear, cold, crisp winters morning, not a cloud in sight, the photographer (Matt) had picked a beautiful day. Shere is a picturesque village located in the Surrey hills just east of Guildford. It's been the location for a number of film sets including 'The Holiday', 'The Wedding Date', 'Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason' and many more (from Wikipedia) and now the location of tyre brand photo shoots. I don't need to tell you how popular cycling is in the Surrey Hills either, it's even included in Zwift.

I got the bike out of the car, we put some fresh Goodyear Eagle Sports on, matched the logos up carefully; then Matt (the photographer) took my bike and sprayed silicon shine to polish it up, he was careful around the brake track, but still the braking was not the same.

The temperature were single figures and I was wearing short sleeve cycling kit, although it was warm in the sun and there was very little wind. The thing about photo shoots its all about how it looks. Between shots I had to wear a jacket to prevent hyperthermia. There is a lot of standing around involved.

I stood on the side of the road in front of a red telephone box. 'Pretend your waiting for your cycling mates', 'what mates!'...[Click, click, click.] 'Hold that position'[click, click], 'try looking over there', 'stop breathing'... [click, click, click, click] 'can I put my jacket back on now?' That's sort of how it went, don't get fooled by the photo's thinking I'm actually waiting to start a ride.

We then moved into Shere high street, which was more fun, Matt (the photographer) picked the angles he wanted. 'When I give you the signal ride round this corner in the middle of the road.' We waited for the traffic to quieten down.

'Ok, this time go as fast as you like'. I sent it into the corner. The wind chill was pretty grim. There was a van stopped in the road; once I'd past Matt (the photographer) I jammed on the brakes, I didn't get the response like normal with the silicon, fortunately I managed to stop just in time.

Shere was a really nice location, but there was just too much traffic which meant we had to keep re-setting so we moved onto the next location.

We headed up to 'Wotton House' (drive way). It's a quiet little road with trees evenly spaced either side. It was perfect with the sun shinning through. We did more of the same here.

Frazer and Albert from VC Meudon had shoots and then as the sun was beginning to set we headed to Box hill for the last few shots.

The orange paintjob on my bike really stood out as the light was softening into the evening. We started with the bottom hairpin where Matt (the photographer) got some really cool shots going up and down the hill. Then of course we had to get a few photos with the iconic Box hill doodles. By this point I was getting so cold I could hardly stand still.

Box hill was absolutely amazing! Especially with the sun setting; it isn't the biggest challenge you'll face on a bike, but it certainly is one of the prettiest places you can cycle.

After Matt (the photographer) was happy he had enough photos. We headed back down the hill as fast as possible to get in the cars to put warm clothes on and get the heaters on. Before we left, Matt gave us some payment for the day; lots of tyres and kit.

Despite the cold; it was an awesome day.

Tyres advertised: Tan Wall Launch.

Goodyear Eagle F1 SuperSport - (tubeless compatible)

Goodyear Eagle F1 - (tubeless compatible)

Goodyear Eagle Sport - (the tyres I was using)

https://www.goodyearbike.com/road-uhp

(Note: We kept our distance as much as possible to avoid contact.)