Brook Macdonald Talks Injury Comeback, Racing Plans, and New Bike Setup

If you’ve been a fan of downhill for a while, there’s no doubt you’ve heard of Kiwi rider Brook Macdonald aka the Bulldog. Storming onto the scene with a junior world championship win in 2009 at Stromlo, Canberra, the now-veteran rider has been no stranger to the podium in the years since. 

In 2019 at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Mont-Sainte-Anne, Canada, Brook had a crash resulting in serious spinal fractures that would ultimately change his trajectory within the sport. After a full year of serious rehab, Macdonald returned to the World Cup circuit, but now in 2025 his focus has changed. 

AMB contributor Ben ‘Moshy’ Morrison caught up with Brooke after his debut with new sponsor Ari at the Red Bull Hardline in Maydena, Tas, to discuss his upcoming schedule, injury recovery, flats vs clips, road racing and even cooking.

Moshy: New season, new you. Hey, let’s talk about the schedule for 2025. You are not doing the World Cup season and started with Hardline instead, which is early in the year and not the most mellow way to get up to speed and test a new bike. Will you then target events like the CrankWorx tour, the new growing USA series, and World Cups on USA and Canadian soil (big Norba vibes) like we are seeing a few riders do this year? 

Brook: No more World Cups for me, which makes me sad because I love racing, but with the changes it’s taken the fun out of World Cups nowadays. Hardline was insane, new bike…I had only spent 1 day on it before then and prior to that I hadn’t touched a DH bike since MSA (Mont Sainte Anne) last year, so I was a little rusty, haha. I’ll be looking at Crankworx stuff, the rest of the Hardline series, Cerro Abajo (Urban DH), potentially some US stuff but no World Cups. Yeah, Big Norba vibes with the US stuff, which I think is awesome, and it’s going to be another series for people who can’t make it to World Cups to have a chance to establish themselves in America and on a stage that is as Elite with good races and prize money. 

Moshy: When did you sign with Red Bull, and what’s the best part about being a Red Bull Athlete that people don’t get to see? 

Brook: I signed way back in 2011. The best part…well, Red Bull offers so much. Most people don’t know the endless support you get from them. Whether you are rehabbing an injury, they have two athlete performance centres, one in the US and one in Austria, which give you access to the best people from S&C to physio to nutritionists to doctors and what you need from start to finish, but also a place for you to go training and fine-tune things that you may lack. Along with that, you have everything to create your wildest dreams. 

They are the best and have supported me through a career of ups and downs but given me everything to get to where I am today.

Moshy: For a while there, it was you, Sam and Connor that were the flat pedal diehards. What made you switch to clips? 

Brook: Yes! And I wish I never changed, haha! 

What made me switch? Well, I think the racing got more serious, and I just wanted one less thing to worry about, and that was having my feet clipped in. For me, that helped not having to worry about my feet blowing off everywhere. Time becomes so precious in a race run, and one mistake could cost you a lot, so I just eliminated one less thing that could cost me time. I look back a lot and wish I had stayed on flats, but my decision was a good one for racing too.

Moshy: How much can you leg press, and if it’s not you, who do you think would load the rack up the most on the World Cups? 

Brook: Now, not a huge amount now as my injury has had a huge effect on my strength, but at my peak, my max I did was at a GT team camp. I had about 350kg of plates plus Wyn Masters on it, so it would have been over 400kgs! Now I think maybe I could max out at just over 200kg; I don’t really do much max stuff now, though. At a guess would be Finn, Amaury or Loic, they’re all super strong guys.

Moshy: You were doing a fair bit of road riding and criterium racing in the off-seasons. Was that for training or was it just a bit of fun? 

Brook: I love road racing and crits! I haven’t done any for a long time, but at one point I was doing them a lot. I loved the cross-over, and I got to race against people, whereas for me, I race against myself and the clock, so it mixed it up. I did it for cross-training but also for fun.

Moshy: Just to quickly touch on your Worlds crash in Canada. It looks like you have fully recovered. Do you have to do a bit of ongoing body maintenance to keep things strong and stay flexible, or is it all set and forget now?

Brook: Defiantly, a lot of maintaining and body maintenance is ongoing, and I would say I’m fully recovered in the sense of my body, but I will have forever-lasting effects on my body from that accident. I think the more I take care of my body, from sleep to good eating to gym, the more it makes me feel somewhat normal.

Moshy: Changing gears here a bit, let’s take 3 people on a trip with you that you want to learn from or get to know, who would you take and where would you go with them? 

Brook: Sir Richie McCaw (New Zealand Rugby Union Player and All-Black), Rob Warner and Sam Hill. Probably go to Ibiza. Haha, you learn a lot about someone going there!

Moshy: Who will hit something first at a new track when you are away at the races? 

Brook: It was always Elliot Jackson, now I don’t know. World Cup stuff Is pretty blah, nothing that stands out and gets people questioning whether to hit it next run or watch someone do it.

Moshy: You have your own Team with 3 riders and 1 mentor to race with them and help you manage them at the races. Who (past or present) are you putting on it and why?

Brook: Asa Vermette, Jackson Goldston and Jess Blewitt. The mentor would have to be Neko Mullaly. Asa and Jackson have endless talent and are a force to be reckoned with. Jess also is, in my eyes, one of the fastest females out there and has so much natural talent. Neko has a crazy background in bike testing, and knowing how everything works alongside his chilled manner, he would be a great balance in a team.  

Moshy: When are we going to see you on a gravel bike?

Brook: I’m on a gravel, bro!

Moshy: Ari is a direct-to-the-public brand that not many people outside of the USA will know about, even under its old name, Fezzari. So tell us how a Kiwi ended up on this relatively unknown yet very large brand? 

Brook: Yeah, very unknown brand outside of America but huge in the US. I guess a lot of in-house talk for them and how I can be an asset in helping them grow their market outside of the US. I love these brands that are so different from the bigger brands. I love their approach to everything, and I hope I can have an impact on growing their market outside of the US and into the likes of Australia and New Zealand.

Moshy: Ari/Fezzari have had Downhill and Enduro teams for some time and even had Rampage success under Kyle Strait. Will you get the opportunity to use your experience to help develop a new bike or make changes to the current production model Superior Peak, which you are on now?

Brook: For sure, they are so open about change and development if needed, and I would love to put my experience to use and help them develop. In all honesty, their DH bike is insane!! It’s a simple 4-bar, but it really effective and works so well with so much adjustment to the bike.

Moshy: We have been seeing you out on the e-bike lately; there is still a bit of stigma about them and how they are cheating, lazy, etc. There is no questioning your fitness or strength; with Ari having some excellent-looking E-bikes and even offering frame kits, how do you see an E-bike fitting into the Bulldog’s life?

Brook: I love e-bikes. This is the first proper time I’ve had one, and before this, I had one back in 2020, which I didn’t ride a lot, and they have come a long way since then.

I love the fact you can still get a workout but cover twice the km in an hour and a half as you would on an analogue. Don’t get me wrong, I still love riding my analogue bike, but when I want to get out and rip a trail 4 or 5 times, I’ll take the e-bike. Ari has some insane-looking e-bikes and are releasing some new ones in the coming weeks, which I’m excited about! It’s a daily part of the Bulldog’s life.

Moshy: Who will win The Rugby World Cup this year if it’s not the All Blacks? 

Brook: I don’t follow Rugby as much as I used to, but I think South Africa will be strong, and France is always dangerous, but also Ireland for sure.

Moshy: You and I chat a bit about cooking and food (that our other halves make us). How have you found it complements your training to have an in-house partner and chef who understands that good food can also be healthy and exciting while giving your body what it needs? 

Brook: I’m so lucky I have a partner who loves cooking and is really good at it and makes insane food! I think it’s so important to put the right food into your body but also good quality food. That makes a huge difference!   

Moshy: When it comes to training, do you tend to stick to a program set out by a coach, or are you pretty good at these days and running your own ship? 

Brook: I tend to stick to a program by my coach. To be honest, I’ve felt the older I’ve gotten, and the years of training a lot by myself, having someone there to manage and overlook it makes it twice as motivating. Don’t get me wrong, I’m ok by myself, but sometimes it can just be lacking because of the endless hours I’ve spent by myself, and sometimes I reflect on the amount I’ve put in and feel it hasn’t paid off for me in some seasons, but that’s how it goes sometimes.

Moshy: Is there a coach or athlete that you look up to as a role model, and why?

Brook: I definitely look up to myself in the way of what I’ve overcome and gone through. I just never thought something like that could be possible. Obviously, I was very oblivious to the injury and thought I would come back and be where I left off, but the more I rehabbed, the more I got to understand the severity of the injury. Just what I put myself through to race my bike a year later made me understand what is achievable when you believe in yourself. 

Moshy: What do you believe is the greatest challenge most athletes are facing today? 

Brook: Succeeding. I think we put so much pressure on ourselves to be the greatest, and in reality, it’s so hard to do with the level of sport these days. With downhill especially, you have one run to make it all count, and the rate of that happening is really hard to keep consistent.

Moshy: Taking the new bike straight into Red Bull Hardline, have you had a chance to play around with things like the stiffness adjustment (that looks to have become popular on the World Cups) or any other adjustments you can make on the new bike? 

Brook: As I said, I didn’t have much time on it beforehand, so I didn’t play around with it too much, especially at Hardline. I did try the brace, but with the big stuff, the bike was a little too flexible. But now I’m back into some normal DH racing I will play around with the adjustments the bike has and find a happy place.

Moshy: It might be too early to tell, but will we see Ari leap to our side of the globe now that they are expanding the rider roster globally?

Brook: They definitely have interest, and for sure, it would be great to see them on this side of the world. I think the bikes are sick, they look good, and they have a great range and are well priced, in my opinion, for what you get!!

Moshy: Do you work with any charities or groups? 

Brook: I work with a charitable trust called the Reid O’Leary Charitable Trust, raising awareness for mental health. I’m so fortunate to be an ambassador for them. They are friends who lost their son to suicide, and it’s something close to me that I want to help with and try and make it aware to people that it’s okay to talk. These people do an absolutely amazing job of helping people out where they can and giving them the support and people they need in their life.

Moshy: Given the opportunity to work with or run a development program for young Down Hill Riders, what would be the most important part of that setup for you to help create the best atmosphere for the riders to be their best?

Brook:  Make sure they only worry about riding their bike and going fast! The staff and people around them should take care of everything else. One thing I learnt from been on Trek Factory racing. Martin Whitley (Team Owner) crushed it in all aspects of running an insane team, where all you did was show up to ride your bike, and everything else was taken care of. Still, there is something that I’ll never forget and am thankful for. 

Moshy: With the change of program for 2025, who will we support you this year? 

Brook: This year I have the support of DJI, Ari Bikes, Red Bull, Deity, Dharco, VEE Tires, Ferie Wheels and Crankbrothers.