Take Kenny Belaey to a city he’s never been to and you can be sure he will see it through different eyes than your average tourist.
Statues, monuments, railings, picnic tables… you name it. While most holidaymakers whip out their cameras to photograph a landmark, the Belgian athlete is more likely to be working out how to negotiate said feature on his bike. He invariably manages to do so. Whether in urban settings or in the mountains, videos of Belaey riding his bike in the most unlikely situations have gone viral on social media. His latest exploit was a dizzying ride along a slack-line stretched 112m above a gorge at an altitude of 2700m in the French Alps. He’s not known as the Magician for nothing…
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Kenny Belaey is one of the most successful trials athletes in the world, with nine world titles to his name including four titles of Elite UCI Trials World Champion.
In parallel, he puts on shows worldwide, makes television appearances and has produced his own TV show. Together with his wife Fien Lammertyn, also a cyclist, he organises the Antwerp round of the UCI Trials World Cup. He is riders’ representative on the UCI Trials Commission and was recently voted by fellow athletes onto the UCI Athletes’ Commission.
How does he fit it all in?
“I don’t know,” he admits. “It never stops. But I’m not going to do this for the rest of my life so I may as well give it 120%.”
While Belaey loves the challenge and showmanship of tackling new obstacles, filming his exploits and posting them on social media, his main motivation is far from narcissist. He wants to share, with as many people as possible, the beauties of a sport that has dominated his life since the age of six.
After three years on the bike, the youngster also took up football and juggled the two sports from the age of 9 to 12. Despite gaining regional football selection, he quickly realised that team sports were not for him.
“When you set up a goal, pass the ball and the other guy misses… I couldn’t cope with that. It wasn’t my thing. With trials you rely on yourself. It’s just you and the obstacles. You have to think and be focused."
"It’s creativity, mental strength, endurance. I like to be alone, just me and my bike.”
Although the countryside and mountains are his favourite playgrounds, he has embraced the move to urban settings in the name of developing the discipline.
“If I make a video on a technical rock in the mountains, I might get 10,000 views (on social media). If I use a statue or a picnic table, I can get 200,000 or 300,000 views. That’s because the audience knows picnic tables and people don’t ride bikes on them.”
It is the same story for trials competitions, which have gravitated from more natural surroundings to city centres.
“My heart is in the forest and mountains, but we brought the obstacles to the city centre. Basically, we brought the competition to the people.
“Back when I started, the sport was under-developed, but now there are better competitions and more respect for the sport and what it has to offer.”
Not all of Belaey’s videos are 100% trials – he rode the slackline on a mountain bike – but they are all in the trials spirit and serve to gain more publicity for the discipline. He is never short of ideas to put trials in the limelight, be it on a street trials bike, competition trials bike or a mountain bike.
“Every day I wake up with ideas. I drive my wife nuts!”
Some of his feats are nothing short of heart-stopping. Does he ever get cold feet and have a change of mind?
“I was close with the slack line. When I got up there I could hardly bear to look down and I just thought ‘hell no’. I failed at first but… I dunno. I just see a lot of people in their comfort zones but I like to push and keep pushing.
“A trials rider needs perseverance, dedication and passion to carry on. You need supernatural, crazy talent.”
That said, he insists it is less dangerous than other cycling disciplines: “There is no traffic, there are no high speeds involved, no other riders, just you and your bike.”
In nearly 20 years of international competition, the 32-year-old athlete’s most serious injury was a broken scaphoid in 2012.
It was after that injury that he decided to retire from competition. It was a short-lived retirement. His love of the sport meant he continued to ride his bike, train and perform. The level was still there so he returned to competition and has figured on the podium of the UCI World Championships every year since then.
“I like to compete. I need that motivation. Take my training away from me and I’m unhappy.”