About

Hi, I’m James Rountree

Learn a bit about me and why I started The Riders Circle.

  • 10+ years of motocross racing experience
  • Master’s degree in health, sport, and human performance science
  • >3 years of experience training athletes
mtb corner in a dense forest

Why James Created The Riders Circle

When I was an aspiring junior MX racer, I used to love pushing myself with physical training. I saw the benefits as I worked hard towards my goals and took pride in being one of the fittest racers on the start line. However, sometimes I worked too much on the wrong things, lacked structure, and never believed I was ‘ready’, no matter how much I trained.

I have since learned from many of my mistakes, and continue learning to this day. My main motivation behind The Riders Circle is to share the knowledge I have gained from personal experience and university studies to help people like me who want to achieve more but need a bit of extra guidance to get there.

I chose the name “The Riders Circle” because there is always a key group of people who help you achieve your individual goals on the bike, ie, your inner circle. The Riders Circle encourages this collaboration, where we focus on your physical preparation to help ‘complete’ this circle so you can be your best.

Values of The Riders Circle

At face value, our mission is simple: Help MX & MTB riders go faster for longer.

At a deeper level, we value personal development through 2-wheel sports. We aim to facilitate an environment where transferable life skills are developed; hard work, communication, accountability, resilience, trust, curiosity, etc…

If this appeals to you, get in contact and let’s get to work!

Personal Goals

I like to share my personal goals to lead by example to those I train and make common challenges super relatable. I believe being able to test theories, session structures, and actively feel the demands of training whilst coaching others is highly valuable. In 2026, I have shifted focus away from MX racing and into XC MTB racing, with my main goal on the Whaka100 in Rotorua over Labour Weekend.

I am still well and truly passionate about the motocross space, but am equally excited about the knowledge gained in the MTB space (and the learnings that can be applied to MX racing).